SONY ALPHA THREAD !

With the coming soon of A700, i think it is time i change it to Sony Alpha Thread.

This post has been edited by tom_k3nt: Oct 30 2007, 02:30 PM

If you ever buy that, be prepared to fork out sh1t loads of premium for their lenses. It's not bad, it's just that Sony's DSLR is like BOSE sound system, it's not worth for what you pay for. I'd rather look at the K10D

Not really, you may find old Minolta lens to use on the A100. If you have done some research, you will know that some of the Minolta lens is really worth, the quality is very good compare to other brands.

If your budget only can afford you to get A100/400D/D40X, A100 is not a bad choice at all.

Not to mention the built in IS.

My friend is happy with his Sony Alpha. Have a look at his gallery http://www.flickr.com/photos/8047528@N05/

very good came atleast better than thing so call D40

firstly, we blame it on their marketing. their kit setup is pretty expensive in my honest opinion. another thing is their lenses. not much to choose from. used market are not much too

this camera is good, i am using the minolta dynax 5d, very similar to the alpha100. built is very good and the camera is responsive.

i do agree that the lenses can be difficult to come by. but the kit lense 18-70 is good enough for starters.

lets put it this way, eventhough it is using Minolta as a base, sony is not one of those established camera makers...i won't fork out that kind of money for a Sony SLR....u look at their marketing strategy is mainly aimed at the yuppie crowd

Who care what brand, as long as it is a good cam with reasonable price, it is a good stuff. And somemore, Sony has a better service coverage as well.

Nowadays technology can be sold off and transferred easily, the money will do the job.

Like Pentax, now Hoya took over, so can we say Hoya is not a camera maker, it only uses Pentax as a base, so we don't buy it?

I prefer BOSE over Sony if you ask me

The D40 and the Alpha is both designed for ONE thing in common : Should you you feel that photography is not your thing after some time, you can still give it up : You didn't spend too much for the D40 and if Sony lenses are too expensive for you to move on. Honestly, being able to use OLD Minolta lenses on your brand new Alpha is a kill-off ... why can't Sony come up with more lenses for their clients to move along with the hobby? How long has this model been in the market already?

The 'yuppie crowd' gives them the most money. Sony wants to make money, not create a global photography standard for professional the professional market like Canon and Nikon

From a common user's point-of-view yes, anything with a reasonable price is a good thing, from cars, to cameras to diapers. Sony have a good service coverage I 100% agree with you but after-sales service is still questionable at times based on my experience with compact digicam users, after-warranty charges are also very high especially when it's quite a percentage from your actual camera price!

Hoya took over Pentax? Wow I didn't know that!

Sony making SLR is similar to Philips making high end equipment, they are better off doing what they do best (sony - makes sensors, philips - makes IC).

Even though Sony's history in making photography equipment is short, if they do what Microsoft did in marketing Xbox, they could probably stand a chance in the slr market. But NO! Sony wants to make quick bucks, they pimp sensor shift IS, which is good as the company could then cut cost in the lenses and passes the savings to consumer, which would then give them a real competitive advantage...but hell NO, some of the lenses have a huge premium on it i.e. 70-200 f2.8 (500-600USD premium over Nikon/Canon/Pentax's offer). So yeah, if you do buy a the A100, you'd probably be stuck with those "crap" lenses, or third party offers, and be Sony's cash cow I think the only thing with a Sony label in my house is a really old headphone and my ps3. OK...and my camera's sensor...

Well Hoya is a big @ss company, it's a good thing that Pentax is acquired by Hoya. But honestly, I'd rather Nikon take over fuji. I've got a feeling that Fuji will sooner or later end up like Kodak/Sigma should they not get assimilated by a bigger company.

No! Canon, stay away!

Then you need to give facts that other brand give better "after sales service" than Sony.

I am not bias to any brand, but when we question something, we should provide some evidence and comparison.

