Photo sharing: Sony Alpha

[havoc315]

Oh its on like Donkey Kong

Looks great with the Sigma 50. Now I expect to see some shots posted by tonight!

 

[Hockeyman]

Looks great with the Sigma 50. Now I expect to see some shots posted by tonight!

Believe me I want to be out there taking pictures of little pieces of grass if I could right now but im stuck at work with it sitting right next to me taunting me lol. Then when I get home my wife I and I going out for Valentines so depends what time I get home.

 

[havoc315]

Believe me I want to be out there taking pictures of little pieces of grass if I could right now but im stuck at work with it sitting right next to me taunting me lol. Then when I get home my wife I and I going out for Valentines so depends what time I get home.

1-- I am willing to bet you have already cranked up the ISO and taken some test shots at your desk.

2-- Surely you are bringing the camera on your V-day date. You wife will be all dressed up, time for some nice portraits. I plan on taking my camera to dinner tonight..... unless I get the evil eye from my wife (in which case I'll just bring the RX100).

 

[Hockeyman]

1-- I am willing to bet you have already cranked up the ISO and taken some test shots at your desk.

2-- Surely you are bringing the camera on your V-day date. You wife will be all dressed up, time for some nice portraits. I plan on taking my camera to dinner tonight..... unless I get the evil eye from my wife (in which case I'll just bring the RX100).

I did take a few shots but wanted to see how it was in f/1.4. I only got about 5 min worth if time with it and right half of that was trying to adjust the settings to my liking.

Lol, im afraid if I bring it I will get myself in trouble by wanting to play around with it all night. Im still debating on to bring it or not

 

[havoc315]

I did take a few shots but wanted to see how it was in f/1.4. I only got about 5 min worth if time with it and right half of that was trying to adjust the settings to my liking.

Lol, im afraid if I bring it I will get myself in trouble by wanting to play around with it all night. Im still debating on to bring it or not

Tough call. I say bring it, but exercise will power. Take some nice pictures of your wife before dinner, There will be the temptation to test that 1.4 aperture and high ISO in the dark restaurant.. so may a couple quick shots. Again, nice shots of the wife so it's about her. And then PUT IT AWAY. In the camera bag, under the table... not to be seen again until tomorrow.

Btw.. how do you plan on configuring the 2 memory slots?
I started with RAW/JPG.... but it's annoying if you ever want to switch to jpg only (which I do sometimes). So I basically have it set for Image/Movie.

 

[Hockeyman]

Tough call. I say bring it, but exercise will power. Take some nice pictures of your wife before dinner, There will be the temptation to test that 1.4 aperture and high ISO in the dark restaurant.. so may a couple quick shots. Again, nice shots of the wife so it's about her. And then PUT IT AWAY. In the camera bag, under the table... not to be seen again until tomorrow.

Btw.. how do you plan on configuring the 2 memory slots?
I started with RAW/JPG.... but it's annoying if you ever want to switch to jpg only (which I do sometimes). So I basically have it set for Image/Movie.

Ill run it by my wife first to test the waters about that one, she might just veto that idea.

Not a clue, I didn't even know I could do that I dont shoot many movies so when I do it doesnt matter if its on one card or the other. I do know I wont use one for JPEG, I don't ever shoot in JPEG to be honest with you

 

[havoc315]

Ill run it by my wife first to test the waters about that one, she might just veto that idea.

Not a clue, I didn't even know I could do that I dont shoot many movies so when I do it doesnt matter if its on one card or the other. I do know I wont use one for JPEG, I don't ever shoot in JPEG to be honest with you

I rarely shoot movies as well, which is why it's nice to stick them on a different card when I do shoot them. They actually do come out really nicely on the A99.. very effective stabilization, stereo sound.

There are times when jpeg is handy -- In-camera HDR, panoramas. And when doing still images in very very low light, the MFNR works really nicely.. You can get a decent low noise image as high as ISO 52,000 using MFNR. The image does come out a bit soft of course. But I found the image comes out ok with MFNR set to ISO 12,800/26,000 -- Getting noise equivalent of 3200-6400.

And some of the picture effects are decent. For example, this is the miniature effect: (taken with the RX100, but same setting exists on the A99):


untitled-293.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

Plus, as I posted not long ago, I actually like the jpeg rendering of some types of pictures (if set correctly).

On the front of the camera, you have a custom button. I set mine to quality so I can quickly switch between RAW/RAW+JPEG/JPEG. The default setting is FEC lock, but you don't have a flash, lol.

 

[Hockeyman]

I rarely shoot movies as well, which is why it's nice to stick them on a different card when I do shoot them. They actually do come out really nicely on the A99.. very effective stabilization, stereo sound.

There are times when jpeg is handy -- In-camera HDR, panoramas. And when doing still images in very very low light, the MFNR works really nicely.. You can get a decent low noise image as high as ISO 52,000 using MFNR. The image does come out a bit soft of course. But I found the image comes out ok with MFNR set to ISO 12,800/26,000 -- Getting noise equivalent of 3200-6400.

And some of the picture effects are decent. For example, this is the miniature effect: (taken with the RX100, but same setting exists on the A99):


untitled-293.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

Plus, as I posted not long ago, I actually like the jpeg rendering of some types of pictures (if set correctly).

On the front of the camera, you have a custom button. I set mine to quality so I can quickly switch between RAW/RAW+JPEG/JPEG. The default setting is FEC lock, but you don't have a flash, lol.

