Photo sharing: Sony Alpha

[zackiedawg]

Some shots with the Sigma 16mm F1.4 lens - all handheld walkaround shots with the A6300 from my trip to Disney the first week of February:

Inside the new Edison:

Sitting at a table out on the docks at the Boathouse:

Overcast day at Magic Kingdom entrance:

Still getting used to such a wide perspective on dark rides - I always shot with a 30-35mm lens on APS-C which is a lot tighter!:

With gloomy overcast weather, might as well do a dark haunted looking HDR of the mansion:

Multiple exposures in MFNR mode to give that long exposure look, but taken handheld wide open:

Another handheld wide open of the castle at night:

Focus on the fountain at F1.4, with the castle background out of focus:

The new Baseline Taphouse at DHS:

Tree of Life - the one sunny day out of the 4 that I was there!:

 

[havoc315]

Testing out the Sony Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

[havoc315]

Winter Night at Leonard Park, Mount Kisco by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

[fractal]

 

[havoc315]

The FE 90mm macro is.... WOW

Winter emerging pinecone by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

[havoc315]

Ossining Arch by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

[havoc315]

Review of the Sony 85mm F/1.8... a portrait lens for most Sony shooters: http://enthusiastphotoblog.com/2018/03/18/sony-85mm-f-1-8-review/

 

[zackiedawg]

Some more wildlife and birds from the past month or so, with the A6300 and FE100-400mm combo:

Baby pied-billed grebe (1.4x TC):

Great egret flying low over the water:

Great egret showing turbulence in his feathers as he brakes to land:

Roseate spoonbill in flight - glowing pink against the blue sky, and showing his 'spoon' bill:

Pretty skinny green anole, an increasingly endangered native Florida lizard (with 1.4x TC):

Struggle in the circle of life - a turtle still alive, but in a precarious position:

When walking down the grassy levees, look ahead for possible obstructions on the trail:

A pretty and wild lily of some kind, growing wild in the swamp:

An osprey with his fresh catch for lunch:

OK - truth out of the way first...YES, they are ugly babies. There, I said it. Now, I guess it's possible to be so ugly that you're cute - like these wood stork chicks - one screaming its head off for food - not realizing his sibling on the right already got the fish from mom:

 

[havoc315]

Sony A7iii: Sony enthusiast photographer's journey to full frame: http://enthusiastphotoblog.com/2018/03/21/sony-enthusiast-journey-to-full-frame/

 

[fractal]

A7r2 + SLR Magic 35mm 1.2 @ f/1.2 (or thereabouts)

 

[havoc315]

A7r2 + SLR Magic 35mm 1.2 @ f/1.2 (or thereabouts)

Great photo..... and you're lucky your daughter is willing to be photographed. My daughter hides her face when I pull out the camera.

 

[fractal]

Great photo..... and you're lucky your daughter is willing to be photographed. My daughter hides her face when I pull out the camera.

thanks - she's the youngest and by far the best model of the three during the "teen" years.

 

[fractal]

Sony A7iii: Sony enthusiast photographer's journey to full frame: http://enthusiastphotoblog.com/2018/03/21/sony-enthusiast-journey-to-full-frame/

Really enjoying your site and reviews @havoc315

 

[havoc315]

Legitimate and illegitimate complaints and weaknesses about the Sony Alpha system: http://enthusiastphotoblog.com/2018/03/25/sony-alpha-negatives-and-complaints/

 

[Hockeyman]

Hi guys. Been ahwile, super busy with live and a promotion at work, long story short our operations manager suddenly passed away last June and I was promoted to his old position. Was a tough loss for all of us but we made it through. Fast forward to now and things are good but super busy hence my lack of posting or even doing much photography.

Speaking of photography, I ended up selling my A99 2 weeks ago along with all my lenses, minus my Rokinon fisheye, so I can officially make the jump to the FE mount. Really its something I have wanted to do but the timing was always bad. The A7III announcement was what finally made me go through with it. Went and preordered that and the 24-105 lens for now which will give me that and the fisheye to hold me over for a bit. My thinking was i can get a cheap $60 adapter for the fisheye and use it like I normally do since is manual focus and optically a stud of a lens.

Here is where my internally tug of war plays into the mix, I have been going back and forth between the A7iii and A7Riii and whether the extra 1k was worth it and still battling it out between the two. We are going on a cruise in May so that extra grand I would have to spend would be dipping into our cruise budget some and I can get the a7iii and lens for just about the price of the A7riii body alone. I read an article from Ken Rockwell about whether spending the extra money was really worth it or necessary which lead me to decide on the A7iii after reading that but now im even second guessing that. I see some great images coming out of the A7riii like what @fractal and @havoc315 have been posting, really incredible and the IQ is fantastic. I really haven't seen many sample images from the A7iii that has blown me away and that has me kind of nervous. Am I going to be happy with the A73 or am i going to be kicking my self for not getting the A7R3?

 

[Hockeyman]

If anyone is interested in the Sony A7riii (brand new, USA version, etc), for about 5-10% off, privately message me. (You all know I've been around here long enough, that I'm not scamming anyone).

This still a thing?

I'm now officially a "Sony Pro"

$100 per year. Was talking to someone else who is really taking advantage of it --- Constantly getting 2-week free equipment trials. I'll have to see the full benefits once I get the welcome packet.

