Photoclub Alpha

October 16, 2007, Burlingame, CA — FotoNation (www.fotonation.com), a leading provider of embedded imaging solutions for the imaging industry, announced today “FastTrack IPC” (IP-Core) hardware acceleration technology that improves Face-Tracking quality and performance up to 400% in digital cameras and camera phones.

ON OCTOBER 10th I left the UK London press launch complete with an Alpha 700 review camera. I’ll be covering the many aspects of the Alpha 700 performance in later reviews, but this camera is so good I wanted to get just something out to you right the next day.

I know that many of you expect a full detailed report about new Alpha 700 (writes Damir Tiljak). Unfortunately we had limited time to spent with new camera, which left us with just a few impressions. Good news is that most of impressions are positive. Although Sony rates this camera as their ‘advanced amateur’ model, I am sure it will be suitable for semi-professional or even professional use in fields like wedding photography.

System
Camera type: Digital SLR with built-in flash and interchangeable lenses
Lens mount: Sony mount; compatible with Minolta A-type bayonet mount
Lens compatibility: All Sony a lenses and Konica Minolta MAXXUM / DYNAX lenses

TOUGH, RESPONSIVE α700 DELIVERS STUNNING NEXT-GENERATION PICTURE QUALITY… FROM SHOOTING TO VIEWING

Sep 6, 2007

• Superb picture quality with newly developed Sony 12.24 effective megapixel Exmorâ„¢ CMOS sensor and brand new high-speed BIONZâ„¢ processor with RAW noise reduction
• Ultra-responsive operation with fast, high-accuracy 11-point autofocus and 5fps continuous shooting
• New ‘Quick Navigation’ function for instant access to camera settings
• Rugged magnesium body with dust/moisture resistant seals
• ‘PhotoTV HD’ Full HD image display on new BRAVIA televisions
• 3-inch 921k dot photo-quality LCD screen and bright, high-magnification viewfinder

PRODUCT shots of the Sony Alpha 700 have been released, and are shown here to our standard web page size of 600 pixels or smaller.

TEMPORARY website pages on the afternoon (GMT) of September 5th managed to leak the entire specification sheet and several new PR images of the advanced amateur Alpha model, along with its name - the Alpha 700. You wouldn’t pick a wife or husband on the basis of their on-paper specification, so remember, the only way to partner up with a DSLR and be happy is to try it in your hands first.

With only three days to go before the launch of the new Alpha, rumours of a ’sneak preview’ press release have appeared on dPreview’s internet forums. Leon van Bommel, writing from Holland, says he has seen a magazine which has a photograph showing the camera with a kit lens marked 16-105mm f/3.5-5.6. Certainly, a more expensive body than the A100 would look out of place wearing the $99 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens which is the only cheap option now.

BRANCHES of Currys, the large UK electronic box-shifter, have been displaying notices saying ‘Discontinued’ under their remaining Alpha 100 kits. This needed some explanation, so we contacted Sony UK to ask whether the camera was genuinely discontinued.

INSIDE sources - mainly people who have been invited to press launch events - confirm that Sony is to show its new Advanced Amateur camera, thought to be called the Alpha 300, on Thursday September 6th. A press conference is being held in Italy on the 5th/6th, and journalists from European mainland countries have been invited to attend. Nigel Atherton, editor of What Digital Camera magazine, wrote on the Amateur Photographer public website forums that the product/s would be unveiled on the 5th. (I have now seen a programme for the event, and the main launch conference is on the 6th).

This article has been edited on January 28th 2008 - the Alpha 700 was known shortly after it appeared, but I left the original title with ‘A300′. Since there is to be an Alpha 300 (probably the cause of the confusion originally as this model number was identified in Sony website databases) I am changing the title and references to the body to avoid search engines finding the wrong information.

Weybridge, 22nd August 2007 - For sports, for travel or simply for having fun with friends and family – the Cyber-shot H3 from Sony packs big-camera features into its ultra-compact body at a price that’s irresistible (reads Sony press release).

Weybridge, 22nd August 2007 - The stylish, slimline Cyber-shot T Series from Sony gains two feature-packed new models that make it easier than ever to grab great pictures (reads a press release issued by Sony UK).

DUE to be launched on Monday August 20th to the press, and to reach the shops a month later, the new Canon EOS 40D anticipates some of the rumoured features of the Sony AA (Advanced Amateur) project also known as the A300. It also leapfrogs the more conversative rumours.

NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2007: Sony Electronics has launched its largest integrated marketing campaign in the USA, centreing on its high definition DNA known as “HDNA.” The campaign, featuring Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt, Jr., focuses on how Sony’s high-definition technology in a variety of product categories comes together to bring consumers unparalleled HD entertainment experiences.

More work went into this page than you think! While it was possible to get an idea of Sony’s lenses and cameras planned for 2007-8 from the group image, the individual press images have all been shot to different scales.

This review from the Summer 2007 edition of Photoworld has been expanded here, and covers the Remote Release IR-1n kit along with third party remote triggers and flash synchronisation options for the Alpha system.

I SELL digital images through Alamy, the on-line photo library. When an original piece of art is out of copyright, and displayed in public or by an owner permitting photography, the ability to get a good quality reproduction copy on the spot without lights, tripod or flash is valuable. Some 8 per cent of my overall Alamy images sales over the past four years have been of signs, notices and labels - disproportionately high, compared to the actual number of such shots. As someone has commented, editors like pictures which tell their own story, and sometimes have words in the pictures does just that.

WE spent a great week shooting mainly in Vaucluse, the district to the east of Avignon in the south of France, with Shirley using the 18-250mm Tamron f/3.5-6.3 lens exclusively. One object of this was to get some more example photos for a short article on the lens in our forthcoming Photoworld magazine.

