Cameracraft magazine – Taking your practical photography further

Tag: stabilisation

  • Sony A6500 – IBIS, touch screen, 200k shutter, €1700 body

    Sony’s official press release – we’re working here on magazines with deadlines tonight so this is unedited hot news. Enjoy!

    a6500_fe2470gm_right_image-large

    Sony today introduced its new flagship APS-C sensor camera, the Î±6500 (model ILCE-6500). As the latest addition to Sony’s line-up of award winning mirrorless cameras, the new Î±6500 shares the same unrivaled 4D FOCUSℱ system as the α6300 camera, which can lock focus on a subject in as little as 0.05 seconds, the world’s fastesti AF acquisition time. Also shared with the α6300, the new Î±6500features 425 phase detection AF points that are densely positioned over nearly the entire image area – the world’s highestii number of AF points on any interchangeable lens camera. The new model can shoot images at up to 11 frames per second with continuous autofocus and exposure tracking and up to 8 frames per second in a live-view shooting mode that makes it easy to track fast moving subjects, as it combines all of the benefits of an electronic viewfinder with the immediacy of an optical viewfinder.

    The camera can shoot at these high speeds for up to 307 frames[iii] thanks to its expanded buffer, which, along with the fast response speeds described above, are all achieved with the support of a new front-end LSI chip that has been added to the camera. This new front-end LSI also serves to enhance both still and video image quality.

    Additionally, the new Î±6500 features Sony’s acclaimed in-camera 5-axis optical image stabilisation, making it the first Sony APS-C sensor camera to offer all of the benefits of advanced in-body stabilisation, which include a shutter speed advantage of approximately 5 steps[iv]. It also offers touchscreen AF capabilities for focus point selection and adjustment.

    Unmatched AF Capability

    Sony’s new Î±6500 camera utilises the same 4D FOCUS system as the α6300 – a Fast Hybrid AF system that combines high-speed phase detection AF with extremely accurate contrast AF and allows it to capture and lock on to moving subjects in as little as 0.05 secondsi. It also features 425 phase detection AF points and High-density Tracking AF Technology, which significantly improves subject detection and tracking performance.

    New for the Î±6500, thanks to faster internal processing capabilities enabled by the front-end LSI, the maximum buffer for high-speed continuous shooting is an impressive 307 framesiii, greatly increasing the chances to catch that decisive moment.

    The camera’s 425 phase detection AF points, focusing tracking and accuracy are also available when using non-native A-mount lenses[v] with Sony’s LA-EA3 mount adaptor. Additionally, it includes silent shooting, Eye AF in AF-C mode, AF in focus magnifier modes, Expand Flexible Spot AF and more.

    5-axis Image Stabilisation Provides 5 Steps Shutter Speed Advantage

    One of the most exciting developments in the new Î±6500 is the implementation of 5-axis image stabilisation for the first time in a Sony APS-C sensor camera. Additionally, through a total revision of the internal design of the camera, this newly developed stabilisation system fits entirely within a body that is nearly the same size as the α6300 model.[vi] This innovative 5- axis system provides a shutter speed advantage of 5 steps,iv ensuring the full resolving power of the sensor can be realised, even in challenging lighting.

    The shake compensation provided by the system works with a variety of lenses, including E-mount lenses without OSS (Optical SteadyShot) stabilisation and A-mount lenses[vii] when used with a compatible mount adapter. When an E-mount lens with OSS is mounted, pitch and yaw are compensated in the lens and horizontal, vertical and roll axes are compensated in the camera body, resulting in optimal 5-axis stabilisation.vii

    Also, with a simple half press of the shutter button, the effect of the image stabilisation can be monitored in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen, allowing framing and focus to be accurately checked and continually monitored. This is available even when a lens is attached that does not have built-in shake compensation.

    New Touch Screen Focusing

    The new Î±6500 comes equipped with touch screen functionality, allowing users to lock focus on a subject simply by touching it on the screen. This is a powerful compliment to its advanced AF system and video shooting capabilities.

    Additionally, in a first for Sony cameras, the Î±6500 features touchpad functionality. When utilising the viewfinder for framing and shooting, the LCD screen can be used as a touch pad. Simply drag a finger across the screen to shift the focus point from one area to another.

