Sony announced new DSLRs!

[yokechye]

huh

:bsmilie: later dun even hv money to feed myself if getting another body or upgrade

 

[fastshot]

Hmmm... you have a point..

But it's such a delimma... but I'm sure this year when SONY releases their new monster DSLR body, I'll be getting it...

Now I'm just quite stumped and torn trying to upgrade my lens collection... can't decide between 50-500mm Sigma, 200-400mm Tamron, 50mm f2.8 Macro Sigma, 30mm f1.4 SIGMA, and or 17-50mm SIGMA.... :dunno:

Buying lenses are a very personal thing and can be a dilemma. As per my earlier suggestion, buy only the very best. It will be obvious which ones they are from reviewers and users comments and their ridiculous sky high prices. If it hurts your pocket, it is a GOOD lens :bsmilie: :bsmilie:
My personal recommendation about good choices in A-mount:

20mmF2.8 -- pretty good. Not CZ Biogon standard, but no other choice in that range.
24mmF2.8 -- pretty good. Still can find new old stock.
28mmF2 -- very well rated, but damn rare now. Not available.
35mmF1.4 -- very well rated G lens, good choice if you like "normal lens" with 1.5x factor. Should be wonderful on a FF Sony body in future.
28-75mmF2.8(D) -- very good all rounder at a great price.
85F1.4G -- if you shoot portraits, this lens is a must have. As good as the best there is.
100F2.8D Macro -- if you shoot macro, this is a must have. More practical than 50 macro.
135mmF1.8 Zeiss -- new, top drawer stuff. Destined to be a legend.
135mmF2.8 STF [T4.5] -- the only one of it's kind. Razor sharp, unbeatable bokeh. Already a legend. Get this only if you can accurately do manual focusing.
200F2.8 APO HS -- excellent, top drawer tele. Light, fast AF. Works great with 1.4x TC.
200F4 APO G Macro -- excellent, top drawer tele macro. Build like a tank. Very rare now. A little slow AF.
80-200F2.8 HS APO -- excellent zoom. But white paint easily scuffed.
70-200F2.8 APO G SSM -- if money no object, this is THE ONE to have. Awesome lens.
300F2.8 APO G -- very good stuff. Needs serious muscles to use this. Works great with 1.4xTC. The new Sony one will cost you an arm+leg. A cheaper one available from Tamron, nearly as good.
400mmF4.5 APO G -- if you are into animal or sports shooting, this is a good choice. Quite uncommon in used market now.

Spend your money in the above list before you go into the Sigmas, Tamrons, Tokina, etc.
A few great lenses is a much better investment than a cabinet full of average lenses.

Don't buy the 200-500 zooms unless you are going to Africa to shoot the wild life. I did use the Tamron 200-500 for such a trip -- lens gave reasonably good performance for the price. But if I have to do it again, I'll prefer something like the 400mmF4.5 APO G or 300mmF2.8+1.4xTC. This is because with the 200-500 zoom, most of the pictures are taken on the longer end, so a prime super tele is going to be better at wide open.

 

[zcf]

:bsmilie: later dun even hv money to feed myself if getting another body or upgrade

Can keep shooting wah, doen't mean must upgrade then can shoot.
May be long long then upgrade once :sweat: and we will treasure our camera more this way :lovegrin: .

 

[fastshot]

Can keep shooting wah, doen't mean must upgrade then can shoot.
May be long long then upgrade once :sweat: and we will treasure our camera more this way :lovegrin: .

True. True.
Much better to be "shoot a lot, buy a little" type of photographer rather than "buy a lot, and shoot only a little" type. In any case, great skills can more than make up for lack of top drawer equipment.

Still we do need the enthusiastic collectors so that there's a chance for us to buy 2nd hand stuff later :bsmilie: :bsmilie: .

Seriously, for those who can afford it, the joy of photography also involves the "searching and collecting" equipment aspects. For others, it can be taking an average photo and making it into a stunning one with Photoshop magic. All good, to each his own.

 

[satay16]

True. True.
Much better to be "shoot a lot, buy a little" type of photographer rather than "buy a lot, and shoot only a little" type. In any case, great skills can more than make up for lack of top drawer equipment.

Still we do need the enthusiastic collectors so that there's a chance for us to buy 2nd hand stuff later :bsmilie: :bsmilie: .

Seriously, for those who can afford it, the joy of photography also involves the "searching and collecting" equipment aspects. For others, it can be taking an average photo and making it into a stunning one with Photoshop magic. All good, to each his own.

yar. agree on that. like those people collecting vintage cameras like that. they find joy in getting the rare things in photography.

 

[zcf]

Hmmm.. I wonder how does one train to see pictures..??? :think:

Some are gifted, bo biang

Others may be through more exposure to new environment, technique, view, mindset etc.