IN 1998 Minolta published, for their 70th anniversary, a large poster featuring all the landmark cameras from their own museum and employee collections. Many of the cameras shown - all fairly small on the poster - were well used and worn examples. The original image-files for the poster, which we have archived, are of poor quality. They are Japanese inkset CMYK sharpened for pre-press, with very dark gamma. This page re-creates all the information from the original poster, complete with the photographs.

THE appearance of press-release resolution (14Mb) images of the new Alpha - un-named but thought to be the Alpha 200 or 300 because of the product code earlier assigned to shots of prototypes at PMA - combines with reports on various forums from European Sony executives visiting Japan to suggest that the launch announcement for the new model and a range of full-frame lenses is imminent.

YOU MAY want to learn exactly how I shoot the product photographs which appear in my own articles here at Photoclubalpha. I use a studio light table with an opal plexiglass transilluminated scoop. This is the method I have used now for over 25 years and it’s saved me a lot of time, and earned me a lot of money.

THE LENSBABY was a novelty item when first introduced as a low-cost meniscus lens mounted on a flexible concertina tube with an SLR mount-fitting at the other end. Like the Diana or Holga cameras sometimes used by professionals to capture a feel of post-modern grunge, it used aberrations creatively.

TESTING the flash options most widely sold for the Minolta/Sony unique hot shoe system became a necessity after the launch of the Alpha 100. Despite the reliability of automatic TTL off-the-film flash metering ever since Minolta first introduced it with the Auto Electroflash PX series in 1981, things began to go wrong with the shift to digital SLRs.

HAODA FU has been supplying alternative focusing screens for the 5D and A100 since 2006 and for many other makes before this. While the Alpha system DSLRs are not intended to have user-changeable screens, it is relatively easy and risk-free.

I CARRY a camera everywhere, because you never know when a good photograph is round the corner. I also just grab the camera from my office, and rarely think to check the settings. Today, I managed to shoot everything with Super Steady Shot (Anti-Shake) carefully switched off on my Alpha 100.

DxO OPTICS PRO 4.1 is the latest version of a clever raw file processor which includes lens lookup tables to auto-correct distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration. It also lets you alter the look of Dynax or Alpha images so they match popular films - or other DSLRs by Canon and Nikon!

SOME time ago I got hold a Soligor Pro 0.75X converter - a front-of-lens job. This is not something anyone should consider using on a DSLR. The Soligor was a bit different because it cost nearly as much as the ACW-100 wide angle converter for the Konica Minolta A1/A2/A200, which does an excellent job, and fitted a 62mm filter thread. That’s about the largest rear thread on any converter I have seen.

THE PROBLEM of darkened extreme corners with the 16-80mm CZ Sony lens definitely exists. They are there in many of my shots, with or without SSS anti-shake enabled, significant softly darkened corners. Everyone is saying this must be due to filters, and at least one of Forum regulars has emailed Zeiss about this issue (and got a reply almost admitting that the lens falls short of ideal design). But is it?

For many years Camera Repair Workshop, based in Milton Keynes close to the original Minolta UK service department, handled the repair of classic SRT, X, Vectis and later film cameras for Minolta UK.

They have obtained many of the spare parts and KM’s stocks of older ‘cannibalisation cameras’ like 7000 and 8000i. Their proprietor is David Boyle, and his two technicians are Minolta trained. As an independent repairer they will specialise in film and digital, and hold parts going back to models like the XM. The Dynax 9 is an exception, previously serviced by a special European centre, and must be sent to JP (see post on UK official details). No VAT is chargeable at present, and they offer Photoworld magazine subscribers a 10 per cent discount on prices which they say are already better than former retail repair charges. This enables the club to continue with its 10 per cent service and repair discount offer.

The Photoworld Camera Check scheme will be operated by Camera Repair Workshop, though in absence of Konica Minolta’s former bulk shipping arrangements, the return carriage costs have increased and a charge of £25 per camera/standard lens combination is now required.

Your equipment is bench-tested for shutter speed, metering, focusing and aperture accuracy, externally cleaned and adjusted (this includes mirror box and film track, and all accessible parts or adjustments). If performance is below standard, a quotation will be issued for optional servicing. A certificate is completed showing the test results and functions checked, and returned with the camera. Camera Repair Workshop were actually responsible for most of the Club Camera Check work, and hold a stock of original ‘Minolta Club’ certificates along with all the necessary bench testing equipment.

They are based at:
Unit 9, Wharfside, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK2 2AZ.
Telephone 01908 378088, fax 08712 427677.
Email: cameraworkshop@tiscali.co.uk

Our articles are written as ‘Posts’ and automatically added to Categories, Recent Posts and Archives. This manual index to articles will help you find the larger reviews, as distinct from short pieces on assorted subjects:

Main camera reviews

Which Sony Alpha? Choosing between the A700, A200, A300 and A350.

Sony Alpha 350 Live View tested

Sony Alpha 200 guided tour (full description with large photos and comments on operation)

Sony Alpha 700 operation and use review: the Interface

Sony Alpha 100 report from the launch of the camera

Major overviews

70 Years of Minolta History - 113 cameras from 1928 to 1998

Lens Reviews

The 70-300mm SSM G sized up (first report)

Carl Zeiss 16-80mm zoom review

Tamron 18-250mm zoom review

Lensbaby 3G selective zonal focus tilt/swing lens

Software Reviews

DxO Optics Pro 4.1 review

Seven raw processors tested with Alpha 700

Apple Aperture 2.0

Capture One v4Â

Accessories and aftermarket

Haoda Fu split-image/microprism replacement focusing screen for Dynax 5D or Alpha 100

Flash choices for the digital SLRs (camera top bounce/direct)

Studio Light table review and technique

Sony GPS-CS1 device to pin your pictures on Googlemaps