34
Unlike a mirrored camera, there is little likelihood of the sensing system
in a mirrorless camera suffering a catastrophic failure so it is really up to your "taste" to determine when a sensor is too old. The primary causes of degradation to a CMOS sensor array are heat, dye neutralization and cosmic rays.
Thermal Degradation Normally thermal damage is so ...
17
The only ethical ways to get closer is to either use a lens with a longer focal length ("more reach"), or to view them in captivity, such as in a zoo.
Trying to get closer to wildlife will only stress them (which you have observed their reaction — to run away).
Without stalking the deer, you can use the approach favored by hunters: be in places they are ...
15
Are RAW images by nature slightly blurry prior to processing? If I open them up in Lightroom and zoom into the photo, my photos are not tack sharp but a bit blurry. Once I process, it comes out looking pretty sharp.
Wait wait wait — let me stop you right there. When you open up RAW files in Lightroom, you are seeing a processed image. Lightroom does not ...
13
It's called "Nisen Bokeh" and is mainly due to the lens design (though the background plays a part, it's possible to "provoke" this effect with any lens with the right background).
Overcorrected spherical aberration (blur disks which are brighter in the periphery than the centre) is usually to blame. It's showing up more often with the A7 due to the use of ...
11
If, specifically, you want to cover telephoto and macro, and not necessarily general-purpose nearby photography or wide angle shots, then yes, this is no problem, because relatively long focal length macro lenses are a common design. Sony, for example, has a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. This won't quite give you the reach of a more extreme telephoto lens (...
11
I think it's more the latter of your two reasons: the experience, talent, and care of the group who are willing to spend more on higher-end gear, vs. the format size alone, that creates the impression that better cameras make better pictures all by themselves.
Someone who's willing to spend $2000 on a camera body and another $3000 on glass in a brand new ...
10
Distortion caused by a lens's optics would give you barrel distortion (objects appear to bulge outward) or pincushion distortion (squishing inward). The skewed lines you are observing are straight; this is perspective distortion, and is not a problem caused by the lens nor fixable with better optics (you can fix it with a tilt-shift lens, but that's a ...
10
STF stands for "Smooth Transition Focus", and is a Sony-specific* term indicating that the lens includes an apodization filter to create smooth bokeh (out-of-focus blur) — and smooth bokeh is generally considered to be the best bokeh. So, you'd generally use it for non-studio portraiture or in other cases where that blur is an important artistic element.
...
9
The biggest advantage (for a non-professional) of the "Big Two" is the availability of third party add-ons.
For an enthusiast with a limited budget being able to buy third party lenses and flashes can be a big deal.
Also eBay is full of cheep Chinese cables, adapters, triggers and flashes for Canon and Nikon cameras - there is a much smaller selection of ...
9
DRO stands for Dynamic Range Optimization. It is designed to fit more dynamic range into images. A single exposure is still taken so you are always limited to the sensor's latitude. However, from what the sensor captures, more or less of that range is mapped into images. With fixed values, the transform is applied the same to each image. With Auto, it ...
9
I don't think you'll find what you're looking for, because: bigger things are bigger than small things. Full-frame cameras are bigger than APS-C cameras Medium format cameras are bigger than full-frame cameras. APS-C cameras are bigger than 1/2.3" format cameras. Just like full-sized pickup trucks are bigger than commuter cars.
I think it likely that you've ...
8
You're asking for a "quick tip" or two on how to shoot one of the most challenging assignments a photographer can draw.
Photography is the recording of light. The less light there is to record, the tougher the job of the photographer gets and greater the need for photographer's tools with higher capabilities. Almost everything you learn as a photographer is ...
8
The Sigma dock only works with select Sigma lenses. The lens needs to have the needed firmware to respond to the commands sent by the dock. Even Sigma lenses that are not part of their 'Global Vision' selection (ART, Sports, Contemporary) can not be calibrated using the Sigma USB dock.
So how i.e. does Sony 100mm lens for E-mount is calibrated? Is is ...
7
In all my compact cameras I ever owned (starting from the original Digital IXUS), when the battery was completely empty (in the eyes of the camera) it would automatically switch off and retract the lens.
As this surely works by measuring the voltage of the battery, it seems that your one LiIon battery has a rather high voltage ar rest (no current flowing) ...
7
ISOs lower than 100 on the A7 are not "real" in the sense that they don't lower the gain on the sensor, they just instruct the camera to increase exposure time as if the sensitivity was lower. The net result of this is reduced highlight headroom.