Very awesome picture.

Question, im messing aroudn with it now in manual and notice when looking at the LCD screen and I change the settings (ISO, shutter, aperture) the live view doesn't change like on my A55. Is there a setting to change that?

 

[havoc315]

Very awesome picture.

Question, im messing aroudn with it now in manual and notice when looking at the LCD screen and I change the settings (ISO, shutter, aperture) the live view doesn't change like on my A55. Is there a setting to change that?

Hmmm, not sure where the setting would be. But the very first thing I would do: Go into the menu and restore the factory defaults. Reverse any of the customization that the last owner put it, and start with a blank slate.

The live view *should* then adjust to exposure changes.

Another reason you may not be seeing the live view change the same way as the A55:
On the A55, when you went to M, the ISO also switched to manual.
On the A99, when you switch to M, the ISO stays on Auto-ISO unless you change it. Therefore, if you change the aperture or the shutter speed, the ISO will be adjusting to keep the exposure level the same.
If you switch the ISO to manual, AND adjust the S/A, you should see the exposure adjustments in the live view.

 

[Hockeyman]

Hmmm, not sure where the setting would be. But the very first thing I would do: Go into the menu and restore the factory defaults. Reverse any of the customization that the last owner put it, and start with a blank slate.

The live view *should* then adjust to exposure changes.

Another reason you may not be seeing the live view change the same way as the A55:
On the A55, when you went to M, the ISO also switched to manual.
On the A99, when you switch to M, the ISO stays on Auto-ISO unless you change it. Therefore, if you change the aperture or the shutter speed, the ISO will be adjusting to keep the exposure level the same.
If you switch the ISO to manual, AND adjust the S/A, you should see the exposure adjustments in the live view.

First thing i did when I got the camera was took off auto iso so that didnt help.

Just went outside and fired off some shots of my boss's new VW Bug so I should have time when I get home to post 1 or 2 of them while I pretend to be in the shower getting ready lol

 

[havoc315]

First thing i did when I got the camera was took off auto iso so that didnt help.

Just went outside and fired off some shots of my boss's new VW Bug so I should have time when I get home to post 1 or 2 of them while I pretend to be in the shower getting ready lol

So ISO 100... A set to 22... and shutter speed 1/1000 -- And you aren't getting a dark live view?

That isn't right... Did you try resetting to factory defaults?

If you +/- the Exposure compensation, are you seeing the screen lighten/darken?

 

[Hockeyman]

I reset and works fine now. Thank the camera gods cause that would have upset me not being able to see those changes.

I also took off AEL with shutter

 

[Hockeyman]

So ISO 100... A set to 22... and shutter speed 1/1000 -- And you aren't getting a dark live view?

That isn't right... Did you try resetting to factory defaults?

If you +/- the Exposure compensation, are you seeing the screen lighten/darken?

He must have had live view display setting to off since I just noticed there is setting for that and its on now and works fine

 

[havoc315]

I reset and works fine not. Thank the camera gods cause that would have upset me not being able to see those changes.

I also took off AEL with shutter

Good.. not sure how the last owner must have set it..

I switch the AEL button to AEL toggle. I also switch the MF/AF button to MF/AF toggle. That way, don't have to hold down those 2 buttons.

Not sure if I understand AEL with shutter -- If you aren't using the AEL with shutter, AND you're not locking exposure with the AEL button, then at what point is exposure being set? (Assuming you aren't in full manual mode of course).

 

[Hockeyman]

Good.. not sure how the last owner must have set it..

I switch the AEL button to AEL toggle. I also switch the MF/AF button to MF/AF toggle. That way, don't have to hold down those 2 buttons.

Not sure if I understand AEL with shutter -- If you aren't using the AEL with shutter, AND you're not locking exposure with the AEL button, then at what point is exposure being set? (Assuming you aren't in full manual mode of course).

My understanding was that with AEL on as soon as you pressed the shutter half way down it would change the exposure. I just want to press it half way down and lock focus and that is it and it seemed to do the trick. Ill turn it on later and see if anything changes since im curious now

 

[havoc315]

My understanding was that with AEL on as soon as you pressed the shutter half way down it would change the exposure. I just want to press it half way down and lock focus and that is it and it seemed to do the trick. Ill turn it on later and see if anything changes since im curious now

My understanding has been that the exposure gets set when you press the button halfway down -- Thus, if you are in A-priority mode... And press the button, it sets the shutter speed and ISO at the moment you press the button halfway. Otherwise, when are those things being set?
I suppose if it's AEL --LOCKED -- Then the exposure stays constant even if you re-compose the shot. If you turn it off, then the exposure can continue to adjust as you re-compose? I'm really not sure.

If you are in full manual -- A, S + ISO, then it shouldn't matter if AEL lock is on or off. It won't change by pressing the button. But if you have any auto settings going... (I usually have at least auto-ISO)... that's where I'm confused.

 

[Hockeyman]

_DSC8240-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[fractal]

 

[Hockeyman]

Not too bad for ISO 3200. I might need to turn down the sharpening , may have it up a little high


Tim for Bowling by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

Without added sharpening


DSC08335-Editps by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Charity by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

 

[havoc315]

Not too bad for ISO 3200. I might need to turn down the sharpening , may have it up a little high


Tim for Bowling by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

Without added sharpening


DSC08335-Editps by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Charity by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr

Very nice. So what do you think of the camera?