    Powerful 24.2 MPviii Exmor CMOS Sensor, BIONZ XÂź Processor and New Front-End LSI

    The new Î±6500 features an APS-C sized 24.2 MP[viii] Exmor CMOS sensor that works together with a BIONZ X image processor and the newly developed front-end LSI to maximise processing power and achieve an impressive sensitivity range of ISO 100-51200.[ix]

    The image sensor employs a thin wiring layer and large photodiode substrate that maximises light collection efficiency, plus copper wiring in its structure for outstanding read-out speed. The BIONZ X image processor and newly developed front-end LSI ensure superior image and video quality with low noise even when using higher ISO settings, in particular those at high sensitivity values where other cameras typically struggle. The LSI is also responsible for the expanded buffer depth for continuous shooting.

    Professional Video Capabilities

    The new Î±6500 becomes the latest Sony interchangeable lens camera to offer internal 4K movie recording, as it can shoot 4K (3840x2160p) video in the popular Super 35mm format on the full width of the image sensor. When shooting in this format, the camera uses full pixel readout without pixel binning to collect 6K of information – approximately 2.4x[x] (20 MP equivalent) as many pixels as 4K UHD and then oversamples the information to produce high quality 4K footage with exceptional detail and depth.

    Additionally, the Î±6500 will focus exceptionally fast during movie shooting thanks to its Fast Hybrid AF system, offers touch focusing for professionally smooth focus shifts, whilst also offering adjustable AF transition speed and AF tracking sensitivity. The camera supports the XAVC S codec[xi] during video shooting, which records at a high bit rate of up to 100 Mbps during 4K recording and 50 Mbps during Full HD shooting, ensuring maximum detail and clarity in both video formats.

    Other professional calibre video features include the ability to record Full HD at 100fps at up to 100 Mbps, which allows footage to be reviewed and eventually edited into 4x slow motion video files in Full HD (25p) resolution with AF tracking.

    New on the Î±6500 is the incorporation of a ‘Slow and Quick’ (S&Q) mode that supports both slow motion and quick motion. In this mode, frame rates from 1 fps to 100fps can be selected in 8 steps for up to 50x quick motion and 4x slow motion recording[xii]. Footage shot in this mode can be previewed after shooting without the need for PC-based post processing.

    The camera also offers S-Log gamma recording[xiii] for wide dynamic range shooting – approximately 14-stop latitude in S-Log3 gamma setting – and supports S-Gamut for a wider colour space. Both options allow for greater creativity for processing video post-production.

    Shooters also now have the ability to select, extract and save still images from movie footage directly on the camera. Approximately 8 MP images and 2 MP images can be pulled from 4K modes and Full HD modes, respectively.

    Enhanced Operability and Reliability 

    The new Î±6500 has a refined design, maintaining the mobility of the α6000 series while adapting much of the usability of Sony’s acclaimed α7 II series. The new model features the same high contrast, high-resolution 2.4 million dot XGA OLED Tru-Finder as the α6300 that offers exceptional corner-to-corner visibility.

    New hardware features on the Î±6500 include a magnesium alloy body and a high-durability shutter with a tested life span of approximately 200,000 release cycles.[xiv] It also has several design features that are borrowed from the α7 II series of full-frame cameras, which include a robust lens mount, a recessed grip to improve handling, a larger release button and ten total custom buttons including ‘C1’, ‘C2’ and ‘C3’. It also has an improved operation feel for its mode and control dials and rear face buttons, as well as a softer eyepiece cup for more comfortable usage.

    On the software front, there is a new overall user interface, which allows for a much smoother process for searching and adjusting menu settings, as well two new metering modes – Highlight, where exposure metering is focused on the brightest area of the frame, and Entire Screen Avg, which maintains an average metering for the entire image.

    The camera is Wi-FiÂź, QR and NFC compatible and fully compatible with Sony’s PlayMemories Mobileℱ applications[xv] available for Androidℱ and iOS platforms, as well as Sony’s growing range of PlayMemories Camera Appsℱ. The Î±6500 also offers location data acquisition via a Bluetooth[xvi]connection to a compatible mobile device and an updated menu structure to deliver a smoother navigational experience.

