33
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 ...
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 ...
13
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 ...
12
Yes, the A77 has a mechanical shutter and it does move at 12 FPS per second. There are a number of cameras with similar shutter-speeds including some ultra-zooms but indeed this is very fast.
What it does not have is a motor to move the mirror. This is more problematic for speed then the shutter itself since a mirror is heavy and has to move out of the way ...
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
I'm familiar with Canon lenses featuring Image Stabilization that can emit a faint "whir" as IS operates. Your Sony body has a form of image stabilization built into the body, and if that's on during a long exposure, you might be hearing that as it operates.
If you're shooting long-exposure shots with the camera mounted on a tripod (which would be best), ...
10
Summary:
The 18-55mm kit lens is better than many kit lenses and is worth buying.
(This is based on an extensive body of information available for both lenses. See below)
While many old Minolta Full Frame lenses are very good optically, and better than typical entry level A-mount Sony lenses, in this case the 18-55mm kit lens is noticeably superior ...
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 first one isn't a setting/exposure issue as there are stripes/lines across the picture.
From my technical experience, I'm willing to bet it's a faulty image sensor. If you Google images "faulty ccd", you can see very similar results.
This fault isn't necessarily caused by damage to the camera but just simply due to the image sensor failing.
Although I ...
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
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
It is impossible with Lightroom as the camera is not supported. See the supported list.
You will have to find other tethering software and check their requirements one-by-one. As a general rule, if your camera is neither Canon nor Nikon, there are far less chances of being supported by anyone else than the manufacturer. So, check with Sony first, they may ...
8
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 ...
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 ...
7
The best pro trick is to get a good tripod. You will need it here because even with the remote trigger and self-timer you have to touch the camera between exposures.
Then go to Manual exposure mode, then:
Select the aperture you need
Set the focus and and lock it by going into MF mode
Set the white-balance to any setting other than Auto (unless shooting ...
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
In theory, there should be two areas where the larger sensor provides a noticeable benefit:
It should have an advantage at higher ISOs. You should see less noise, and higher ISO overall may be an option.
There should be more fine detail overall, but so many factors play into this that you're only likely to be able to discern the difference in controlled ...
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 ...
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