Camera Labs

hi all,
Been lurking aroung Camera labs for quite sometime(2 months) and reading thru discussions since I got myself an A200.

The discussions are really helpful for beginners like me. Lens choices, i particularly like the discussions about going pro with Sony. The enthusiasm of the new sony DSLR users. So I finally joined and registered today.

Since I got the A200, I have been hungry about photography info. late nights have been spent reading reviews of lenses, analysing composition and admiring photographs of other people.
and growing my lens collection in the process as well..

I hope you be kind enough to check out my gallery here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sdimaculangan

please feel free to give comments and suggestions.

Another reason why I joined up is to get your opinions about:

1) When do you know you need a Body upgrade as against a lens upgrade? I am contemplating of upgrading to a700, for these reasons, I am not sure if these are valid enough:
- Flash power
- more AF points
- faster AF
- higher continous shooting
- extra MP(not so much)
- Sturdier feel

2) I have a Mino 50mm 1.7 Prime lens that I love sooo much..but I am being tempted to get the 50mm 1.4. Is it worth getting the Sony? Is the .3 difference worth it?


Anyway, thats my story.. I welcome myself here
Kudos to everyone participating and to the maintainers/owners of the site.

Hi.

And welcome. (all though I'm a guite a newbie my self)

I have bit hesitated to say my opinions here, but seems like that I have been in same situation about half a year ago, so decited give you my thoughts.

When I have been thinking about buyng new gear like lenses, flashguns, tripods... or what ever equipment. I have always asked my self that do I know/have the skills to use the existing eguipment fully and have I learned how to take everything out of the eguipment that I have? Do I really need the eguipment or am I just drooling about new stuff (like men usually does)? And when you are really on the limit, that you don't seem to get the results you wanted then you should make the upgrade.

I know it would be great to buy new stuff every week or so, but to learn how to take good photoes, REALLY to learn how to take good photoes in every wich way, is much more important than do you have 2 MP more in your dslr or bit better lens, more multifunktional tripod, biggerguide number in you flasgun.

Of corse if you don't have a telephoto lens and you are most interested to shoot wildlife it is obvious than you need one. But you have to make your own decition do you want to put 200€/$/£ or are you want to invest 2000€/$/£ to your first telephoto lens. By starting with 200€/$/£ you get a lens you can start with and learn. Because eguipment (wich ever brand you use) doesn't take the pictures. It is people who does!

I'd say over 85% of the guality of the photoes is about how well you can take photoes and 10% is to your eguipment. So this is the reason why I'am still using the kit lens that I got when I bought my a300.

Trust me I have thougt so many times that I should buy this or that lens, second flashgun, bit more versatile tripod, new filters, new bag for all the gear I have.

But back to your guestions.
Flash power. Actually the camera doesn't add power to the flash you are using. Lets say you have a flash which guidenumber is 42. By using A200 you get same power than using A700, because it is about the guidenumber that gives you an idea how powerfull the flashgun is not the camera it self. (someone alse can explain the meaning of guidenuimber, I know how to explain it in finnish, but that does't do you any good)

How much do you really need to take photoes by continues shooting, or is it one more nice thing to have if you are going to need in the future? Do you shoot lot of sports?

I don't know does 0.3 matter in lenses and if it does how big differences it makes, because I haven't used any other lens in my A300 than the kitlens. I suppose it is much more about your skills using the minolta 50mm. f1.7, than bigger aperture f1.4. And of corse there is much more in the lenses than the aperture. Like CA (chromatic aberretion), bokeh, vignetting just to start with...

Well... There is my thoughts about your guestions. Oohhh... I all most forgot.. the last 5% is luck. You need to some luck to get that 100% perferct photo.

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dslr: Sony a300 with VG-B30AM grip, Tamron 17-50mm F2.8, Sony 50mm. F1.8, Sony 70-400mm F4.0-5.6 SSM. Sony HVL-F58AM flashgun, Sony HVL-F56AM flashgun, Manfrotto 190XB with 486RC2 and 804RC2 heads. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40884356@N06/

Thank you so much for your thoughts Heikki.

My other love is guitar playing.. and in guitars, theres this thing called GAS, which means Gear Acquisition Syndrome...
Looks like I have this syndrome too now that im into cameras.


I do agree that in the end, taking good photos are what matters most. The equipment is just a medium. One of the things that stuck to me most that I picked up from this forum is:
A good picture has no Camera brand .. or something to that effect.

Ill hold on to my dear A200 alright.. once there are some funds, I might get the 50mm 1.4 one day. hold the a700 plans too, who knows itll be cheaper when the new semi pro models come out.

Thanks again.

Welcome Sonny to the Camera Labs forum! Good to have you join the Sony crew! Leuk ook om nog een Nederlander in ons midden te hebben!

Consider signing up to Flick as well. From what I've seen, most users use a Flickr account (free) and they'll be able to comment on your photos more easily.