    Pricing and Availability

    The new Sony Î±6500 interchangeable lens camera will be available in Europe in December priced at approximately €1,700 body only or €2,800 with SEL1670Z lens. Full product details can be seen here. The current Î±6000 will also see a new colour introduction in Europe in December with the model also available in Graphite Grey.

    The new content will also be posted directly at the global Sony Photo Gallery and the Sony Camera Channel on YouTube.

    [i]Among interchangeable-lens digital cameras equipped with an APS-C image sensor as of October 2016, based on Sony research, measured using CIPA-compliant guidelines, and internal measurement method with an E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens mounted, Pre-AF off and viewfinder in use.

    [ii]Among digital cameras as of October 2016, based on Sony research.

    [iii]With “Hi” continuous shooting mode and “Fine” image quality.

    [iv]Based on CIPA standard. Pitch/yaw shake only. With Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA lens mounted. Long exposure NR off.

    [v]A-mount lenses with SSM or SAM only. Users can choose phase-detection AF or contrast-detection AF in AF System menu. “Phase-detection AF” is not available during movie shooting. AF-C in AF System menu is available only with “Contrast-detection AF” selected, but no motion tracking is performed during continuous shooting (Hi+, Hi, Mid).

    [vi]Excluding grip, frontal-view size and main body thickness are the same as for the α6300

    [vii]All 5-axis stabilisation is performed in-camera when SEL90M28G is mounted

    [viii]Approximate effective MP

    [ix]Standard ISO range: 100-25600 for stills and movies. Expandable up to ISO 51200 for stills only.

    [x]In 25p recording.

    [xi]SDHC/SDXC memory card of Class 10 or higher is required for movie recording in XAVC S format. UHS-I (U3) SDHC/SDXC card is required for 100Mbps recording.

    [xii]Sound cannot be recorded. SDHC/SDXC memory card of Class 10 or higher is required.

    [xiii]S-Log2 and S-Log3 are premised on processing pictures

    [xiv]With the electronic front curtain shutter, under internal test conditions of Sony.

    [xv]Use the latest version of PlayMemories Mobile

    [xvi]Can be connected via Bluetooth with smartphones featuring (as of the date of release):

    • -Android (Android 5.0 or later, Bluetooth 4.0 or later
    • – iPhone/iPadiPhone 4S or later/iPad 3rd generation or later
     

  • Alpha 900 – finder and frames

    It’s not going to be long before we see the Alpha 900, and some cameras are known to be out there on trial in the hands of Sony staff and pre-release testers. I am not one, so rest assured, this is not a leak! What can you expect from the Alpha 900’s full-frame prism finder?

    (Note: this post was written in early August – it is now 100% certain that the finder is 100%, and at 0.74X magnification will be – as had been hinted – the largest of all current DSLR finders in apparent visual terms except the EOS 1Ds Mk III which is 0.76X. Comparisons: EOS 5D 0.68X, Nikon D3 0.70X)    .

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  • Shaken… and slightly stirred

    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.

    In the studio, or when making tests, I may switch SSS off. It’s not needed or desirable with tripod shots, or flash. In fact it can spoil tripod shots by reacting incorrectly to reflected vibrations. Now I have been reminded that I should switch it back on the moment the tripod or flash shoot is finished. That’s what I mean by slightly stirred. Memory stirred. Or intentions. Whether I will remember and intend is another matter.

    I only photographed three situations when spending a couple of hours in Edinburgh. I parked near the mosque, which happens to be surrounded by good cafés and close to a music shop I wanted to visit. Ten minutes waiting for good sun on the mosque itself failed me, but in walking on my route I passed a university building with carefully preserved old signs:

    Signs of the past

    This is not a ‘good’ photograph but like many I take, it may have a value to someone writing about architecture, history, or conservation. I’ll revisit it on a better day. It was taken at 16mm on the CZ 16-80mm, carefully focusing at 35mm before zooming back to 16mm, as the lens never focuses accurately at the extreme wide end on the A100. The exposure was a very safe 1/100th at f/10. Even so, the image is not as sharp as I have come to expect from routine hand-held shooting with SSS enabled.

