Major Upgrade from a100 to a65! Need help thou!

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

So, I just purchased the A65. So far, I absolutely love it! It is a HUGE step up from my a100. There are some concerns I have and hope someone can walk me through how to adjust/fix it.

1. What is the point of the "Peaking Levels/Colors" Ive gathered its for focus, however Im not really seeing the benefits of it.....

2. Which leads me into my next question...I feel like when I take a photo and the focus is PERFECT...when I zoom in on the computer the photo isnt tack sharp..it looks more like it was painted. Is there a setting I need to turn on/off? Its really annoying.

3. I dont know if its my computer or something on the card/camera, but my computer cant read the Raw files, only Jpeg...how do I fix that?

I think that is it for now...Ive gone through my manual but Im just not finding solutions and like I said, this is a huge step from the a100 so I feel like Im starting all over again!

unpopular · Nov 18, 2012

1) Peaking is just a manual focus assist. It is useful because manual focus is faster and more accurate than AF provided that you have enough visual feedback. It's better than most manual focus assist because it provides visual feedback over the entire frame. Peaking has no value in particular with AF (well.....).

2) Some lack of sharpness is to be expected. You may be pixel peaking. I doubt it's a setting, either you're not focussing properly or your expectations are too high. It may also simply be because the resolution is higher and you're seeing more optical anomalies, both in the lens as well as in the camera. Simply because the a100 has 10 million pixels and the a65 has more than twice that at 24 million pixels, does not mean that you will get twice as much detail. In fact, this is not true of any camera, not even of the a99 despite it's full frame sensor. However, while your images may appear soft zoomed in, you are getting more resolution than on your a100, and you must ask yourself if you interpolated (enlarged) your a100 images to 24mp, would they look even softer and more sloppy? This is exceedingly likely.

Please post a 100% crop so that we can see what's going on.

3) We'll need more detail. What exactly is going on when you try to load a RAW file? Are you using the software that came with your a100 or your a65?

cosmonaut · Nov 18, 2012

What lens are you using? Kit lenses are not always the sharpest. Focus peaking is just for manual focusing and a great invention as I use Leica R lenses on my a99 and it makes focusing so much easier. Do you have steady shot on? Many things can cause an image to be a little off how about posting a picture with the EXIF data and we can help more.

Kolia · Nov 18, 2012

1) Great answer from Unpopular

2) What lens are you using ? At 24MP, if you zoom to 1:1 pixel size, the kit lens will simply not keep up. Also, the added resolution make the camera more susceptible to shake.

3) Windows will not display the RAW files until you install the correct RAW drivers. Google "Windows Sony RAW driver" and you will find a link to download it.

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

Thanks everyone!

Ive used the kit lens 18-55 and the 55-200. I need to test out my old lenses to see if its the same on there. My expectations may just be too high.

Unpopular- Thank you for all of your imput! I have not downloaded any new software with the A65, the only thing I got with the camera is the user manual that came paperback and on CD...maybe the raw driver is on there as well.

Cosmonaut- I do have the steady shot on.

Kolia- Thank you for the google tip..will look into that!

We are downloading icloud right now, so my computer is really slow..I will post a photo in a bit so you can see what Im seeing.

unpopular · Nov 18, 2012

I'd say just download the software from Sony to ensure that you have the latest version. It is likely that the software you were using with the a100 is outdated and not compatable with the a65 ARW.

Kolia · Nov 18, 2012

Make sure you have the latest Firmware (Version 1.06 just came out Oct 18,2012)

Also, learn to turn ON and OFF the "Live View Display" Settings (Under the Gear Icon - Page 2 in Menu) so you can see better in low light.
You can also set the "Front Curtain Shutter" to ON so it uses the electronic shutter option instead of closing then opening it when you want to shot for faster reaction time (Under the Gear Icon - Page 4 in Menu).

Kolia · Nov 18, 2012

Oh and the 55-200mm isn't exactly sharp. You must step down the aperture quite a bit to get good results.

Up the ISO if necessary to avoid going wide open.

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

View attachment 26114this is zoomed in to 100% F/5.6 shutter 1/200 ISO 100 Focal Length200mm

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

View attachment 26120 hope this one works

unpopular · Nov 18, 2012

looks like noise reduction. is noise reduction turned on, I am not sure why NR would be applied to ISO 100?

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

I feel like its not sharp..but maybe IM expecting to much...

uncropped version

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

unpopular said:
looks like noise reduction. is noise reduction turned on, I am not sure why NR would be applied to ISO 100?

Thats what I was thinking, but its not...I double checked it..unless there is another way that they worded it..

unpopular · Nov 18, 2012

the first one, there is something wrong. The second one, looks OK to me... crappy lens, but OK; just shallow DOF, maybe some camera shake...

Skhigh · Nov 18, 2012

unpopular said:
the first one, there is something wrong. The second one, looks OK to me... crappy lens, but OK; just shallow DOF, maybe some camera shake...

Well tomorrow I have a photo shoot for class, so Ill be bringing all my lenses and playing with it a bit more. Thanks again for the imput/advice!! Muchly appreciated!