guys, especially sifu...
wanna ask, recently my Ansmann battery used in my f42 discharge damn fast..

couldnt even last for 100 shots...

I using 360 bounce card for the flash (recently just start using )
will this cause the flash to use more power ?

I wanted to warranty the battery but the shop keeper ask me try with direct bounce first (bounce with ceiling )

he said the bounce card will cause the TTL to misread and use more power ..

tak tau betul or not..

i do understand that by bouncing, i suffer light loss , thus use more power, but will it be that significant ?

from few hundreds shots to about 50 ?

d4rkholeang3l: Put your F42 and 360 bounce card on the floor, pointing up. Trigger it wirelessly. set manual power of 1/8

Observe how much light goes in front, and how much goes behind the flash. Take a picture of it and show us.

The Gary Fong Lightsphere is a major light sucker (since it bounces half of the light to the back!)

And no, TTL will not be misled by bounce cards. TTL will always send one pre-flash, and detect how bright that pre-flash is through the lens (hence the TTL name) and then adjust power accordingly.

Thanks for the useful replies. I guess I'll have to visit SonyStyle to play with it.
All I wanted to get is my first DSLR that I won't regret and won't be upgrading for the next few years (5 years at least i think). Without sufficient experiences, choosing the right one can be quite hard for me as I'm not exactly sure of what I want and need.
I can't deny that the a33/55 is way to attractive with it's innovative features and not to mention that Sony did invest alot in marketing for this line. Being able to hit 7/10fps is a plus since the SLTs are similar to other DSLRs in terms of taking nice portraits and macro shots by using the right lens. In terms of IQ, i think most of the DSLRs out there are on par under good light condition and Sony EXMOR sensor proved to be quite good under low light condition with high ISO + low noise.

I have friends who are mainly N and C users thus the chances of them trying to pull me over to the N/C ship is quite high thus asking them would be useless. For some reason, I think there's a Sony fanboy in me. 

All i know for sure at the moment is either sacrifice battery life for smaller light body or vice versa.

Based on the cons, i don't understand the following
* Way too many warnings, lockouts, and restrictions on too many of the A33's features - What kinds of restriction?
* Limited flash control Isn't there like "Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Slow Sync, High Speed Sync, Rear Curtain, Fill-in, Wireless"?
* Very limited customization in the menu system, no room for the learning and growing photographer to expand I don't get this at all
* No spot toggle for AEL err??
* Focus Magnifier could have been designed better (shuts off when you half press the shutter, difficult to use at times) Don't understand either
* Manual doesn't have enough details details like??

---

Added on September 20, 2010, 6:40 pmbtw, ahpingko & porkchop, happy birthday!!
take more nice photos!!

zstan: Secret!

ahpingko: I feel like if the vignetting was not there #1 and #2 would obviously have so-so framing. Would prefer #4 from straight on.

Happy birthday!

porkchop: Happy birthday!

wingster: The A33 does 7 FPS (Speed Priority), 6 FPS (Continuous High) and 2.5 FPS (Continuous Low); the A55V does 10 FPS (Speed Priority), 6 FPS (Continuous High) and 3 FPS (Continuous Low). Refer to page 116 of the A33/A55V manual.

I don't think people care for the Continuous High or Continuous Low options enough to write about them.

Also... do you think the A560/A580 will not have the overheating with SteadyShot in video? A lot of the cons in the A33/A55 apply to the A560/A580 also... people just forget to imply them.

deanmalenko: Okay lah can be cleaner, a slightly faster shutter speed would help.

evilhomura89: You might not care for most of the things he puts in his cons - I know I don't!

You don't even see the problems he does. Carl Gerrard is a very old school photographer. Some people fuss about 2 Second MLU while we don't care. There is no mirror slap on the A33/A55 so MLU does not matter.

Restrictions are what you get when you first play with the A550 and NEX bodies - you cannot use Auto HDR with RAW for example.

Spot Meter AEL Toggle was a function you could activate in the A100/A700/A850/A900. Press AEL while pointing your spot meter circle, and it will change to Spot Metering, on what you were pointed at, and then you can recompose.

While we're on the topic of lenses, I'd like to check with you guys because this is what I feel about premium F2.8 lenses eg CZ1635, 2470, 70200G.

While their output is somewhat better than non-premium lenses, I think that their weight detracts the photographer a bit. Furthermore, they cost an arm and a leg too.

Some may say it is a matter of getting used to it but I think that having lenses which are lighter will let the photographer concentrate on the shooting than being bogged down by a heavy lens.

Anyone here feels that way?

From what I understand here, is it something like the image below??
[attachmentid=1794431]

Finally yesterday I get to try A33. I think my comment will be mostly similar with those who have tried it:

1. First impression.. WOW smaller than expectation (eventhough i heard of this many time oredi).. but the grip should b quite comfortable (hard to really feel it because of the stupid big cable thing attached below the camera in sonystyle)
2. my finger has a bit problem searching for the front Scroll.. basically need to adjust my holding position in order to reach the scroll..
3.  control works fine for me.. easy access to important setting Like WB n ISO.
4.  Liveview = cool...maybe I have not really tried out the A550 liveview so this seems to be super cool & new for me.. hehe
5. electronic Viewfinder= First when I look into it, I find it very uncomfortable.. hard to immediately get use to it... when pointing to my friend's face.. it has a weird "red" to it... it just feel very digital..but amazing thing is whatever the liveview lcd can do, the EVF can do it.. Play back etc...WB & all settings. Again... because i so used to OVF it takes a while to get comfortable... But i bet most who bought this camera will rely on the LCD most of the time.
6. Focusing speed is amazing.. test it on walking people and moving my fingers in front of the camera.
7. Couldnt Test the VIDEO.. why cant sony just put a Memory card in it. After all its strong point is VIDEO for this camera
8. I hate the ISO setting Jumping from 800 to 1600 directly (same like my old A100) but nevertheless , Iso 1600 is completely usable.
9. This one I am not too certain.. But i Find focusing a little bit difficult when comes to low contrast object.....example shooting a pea on the table.. the center focusing is aiming quite close at middle of the green pea.. is difficult to focus.. I have to move the focus point to the edge of the peas to get the focus "beep". I believe my A700 can easily handle that.

Will I buy this?? I still not sure...I have to research more about video because this will be a camera which i like to explore on its video capability. The different Battery(heard is weak on A33/55) & memory card compare to my A700 also a thing that hold me back from buying. A quick question: is it only advisable to shoot video using the SSM lens(with autofocus)? so that the focusing transition will not be so erupt ?