How does one become a Sony Pro?

 

[fractal]

@Hockeyman

I'm shooting the A7r2, but if I had to buy today it would be a tough choice.

A7R3 in addition to the sensor, has a better EVF. AF on the A73 is better. Dynamic Range is basically the same. The big advantage for me using a 42mpx sensor is in cropping ability. Specifically it allows me to shoot in APS-C crop mode and still get an 18mp image. Almost like having two lenses (or cameras) in one. In practice I used my 85mm in crop mode extensively at Animal Kingdom on the Safari and in Festival of the Lion King and was thrilled with the images - also did the same at my daughter's dance recital.

Is all that worth $1,000?


On the downside, I did have to clear a lot of room on my hard drive for the higher resolution images, and it's put me in the market for a new PC over the next year.


PS - welcome back!

 

[Hockeyman]

@Hockeyman

I'm shooting the A7r2, but if I had to buy today it would be a tough choice.

A7R3 in addition to the sensor, has a better EVF. AF on the A73 however appears better. Dynamic Range is basically the same. The big advantage for me using a 42mpx sensor is in cropping ability. Specifically it allows me to shoot in APS-C crop mode and still get an 18mp image. Almost like having two lenses (or cameras) in one. In practice I used my 85mm in crop mode extensively at Animal Kingdom on the Safari and in Festival of the Lion King and was thrilled with the images - also did the same at my daughter's dance recital.

Is all that worth $1,000?


On the downside, I did have to clear a lot of room on my hard drive for the higher resolution images, and it's put me in the market for a new PC over the next year.


PS - welcome back!

Still really impressive images out of the A7R2. The EVF difference for me isnt a big deal, my thing is if the mp difference will be a factor since im all about getting the best resolution and sharp images. Cropping without losing much sharpness would be nice as well. $1,000 is a decent amount of money, if we didn't have this cruise in May it would be a no brainer for me

Im using a Surface Pro 3 with 4gb of memory for my editing and that somewhat struggles with the 24mp images as it is. I do have a dell laptop I we got in 2010 that has 8gb so could always use that. I load all my photos onto a 2tb external hardhdrive so the space isn't an issue

 

[fractal]

Still really impressive images out of the A7R2. The EVF difference for me isnt a big deal, my thing is if the mp difference will be a factor since im all about getting the best resolution and sharp images. Cropping without losing much sharpness would be nice as well. $1,000 is a decent amount of money, if we didn't have this cruise in May it would be a no brainer for me

Im using a Surface Pro 3 with 4gb of memory for my editing and that somewhat struggles with the 24mp images as it is. I do have a dell laptop I we got in 2010 that has 8gb so could always use that. I load all my photos onto a 2tb external hardhdrive so the space isn't an issue

The A7R2 has the same sensor as the A7r3, but does not have the Pixel shift option. The "2" however can still use the Sony apps, which I have a couple. I bought the "2" about a year ago when it first went on sale and Sony offered the trade-in bonuses. No doubt the "3" is a better camera, but if resolution is at the top of your list you can pick up an A7r2 for around $2,000.

 

[zackiedawg]

I picked up another APS-C lens - I couldn't help it as it was a really good chance to update my 'kit' lens from my 7-year-old 18-55mm which I've kept for general travel and all-purpose stuff. The announcement of the 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens was right up my alley - basically an extended kit lens, with more usable reach, and theoretically should be better due to better coatings, updated construction, etc...and still a reasonable price.

The lens itself is nicely built - very solid, heavy in a good way, not feeling as cheap as the 18-55mm or 16-50mm lenses - very nice damping on the focus and zoom rings, and just the right size for me.

The only subject I had the chance to use the lens in its first official, outdoor real-world test was the wetlands...not exactly what I intend to use the lens for most of the time - but I don't have anything scenic to shoot around my house and no travels planned for a couple of months, so the wetlands and birds would have to suffice. I tried to really use the lens for just about every type of shooting I could - to really test it out - closeup, bird-in-flight, busy landscapes, portrait or candid - with the obvious limitations of what one can shoot in a wetland swamp (no architecture, city-scape, modeling, etc available out there).

I was pleasantly surprised all around - even though I'd have no intention of using the lens as a birding lens, or for bird-in-flight, it handled it quite well - focus tracking was good, and though a lot of cropping was required on the BIFs, still decent detail and focus nailed nicely on the faces. It's not going to compete with the GM lenses for detail - but for an extended kit, it handles itself nicely. Some resized samples here of general all-around stuff at 1400 pixels on the long side - I have some originals uploaded to my Dpreview gallery too since there are always those requests with a new lens:

How close can you get to nesting birds at Wakodahatchee? This close:

Birds in flight? OK, not something I'd typically shoot with this lens, but for testing purposes, not bad:

Wood stork mom with her chicks in the nest...detail's pretty good for nearly full zoom and cropped:

Closeup isn't too bad either for a kit - close focusing is around 18 inches, which is better than the kit lens and can be zoomed to 135mm:

Best I could do for a 'people' shot was a fellow photographer I was shooting with:

Big bird, big stick:

Not a macro, but closeup isn't too bad, and you can respectably blur the background: