Sony Alpha A850

Word just came up that Sony’s new full-frame shooter, the A850, has hit the store.

To review, it’s got the same sensor and dual-processor set-up of the A900, but cuts costs down a bit with a smaller viewfinder and slower continuous shooting. It uses the same grip as its bigger bro, though, and last I heard we had those too.

Sony has shown a real commitment to their DSLR line, and it’s growing every day. And, whatever reservations I may have about the other divisions of Sony, I find their larger DSLRs (the A700, A900, and now this one) to be quite excellent machines, and I like the very honest, no-nonsense tool aesthetic and feel they’ve built into their full-frame shooters. And, with a growing collection of constant-aperture zooms and Carl Zeiss lenses, it’s a system heavily worth considering if you need depth of field, low light, and studio resolution in one budget-friendly body.

Sony Alpha A850

Sony today announced it’s newest prosumer body, the A850. Sporting the same CMOS sensor as their other full-frame, the A900. So that’s a whopping 24.6 megapixels. It also sports the dual-bionz processors of its predecessor. It has no built-in flash, and I don’t see any movie mode here, and it drops from 5 frames per second down to 3, but those seem to be the major concessions to keep the price down.

Pricing is yet to come, but it should be the cheapest of all the available full-frame bodies. If you want to get on our waitlist, call us at 1-800-726-5544. The A900 was an impressive offering, and at the kinda price points we’re hearing for the A850 it’ll be a fabulous option for studio shooters, slow economy or not.

• 24.6 Megapixel, full-frame CMOS sensor (same as the A900′s)
• Support for all Minolta and Sony Alpha-mount lenses, with no focal length conversion ratio
• Sensor-shift image stabilization
• Dual Bionz image processors
• Optical viewfinder has 98% coverage and 0.74X magnification (A900 has 100% coverage)
• 3-inch LCD display with 921,600 pixels; camera does not support live view
• AF system made up of 9 main and 10 assist points
  • Shutter speed range of 30 – 1/8000 sec, plus a bulb mode
  • ISO range of 100 – 6400 when fully expanded
• Continuous shooting at 3 frames/second (compared to 5 fps on the A900)
• Hot shoe and flash sync port; camera does not have a built-in flash
• Dynamic range optimizer offers 5 steps of correction; user can also bracket for DRO
• Preview feature quickly takes a photo and lets you see the effects of adjusting white balance, dynamic range, and exposure compensation
• Dual memory card slots support CompactFlash and Memory Stick Duo media
• Optional battery grip
• HDMI output
• Uses NP-FM500H li-ion battery; 880 shots per charge

Spring Expo 2009

So, I somehow miraculously keep not mentioning this, but the 24th and 25th this month at or two Indianapolis (area) stores is our annual Spring Expo. We’re going to have most anybody who’s anybody (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Mamiya, Leica, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Profoto, Induro, PocketWizard, FJ Westcott, RPS Studio, Manfrotto, Gitzo, Lastolite, and on and on and on…) out in our store, showing you the merch. If you’re within traveling distance, it’s really a good time to swing by and give us a visit, because there’re just too many toys to play with. It’s one of the two times a year I get to try one of the f2 constant zooms for my E-3, for instance. (Although, dyed-in-the-wool Oly shooter I am, I think I’ll step down and play some with the A900 and some Zeiss lenses and with Nikon’s under-rated D700, both of which are systems I’d have in a giant rolling case if my pay-grade allowed for it.)

I’m sure specials will abound as well, and for those of you who unfortunately can’t come out and see us I’ll be mirroring as much of them as humanly possible on our website as well, so remember to swing by the site that weekend and check on that equipment you’ve been scrounging for (and maybe some you didn’t know you needed, occupational hazzard).

Since I hired in here back in October, the shadow of the Mark II has loomed across the world of digital photography. Being one of three 20+ MP cameras on the market (including the D3x from Nikon and the alpha 900 from Sony), it’s already a big deal but the inclusion of HD video and a more than perfunctory marketing emphasis on that feature sets it apart from the others.

