Photoclubalpha

In the current issue of Black & White Photography (Issue 89 Sept 2008) there is a test of the Sony Alpha a350.

The author comes to some conclusions I’ve not seen before. Here’s a couple …

“No RGB files when shooting mono”

“ … the extended dynamic range seems to come at the expense of sharpness … I can only guess that Sony, in squeezing so many pixels onto their camera, have experienced difficulties with noise and in subduing it have had knock on problems with sharpness.”

Anyone else read this test? Comments?

It's just as sharp as the K20D. The image does have a very smooth quality, but sharpness is only ever achieved on the Alpha 350 with the best glass and technique. I find it quite funny that as the pixel counts get higher, people say each generation is 'not as sharp' as the last - all based on 100 per cent viewing. The Alpha 350 has a particularly even-handed edge sharpening (compared to the K20D which has a strong directional emphasis) and a moderately strong AA filter, which does not destroy detail if you know what you are doing. They were no doubt keen to see what the BW mode JPEGs look like, and these can be shot with RAW if you want RGB backup.

The BW images are in any case sRGB profiled out of the camera, not greyscale, and if you shoot RAW they only look like BW if you use Sony's IDC converter which of course recognises the tag.

Here is a quick snap I just did now - using the Sigma 24mm f1.8 lens at f2.2, a bare half-stop down from full aperture, with a hand-held 1/40th on a moving subject. It is a 100 per cent clip from the full 14.2 megapixel file:
I do not know really what more is expected of any DSLR than to be able to get that sort of detail from a hen's eye ten feet away with a 24mm ultra wide aperture lens!

David

I wondered what you might say David Of course, having an a350 myself, I totally agree with all your comments. I started penning a letter to B&W (a mag I subscribe to and enjoy in the main) with some sort of reply ... but frankly I lost interest and binned it

Thanks for the latest copy of Photoworld by the way ... I was looking forward to the 70-300mm G lens test and it was worth the wait. Mind you, I already have the lens and I'm very, very pleased with it. Seems to match the a700 with vertical grip just nicely in size and weight ... and performance!

Congratulations Rogprov. Mine is still on the wish list

David, do you really have a chicken handy for this? in a drawer maybe ?

David Kilpatrick wrote: Here is a quick snap I just did now - using the Sigma 24mm f1.8 lens at f2.2, a bare half-stop down from full aperture, with a hand-held 1/40th on a moving subject. It is a 100 per cent clip from the full 14.2 megapixel file:

tinybweye.jpg

David

As I sit in my office, I can see a couple of the hens scratching round outside in the swamp (supposed to be a garden, but the rain is now well on the way to Biblical durations - my parking/entrance yard has a kind of algae starting to grow in the permanent puddles, almost like pond weed). We've kept hens for 16 years now. We used to keep ducks, and rescued cashmere and angora goats, but now we just have a selection of hens from the smallest Dutch bantam through to big Scotch Grey crosses, and no cockerel any more. They are not an easy target but the head/eye is always a good sharpness test with the fine feathers and combination of circle, angles, textures.

David

I don't know where the impression came from but I thought you were in a more urban environment.

We are right in the middle of a town, but it's an old town, and this is an old house. It has always been acceptable to keep chickens in domestic gardens in Scotland, even in towns. Two of our hens were only sent here last month by our son, who is moving from Scotland to Birmingham, and didn't want to lose two rare pedigree hens. Our location is probably unique for being in walking distance of all amenities, and for most people, the property would be too - we should not be here now and intended to sell it but the market has crashed.

David