The sony alpha, and ISO

shorty6049 · Mar 14, 2007

i should try a bike pump, i've used compressed air, but heard its not good for the camera, and i've been thinking about getting a rocket blower, the lens is the lens that came with the camera (sony 18-70)

shorty6049 · Mar 14, 2007

so is the new version of the tree any better than the first? what can i do to improve it further?

Digital Matt · Mar 14, 2007

I have to ask why you shot the first shot at f/18? That is probably one of the reasons that it's not sharp. I'm assuming you have some sort of kit lens that came with the camera, and while it's probably of decent quality, you'll get the most out of it by shooting at the sweet spot, which is somewhere between f/8 and f/11 most likely. Do you have a tripod? If you are going to be shooting nature and landscapes, there's no reason not to use one. You'll get the sharpest image that you can get. Also, if you want to really get the most out of your images, consider shooting raw.

fragged3d · Mar 14, 2007

I have this camera with the kit lens and my picures come out very nice!

<R>

shorty6049 · Mar 14, 2007

i was shooting at f/18 because i think it was a day or two before i learned about sweet spots... i previously thought that a higher f meant a clearer image, and i wanted to make sure the whole tree was in focus. i usually dont ever shoot raw because i hate not being able to preview the images without opening them up in photoshop or sony's raw program.... (not a very good excuse, but its kind of a combination of that, and the fact that i only have 2GB of memory so i try to shoot jpeg more

e999sam · Mar 15, 2007

Have a look at page 103 of your cameras manual. It tells you all about cleaning the CCD sensor.

Boltthrower · Mar 27, 2007

I have this cameras big brother the 7D and i do get noise at 1600 and even more at 3200 the noise on my camera starts to show at around 800 but nothing too bad

Zatodragon · Apr 10, 2007

The kit lens does have some issues with CA. Getting a higher-quality lens will help a lot with that issue. Also, if your using a single-coat or non-coated UV filter to protect your lens, that could also be causing the CA. So upgrade to a multi-coat UV or skylight filter to protect your lens. If you don't even have a protective filter yet, get one quick!

But good shots! My suggestion for lens is go yard selling for older minolta lenses. They will be at a real nice price and the quality will be great!

AUZambo · Apr 10, 2007

shorty6049 said:
i usually dont ever shoot raw because i hate not being able to preview the images without opening them up in photoshop or sony's raw program....

Get a mac and the problem is solved...though you still can't open it in Photoshop or iPhoto without converting them. Mac's "preview" program displays the RAW files without a problem...it's just a little slower because they're 10 MB each.

I have the exact same camera, but with the 18-200mm sony lens, and only get noticable noise problems at 800+ ISO (and it's really not that bad at 800). I honestly didn't see noise in that first pic and didn't see it in the second until I saw the enlarged photo.

I'm still extremely amateur in the world of photography, but I've found that just going outside like you did and taking several shots, noting the settings, is the best way to figure the camera out.

Funky · Apr 10, 2007

sorry, i didnt read the last 4 or 5 posts because you said the automatic cleaning only happens when you turn the camera off, theres a super cleaning function on the alpha i use every day, its kinda scary how well it works. go into the menu and move over to the last tab on the right there should be a clean ccd button in there, you need to have your bat bars fully charged in order to use it. the whole camera shakes and you have to turn off the camera really quickly because after its done the shutter stays open.

and the other thing is that you need to have the super steady shot button set to on. also make sure your ccd is set to taking 10 MP shots because for the longest time mine had a default of 5 and i was kinda confused till i found out it wasnt 10 and changed it.

annnnd the 7d isnt the alpha 100's big brother, its the otherway round blah! just wait till the A1 comes out.

shorty6049 · Apr 10, 2007

isnt that cleaning function you talked about just where the shutter opens so you can clean the sensor yourself?

eravedesigns · Apr 10, 2007

Funky said:
sorry, i didnt read the last 4 or 5 posts because you said the automatic cleaning only happens when you turn the camera off, theres a super cleaning function on the alpha i use every day, its kinda scary how well it works. go into the menu and move over to the last tab on the right there should be a clean ccd button in there, you need to have your bat bars fully charged in order to use it. the whole camera shakes and you have to turn off the camera really quickly because after its done the shutter stays open.

and the other thing is that you need to have the super steady shot button set to on. also make sure your ccd is set to taking 10 MP shots because for the longest time mine had a default of 5 and i was kinda confused till i found out it wasnt 10 and changed it.

annnnd the 7d isnt the alpha 100's big brother, its the otherway round blah! just wait till the A1 comes out.

WHAT!!! lol thats how you make the camera keep its shutter open so you can clean it with some air or a special brush. That has absolutely nothing to do with shaking the dust of the sensor. Every time you turn the camera on it shakes the sensor with the a100 (I own it). What you are doing is opening the shutter fully so that if someone were to clean it with a brush they could access the sensor.

shorty6049 · Apr 10, 2007

eravedesigns said:
WHAT!!! lol thats how you make the camera keep its shutter open so you can clean it with some air or a special brush. That has absolutely nothing to do with shaking the dust of the sensor. Every time you turn the camera on it shakes the sensor with the a100 (I own it). What you are doing is opening the shutter fully so that if someone were to clean it with a brush they could access the sensor.

WHAT!!! lol, doesnt it shake the sensor when you turn the camera OFF? listen for it, you can hear it do it after you turn it off. I read about it somewhere