Photoclubalpha

... small box, small camera and it's very VERY light! Amazingly detailed Live View, very bright EVF! never used an EVF before but liking what I am seeing! You can actually see in low light!

Aperture Preview (takes me back to the good old A100 days!) Amazing HD Video quality (at least to me anyway!) the manual states you can set the aperture manually BEFORE filming, will have to try that when battery is charged!

VERY FAST! and I mean lightning fast at taking pictures. It has so much tech in it, it is astounding for it's size!

Will post some shots up tomorrow once I get to figure out all the new buttons and this FOG clears, all in all, it's like the first time I bought my A100! love it! Sooo much to play with, he he!

Any questions feel free to ask! (not toooo technical!)

*EDIT

Jpg shot, edited curves/levels in photoshop with a 100% crop below. 18-55 Kit Lens.

First question - How log to get an initial GPS lock (meaning after you've moved quit some miles form the last time it was turned on, or the very first time it was ever turned on), and how long to get a GPS lock after it's been turned off and back on in more or less the same area (say a few blocks over).

Thanks!

Dusty

Dusty wrote:First question - How log to get an initial GPS lock (meaning after you've moved quit some miles form the last time it was turned on, or the very first time it was ever turned on), and how long to get a GPS lock after it's been turned off and back on in more or less the same area (say a few blocks over).

Thanks!

Dusty

It took 10 Seconds to lock onto the Camera from a fresh boot.... thats actually quicker than my cars sat-nav!

Will try tomorrow in a different location... It's very dark here in Devon and f-f-f-freezing!

Congratulations Ian, keeping my fingers crossed that you'll enjoy it very very very much.
I am very interested in the video. Will wait for your reports.

I can confirm that you can set your own aperture for filming! You set the mode dial to aperture priority and the focus to manual and select the aperture and exposure you would like (just as you would set for a photo). You then press the movie button and hey presto... Custom aperture and exposure!

If you are in any other mode other than the aperture priority then it will just use it's own reccomended settings for the aperture. White balance and creative style among other setting are carried over into movie mode good stuff!

Can I just add that I'm no expert on noise control but even ISO 3200 on this A55 looks more than useable! (in JPEG mode at least) and there is still plenty of detail unlike ISO 1600 on my A300!

The things I don't like so much: Small grip! My little finger tends to hang off the bottom.
I keep turning it off by mistake! The on/off switch is where the control dial is on my A300
Oh, and the battery is getting low already! I would think that's the movie recording doing that!

Otherwise, really am loving the A55! It just feels right for me and am really really pleased with my purchase and think Sony have done an amazing job!

Well this camera may well define so much of what the new offerrings from Sony could be like for the foreseeable future so we are hanging on your every word Ian! It looks very good so far. Personally I am interested in what the A700 and A900 replacements could be like and your new A55 could well provide quite a few clues!

The A55 is almost exactly the same body width as the old Dynax 5, but much deeper front to back. It doesn't look or feel, or handle, like any other DSLR. We have another day with lousy flat light here which is not good for me, I need a few good (varied, challenging) A55 images. Of course I have the usual fungi from ground level - so easy to do and they look fine even in dull weather. Now it's wet as well.

David

Weather is exactly the same here, although not raining. It's just flat and too dull for taking good pictures with natural light (never been a fan of using the flash much myself!)

I got out for an hour with sunshine just before sunset. First, direct into-the-sun shots produce a stack of overall flare and some much bigger patches than my 16-80mm has done on its own in the past; second, you can't see this happening clearly and you can not see any detail at all in bright sky, sunburst through clouds, sunset etc - the viewfinder just shows plain grey when over-loaded by a light source. So no sparkle off water, no ability to compose some type of shots.

Exposure - generous, and almost impossible to underexpose into the light. It simply doesn't let you. Dynamic range good. ACR/LR from raw allows considerabe recovery of info.

Noise/grain - not what I expected. It's pretty noisy from raw even at ISO 200, but stays under control as the ISO increases. But it's certainly not wiping the floor with the NEX-5 or A550 14 megapixel sensor.

Using the 16-80mm CZ transforms the results. The CZ really can resolve this sensor's maximum easily.

David

David Kilpatrick wrote:I got out for an hour with sunshine just before sunset. First, direct into-the-sun shots produce a stack of overall flare and some much bigger patches than my 16-80mm has done on its own in the past
...
Using the 16-80mm CZ transforms the results. The CZ really can resolve this sensor's maximum easily.

David

Hi David,

Do you think the new kit lens "outperform" somehow the Zeiss 16-80?
Haven't you tried yet any of your legacy lenses, like the 28-105 or the 24-85? how about the 50 f1.4?

Regards

No, the 16-80m outperforms the kit lens considerably. The extra contrast and bite really helps in the SLT system and with the finer resolution sensor.

Here is one sample of the shots into the light where the flare did not ruin the effect - I was not messing around, these were nearly impossible shots without a dense graduated filter, I wanted to see how the camera performed:



I have posted the full set of shots taken tonight on pBase at 1000 pixels wide:

http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/sony_alpha_55

Got to go out tonight, and tomorrow, down to annual awards of MPA and not back until Tuesday. Photoworld nearly finished but I think I should take the A55 for the three days away, and revise my article before pressing the button to go to press.

David

David Kilpatrick wrote:I got out for an hour with sunshine just before sunset. First, direct into-the-sun shots produce a stack of overall flare and some much bigger patches than my 16-80mm has done on its own in the past; second, you can't see this happening clearly and you can not see any detail at all in bright sky, sunburst through clouds, sunset etc - the viewfinder just shows plain grey when over-loaded by a light source. So no sparkle off water, no ability to compose some type of shots.

That doesn't sound like something that's going to catch on with photographers. I didn't think that EVFs would be much better by looking into a hole than they are when looking at the back of a camera.

David Kilpatrick wrote:Exposure - generous, and almost impossible to underexpose into the light. It simply doesn't let you. Dynamic range good. ACR/LR from raw allows considerabe recovery of info.

Noise/grain - not what I expected. It's pretty noisy from raw even at ISO 200, but stays under control as the ISO increases. But it's certainly not wiping the floor with the NEX-5 or A550 14 megapixel sensor.

Using the 16-80mm CZ transforms the results. The CZ really can resolve this sensor's maximum easily.

David

Two pluses and a big minus. I wonder how much of that is do to the mirror. It will be good to see a comparison of this against the 580 when it finally hits the streets.

Dusty

I have just read two threads in DP about returning A55. One was complaining noise and another is about AF. Well I simply do not like the feel I hold A55. A700 feels better in my hands.

I like the shot in the first post, nice red colors. Congratulations Ian