a350 owners

[David Kilpatrick]

I am still shooting aperture priority, F/8 or smaller. On the tripod, typically F14-29, even with flash. Sorry this is so long but trying to say "I'm no camera dummy" but wondering why I am so dissatisfied. Going on Alaska cruise in June, also just picked up the Sony 11-18 for this and looking to get a 70-200/2.8 also, yet may be going down the wrong path. Comments please...

You simply won't get any kind of sharpness on the A350 at f14 to f29. It will give you optimum sharpness around f8 with zooms, open to f5.6 with lenses like the 70-200mm f2.8 for the most stunning detail resolution. Using UV filters etc has no effect at all. With the 11-18mm, trust manual focusing by scale more than AF - set it to just off infinity for landscapes.

Here is an ISO 400 shot on the A350 with Tamron 70-300mm zoom - not the world's sharpest, at f8:



Have a look at the full size image: http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/94034696

This is about as sharp as you can reasonably expect from the combination. The 70-300mm SSM might well add an edge and give nice OOF rendering.

Here is a 100% section of an ISO 100 flash shot, taken at 200mm and f5.6 on the 70-200mm SSM, on the A350, of a tapestry from over ten feet away - this is a very finely stitched work behind glass. Do not mistake acutance (visual sharpness, edge enhancement, impact, contrast, saturation) for sharpness. Those can all be added, just like they are on consumer digicams whether you want them or not. This is a neutral export with no sharpening. It has extremely fine detail down to the texture of the threads.



But many people would say, that is not sharp! They mistake acutance (which can even make something as crude as your TV screen look 'sharp') with actual resolution.

David

[David Kilpatrick]

well... I've ony taken a few shots, I'm nearly happy with. I'm still try to get my head around working with RAW's and getting a feel on how the a350 works with all my old glass.
First thing I worked out, is that switching to manual focus dos not release the focus on my sigma 170-500mm, when I'm using it with a tamron tele-converter.
ALso the only time I've had a chance to take some photos has been on sunset after i get home from work, trying to take photos of local bird life at dusk, hand held, with my sigma does not work

I've also tried some moon shots, again hand held, none worked

Stephen

This is almost funny, because you HAVE to be joking! The Sigma 170-500mm is not really good enough to use on 14 megapixels before you start, and adding a 2X converter would degrade the image to the point where it would barely be OK on 6 megapixels. Also, you would have to use a very high ISO, and work wide open, and trust to the near-impossibility of holding or tripod mounting such a combination with enough stability to get one in five shots (taken with a remote release, or the self-timer - not touching the camera's release) steady.

The A350 is a camera with very high resolution which makes 30% more demand on lens quality than even the Alpha 900. It should ideally be used at ISO 100, with the most careful technique. Think of the A350 as being Kodachrome 25. You would not pick K25 to shoot bird life at dusk. You actually need the Alpha 700 to do that, but the A300 would have been a safer choice for you - it can be used at ISO 1600 with much better results, and the lower resolution makes it less demanding on lens quality and focus accuracy.

David

[stevecim]

Hi David

This is almost funny, because you HAVE to be joking!

I did use a I didn't go out at dusk to take bird photos, I was out for a walk at Dusk and had my camera with me

The A350 is a camera with very high resolution which makes 30% more demand on lens quality than even the Alpha 900. It should ideally be used at ISO 100, with the most careful technique. Think of the A350 as being Kodachrome 25. You would not pick K25 to shoot bird life at dusk. You actually need the Alpha 700 to do that, but the A300 would have been a safer choice for you - it can be used at ISO 1600 with much better results, and the lower resolution makes it less demanding on lens quality and focus accuracy.

David you mentioned the 30% higher resolution before, but I did not understand the impact on my lenses since they all seemed fine on film Thinking of the a350 has Kodachrome 25 makes it clear for me, maybe I need to sell my old kit and get some new glass