Photoclub Alpha

Sony, which has a UK event taking place on Thursday July 15th showcasing new products for the Christmas market, has surprised us by launching its NEX mount HD camcorder with 14.2 megapixel CMOS sensor and 18-200mm OSS interchangeable lens much sooner than anyone expected.

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The European press launch

David Kilpatrick recorded the proceedings at Le Meridien Lav Hotel, Split, Croatia on March 11th 2010 using a Zoom H2 portable digital recorder. Shirley Kilpatrick transcribed the audio, with subsequent editing to translate verbal output to read well as text. This is a multi-page document please use the PAGE navigation at the foot of each page to continue reading. It is a very long document.

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The Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras are ultra-slim interchangeable lens models, referred to as ‘ultracompact’ or ‘compact system camera’ models by Sony. The lens flange to film distance is only 18mm, compared to 44.5mm for the Alpha system and very similar figures for all popular SLR brands.

The Leica M and screw mounts, with under 1mm difference between them, are 10mm greater than this at around 28mm. Screw mount Leica lenses can be adapted to M even though there is only 1mm difference. With 10mm difference, almost any lens ever made for any camera – even the Robot system, original Contax, maybe even the Pentax 110 SLR – can probably be adapted to fit the E-mount. In fact it will accept 16mm and 35mm (half-frame) ciné, C-mount CCTV lenses, and subminiature camera lenses.

You name it, the NEX will be able to do it. Telescopes, microscopes, endoscopes, whatever. And Alpha lenses, and MD lenses. There is even enough ROOM with over 25mm the spare to fit a true retrofocus format reduction converter – that is, a 0.66X optical unit which condenses the image from a full frame lens to fit the APS-C sensor. It is already done in the video and ciné world, and these converters have a wonderful bonus. Your 24-70mm f/2.8 SSM lens becomes, with a 0.66X reducing converter behind it, a 16-46mm f/2. That’s right – the same way a teleconverter loses you a stop or two, a format reduction converter gains you a stop.

Are you an Alpha Male or an Alpha Female?

Never feel that your chosen camera makes you the odd one out in a herd of Canon and Nikon users! You are the leader not the follower…

Perhaps you are the only one at your college or your camera club with an Alpha. Well, we reckon that makes you Alpha material, so we have designed two neat logos combining the symbols for Male and Female with the Alpha glyph. It’s an official Photoclubalpha garment not official Sony!

It would have been great to start with a low-cost almost giveaway T-shirt, but the quality of these can be poor especially in black. Yes, even the best black cotton will fade with wear and washing but it is a good quality garment to start with. That’s why it has to be £13.95 including VAT and postage* to cover our costs.

The Polo Shirt is, we think, a real bargain. Various local clubs and societies, as well as sports teams, have had similar polo and rugger shirts made by our supplier with embroidered logos. They look great and wear well at £17.95 each including VAT and postage. Photo above: white male T-shirt, black female T-shirt, black female polo shirt. The polo shirts with the female logo are tailored for women’s fit. T-shirts are unisex.

The T-shirts have the web address of Photoclubalpha written neatly in the classic Minolta typeface across the shoulders on the back. The logo and male or female text line are printed centrally on the front.

The Polo shirts only have the logo motif on the front, to a smaller size, in chest pocket position. There is no text, if anyone asks you what it means, you’ll have to explain it. The Polo shirts feature embroidered logos, the T-shirts are printed.

The T-shirt sizing is fairly generous – for example, size L is a neat fit for female size 20, loose on size 18.

Men’s Polos/all T-Shirts
XS – 34/46″
S – 36/38″
M – 38/40″
L – 40/42″
XL – 42/44″
XXL – 44/46″
3XL – 46/48″
4XL – 48/50″

Women’s Polos
(British Sizes – US sizes are one step smaller, XS=6 for example)
XS – 8
S – 10
M – 12
L – 14
XL – 16
XXL – 18

T-Shirts are unisex not tailored. Polo shirts are supplied in male tailored cut for Alpha Male, female cut for Alpha Female. T-Shirts are Heavyweight 100% Ringspun Cotton (175-180gsm); Polo Shirts are the same material, but a little heavier in weight.

Ordering by post

T-Shirts – available to in black or white, sizes XS to 4XL
Alpha Male – Black or White, with Alpha Male text line    £13.95
Alpha Female – Black or White, with Alpha Female text line    £13.95

Polo Shirts – available in sizes S to 3XL (M) XS to XXL (F)
Alpha Male – Black or White without text small symbol    £17.95
Alpha Female – Black or White without text small symbol    £17.95

The shirts are printed (for T-Shirts) or embroidered (for Polo Shirts) locally in Kelso and you may specify any size within the range shown; depending on demand, it may take up to 28 days for orders to be completed and despatched. We hope to keep stocks of popular sizes for faster delivery. Prices include VAT and postage*.

Cheques payable to ‘Icon Publications Ltd’ – orders to Alpha Shirts Offer, Icon Publications Ltd, Maxwell Place, Maxwell Lane, Kelso, Scottish Borders TD5 7BB. You may also post an order using the method described for fax orders below.