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Added on June 18, 2007, 2:22 amhmmm... crap lens? How you define crap lens? No doubt the sony lens is over price and could not make sense, they thought their lens is Carl Zeiss? haha... but i have no such a worry, i am not going to spend 30K to buy a lens, then why should worry?

There are so many 3rd part like Sigma or Tamron with a decent quality, most of us also buy 3rd party lens, so are these considered "crap" as well? Then i am also interested how "high end" lens you owned? Who says Sony body must attached with Sony lens?

Next, the sony retail price always scaring people, but actually you could get much cheaper than the retail printed, like the flash F56, sony selling price is RM1650, but you can get it about RM1200 or slightly lower, with this price for a wireless HSS GN56 flash, i will say the price is nice.






This post has been edited by cityfish: Jun 18 2007, 02:22 AM

service charges is not a main factor for u to judge after sales service.

This post has been edited by williamngwl: Jun 18 2007, 04:14 AM

You can figure out yourself which are crap and which are not by yourself, canon makes a bunch of them too

hoya might not be a camera maker but its a lens maker. even before the takeover, partnership was already strong through hoya's subsidary, tokina. not many know this but tokina and pentax lenses are share the same design for some lenses. only the glass is different and some minor tweaks here n there.

@alamaklor

i'm still doubtful over this takeover as hoya is eyeing on pentax's profitable medical equipment division not their cams. only time will tell i guess.

@ts

alpha is a pretty decent cam but k10d should knock its socks off

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3574/10mp-...-alpha-100.html

I come to know this Sony has build in image stabilizer when I was reading Popular Photography, and I think this is one of the best feature than Canon or Nikon shall implement in their cameras.

Sony currently has 21 lens in their line. No doubt it's less than Canon or Nikon, but come to think of it, all those lens are having IS indirectly, now how many Canon or Nikon lens has IS?

Come to the price, RM2k plus for a body... I don't understand why someone would call it expensive.

Service charge is not the main factor I am JUDGING after sales service ... that's not my point. The higher you charge for after-warranty servicing and parts, the higher the chance you loose return customers, that's consumer marketing.

Walk into any shop in Sg. Wang and you will get much better prices than at an official Sony shop. Same original Malaysian stock, same warranty anyway.

I bought an A100 for the anti-shake. Also I can use it with the 50mm F1.4 for really dark conditions.

They have a 500mm F8 reflex lens that AUTOFOCUSES. With Super Steady Shot, you can shoot at 1/50s HANDHELD at F8! There is no other reflex lens that has VR/IS... which means you'd want 1/750s at F8. Where would you get that kind of lighting? (A very long studio room?)

They have Carl Zeiss lenses that AUTOFOCUS.

They have a 135mm F2.8 T4.5 Smooth Transition Focus lens that has very smooth, creamy bokeh (the out-of-focus areas).

Minolta lenses (and their Sony rebadges) were designed to have nice bokeh, which is why they were big with the Japanese.

They also have the excellent Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan lens, a cheap, solid and lightweight tele lens that is brighter than all the 70-300mm F4-5.6 lenses that are in the market now. I dare say I will stick to this and skip the heavy 70-200mm F2.8.

It's not about the price; if I had a Canon I'd get the 70-200mm F4 IS instead of the F2.8 IS for practical reasons.

Sony has good service, they fixed my Minolta beercan for FREE even though it was 20 years old. How's that for after-warranty servicing? They always have 2-4 days turnaround. I have not paid a single cent to a Sony Service Center.

You won't have cases of high-pitched VR lenses (annoying Nikkor 18-200mm F3.5-5.6!) or deteriorating SWM or dropping your expensive VR/IS lens, losing alignment and thus killing VR/IS on your lens.

"Oh but if you drop your Sony/KM and your AS/SSS dies then all your lenses have no AS/SSS."

Find me someone who has killed Anti-shake on their Konica Minolta/Sony then.

You can also find more rare old lenses in the A-mount and Pentax K-mount. Why? Not much demand. I just picked up a Vivitar Series 1 28-105mm F2.8-3.8 in Bandung. If it was a Canon or Nikon it would not sit there.

Sony unfortunately only retained the higher-spec lenses from the Konica Minolta days. Carl Zeiss IS a great, great brand to pay for. The sharpness and OOF rendition is amazing. Having tried the 135mm F1.8 I am convinced, and am saving up for one.

Waiting is a standard procedure. How long did people wait for Nikon after the products were announced?

Do you buy an SLR, then 2 months later, have ENOUGH money to buy the next big lens? Are you just sitting around itching to buy the next lens?

Pentax is a good system, too. They've been bought by Hoya. So if mergers are a sign, and one day, Hoya Pentax is bought by Microsoft, will you NOT buy one? There is more to a system than just your systemic dislike towards a brand.

Wow... Thanks 4 all the advise....

My 1st mind set was to Nikon then Canon.... Now.... more to Sony...

This post has been edited by tom_k3nt: Jun 18 2007, 03:10 PM

albnok - good post

i agree there is a lot of misconception on the alpha a100. i am a konica minolta 5d user (which the a100 is heavily based on) and so far it's been great. the design layout is good with comfy grip and the performance is more than i need.

alot of people scoffed at the anti shake/sss feature but to me it's really useful and definitely more cost effective than IS/VR lens (it may or may not be as effective as IS/VR but i get anti-shake for all my lenses).

on the range of lenses - how many do you need? will you buy every single lens released for the system? no right? for any brand, as long as the type of lens & performance you required is there then i don't see that as an issue

when the alpha a100 was released it was reviewed against the nikon d200 and it came out close. currently the price of the alpha a100 have dropped almost to the level of d40x and canon 400d, so it's definitely a good buy. sony maybe a newbie in dslr market but remember they are one of the biggest camera maker and most of their dslr design team are from KM which definitely been in the market for a long time.

... and I guess the best part is you don't have to stick with Memory Stick which you have to pay a premium. CF rules

Thanks, Albert...your explanation really helpful to me as well... Learnt something here...

Great man can success because he turn the impossible to possible.... we will see.

it takes both cf and mspd ......so take your pick

I think ur mindset can be directed to Olympus as well with the new E510.

4/3rd FTW

I bought my A100 last December and I am happy with it, no regrets whatsoever.

Assuming your budget is RM3-4k, I think A100 offers the best value among the other competitors at entry level.

Get the body and forget about the kit lens, get the Tamron 17-50/2.8 and I am sure you will be happy with it for some while. There are a number of 3rd party lenses available for the A-mount.

On prime lens, KM 50/1.7 is quite affordable or you can go for Sony 50/1.4.

I am happy with my Beercan 70-210/4 as well, great quality for the money I paid for.

A lot of people are in doubt of Sony's involvement in dSLR. KM used to be one of the big player in the market and I don't think a big corporation like Sony bought over KM without a long term investment strategy plan. I think it'll keep growing and become more competitive in near future.

Good luck with your choice anyway.

sony always do a free classes for A100 user. that the most i hope that nikon can do it too.

Ooops, I think I slipped thru your short essay and came to this, the bolded words. I do not dislike Sony, Sony is a good brand, the entire assay is just a breath of disagreement dun you think so? I get your point from the 1st paragraph, so chill.

How much is Tamron lens btw?

around RM1.4k.

seriously, for ur budget, u might consider Olympus E510 as well.

How much a?

i wanna know the price of KM 50mm f/1.7 and KM 70-210mm f/4. thanks
and how about it compare to Nikon and Canon f/1.8 & 55-200 VR ?

I not sure too, it just arrive at M'sia shore, few shops only got it. Some ppl said it quoted RM2.8k with kitlens which is extremely cheap if it is true..

I might consider jumping ship as well

If it is prices that you guys are concerned about, I suggest you check out Nikon see what they have to offer ... forget about Canon coz EOS 350D is selling off and selling out very soon and EOS 400D's price is all time high unless you got a few Riggit more to pay off the difference.

As for lenses, it's no longer the matter with Canon or Nikon or KM ... it's more like a SHOP thing rather than a BRAND thing, see who gets the best deal, not which brand is cheaper

I'm just wondering... Olympus good in nite shots? because my mind set is Olympus sucks at nite shots ( for PNS)

for previous model like E300 and E500, the high ISO noise is not really good, but the new lineup E410 and E510, the noise at ISO 800 and 1600 really acceptable and usable, competitive enough with the C and N

Anyway, after check out some info online... i find out that Sony sucks at ISO 800 to 1600 too

most of the camera also sucks at ISO 800 to 1600, anything come nearer ???

And how often you will get to this high level of ISO anyway.

Most of the pros i know of, will try to et the ISO to as low as possible, eg, in sony Alpha...there is a Lo80 and Hi200 ISO setting.


I'm a previous KM user, and i still have KM lenses and flash with me, the picture with the combination of KM/Tamron lenses, KM flash and sony body is much more better than using sony body + sony kit lenses.

This post has been edited by DArkBat: Jun 19 2007, 04:34 PM

The KM 50mm F1.7 is around RM350 or less second-hand.

The Minolta 70-210mm F4.0 "beercan" is around RM750 or less second-hand.

Look out for these. There are always people selling it, you just have to look out for it on photo forums. Tell your friends you have a Sony, and they will tell you if they see such offers. Even if they have another brand.

I managed to get my 50mm F1.4 and beercan within one month of having the A100. Just keep an eye out, and look in those old camera shops.

The 50mm F1.7 on the Sony A100 will have SuperSteadyShot; the Canon and Nikon do not have such a thing. Pentax has Anti-Shake on the body, too, and a lot of great second-hand old lenses too.



As for noise on the A100, yes it is noisy, but still Photoshop-able, and you can set it to ISO 400 and leave the rest to SuperSteadyShot. Need to capture action? There are second-hand F1.4 lenses.

The Lo80 and Hi200 rocks, by the way. Lo80 also sets the camera curves to save the shadows, while Hi200 saves the highlights from being blown out.

A Canon 300D user will complain about his ISO1600 also. Like hello! Tak puas.



The Nikon 55-200mm VR is darker, ending at F5.6. This will hamper your action shots where you need shutter speed, and VR won't help. The Nikkor 70-210mm F4 is a very rare thing indeed.

The closest Canon has to the beercan is the Canon 70-200mm F4L IS USM, which goes for around RM4000 if I remember.

Point-and-shoot and digital SLRs of the same brand CANNOT be compared. Some people with Nikon dSLRs prefer Canon P&S or Fujifilm P&S.

The Olympus 4/3rds lenses are very nice; they have a 7-14mm F4 (14-28mm equivalent) rectilinear lens which goes wider than everybody else except the Sigma 12-24mm on a Canon full-frame. They have F2.0 ZOOM lenses but those are way expensive, and you can be sure they will not be cheap or sold second-hand because 4/3rds is very new.

I made my choice after comparing A100, D70s and 400D. To be frank the noise level at ISO 800 and above is quiet high, but others than that it has more advantages compared to the other 2, which I still think it was a smart choice

Forget about 350D or D40 or unless you want to consider D80 or 30D.