Now that the Mark II is, presumably, to become more widely available I’m intrigued to see what more amateur videographers (or photographers dabbling in shooting video) will produce with it. I am faced with the reality that it is primarily a still camera designed to take advantage of Canon’s powerfuL lens set so the novelty of shooting HD video seems the sort of practice that will remain a fringe phenomena until the invisible hand pushes expense relative to other comparable options down. Of course, those on the fringe can as easily be on the cutting edge as the trailing and in that regard -being the first or last of a trend- has for me a mystique. Aren’t the brief, the rare, and the elusive things the more difficult subjects of the photographic craft? Ok, maybe finding right moment is the difficult part.

Here’s hoping for this being the cutting edge of media, not the trailing.

And if Fuji can follow through on its promises, we might soon have a new breed of camera starting to arise that has to make no compromises and specialize in one of those fields while sacrificing a little of the others.

Announced recently for a compact camera, but with potential application in larger sensors that has a lot of advanced amateurs watching with interest, is the new EXR technology. At the foundation of this technology is a restructuring of the traditional Bayer filter. The Bayer filter is a filter over the sensor on basically every digital camera going and tells the camera how to see the world in color, and not just values of light.

On the left is a traditional Bayer filter. A row of alternating Red and Blue and then a row of Green (turns out our eyes favor green pretty heavily). On the right is the pattern reworked for their EXR technology. You can see there’s still twice as much green as red or blue, but the new trick is that there are two pixels of each color next to each other at all times.

Further beyond that is that one pixel is high gain, it absorbs light very quickly. The other of the two is low gain, absorbing light slowly.

What’s all this mean, especially in relation to low-light, resolution, and dynamic range? What Fuji is saying is that the sensor can be switched between three different “modes.”

On is resolution. You can tell the sensor to use every pixel traditionally, which gives you high resolution.

The next is dynamic range. Those two pixels, the high and the low gain? The high gain lets shadows expose quicker, the low gain protects highlights. It halves the resolution, but should give a fairly notable increase in dynamic range by treating each type (high/low) as a different image and then combining the data, sort of like in-camera HDR.

The third is low light. Since the two pixels side-by-side see the same color, the camera can “bin” them together. This halves resolution, but creates a pixel twice the normal size, which means the picture will have less noise by nature. It sounds like it can do further binning, effectively letting you get unbelievable ISOs at the cost of resolution, not noise.

Time will tell what impact this has on the market, but as far as photo tech goes I think this is one of the neater announcements I’ve seen in some time.

One is Nikon’s D700, the po’ man’s D3. Attacked on several fronts, mostly the decision to stick to “low rez” 12 MP and not to include video, somewhere in the shuffle I think the market lost sight of the fact that this is among the absolute best low-light cameras ever made (consistently getting the promised 2-stop ISO advantage over my own beloved E-3, in my own findings and comparisons). In addition, reputation has the weather-sealing on this up to snuff for pro use (even if the shutter is “only” rated at 150,000). All this for comfortably under 3 grand.

Sony’s Alpha 900: This one is a similar but opposite story. Sony’s first full frame offering trotted out with twice the resolution as the D700, but it got panned somewhat unfairly on noise. From everything I’ve seen the A900 is an outstanding performer in low light, especially for RAW shooters. For its pixel density and price point I think it’s image quality is nothing short of impressive, and I’ve struggled since its introduction to understand the seemingly undue negativity some reviews have pointed at this camera. And, let’s not forget, Sony has, in my opinion, possibly the best grasp on ergonomics I’ve seen out there.

I’ve just found it odd in a market that clamored so loudly for more affordable full-frame options, a niche the 5D has long been the sole contender in, that two solid and uniquely tailored answers seem to have gotten lost in the scramble. It’s worth remembering, as this year draws to a close, that all of the big names offer a line-up of cameras that are all “little miracles,” full of a simply astounding level of sophisticated technology. So, whether your poison is for Canon digital SLR cameras (like the 5D Mk II, which I’m starting to see some very beautiful shots from), Nikon digital SLR cameras, Olympus digital cameras, Sony digital cameras (and just look at how far Sony has come in the past year. I may not be a huge fan of the parent company, but their photographic arm is a truly impressive lot), Pentax, Samsung, Fuji, Leica… you name it. They all have strengths, and they’re all tailored to certain styles, and they’re all truly capable imaging machines, from the cheapest DSLR on up.

