Cameracraft magazine – Taking your practical photography further
Here’s an article on our sister website, dPhotoexpert, which may interest Photoclubalpha readers who shoot for libraries or on-line stock sites:
30 key points about stock photography | dPhotoexpert.
This video was made on December 23rd using the Alpha 55 (AVCHD recording) hand held, with SS enabled, and the Carl Zeiss 16-80mm zoom. This video has been uploaded in full 1080p HD and can be viewed at high resolution if you have a fast enough connection. The soundtrack is a classical guitar piece I wrote ten years ago, on the last day of the year 2000, when snow was falling by moonlight which I guess the music represents a bit better than mid-day.
Some camera-mic sound has been left in place for two of the takes, and the shot of the stone wall uses active phase detection AF during video. This was not possible for most takes, as the snowflakes falling made the focus constantly change as they passed the focus zones!
Hope you enjoy it! The camera got very wet with snow – you can see where flakes landed on the lens filter – and ended up being wiped down many times. Eventually, after going into a shop for a few minutes, everything steamed up. But it seems fine after letting it dry out and warm up. It was not very cold, around 1°C for snow to be falling like this.
– David
David Kilpatrick’s review of the Sony Alpha 580 includes detailed comparisons of features and functions with other Sony DSLR, SLT and NEX cameras
via The Alpha 580 – a three-way view.
Once I had a quarterplate hand-and-stand camera, vintage 1920s. Attached to the front standard was a small reflex viewfinder, giving a miniature composition you could use at waist or chest level. On the same standard was a folding wire frame, with a companion eye-sighting window flipping up from the side of the body. This gave a direct view from eye level. But for the most accurate framing and focusing, a groundglass screen at back could be used with the shutter open and a viewing hood folded out.
Those three ways of viewing have never been available in a modern SLR. Until now! The Alpha 580 (for which you can also read 560 throughout this review, give or take the sensor) is the first modern SLR to offer three entirely different viewfinder systems, all with their own unique focus and exposure methods. There have been cameras made by Alpa and Praktina which had optical finders tucked in alongside their pentaprism, and Rollei invented a finder which could switch from eye-level to waist level at the flick of a lever. But the Alpha 580 offers three through-the-lens systems and it’s unlikely any DSLR will do so again.
This is a 10-page article – please use the navigation bar at the bottom to move on to the next page, or click the ‘Continue Reading’ link to view as a single long article (this function is not very reliable though and may produce an ‘undefined’ error)
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It’s taken me a long time to get round to writing a review of the Alpha 55. You don’t get to use a new type of camera very often, and this camera blends elements which have all been used before in a completely new way. This review is pretty from the point of view of the still photographer not the video shooter. This is a multi page report. There’s a lot of it. Please use the navigation for pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and on to keep the pages a reasonable size – even if it’s rather hard to spot it… or click the Read More link to get it as one big scrolling monster.
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Raw conversion for the Sony Alpha 560 and 580 models is now available from Adobe. Adobe has released the final ‘cut’ of Lightroom 3.3 and Camera Raw 6.3, along with other improvements on December 7th and a Bridge update which was released a week ago:
December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh
December 7, 2010
December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh
December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh
December 7, 2010
Windows | Macintosh
November 30, 2010
Windows | Macintosh
A firmware upgrade that refines shooting responses and creative options for the α900 and α850 35mm full-frame DSLR cameras has been released by Sony. All new and existing customers are advised to install the upgrade, available to download from the ‘Support’ area of the Sony web site.
Autofocus is quicker and more responsive than ever, thanks to improved AF motor control and smarter distance detection of out-of-focus objects.
Creative options are extended by a broadened range of exposure value (EV) compensation settings, now increased from ±3EV to ±5EV. Selected compensation value is displayed in the navigation display on the main LCD screen of both cameras. This boosted EV compensation range gives extra headroom when composing extremely high- or low-key images.
Exposure bracketing range has also been increased from a maximum of 4.0EV (three shots at -2EV, 0EV, +2EV) to a maximum of 6.0EV (-3EV, 0EV, +3EV). This wider range gives added flexibility when capturing multiple frames at different exposure values – for example when acquiring images for the creation of powerful post-shooting HDR effects. Please note that the bracketing still does not include 1EV steps as an option (the widest range of ‘normal’ bracketing is 5 frames at 0.7EV) and the +/- 2 or 3 EV options remain as wide-spaced three shot sequences only; there is no provision for the most desirable HDR settings such as -3 to +3 in 1EV intervals, a seven-frame set.
