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Re: Come and see Sony at Focus on Imaging and enjoy 20% off
Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:37 am
by UrsaMajor
stevecim wrote:David Kilpatrick wrote:I've been checking and the rig I made up allows a camera height around 11ft. I am about to buy an 8m pole to try some further experiments.
Hmm, maybe you connect the Alpha to a battery powered 5" digital picture frame has a remote LCD screen?
There is a commercial product with this type of function already on the market - although it is intended to be a semi-universal product, so it has hardware to pick up the image from the optical viewfinder rather than from a plug in the camera body . I've seen it used by a local professional photographer, with his camera at the end of a long (~ 3-4 meters) pole held overhead to get some images that would otherwise have been impossible. According to the manufacturer's web site, they offer an optional 40 foot (12+ meters) cord, so the practical limit is probably the strength of your arm muscles. 
In case it is of interest, information on that product can be found at:
http://www.argraph.com/Zigview/page1/Zigview_page1.htm
With best wishes,
- Tom -
Re: Come and see Sony at Focus on Imaging and enjoy 20% off
Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:01 am
by David Kilpatrick
Had the Zigview - not of real interest, it's pretty poor and miles for HD resolution, and a USB connection to any laptop would be better. For the type of shot I want, it's enough actually just to aim the screen of the 550 downwards. The composition can be seen well enough. Keeping horizons straight is not a big issue, the vertical hold on the pole almost ensures that - and there is little need to zoom, or change the camera angle, with most shots.
The reason a true HDMI connection would be useful is that the image from Manual Focus Check LV is extremely crisp and detailed - four times as good as a Zigview image.
David
Re: Come and see Sony at Focus on Imaging and enjoy 20% off
Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:34 pm
by gaturner
Hi David,
I went to the show on the Sunday, hoping maybe to bump into you, only to discover at the MPA stand that you weren't there that day, but met your son!
Enjoyed the opportunity to chat to Photoworld contributors Duncan McEwan and Gustav Kiburg at the Sony stand, wow those kingfisher shots are amazing (and I didn't realise that kingfishers are so small - between the size of a sparrow and a wren!).
I was tempted into buying one of the new 30mm f2.8 SAM macro lenses at a show price, and so far I'm quite pleased with it. It offers a very different perspective from the 100mm macro and, by comparison, it's certainly very light and portable, being all plastic. Optically it appears good, although the focus makes some rather alarming noises at times...
Cheers, Glenn
Re: Come and see Sony at Focus on Imaging and enjoy 20% off
Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:45 pm
by Dr. Harout
gaturner wrote:Hi David,
I went to the show on the Sunday, hoping maybe to bump into you, only to discover at the MPA stand that you weren't there that day, but met your son!
Enjoyed the opportunity to chat to Photoworld contributors Duncan McEwan and Gustav Kiburg at the Sony stand, wow those kingfisher shots are amazing (and I didn't realise that kingfishers are so small - between the size of a sparrow and a wren!).
I was tempted into buying one of the new 30mm f2.8 SAM macro lenses at a show price, and so far I'm quite pleased with it. It offers a very different perspective from the 100mm macro and, by comparison, it's certainly very light and portable, being all plastic. Optically it appears good, although the focus makes some rather alarming noises at times...
Cheers, Glenn
And welcome to you Glenn
Re: Come and see Sony at Focus on Imaging and enjoy 20% off
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:09 am
by Winedarksea
David Kilpatrick wrote:There was only one set of A7xx/A5xx mockups and they were not available for Focus, being used in Japan this week.
David
David, do you think that the smaller dslr camera mockup/prototype shown at PMA was an A5xx? It looked too small for that to me. I know there was on YouTube kind of an interview with an unidentified Sony rep at PMA, in which the rep was asked whether the smaller camera is an A5xx replacement, and the rep seemed to confirm that. But I thought it was a case of putting words in his mouth.
Btw, Gustav keeps saying that the A7xx "comes sooner than you think." Since now most everyone seems to think it is coming in September, I think he means sooner than September. I still hope it comes May/June.
Dulaney
Re: Come and see Sony at Focus on Imaging and enjoy 20% off
Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 4:30 pm
by David Kilpatrick
The forthcoming cameras are A7/A5 size and build, of that I am fairly sure - but the A550/550 is chunkier than it needs to be, and the A450 is a really strange thing built from A5xx parts without bothering to reduce the size where possible. I suspect the new cameras will not be designed that way and will be efficient in use of body volume!
David