It was a mirror lens, using mirrors in addition to glass elements to ‘fold’ light inside the lens, by first sending it to the back of the lens, then back up to a small mirror in the middle of the front element, and then finally sending it back to the sensor.

Then, the day after that, Jody was surprised to hear new announcements for mirror lenses (which have no aperture controls, you get one fixed aperture and need ND filters past that).

Then, today, I was reviewing the current Sony instant rebates, and saw the 500mm f8 Reflex sitting down in our Sony lenses. Apparently, if you buy Sony Alpha cameras you’ll find yourself in the unique position of having an available autofocus mirror lens, giving a fieldof view equivalent to a lens three times longer than it actually is.

Will it rival that $11,000 Canon for quality? No, but hey, for under $700 bucks and for it’s tiny size (well, compared to optically formulated 500′s), it’s going to be hard to beat. Don’t forget on any Alpha other than the A900 you’ll have a 1.5x crop making it a 750mm lens which is only about 5″ long. ]]> http://blog.robertscamera.com/2008/11/mirror-lenses-apparently-not-dead/feed/ 0 http://blog.robertscamera.com/2008/11/good-news-for-apple-and-nikon-p6000/ http://blog.robertscamera.com/2008/11/good-news-for-apple-and-nikon-p6000/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:19:59 +0000 Phil http://robertsraw.com/?p=572 The big gripe has been RAW compatibility for the Nikon digital camera P6000.  Up until now, the RAW file was only supported by Windows, or the new plug-in for Photoshop on the Apple platform. Today, Apple has released the new RAW update 2.3 for iPhoto ’08 and Aperture 2.  The new update supports RAW files [...]]]> The big gripe has been RAW compatibility for the Nikon digital camera P6000.  Up until now, the RAW file was only supported by Windows, or the new plug-in for Photoshop on the Apple platform.

Today, Apple has released the new RAW update 2.3 for iPhoto ’08 and Aperture 2.  The new update supports RAW files for the Canon EOS 50D, Nikon D90, Sony Alpha A900 and the Nikon Coolpix P6000.

This is big news for Apple users.  I have heard a lot of complaints about compatibility for the P6000.  This should address a lot of those issues.

The two major candidates are both offering change, breaking with the past and the old ways is inevitable. Even though the goals of the the major parties are similar, there are differences and you have to decide which direction you want to go. Nobody can anticipate everyone needs, there may be sacrifices required to get an overall system that best suits you best and incorporates your plans for the future.

It is important to remember that there are more than two parties in this race, that you still have many choices to consider. With the economy being a major factor as well, it is incumbent upon you to make the right choices for your needs. In the next few weeks and months remaining there will be many deals to stimulate the economy and to bail you out of your usual last minute crazy holiday race.

We all know who the two main candidates are for your SLR dollars. Canon and Nikon are perennially favorites and are once again neck and neck. Between them they have brought out (or are soon bringing out) no less that 7 new platforms in the past three or four months. Recent Nikon Digital SLR offerings include the D90 with video worthy of a High Definition Camcorder, the high mega-pixel high end Nikon Digital Camera for more performance the D300, and the two new full size sensors models in the Executive branch, the D3 and the D700.
Canon digital SLR cameras you ask? They too have been bolstering their ranks. The Canon Digital Rebel camera lined has two recent additions the Rebel XS, and the higer mega-pixel Rebel XSi, but the most anticipated Canon Digital SLR camera news is the Canon 5D Mark II!  We are takin advanced orders for the new Canon. Like the new Nikon D90 the Mark II will also have High definition Camcorder quality video recording capabilities, a massive 21.1 mega-pixel image sensor and the new digic 4 processor.

Inspirational Poster ala Chuck

The true independent in this race is Sony. Sony manufactures every component of their DSLR cameras and lenses, so they control their own means of production. The new Sony Digital SLR that is getting rave reviews has the largest resolution full frame sensor to date in a “35mm” style camera body at 24.6 mega-pixels. The Alpha 900 is here now and is remarkable, add a comfortable grip and it is the equal of most any camera on the market, and at a price that is sure to put pressure on the other contenders.

