Cameracraft

Sony GPS-CS1 tracker and software

Posted on June 16, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

THE FIRST QUESTION anyone asks about the Sony GPS-CS1 device is whether it will work with their non-Sony digital camera. The answer is yes but you may need to buy some extra software, as it only comes with software to link up to Sony Picture Motion Browser. If you can ensure that you buy the product sold as GPS-CS1KA it should include a copy of this software in full. If you buy the product coded only as GPS-CS1, it may have nothing apart from a patch-updater program you are supposed to use with your existing Sony installation. So make sure you know exactly what you are buying (there appears to be no price difference, and very few retailers are making any distinction between the two bundles). There seems to be no reason to continue offering the kit with the updater only. Continue reading »

Accessories - Minolta/Sony, Equipment Reviews, Software Reviews

Studio light-table technique

Posted on June 15, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

YOU MAY want to learn exactly how I shoot the product photographs which appear in my own articles here at Photoclubalpha. I use a studio light table with an opal plexiglass transilluminated scoop. This is the method I have used now for over 25 years and it’s saved me a lot of time, and earned me a lot of money.

Accessories - Minolta/Sony, DK's ramblings, Equipment Reviews, Photo Techniques, Studio

The Lensbaby 3G creative zonal focus tilt-swing lens

Posted on June 14, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

THE LENSBABY was a novelty item when first introduced as a low-cost meniscus lens mounted on a flexible concertina tube with an SLR mount-fitting at the other end. Like the Diana or Holga cameras sometimes used by professionals to capture a feel of post-modern grunge, it used aberrations creatively. Continue reading »

Accessories - Minolta/Sony, Equipment Reviews, Lenses - Alpha Mount

Flash choices for the Alpha DSLRs

Posted on June 12, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

TESTING the flash options most widely sold for the Minolta/Sony unique hot shoe system became a necessity after the launch of the Alpha 100. Despite the reliability of automatic TTL off-the-film flash metering ever since Minolta first introduced it with the Auto Electroflash PX series in 1981, things began to go wrong with the shift to digital SLRs. Continue reading »

Accessories - Minolta/Sony, Equipment Reviews, Flash units, Troubleshooting

The Haoda split-image/microprism screen

Posted on June 9, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

HAODA FU has been supplying alternative focusing screens for the 5D and A100 since 2006 and for many other makes before this. While the Alpha system DSLRs are not intended to have user-changeable screens, it is relatively easy and risk-free. Continue reading »

Accessories - Minolta/Sony, Cameras (DSLR)

Shaken… and slightly stirred

Posted on June 2, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

I CARRY a camera everywhere, because you never know when a good photograph is round the corner. I also just grab the camera from my office, and rarely think to check the settings. Today, I managed to shoot everything with Super Steady Shot (Anti-Shake) carefully switched off on my Alpha 100. Continue reading »

Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, Lenses - Alpha Mount, Photo Techniques, Troubleshooting

The colours of County Cork

Posted on June 1, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

IN 2006 before the Sony Alpha 100 was launched, my Dynax 7D went on its last serious travel shoot, spending a short week in the south-west of Ireland. Continue reading »

Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, Minolta History

Wireless flash home aquarium shots

Posted on May 31, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

IT IS not a good idea to have flash cables trailing around an aquarium, and the typical home setup will not be suitable for available light shooting Continue reading »

Photo Techniques

Want your Alpha to look like an EOS?

Posted on May 30, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

DxO OPTICS PRO 4.1 is the latest version of a clever raw file processor which includes lens lookup tables to auto-correct distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration. It also lets you alter the look of Dynax or Alpha images so they match popular films – or other DSLRs by Canon and Nikon! Continue reading »

Software Reviews

No chance of widening my horizons…

Posted on May 29, 2007 By David Kilpatrick

SOME time ago I got hold a Soligor Pro 0.75X converter – a front-of-lens job. This is not something anyone should consider using on a DSLR. The Soligor was a bit different because it cost nearly as much as the ACW-100 wide angle converter for the Konica Minolta A1/A2/A200, which does an excellent job, and fitted a 62mm filter thread. That’s about the largest rear thread on any converter I have seen. Continue reading »

DK's ramblings

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