As a further refinement, a new menu option allows shutter release to be enabled, even when the camera body doesn’t detect an attached lens. It’s useful for specialist applications such as astrophotography when the camera is attached to a telescope.
The latest firmware upgrade by Sony for registered α900 and α850 DSLR customers is available free of charge from the Sony EUROPE site for European owners.
Asia support server direct links:
Alpha 900 http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/product/dslr-a900/modelfirst
Alpha 850 http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/product/dslr-a850/modelfirst
Australian support server direct links:
http://www.sony.com.au/support/productcategory/dslr+camera
and see the ‘Latest Downloads’ tab
The US download was not available six hours after the announcement, but should be found through this page: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=DSLRA900&SelectOS=50
These zip archives contain Unix (camera processor executable) files called DSCA850.APP or DSCA900.APP. These are the components which must be copied on to a newly formatted camera memory card. Once the camera is turned on with the Menu button depressed, as instructed, the update takes roughly 1 minute 30 seconds to complete, after which the camera displays a restart screen for about 15 seconds before rebooting.
There is some risk involved in using firmware which is non-specific for your camera’s region, but owners are not reporting any problems. Be aware that once you have installed the firmware, from whatever region, it is not possible to revert or to re-install your own region’s firmware. However, it seems likely that there is no difference between regional versions other than Japanese.
November 30, 2010 — SanDisk Corporation, Sony Corporation and Nikon Corporation today announced the joint development of a set of specifications that address the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash® Association (CFA)*, the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format.
Professional photography and High Definition (HD) video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Sony and Nikon proposed a new card specification Continue reading »
Available now for download, a free firmware upgrade adds autofocus support with 14 A-mount SAM and SSM lens models. AF compatibility of the NEX-VG10E with A-mount lenses requires the optional LA-EA1 Mount Adaptor, plus a separate firmware upgrade for the LA-EA1.
Man using NEX-VG10E with 18-200mm OSS lens and mic windshield, in Fuerteventura last week. Alphaspotted by Shirley Kilpatrick.
The upgrade lets videographers enjoy smooth, accurate AF operation with the family of A-mount optics that includes telephotos, primes and zooms by Sony and Carl Zeiss.
The latest firmware upgrade by Sony for registered Handycam® NEX-VG10E customers is available free of charge from http://support.sony-europe.com/dime/camcorders/hd/msc/msc.aspx?&m=NEX-VG10E.
Editor’s comment: AF is already offered by the NEX-3 and NEX-5 with the adaptor and the same group of SAM and SSM lenses. However, it could not really be described as ‘smooth, accurate’ – more like ‘just acceptable’. So perhaps the VG10E’s firmware fix is a better one and perhaps a further firmware release may arrive improving A-mount AF with the 3 and 5.
Sony Corporation announced today that it is developing a new type of E-mount interchangeable lens camcorder for professional use that is equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent large format CMOS sensor. This new addition to Sony’s professional “NXCAM” line will be available in the middle of 2011.
Editor’s Note: Super-35mm is not full frame 35mm. The 35mm movie format is what we call half-frame in still photography, or a little over 18 x 24mm – a size very close to the nominal 16 x 24mm of the DT/DX format used by Sony for APS-C sensors. Sony may decide to use a normal APS-C sensor for this, or to use a true 16:9 ratio for HD Video. However, Super-35mm normally means a squarer image format. No doubt internet forums will be full of folk claiming that Sony has gone full frame frame on the E-mount just like they said, etc etc – well, that is not the case. Super-35mm does not mean full frame (technically, double frame 35mm).
But this sensor may be significantly larger than existing APS-C, at a possible 25 x 18.5mm rather than 23.5 x 15.5mm or thereabouts (please note that one APS-C sensor is already quoted as being 16 x 24mm). Alpha A-mount lenses will of course cover this easily; E-mount NEX lenses may have been designed to do so from the start, though it may be pushing it to expect corner quality unless OS is disabled. By definition, all OS-type lenses must have a larger circle of coverage than the format they are designed for – often considerably larger. Turning off OS would enable any properly designed OS lens to cover a bigger sensor without any corner vignetting or loss of sharpness.
Remember where you read this first – 17.30hrs on November 17th! – DK
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