About your reasons to upgrade:
- flash power: NOOOO. You don't want to use the pop-up flash. Get yourself a flashgun instead. You'll get much better light and much more power too!
- more AF points: sure, that can be useful if you shoot moving subjects a lot. The camera needs to track those with as many AF sensors as possible.
- faster AF: you'll probably want to get a lens upgrade for that. Look into SSM lenses, they're fast and ultra-quiet. An A700 does have a more powerful AF motor, but the difference won't be worth the upgrade. The autofocus of the A700 might be more reliable though, more precise.
- higher continuous shooting: I love that, personally. But you shouldn't upgrade for a higher framerate unless you really need it. It's useful for sports and action photography, but also for portraits. Shooting a burst of photos raises the chance of getting a good shot.
- extra megapixel: you said it yourself, the pixel count doesn't add much. However, the sensor technology of the A700 is different, it's CMOS (instead of CCD), which is better. You'll get less noise (theoratically) and better image quality. The sensor in a mid-range camera is definitely a reason for upgrading!
- ergonomics: that's a very good reason. I've tried the A200 in a store once, and I can tell you the difference between that and the A700 is vast. The A700 feels more like a pro camera and is great to shoot with. Another good reason to upgrade.

The .3 difference in aperture isn't really worth getting the Sony version. There might be quality differences though. Do some googlin' to see how the Sony 50mm compares against the Minolta and decide with the information you found in the back of your mind. It's not a cheap lens, and for optimal results, you'll have to stop down to f/2 to f/2.8 anyway.

If you want more help deciding what your next upgrade should be, please tell us what lenses you have. If using flash is something that's important to you, a flashgun is a highly recommended accessory. I don't use my flash very often (rarely actually), so I could have better spend my money on lenses, but hey...

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Don’t listen to Bjorn, he’s only abscessed with the latest and greatest gear, photography is only a necessary by-product of his latest acquisition.

Sorta true, though photography is my passion, gear is a great hobby.
Can I ask, which part of my message above is to be ignored because of me being a gadget-freak? Apart from the part about a flashgun?

- Bjorn -

_________________
Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Bedankt Bjorn en gefeliciteerd met jouw CZ objectief.. Helaas, ik ben niet 'n Nederlander, maar ik hou van Holland!

Your advice is well taken. I do have a flickr account, but i cant seem to get warmed up with the people over at that site. Though i do visit it ofter to get ideas and perspective on shots.

So shall I get an A700?
Anyway, I got into the DSLR badnwagon primarily because of club/concert gig pictures. Ive had enough of photos of me playing on stage or a bar, with nice colorful spotlights, yet the photos produced by P&S camera with them annoying flashes look flat and lifeless.

hence I am aiming for lenses with high apertures and so far the only one I can afford is the minolta 50mm 1.7. I sure do wish to have a 70-200mm f2.8 lens one day. but until then , i will continue to make progress over my own skill as a photographer with the cheap gears i have.

thanks to marktplaats(holland's version of craiglist) ive got these lenses:
Minolta 50mm f1.7
Minolta 28mm f2.8
Minolta 24-85 AF (amazing colors on this one)
Minolta 28-85 AF Beercan(my fave walkaround lens)
Sigma 70-300 DG Macro(i got it coz of the range, terrible in low light)
Sony DT 18-70 kit lens
Sony DT 55-200

Ive got the minoltas for less than 100E each. come to think of it, if I sum it up, i probably have gotten a nice quality Sony lens, but ive got no regrets so far.

some photos here:

That’s just humour there Bjorn,
but I prefer Heikki Taskinen’s photographic advise over just continually upgrading equipment thinking that it will improve one’s skill level.

but thats how it is! we take entry level if we think we are entry level guy but if we thing we are pro then semi pro or the pro camera..

UH!! WestCoast we have the same lens how does it feel with your 200??

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Good Aperture Everyone! Good reply is always Making me very very happy thanks...
Sony A700; sony 18-70mm, 18-250.
My flickr!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/loymercs/
My Blog!! http://loymercsclick.blogspot.com/

I have a dream, that all camera users can speak with images rather than words.

Then the world will be at peace.

(I'm becoming more and more impatient of guys trying to look professional with their equipment. It really brings shame to photographers that some carry a camera and think they are something else without even lifting an eye to the viewfinder. Let's not even begin to think about creativity for a second.)

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a900 | D700

No it won't. You'll then get propaganda photos

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PhilipGoh.com

Sonny, you might want to wait upgrading to a new camera till the end of August. Sony will be announcing new models, and the A500/A500 might be good options.

Sublimity, that part in between brackets doesn't apply to me. I like shooting with pro equipment, but I'm not trying to look professional. The equipment is what challenges me to become a better photographer. It challenges me to be more creative.

And I have the same dream, that one day all photographers will be judges on the quality of their pictures, not their camera!

- Bjorn -

_________________
Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Great discussion guys!
I will indeed hold to any future gear purchases and just try to learn as much as I can. Immersing myself in understanding composition and other technicalities of the "art".

And besides, I have already spent my vacantiegeld(vacation money).

Thank you again.

Now, are those shots I took above really that bad? lolz

Personally I like the lens, I’m active in my local Bird Forum/Club and will always long for more reach, but this will have to suffice for now.
The odd capture of a Bird gets praise from guys packing $10K worth of gear.

I wasn't pointing at anyone sepcific, Bjorn, I'm just tired of these upgrade threads.


So yes, I'm trolling.

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a900 | D700