Ordering by email or fax

FAX your order with credit card (long number, cardholder name, security number and expiry date) and address information, written out with clear instructions for the garment/s, male/female design, colour and size required, to +44 (0) 1573 226000. Faxes are retained until you confirm receipt of order and shredded afterwards; we do not store credit card details, repeat orders need information repeating.

Alternatively, scan your document and attach it to an email sent to david@photoclubalpha.com

Ordering by Paypal BUY IT NOW - you must detail your size requirements using the Comments or Message field provided by Paypal, or in a clearly linked email. If you do not state size requirements, we will send size L.

Alpha Male T-shirt White

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Alpha Male T-shirt Black

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Alpha Female T-shirt White

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Alpha Female T-shirt Black

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Alpha Male Polo Shirt White

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Alpha Male Polo Shirt Black

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Alpha Female Ladies’ Polo Shirt White

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Alpha Female Ladies’ Polo Shirt Black

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View Order Cart

* For orders outside Europe, VAT is not applied. The 17.5% VAT saving is used to cover additional postage costs for worldwide buyers. The prices remain the same for all geographical areas. UK and European orders include VAT.

The Alpha 900 offers an unrivalled view through its 100% prism finder. The extra brightness, as well as the size and clarity, make most subjects far easier to photograph well. For some users, however, the full frame camera brings a disadvantage in terms of reach and resolution. You need lenses 50% longer (and thus twice the size, and four times the cost!) to fill the frame with the same distant sports and wildlife subjects. I don’t need to remind anyone how popular these two subjects are with amateurs, and sometimes, how important to professionals.

My Sony Alpha 380 was supposed to arrive before July 13th according to SimplyElectronics.net – via Amazon – claiming UK despatch of 2-10 days delivery after debiting my card on July 6th from a July 3rd order. Well, it didn’t arrive by July 21st, and after some email exchanges I have apparently obtained a refund for the charge they made for an item they did not have (though this was still showing as ‘processing’ in August). Warehouseexpress.com had got the A380 plus 18-55mm kits  by that time, for £10 less, and delivered in 24 hours. Update August 9th: under a month later, the warehouseexpress kit price has fallen by 10% (£50) to £548 inc VAT.

It’s the very last word in HD picture quality, smart shooting features and stunning looks. The new flagship of Sony’s HD camcorder line-up, the Handycam® HDR-CX520VE/505VE is packed with latest innovations to help you capture better-looking video and still images, whatever you’re doing. Press release from Sony, July 7th 2009.

PENTAX UK is pleased to announce the launch of the PENTAX K-7 lens-interchangeable digital SLR camera. The K-7 combines a variety of advanced functions and user-friendly features to ensure outstanding reliability and capability within a compact, lightweight body (says the press release from Pentax in the UK).

The K-7 joins the current PENTAX K digital SLR camera series as a high-end model in the range. True to its series concept, it has been designed to deliver outstanding image quality combined with ease of use, to benefit photo enthusiasts of all levels, including advanced amateurs. The K-7 also includes revised and upgraded features including viewfinder, shutter unit, continuous-shooting capacity, and exposure and autofocus systems.

Protected by a durable, high-quality metallic body, the K-7 is extremely compact and functional — as with all other K-series models — delivering enhanced portability and manoeuverability. The model includes several new user-friendly features, including video recording, high dynamic range (HDR), and automatic horizon correction. All of these features serve to deliver a highly effective photographic tool, perfect for all discerning digital SLR photographers.

As the generation of Alpha 200, 300 and 350 reaches early retirement age it may be the time to grab bargains. The new Alpha 230, 330 and 380 have plenty of bonus points to win over new users despite the critical lack of video capture. But the older generation has some very tangible benefits.

The most obvious changes in the ‘Plus-30′ range are the use of a new smaller battery (NP-F50AM) shared with Cyber Shot consumer models, a dual MS ProHG Duo and SD card interface, substantial reduction in weight and size, improved rear LCD screen with auto brightness adjustment (only on the A330 and A380), and a radical overhaul of the graphical user interface to include sample picture tips (pioneered by Nikon).

The new Alpha 230, 330 and 380 models are radical ergonomic redesigns of the existing 200, 300 and 350 series. There is a 15% reduction in size (volumetric) and weight, an update to the styling, and a completely revised user interface with graphic representation of setting adjustments – with a built-in ‘handbook’ to accompany the modes and options. They also have mini-HDMI image output, compatible with Bravia TVs and with interactive software inside the camera to allow the Bravia’s own remote control to change, orient and zoom into images (Bravia Sync). Twin card storage is MS ProHG Duo/SD and only one card is usable at a time, with a hardware switch to change slots. A smaller battery type (shared with the HX1 Cyber Shot) is used. A new self-timer drive mode grabs a quick burst of 3 or 5 frames, cutting the chances of spoiled portraits and groups shots when someone blinks at the wrong moment.

The new flashgun HVL-F20AM operates as a wireless flash controller for the full-frame α900. “While Sony’s flagship DSLR does not have its own integrated flash, the HVL-F20AM can be used as an inexpensive trigger for wireless remote flash heads” according to Sony UK.