Remember that Pentax and Olympus are also in the DSLR business, and there are many worthy offers and offerings to consider before you veto them from your agenda. This season we have killer Olympus Digital Camera deals. You be can walk out with a 10 mega-pixel E-410 with a 14-42 lens for under $400.00. The same Olympus digital camera with an additional 40-150 zoom, case with 3 year extended warranty, spare battery and 2 gb compact flash card, can be yours for 549.94. Talk about your stimulus package! Can we beat the competition for deals this season! Yes We Can!

Let me get this out of the way right off the bat: to the best of my knowledge bokeh isn’t directly affected by sensor size. I say “to the best of my knowledge” because, despite popular opinion, I’m not all crazy omniscient (crazy, yes, omniscient, no).

“But,” you say, “Derek! You told us way back when that sensor size affects bokeh!”

Why, so I did, good job paying attention. Here’s the thing: remember our lesson on Depth of Field? And I told you sensor size was a part of it? Aha, now we’re getting to the point.

So, again, there’s a lot of math involved in this (which I am definitely not qualified to talk about, but if you want an astoundingly complete and rational essay on the effects of sensor crop on various aspects of an image I will point you to my favorite reference page here), but what you basically need to know is that depth of field has what would be called an “inverse correlation” to sensor size. Basically, the smaller the sensor, the deeper the depth of field.

OK. Grab a Nikon digital SLR camera (like the new D90). It’s a DX, which has a crop factor of 1.5. Once again, we’ll compare things to the bad-old standard of 35mm. You used to shoot at 50mm f5.6 all the time on your film camera. But, now you have the D90. So, remembering what we said about field of view, you look through your Nikon lenses and you pick up that new 18-55 VR and rack it out to about 33mm (because now you know that’ll give you a field of view the same as your 50mm did) and you set your aperture to 5.6. You snap the shot and… well, and there’s less out-of-focus area in the shot then the one you shot with your 50mm. As a matter of fact, it looks pretty similar to about f8 on your old camera. That’s because of the 1.5x crop factor on the D90. If you take 5.6 x 1.5 you get a value 8.4. If you want to imitate the same DOF as the old 5.6, you have to divide it by the crop factor to get the aperture you’d need now (5.6 / 1.5 = 3.7, by the way. f3.7 on your D90 will have the same amount in focus as your film camera did at f5.6)

Kinda like with the field of view, this “conversion” is just for the depth of field. The lenes still collects as much light as an f5.6. There’s an oft-made argument that this is a crop-sensor DOF “advantage”, because it has the DOF of a slower aperture at a faster one. This is countered by it being hard to get very shallow DOF (which helps with bokeh, less we forget why I’m even on this topic at all), and by the fact that smaller sensors have more problems dealing with noise management. It is the opinion of this blogger that it can’t be called an advantage or a disadvantage, it’s just a fact that you should be aware of so you can work around it.

OK! More examples, to make sure you got it. My beloved Olympus digital cameras, the E system, have a 2x crop factor. If I shoot f5.6 I get the DOF of F 11 (5.6 x 2 = 11.2) on a 35mm system. Pick up a 1D series Canon digital SLR camera and you’ll find a 1.3x crop factor, meaning f5.6 is closer to f7 (5.6 x 1.3 = 7.28). Getting the hang of it?

Those formulas again, real quick, for reference:

Going form crop-sensor to 35mm: aperture x crop factor
Going from 35mm to crop-sensor: aperture / crop factor.

To tie it back down to bokeh. We know that wider apertures give better bokeh, simply because less is in focus. If you want even more soft bokeh, then you might consider getting a system with a larger system (the so-called “full frames” like the A900, 5D Mk II, and the D700.) If you hear someone say that full-frame cameras have film-like bokeh (which is what started these articles in the first place), this is what they mean. F2.8 on full frame sensors looks just like the f2.8 did in film SLRs. Does this mean your Canon Digital Rebel camera can’t get that same bokeh? Certainly no, but you’ll need a lens that can open up to f1.8. Just something you should be aware of.