    In a café for a quick lunch, the scene in front of me struck me as pretty good with one internet wifi connection user concentrating on his laptop. A longish first exposure reminded me to switch to ISO 400, but I didn’t check the SSS switch. Nor did I manage to focus any of four different shots as intended. The AF despite being set for centre focus tended to hit the background scene. The CZ, despite being the best lens around optically, is not making friends with me right now.

    Laptop cafe group

    While the lighting is natural, it’s not what I needed for an internet café scene which might find a use in my markets – serious newspapers, magazines, and books or websites wanting natural-looking real life shots. The Black Medicine Coffee Co offers entirely free wifi, and I guess a return visit from time to time might produce a better image. I am happy with the compositional flow, the relative positions of the heads (the elements to which the eye is drawn) but it’s not the best shot, just the best focus.

    However, on departing I visited the subterranean loo (Edinburgh basements generally provide loo space) and passed a truly classic composition, partly created by the café’s own decor and lighting, and partly by a perfectly poised Mac Powerbook user with a glowing Apple symbol and a scatter of still-life elements in best Dutch school arrangement!

    Laptop cafe lady

    While I will shoot a group of people without asking, I won’t aim my lens at a single individual without the courtesy of asking permission. There was no problem apart from folk milling about between my lens and my sitter, who was asked just to keep working and not worry about the camera. But, aware that I should work quickly and not take endless pix, I once again failed to spot the SSS was turned off. The exposure was running at around 1/25th wide open, at the long end of the lens. In Leica or Minolta CLE days I would not have thought twice, I could hand-hold this, but I would have taken great care. Breathe in, calm the body’s natural sway, squeeze the shutter smoothly. SSS has made me careless. Also, the small viewfinder of modern DSLRs has made me less aware of focus. For reasons everyone will know, the central focus locked on to the wall, not my subject. I thought I had locked and recomposed, but perhaps the lens made a final tweak and revised my setting. At f/4.5, this was enough to take the edge off the shot. Like it or not, there was shake. All three frames I shot showed shake, one so badly it was not usable. The chosen shot here was on the verge of being unusable when enlarged to A3+ picture library dimensions:

    Section of laptop cafe

    This gives a very unfair view of the shot, since it is enlarged to 17.5 megapixels, and when output to a size suitable for a 6 x 4 inch print it’s as sharp as you could want. We used to try to judge images from 6 x 4 prints. Now, we really can see that bit of directional shake and that focus error. Even so, with the softness and slight ISO 400 noise, it has a painterly look and will go in the library.

    But can anything better be done?

    Photoshop provides an answer. One of the very oldest Artistic Effect filters, Watercolour Paint, is a favourite of mine for prints on watercolour type paper from images which are small, or have focus errors, or noise. It quantises the image into blobby posterized zones with ragged bleed edges and a random overlap. Applied to a shot like this, it also creates perfectly sharp edges to the face and hair, while brightening the eye-whites and the Apple logo. The overall image processed through the Watercolour Paint filter (settings 9, 1, 0) loses any of the distracting imbalance between the sharper painted wall and the portrait element. It also looks uncannily like many of the real art prints on show just over the road from the café! Slightly Vettriano in feel, with solid blacks and simple outlines. Here is a section, after watercolour processing:

    Watercolour at 600

    If you click the photo, you will open a full sized clip (at the size suitable for A3 to A2 printing on watercolour paper). The artificial edges created by the watercolour filter are most effective, and it handles the colour in skin tones well despite producing a dense black for the hair and charcoal shades for the shoulder wrap.

    Obviously there are very few images where this is appropriate treatment, and it is an off-the shelf filter, which makes it not really your own creative work. There are some other options – programs like Painter, and sets of special effect filters – but the same can be said of these as well. In the end, if the process applied to an image makes it serve its purpose better or enhances it visually, reasonable productivity dictates that it’s OK to use ready made shortcuts.

    And one shortcut I must remember not to take is to grab the camera without checking every single setting – including the SSS switch. It is just too easy to shoot all day with it off. In my experience SSS will sharpen up many shots at normal shutter speeds, let alone those at hard to handhold settings. I didn’t lose my shot, but it could have been better.

    As a footnote, in sending my subject a copy of her portrait, I realised we had spoken before (Edinburgh is a very small place) – at a Friends of the Earth Scotland booth during one of the many green festivals or events which happen in the city.

    – David