If you shoot RAW there is nothing really to be gained from any ISO setting less than 100.
7
Short version : you need more shutter speed. Crank up ISO, use widest aperture and trade both for shutter speed.
they still either naturally wander off or hop and run away whenever I get within about 20 feet
Well I'd consider 20 feet good enough. Actually pretty good. And if you spook them, even a young deer is a pretty big animal if it decides to run ...
6
The classic street photographer uses a prime lens for street shooting. Generally, the most popular lens is the equivalent of a 35mm in full frame or approximately 24mm for cropped sensor (producing a 36mm equivalent), but this is not a rule, it is just what purists believe is the best alternative.
Personally, I have no problem with a zoom. I personally ...
6
You're getting what is called Perspective distortion which is most noticable in wide angle lenses. Check out this link for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_distortion_(photography)
Basically close up objects in the center of the frame will look enlarged while objects on the sides will be stretched away from the center of the photo.
6
These are different designs, developed at different times. Forty years have gone between each was initially launched as the A-mount was simply acquired from Minolta which had by then fused into Konica-Minolta.
The A-mount introduces AF which worked by Phase-Detection and hence lenses for that mount are designed to focus that way. Over the years, they were ...
6
I am not familiar with this exact lens and camera model, but with similar questions related to Sony Alpha cameras and manual focus lenses. I assume your camera gives an error message similar to the following: "Check the lens attachment. If the lens is not supported, you can permit use of the lens in the custom menu."
I suspect the reason for this is that ...
6
I think you really know the answer here in your heart. You broke it. Pretty much the only place that can fix it is the vendor — Sony. The electronics are fried. Someone needs to figure out what exactly what components are dead and replace them. Possibly Sony will do this for less than the cost of a whole new camera — but I wouldn't bet on it.
6
Not really. If you want to take a hack at it, the first thing you'll need is the transmittance curves of your (presumably Bayer) color filter. Then,if you're lucky, there's an NIR wavelength at which at least two color filters have some responsivity, and those color filters have no overlap in the visible range. In such a case, you could play with sum and ...
6
It's not an "effect". It's an actual vignette, because the lens's image circle is too small to cover the larger sensor. No adapter in the world will fix this and still maintain the same light transmission capability and focus range of the bare lens. The size of the image circle is a physical property of the lens.
This is why "upgrading" to full frame is so ...
6
Have you tried using Sony's "Imaging Edge" software?
Most manufacturers' raw developing software opens raw images with the in-camera settings at the time the image was captured applied by default. Canon's Digital Photo Professional and Nikon's Capture NX-D both certainly do.
6
Did sensors improve in the last 10 years?
The best sensors available now are better than the best sensors that were available ten years ago. The sensors in most consumer grade¹ interchangeable lens cameras are better than the sensors in most consumer grade ILCs made ten years ago, particularly if one looks at the same "class" of cameras, such as ...
5
One of the biggest advantages that you'll find with the Canon/Nikon route (at least for APS-C/FF) is the ability to scale up to the professional level within the same ecosystem.
At the entry-level, most brands offer excellent quality and a good selection of lenses over your standard focal length range. What you're getting with Canon and Nikon is the ...
5
The best 50mm lens is the best one you can afford and are willing to buy.
You knew that :-).
Your budget affects the answer substantially.
The Sony A58 SLT is an excellent camera but is several steps down from the top of the Sony SLT APSC range). That plus your statement re having a kit lens suggests a low to moderate budget.
You can notionally obtain ...
5
It is not. What you are referring to is sensitivity to light. That is the ISO sensitivity is for and while there is a standard that describes it, digital sensors do not match exactly the posted sensitivity. A site like DxOMark actually measures ISO equivalence as part of its sensor benchmarks and you can commonly see a difference of ±1/3 EVs.
The other ...
5
Theoretically both images should be the same brightness, even though the NEX sensor is larger, it stills receives same amount of light per unit area both lenses were set to f/3.5. The difference in brightness is due to different processing, there's nothing in the ISO standard that guarantee the same digital brightness values given the same exposure and ISO ...
5
(1) Real world example
The pictures below show
On left.
Scene as would be perceived with with 'naked eye' or through Sony A77 EVF at this light level. It's reasonably dark! By no means 'pitch black' but below the level where photos would be taken by most people.
This is under a desk with daylight entering from a window and desk-wall slot. EVF and ...
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