The Photography Thread

[Malc]

Rick, If you look down the viewfinder of your a200 with the camera turned off, is it quite dark? Or is it lovely and bright?

[EvilBoris]

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1540750

No, because
A: You look more cool/professional when looking through a viewfinder :P
and
B: It hammers the battery running an LCD screen. My canon still amazes me how long/how many shots I can go between changing the battery.

[Malc]

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/newreply.p...eply&p=1540750
No, because
A: You look more cool/professional when looking through a viewfinder :P
and
B: It hammers the battery running an LCD screen. My canon still amazes me how long/how many shots I can go between changing the battery.

What about if i'm taking pictures with the sun in frame. Wont I just blind myself looking through the viewfinder?

[EvilBoris]

I've taken quite a few and I can't remember being dazzled

[Rossco]

Hey Malc, no problems at all regarding the viewfinder on this! Not at one point have I thought it was dark, are you comparing this to another camera you've tested? Or does it just seem darker than you thought it would be? I've never felt that looking through it was too dark or I couldn't make anything out, nothing like that at all! Was there maybe some filter on the end of the lens making everything darker?

Also, I think Live View is only introduced recently to DSLRs in the last couple of years? I could be entirely wrong though! It's not something I've missed anyway, I always use a viewfinder for a camera, plus it's more accurate I believe than a screen anyway!

[Rossco]

should read:



Primes in general will always have better image quality than zooms. They are also cheaper, lighter and faster. With a macro lenses dont think in terms of zoom. Macro lenses allow you to focus closer to a subject: the closer you get to the subject the larger it will appear in the picture usually up to the limit of 1:1 magnifcation.



Looking at the prices of the sony lenses £200 probably isnt enough. If you want to take macro pictures it will be worth saving for the Sony lens. If your not sure what you will photograph give its some time to find out what you want to do. A macro lens will make a good portrait lens if you want to do head shots.

If the Sony lens is too expensive you could consider the Sigma 105mm f2.8 Sigma are a third party company who produce lenses for all cameras, and generally will be cheaper than the manufacturer equivalent. If you read down the page you will see that they produce a copy of this lens for Sony cameras.
I have owned a Canon mount Sigma and the Canon macro lens and even though the Canon is better there is very little between the lenses and not enough to justify the extra cost if you are on a tight budget.

The only thing that really matters for macro is wether it can do 1:1 reproduction. 1:2 is not enough unless you are taking pictures of large insects or flowers

Lets look at the sony lens

Its 100mm f2.8. The 100mm is the focal length. Essentially the longer the focal length the further away you will be from the subject. In macro a 100mm focal length will generally be more useful for insects as you can stand further away to get the shot and hence are less likely to scare the beast. If photographing flowers this is less than a concern so you could consider the shorter focal length (50mm).

The f2.8 is the aperture. The smaller the number (f-number) means that you will get more light in and hence when taking a shot you can use slower shutter speeds. This is also good because the large apertures (low f-numbers) have a shallow depth of field which is how you achieve those pictures where the background is all creamy and smooth, much like your 2nd and 4th picture you posted.

This is a great shot. if you are doing black and white conversions have a look at filtered conversions. Picassa from google is a nice simple piece of editing software that can do this. In general these type of conversions will give greater contrast. You should try it out if you havent seen already.

I have been trying photography for a year now and only came away with 2 shots that I was really estatic about so 2 hours for 4 pictures aint too bad

Oh I see, interesting!

I didn't know what the focal length meant on the lens so thats very helpful, I did know the aperture though I only learned that a few days ago!

I'm now quite interested in going for that Sigma lens, rather than saving up double the money for the Sony equivilant which just seems overkill on my camera body at least! So it would be perfectly suitable for shooting the smallest objects like insects for example as it's 1:1 reproduction? I'll need to look on Flickr for that lens and see if I can find examples!

So am I right in saying the larger the aperture (the smaller the f number), the more light gets in, and the shallower the depth of field so the focus will be on one object, and with the smaller aperture, higher f number, less light is in and the longer depth of field so the camera will try to keep everything in focus in the shot?

I'm sure I've seen people complaining about shallow depth of fields before but I like doing that and bluring the background with the main object in focus for example, isn't that the norm or something!?

