Wot! Congratz on V21! OK, another shot from my trip to China:

Enter the dragon!

I had to switch DRO off to get the dark silhouette! So strong was the DRO effects of the A700.

This post has been edited by kysham: Feb 13 2009, 01:16 AM

I wasn't too bothered with the metering actually. I just used manual and adjusted the shutter speed & aperture until I get this desired effect (it was a rare occasion where I had some time to spare...). I had tried higher shutter speeds also, but I ended up with the sky being too dark for my liking. I thought this shot was just nice, almost completely blacked out the details on the dragon.

I used DRO to boost the details in the shadows. Meaning you will not get completely darkened off shadows. And the +5 indicates that the DRO was set at the highest level (meaning the camera was trying to extract the most details out of your photo). But you have to be careful because if your shot was underexposed (on purpose or otherwise), then DRO will induce a significant amount of noise into the shot.

DRO only works on jpeg files though. It doesn't have any effects on the RAW files.

Yes, I could try to underexpose the shot even more if I wanted the silhouette completely black. But like I said, the sky would had been too dark for my taste. Either that, or I wait for an even later time to shoot this same photo (which I wasn't too keen on). It was a setting sun, not a rising sun for this shot. But yeah, thanks for your tips. Will keep that in mind.

... and talk about gears. It is true that both Canon & Nikon had came out with video recording for some of their dslr cameras. And I foresee this trend will continue to grow. It was like what happened with liveview just a couple of years ago. Look at where the liveview technology is nowadays! Sony didn't go with the convention when they created their own liveview system. The innovation in Sony's liveview system was that it uses a separate, smaller sensor to generate the liveview picture stream. This enables the Sony cameras to focus just as fast in liveview mode as normal, non-liveview mode. You will notice that the liveview system used by Canon & Nikon will always entails a certain amount of focusing lag because they employed the actual image capturing sensor of the camera (hence defeating the conventional, much faster AF system in these cameras in the process).

Of course, in adopting the liveview system that Sony used at the moment, they paid the price of their liveview system not being able to record any video in HD mode (since the picture streamed in the liveview mode is not a high resolution stream).

So there you have it. The reason why it will not be easy for Sony to simply just add in HD video recording into the present crop of alpha cameras. But we may never know. Perhaps the next incarnation of alpha cameras will use another method to achieve HD video recording. You think Sony will want to sit still and do nothing about this new fad? I won't bet my money on thatt.....

One thing for sure, I won't decide on a camera because it has HD video recording or not. The same reason I won't decide on a camera based on if it has liveview or not. I simply don't use it enough to put it as a main reason to get a dslr. I want video, I will get a proper video cam. If I want liveview.... well, I don't really want liveview!

... again about lenses. Don't worry lah, Sony's lenses line-up is already bulging up. Sony already has the most desirable line-up of Carl Zeiss autofocus lenses that users of other systems can only drool about. The CZ2470 + A900 combo alone had caused quite a lot of working pros to switch system or maintain a 2 system working line-up. Read about it on the net. I didn't make this up myself. I think even albnok witnessed with his own eyes a working pro (who was using a full fledged Nikon system) who bought an A900.

Bottom line is, don't worry about who is jumping ship to which system. The important part is you and I are enjoying our times taking photos with our cameras. That's what count. Let Sony worry about other people not picking up the Alpha system. We are already on board, so lets relax and enjoy photography!

OK, I'm too long winded liao. Just want to release a long essay upon you guys before I hit the sack. Good night guys.

bagi hantam dia panjang2.....!

ok lah. tido time. good night guys!

Don't worry about commenting on my photos. I love comments. It helps me improve. It is not like as if I'm the best photographer in the world and that I posted up my shots to impress you guys. Come on.... I posted it up to share and hopefully if you guys have any idea how to improve it, then you guys can give me the suggestion to improve it, like what bro vikingw2k and yourself is doing. I like it!

And you are right about the bottom of the photo being a bit messy. Hmm... I was trying to give it a bit of "ground" to anchor the dragon. Actually I initially called this photo "The Rise of the Dragon" in my flickr site. But looks like the "ground" part where the dragon is supposed to rise from is a bit too messy. Thanks for the pointers!

I once took a photo while I was inside a public toilet! Well, the view outside the public toilet @ 438 meters high was spectacular! So yes, try to bring your camera with you as much as possible. You never know when photo opportunity will come!

This post has been edited by kysham: Feb 13 2009, 09:55 AM

shootkk, if you let the FF poison flow in your body for too long without cure, then it will become maligned....

LTDL = Le Tour de Langkawi

First question: Why do you want to do that?

Welcome to the Alpha family!

Pro1D is the higher spec filters from HOYA. They feature some coatings on the filter's glass to help cut flare and improve contrast. That's why it is more expensive. The HMC range is cheaper but is more susceptible to flare & ghosting. I would recommend you to go for the Pro1D version if you are willing to spend on filters.

Do you have any other lenses in your Nikon system other than the original kitlens that came with the D60? If yes, and you wished to keep them, then I think an upgrade to another higher grade Nikon is a better option. But looking at the 2 photos you got, I can understand why you would want a large aperture 50mm lens. If that's the reason, then I don't see why you would want to buy a twin lens kit for the A200. Might as well buy the single lens kit and use the saved money to buy a 2nd hand 50mm f1.7 (cost around RM500, used) for your low light work. And yes, you get built in vibration reduction even with the 50mm lens! That helps in your low light work too!

I think some of the guys in KL (I'm not from around KL. Me in KK ) are saying the street price of A200 single lens kit is RM14xx. Add a 50mm for around RM500 and you are looking at a decent, fully image stabilized system for less than RM2k! And yes... a 2nd hand Minolta 50mm will work just fine on the A200, with image stabilization working at full functionality.

oi, oi.... dun go and report me like that lar.....

You don't know who is TED ADNAN?!?!?!

by the way, he also has the A700 & A900.... as well as a Nikon D3.....

Ryzan, nanti kita test-test CZ mu tu ok?

The 35mm f1.8 Nikkor lens is a specific DX (i.e. APS-C) lens. I see it is retailing for USD199 in the states.... That is around RM720 in Malaysia money (assuming a conversion rate of 3.60). That is pretty cheap for a brand new lens. Although... you don't get image stabilization with that lens.....

a-mount = Sony Alpha mount = lenses made for the Sony Alpha system

wow ihsan, hope to see you back in the alpha realm soon.

Oi vamsurfer, where got tycoon lah.... typhoon ada lah!

I think most of us from around KK (and in Ryzan's case, Kudat) is going for the workshop. You going kah? I sms'd you that day regarding registering for the workshop online. You got it right?