New toy, cant wait to break it in properly...

tibrunner · Apr 7, 2013

I picked this beauty up on Thursday, the weather has been über sh!t and I have yet to break it in properly. I am thinking tomorrow after school if there is any bit of sun.

Any suggestions or insight from experienced owners?

Carl Zeiss 16-80mm

Kolia · Apr 8, 2013

Slightly envious !!!!

Congrats !

skieur · Apr 8, 2013

There are one heck of a lot of adjustments and modes on the A77V for you to explore and try out. The in-camera panorama is probably the trickiest. Sweep needs to be smooth, even, and not too fast or too slow. Focal length outside needs to be close to 50mm to avoid lens distortion resulting in curved beaches in the foreground or distorted horizons. HDR without the over-cooked look is also a plus.

tibrunner · Apr 9, 2013

skieur said:
There are one heck of a lot of adjustments and modes on the A77V for you to explore and try out. The in-camera panorama is probably the trickiest. Sweep needs to be smooth, even, and not too fast or too slow. Focal length outside needs to be close to 50mm to avoid lens distortion resulting in curved beaches in the foreground or distorted horizons. HDR without the over-cooked look is also a plus.

You mean like these?

Yes, I have been using this specific camera for a bit over a year- the "new toy" was the Zeiss lens.

DiskoJoe · Apr 10, 2013

Congrats. Personally I would have held out for the 24-70 but only cause I really dislike variable aperture lenses. But the only advice I would give you is that with Zeiss lenses you have to be careful not to oversharpen in post. The lenses are EXTREMELY sharp, you see, and adding sharpening can make smooth lines start to turn out jagged. As for the BS trick mode, eh, I just bracket my own since it will always come out better.

One of these days I want to break down and get me a couple of the Zeiss prime lenses. The 85 and 135 have been calling to me.