Define 'more advantages' ... I assume you tested all the 3 models? Remember you paid Rm2000+ for it, not rm20+ oh

The advantages on A100:

(1) Anti-dust by coating and CCD shift.
(2) CCD Shift image stabilizer.
(3) 9 point AF.
(4) 10MP
(5) Direct Manual Focus(can turn to manual focus directly after auto focus)
(6) Program Shift in P mode
(7) ISO Zone matching(Lo 80 and Hi 200) - Low Key and High Key
(8) Aperture Preview Button
(9) 40 segments metering
(10) AEL turn to spot metering in toggle mode
(11) White balance with color temperature tuning(K)
(12) Dynamic Range Optimizer
(13) 2.5" LCD with 230K pixels.
(14) Burst mode 3fps unlimited
(15) Orientation sensor
(16) Long Battery Life (1600mAH or 750 shots)
(17) Eye start AF

5) and 10) ROCK! Tap the AEL button to immediately take a spot metering for perfect exposure in confusing lighting.

3) is very handy also because the joystick is 8-directional with a center AF button to choose the center point at any point. You won't be going up-left-left. The diagonal AF points are placed along the rule of thirds while the center five are shaped in a cross (which can be used to align landscapes). I never quite understood the Canon 350D's AF points.

I'd like to add:

18) custom white balance in Kelvin, and adjustable Green to Magenta (the Nikon D200 only has Kelvin but not Green/Magenta)
19) Wireless Pre-flash TTL (which Nikon copied and called the Creative Lighting System)
20) Auto ISO
21) Super Steady Shot meter tells you how steady you are. I call it a confidence/anti-chimp meter. 5-6 stops of SSS are possible if you can get it down to one bar.

The upcoming Sony will have more knobs and buttons like the Konica Minolta 7D, including the very handy AF/MF toggle button at your right thumb in addition to one in front ala Nikon.

Perhaps we could start a A-100 user thread, good to know that there's quite a number of users here.

ac98,

ya i did tried all 3. how about yourself? not siding any brand, but comparing these entry models it was an obvious choice for myself and I still have faith with Sony's potential in DSLR.

thanks citifish & albnok,

i was too lazy to list down the advantages

I read from the review that the Dynamic Range Optimizer set in advance mode is very promising, user comment?

wah, i didn't know so many people using a-100!
last time i saw the price quite cheap...still got promo or not?

Perhaps i should get a Sony Alpha ASAP and rename the thread to Sony Alpha Thread... then we can have a TT session for Alpha User... Rocks!

Good, then do that. Remember to write a review about it.

Lol... actually my review wont help much.... I think my review will be "good a... fast responce a..." coz i am a P n S user previously so i dunno how others DSLR perform actually... Remember, if i write a review... it is always my point of view from a point and shoot user, not from pro...

The DRO is useful when the lighting condition is hard, it is not like playing with exposure, it is some how like tuning the curve in the photoshop.

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/4241/edito...evel-dslrs.html

"An advanced level DSLR at the price of an entry level DSLR"

That's what I called a value for money purchase

This post has been edited by chongming76: Jun 24 2007, 07:40 AM

You can get the body at around RM2250 + about RM200 used kit lens(18-70).... some camera shops offer RM2799 for the package of 18-70 kit lens + GPS-CS1 and 4GB CF.... quite worth.

Hahaha... thankx calvin... thanks for promoting my gallery... yep.....That's my Sony Alpha Gallery & Sharp 903sh (read the EXIF for the info)...

My Gears are as follow:

Sony Alpha A100,
Minolta 50mm F1.7 (RS)
Minolta 28-75mm F2.8 (D)
Minolta 75-300mm F4.5 - 5.6 (D) [Silver/Gold]

For everyones info... Minolta G lens series is like Canon's L lens
These are them:
1. Minolta 28-70mm F2.8 G
2. Minolta 17-35mm F3.5 G (Equivalent to Canon's 17-40mm F4.0 L) See the minolta ???? it's F3.5.... ... canon's L @ F4.0... oh common.... (no offence lar)
3. Minolta 80-200mm APO F2.8 G (available in both HSM or non-HS* vers.) (there is a black vers. of 80-200mm F2.8 but that one is just without G, vry rare but most ppl would settle with that lens already)...
4. Sony has rebadged the 80-200mm to 70-200mm APO F2.8G SSM

The rest would be the portrait G lens of 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 135mm (if i'm not mistaken) all at least F2.8 (85mm, F1.4)

and the rest of the fixed telephoto G lens are 200mm, 300mm both at F2.8 G (also got HSM and non HSM vers.)