Finally, the 58 is the filter ring size. When you say your camera is 55mm, you probably mean your current lens has a filter size of 55mm. It helps to keep the filter size the same so you don't have to keep buying filters (they aren't cheap on the bigger lenses) but that can't always be helped.

BTW all of the shots you've just posted are excellent. I love the simplicity of the second one.

Cheers! Glad some people are liking them, it's always good when you start out at something and you don't suck completely!

I did not know that about the filter ring size! It totally makes sense now but I thought it was the same at the front and back of the lens where it connects to the body so was a bit confused there!

Cheers for all the help guys! More questions coming soon no doubt!



Oh I got those macro filters from eBay for £13 I think it was, makes a decent difference for the price, you can get in about twice as close to the object while still keeping focus, I'll need to post up some examples or see if I can get any better shots of some wee beasties since I can get in closed now, although the bees won't be happy! Will be glad when I get a proper macro lens and I can comfortably sit a metre away from them!


Edit: And breeathhe! I'm quite enthusiastic about this it seems!!

[Malc]

Hey Malc, no problems at all regarding the viewfinder on this! Not at one point have I thought it was dark, are you comparing this to another camera you've tested? Or does it just seem darker than you thought it would be? I've never felt that looking through it was too dark or I couldn't make anything out, nothing like that at all! Was there maybe some filter on the end of the lens making everything darker?

Also, I think Live View is only introduced recently to DSLRs in the last couple of years? I could be entirely wrong though! It's not something I've missed anyway, I always use a viewfinder for a camera, plus it's more accurate I believe than a screen anyway!

Cheers Rossco. I will most likely get the Sony then. But i'll take one last look at it tomorrow and see if I can ask there why it looks darker compared to the other ones.

I thought it was darker than the other cameras there, have you looked through any other viewfinders? As if you have and the Sony isn't any different then it's probably a dirty display model or something.

[EvilBoris]

Argos were selling the Canon 1000d with IS lens for a silly price

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5591459/Trail/searchtext%3E1000D.htm

gotta find somewhere with it in stock though

[Malc]

Ignore my stupid posts where i've been going on for ages about the viewfinder. It seems it happens a lot in shops as the camera doesn't have power being supplied to it which does... erm... stuff, making it look dark when not powered up.

I just typed dark viewfinders into google.

[rickt]

Rick, If you look down the viewfinder of your a200 with the camera turned off, is it quite dark? Or is it lovely and bright?

Its quite dark

[Malc]

Its quite dark

I presume its brighter when the camera is turned on though?

[Garf]

Rossco - good first shots. Especially like the B&W stuff. Keep it up.

JamesS - I've tried the 'water drop/splash' stuff before - quite tricky, isn't it ?

Boris - like the beach shots - looks like you had a fun time.As Dan said, the shot of the huts is a cracker.

Magnakai - great portrait work - did you use any off camera lighting for those, or are they using available light ?

Dan - good gig work - agree, she has a great expression in that last one.

Our Cat:

[rickt]

I presume its brighter when the camera is turned on though?

Its darker than i expected (but this is the first DSLR i have used)

There is alot of info conveyed through the eyepiece at the bottom of the frame so it needs to be a bit darker so you can see read the green LED's.

[Malc]

I brought the Sony A200 today. I had a look at the camera in PC world and asked why the viewfinder was so dark. The assistant had to go and get his manager and his manager just said when it's powered up it'll be fine.

Anyway, I had a look myself at the lens from the front and realised the shutters (or whatever they're called) were almost completely closed only letting in a tiny amout of light. I figured that it would be fine when it's turned on as the shutters would open up. So the brand new one I brought from Argos which was the same price as Amazon (only 1 left in stock) is perfect through the viewfinder. It's nice and bright and I can see everything clearly. Like you said Rick, it's shaded darker slightly so you can read the info' displayed.

So thankyou very much for the recommendation Rossco. I'm very happy with it.

All I need is a memory card now. Is this one compatible with the Sony a200: http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Comp...2831883&sr=8-4

[Rossco]

Yeh that's the one I bought and then someone bought me one for my birthday too so I have two now! :-) 8 GB ahoy! Hope you enjoy the camera as much as I am!

I've started shooting on only Jpegs now, was doing raw and jpeg before but you can't shoot continuously with that so I turned it to just JPEG and can shoot away forever holding down the shutter button which is ace! Helps so much getting a perfect shot.