Have a nice day...

This post has been edited by vX-2: Jun 24 2007, 01:23 AM

Can i know if anyone of A100 owner interested with the 70-210 F4 beercan?

PM me

I not very familiar with Sony/KM lenses and acesories.

Do u know normally the beercan can fetch how much in the market? Coz i can bring in if i want

fyi, there's 16-35 f2.8 L for Canon and 17-35 f2.8 ED for Nikon too. minolta at f3.5? oh common

sheesh, dont diss other brands when you dont have to. we dont need fanboys here.

Cheh... i said no offence edi wud... lebihnya...

---

Added on June 24, 2007, 1:15 amerm... depends on the condition of the lens o.... like new? maybe RM 750... excellent condition RM650...

This post has been edited by vX-2: Jun 24 2007, 01:19 AM

ok, so that's the average price..

i'll notice u if i get the lens

hi,where u saw this price?btw this price seems like impossible mah....rm2700 with a100 + SAL 1870 + case + Kingston CF Elite Pro(50X).wah...the GPS-CS1(selling rm499) only rm100?

This post has been edited by williamngwl: Jun 24 2007, 08:03 PM

I saw the ad at Foto President at Penang QBM, never asked. For those who really interested let me know, i can help to ask for details.
For the CF I am not sure which brand and model.

Hello fella Alpha owners, I got 2 lens + 1 filter for sales, please visit at below:

(1) Cosina 28-105 F2.8-3.8

(2) Tamron 70-300 F4-5.6

(3)Hoya Close Up +4 (55mm)
For those who want cheap solution on Macro, this is the filter that matched to the 18-70 kit lens, I only used once at Butterfly Farm, you may search my gallery to look at the image quality.

This post has been edited by cityfish: Jun 24 2007, 09:48 PM

i wish to know more,if in this case,i also wish to get from him lo...wonder how that shop manage to sell in this price?

18-70 is a cheap lens with decent image quality, compare to other 18-55 kit lens, it performs better and it is vignetting free and also no visible purple fringing.

Unless you have more money to get the Tamron 17-50 F2.8, if not 18-70 will serve you for general purpose.

You have an option to get 18-200, all round lens that good for travel, but the image quality not that good and a bit slow. Second option is to get the 18-70 and a tele like 70-300(which I am letting it go) so to cover the whole range from 18-300. Until the day you require more from your camera or until the day you know which area you want to upgrade then you may choose other lens to replace.

go for the kit lens, its useful for travelling........then on top of it get the extras when u have the money..

Agree... did you sell your 18-70 anyway?

actually for good walk around lens the 18-200 is better choice, the pix quality is pretty decent, it's rather compact without the hood, a tad heavier but miles more flexible. if budget is a constrain the kit 18-70 is a good choice as it's one of the better ones compared to other brand

if $ is no problem - pack the body with the carl zeiss 16-80 - this lens is pretty much the darling of lenses for alpha now.

edit - if you dun mind 3rd party lens can check out the just launched 18-250 tamron - it's getting great review and i start seeing it on sale in malaysia lately

This post has been edited by kitman: Jun 25 2007, 04:11 PM

Thanks Please do msg me...

Errr.... i wouldnt opt for Range... I would advice to always go for constant aperture instead of Range... the difference is just spectacular...

I can get the A100 + 18-70 kit lens + GPS-CS1 for RM2700.

Interested? PM me.

agreed with vX-2, one lens is never enough (referring to 18-200 suggested by hitman).

if have enough budget, don't buy the kit lens, start with either Tamron 17-50/2.8 or CZ 16-80, i prefer Tamron for the constant aperture.

get a prime lens (Sony 50/1.4 or KM 50/1.7 or even Tamron 90/2.8SP macro) or a mid range tele (KM 70-210/4 highly recommended) later.

Actually, if you look at a F3.5-4.5 lens it can be read as averaging F4 aperture. That makes the 24-105mm F3.5-4.5 very versatile, and I often feel that 105mm is good enough on a walkaround.

The CZ 16-80mm has its merits for being very sharp wide open. If you want to shoot in low light, the 17-50mm F2.8 might not be bright enough, which is where a Sony 50mm F1.4, Sony 35mm F1.4G, Sigma 30mm F1.4 or Sigma 20mm F1.8 comes in.

However, given a choice between the 18-200mm and 18-250mm I'd choose the 18-250mm. Both are quite slow to focus and have darker apertures.

Hey Albert,

I think i saw u at Cineleisure last weekend. U are taking pic at the ground floor right? Btw, how many cam u have, so many bag u were using.

tom_k3nt: Next time say hi! (Though I wonder how you recognized me.)

I had two small bags la. The Lowepro Mini is one of the smallest camera bags for SLRs I see around. I like to split the load between two bags instead of one big bag.

Yeah I was using the wireless flash on top of the Transformer exhibits at Robotcon 2007 on the lower ground floor.

i am a blog reader... see ur pic on SmashPop blog before...
lol... summore he also using Alpha... so... i guess is u kua... hahahaha... next time will say Hi...

ya i think they are frens

Alpha member, I got another good lens to sell, it is brand new.

Cosina 70-210 F2.8-4

Click the link above.

This post has been edited by cityfish: Jul 2 2007, 12:18 AM

of cos the lenses you quoted above will perform better than the 18-200/18-250 but you got to consider you're going traveling and at times you want to travel light, dust on the sensor or simply in situation where you dun get to swap lens whenever you need more zooming power.

but if you ask me what will i get if i'm getting my camera now...... i will consider heavily the alpha + 16-80CZ but the 18-200/18-250 will come along soon haha. i know how i suffered when i went from my ultra zoom to my km5D + 18-70kit.

can you or sumbody mind to give more details bout the free classes.

im interested to know more , thx

~Alpha user soon

check this link
http://www.sony.com.my/workshop/home.asp

official workshops etc are posted there


here's the club alpha link
http://www.clubalpha.net/index.asp

This post has been edited by kitman: Jul 2 2007, 06:40 PM

I wouldnt really suggest that... in my opinion, changing lens is a must... otherwise, y u want to buy other lenses when u arent going to use them? Might as well not buy them at the 1st place, rite?

And changing lens is a skill too... 'pro' can swap their lens on the spot in minutes..

Also, u can consider using a good lens E.g. the 80-200mm F2.8, but just stand alil further from ur object and shoot... or stand on higher ground to avoid other 'photographers' that might be shooting at the same object.. by doing so, u can create a different angle as well... a sort of win-win situation..

but you do have a point... so it's all down to the photographers 'desired'.. quality vs. convenience..

just my 2 cent

This post has been edited by vX-2: Jul 2 2007, 08:52 PM

I think all of this is depend on how thick is our wallet....in foreign country it is common that a photographer owned whole bunch of lenses, when they go shooting, they will choose the correct lens to suit his/her theme. Imagine how grant will be if I can be like that....

For poor guy like me, I am not afford to buy so many lens, so I will take:

standard zoom: 18-70 (for general usage)
tele : 70-210 ( for special event and portrait)
wide angle prime (for street photo and portrait)
Macro( or cheap solution extension tube or close up filter)
External Flash

If you have more $$ power, you have even more variety of choices for you, like you can buy a 18-250 only to serve you when travelling.

As for me, this all round lens 18-250 is good for travel, but if you are not always travel, end up the lens will only sit in the dry box as you will not choose to bring it out for shooting when you have other better lens.

But if you have extra money to buy it, then why not?

haiyo ......i know someone surely will say buy dslr for flexibility to change lens but what i'm saying is there are some situation when you cannot do it as much as you like. i know pro can change lens in a flash .....but i'm not a pro

oh and sometimes you cannot stand further back..... try that on the steep angkor stairs, or when you do street shooting things happen impromptu so you may not have the opt to swap lens

......and these high zoom range lenses are not total write off in quality dept. they might not match your zeiss and g-lenses but they do have a place in the market or else they will not be one of the more popular lenses in the market. they do make a very good kit lens to start you off, when budget permit you can move on to prime, macros, g's, cz lenses - then you can opt to keep or sell lo

edit - agree with cityfish - it depends on individual needs. normally if i know i take certain pix i will bring lenses i need but if it's something unplanned or going for trips my 18-200 will be in the bag or cam. i'm not against changing lenses etc but i'm just giving my view on how useful a wide-tele lens can be when you go travelling

This post has been edited by kitman: Jul 2 2007, 09:59 PM

i went on the 30th June for their class：） and i can say the speaker is a pretty nice fella, i learned alot from the session. but now i m seriously in dilemma, canon 400d vs sony a100

This post has been edited by zeroexz: Jul 3 2007, 07:09 PM

get touch and play with both before you make a decision.

played with my friend's new 400D last weekend, and I am still happy with my choice, and my friend likes my A100

No need think liao... Just get Sony... Ever since i make up my mind... i feel so relax... now i only think where to get it cheaper rather than compare which brand to get...

i hvnt hv my hand on a 400d yet, i oni tried out the 350d, which the grip is really really small to me but its fine with the extra grip

i also tried the a100 during the alpha session, overall the cam is ok, jz the iso noise is abit high and also sony hv less 2nd hd accessories while new 1 are expensive.

overall i like the colour processor, kevin meter, anti shake of alpha over canon, but then canon offer cheaper and more lenses, accesories...especially 50mm f1.8 @rm290

btw, any comment u can give since u hv compared both cams?

tats the thing with me, couldnt made up my mind.at 1st i decided to canon, but then after the alpha session, i start doubting. may b i shud save abit more and go for d80 instead ( but its impossible)

This post has been edited by zeroexz: Jul 4 2007, 10:15 AM

The 350D has a horribly small grip, which I never realized until I tried a Canon 70-200mm F4L IS on it. My friend needed to get the battery grip to quickly flip to portrait orientation.

The A100, however, has no problem with the Minolta 70-210mm F4 beercan. Same weight also! I can quickly tilt it left OR right (which the battery grip won't let you do) with no strain. Frankly, you don't need a vertical grip unless you intend to put a 70-200mm F2.8 on it.

Don't know about you guys, but I think the Sony has the best AF point layout, with diagonal sensors on the rule-of-thirds.

Shooting along the rule-of-thirds also helps a lot with hyperfocal focusing, but that's quite hard to understand unless you shot landscapes with manual focus cameras.

Don't forget that the Sony 50mm F1.4 at RM1300 or less is helped by SuperSteadyShot. The combination of bright lens, high ISO and SSS lets you shoot in darker places. Roadside mamaks. Theater performances. Gigs. Dinners (without flash!) Slow shutter night scenes with flash (with less motion blur in the background).

The people who say you don't need image stabilization are the same people who say "let's go to the zoo, so we can bring out our cameras!" and then keep them away in the evening because it's too dark for them to shoot anything.

I bring my camera everywhere. SSS helps me out a lot. Pop the kit lens on and shoot a evening scene without a tripod at 1/4s. No problem! Crispy details ensured.

How about room lighting? For those with a point-and-shoot with manual control, or a dSLR, try to shoot a newspaper at full wide, F3.5 ISO400 without flash. You might find you get a shutter speed of 1/4s. Without stabilization you'd get smudged text. The immediate "I can pick up my camera and shoot this!" feeling of having stabilization is great!