 

[zcf]

True. True.
Much better to be "shoot a lot, buy a little" type of photographer rather than "buy a lot, and shoot only a little" type. In any case, great skills can more than make up for lack of top drawer equipment.

Wish I can be like that also :sweat:

Still we do need the enthusiastic collectors so that there's a chance for us to buy 2nd hand stuff later :bsmilie: :bsmilie: .

Seriously, for those who can afford it, the joy of photography also involves the "searching and collecting" equipment aspects. For others, it can be taking an average photo and making it into a stunning one with Photoshop magic. All good, to each his own.

seem to kena this kind of collection hobby virus :sweat: now kena wify nag everytime bought a lens :sweat:.

 

[zcf]

has a collection at home totalling over S$600K.

:bigeyes: :faint:

 

[Autumnite]

It is about taste, perception, feelings, understanding the physics of Light and Darkness, about form, about textures... and about time. Why Time? Because every frame frozen, is a portion of Time, immobilized...

Just my few cents worth...

Well said :thumbsup:

 

[fastshot]

hehehe..thank you thank you .. :embrass:

I just feel so much passion for photography lah.. burn holes in my personal budget all the time ..*haiz*!

Worst part is - finding time to go out and use my gears...then when I finally do find time, I get a mental block or something and cannot come up with good pics... so often end up somewhere in evening going for night shots.. gets really sticky and humid and awfully irritated at the end of it all...

and then there those pics that I'd ask myself "why did I take this?"

It's like that mostly...

It's probably safe to say that most working people have the same problem because they don't have the time to "practice" photography. Due to today's demanding work/family commitments, there are only the infrequent opportunities to really go out and do photography (as opposed to snapshots). Most enthusiast can only spend a bit of time to read or browse the internet on this subject. Very few non-pro have time to do photo-trips, events, traditional darkroom or photoshop work.

To improve one's photography skills, I highly recommend planning and going out to do purely photography trips, say 7~10 days overseas, with a small group of fellow photographers and without the family. This will allow you to enjoy, eat, sleep & sh*t photography 100% and not have any work or personal matters interrupt the mood. I'm sure you will be able to sharpen your mind's eye, get to know how to use your gear better and capture some really good pictures.

 

[jusri]

To improve one's photography skills, I highly recommend planning and going out to do purely photography trips, say 7~10 days overseas, with a small group of fellow photographers and without the family.

wahh..tht one tall order for me... :sweat:
but i agree tht if you are totally into photography, some sacrifices need to be taken..
if not, perhaps still bring along the family and make them part of your photography subjects...
tht would be a good balance

 

[Johnston]

To improve one's photography skills, I highly recommend planning and going out to do purely photography trips, say 7~10 days overseas, with a small group of fellow photographers and without the family. This will allow you to enjoy, eat, sleep & sh*t photography 100% and not have any work or personal matters interrupt the mood. I'm sure you will be able to sharpen your mind's eye, get to know how to use your gear better and capture some really good pictures.

agreed. luckily for me, being in the travel trade, i tends to travel pretty often, mostly on business. i take every opp to shoot, just like my recent india trip. also, if not traveling, i try to make it a point to shoot during weekends. anything also can shoot, just to perfect my skill and to train myself having the 'eye'. but wife will then nag and nag. :bsmilie:

 

[zcf]

So Sony likely to anounce the new Alpha DSLR in June time :think:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=23131073

Sony has now officially released the 25 megapixel studio image of the new models and lens range mockups, though they don't seem to have pushed it far to the press. We now have a 'released' image on photoclubalpha.com (not the entire 25 megapixels) with Sony approval.
The A300 is on the loose in Europe, at least one body sample has been in operation for training or test purposes in Germany and Holland, and I would imagine that it's probably found its way to the UK this month. The sales training offered to dealers always takes place AFTER the official launch in the UK, normally in the form of a dealer roadshow which is diaried in alongside the press launch.
Sony UK has a comprehensive training suite for Sony Centre dealers, who are Sony experts rather than photo experts, and they may get some different attention - they will certainly need more in-depth training on a mid-range semipro body than a dealer already selling Canon 5D, Nikon D2X etc.
The only people likely to be shown the A300 (or whatever they call it) right now are catalogue buyers for Argos, Great Universal, etc (their Autumn mail order catalogues are now in the studio and the contents will be set in stone very shortly); the buyers for Jessop, Dixons/Curries/Comet, and a couple of other chains of importance in the UK; maybe John Lewis; maybe Calumet; maybe Photomart and Swains (wholesalers to the retail stores).
Their staff won't get any information until the official launch has happened because you can't possible expose ordinary counter staff to a yet-to-be-launched DSLR and expect to maintain confidentiality.
As for launch date timing, June/July is almost a dead cert. If you look at world DSLR launches, ignoring minor updates (Nikon D40X, the camera they dediced not to make before changing their mind in a hurry), May-July is one window for launches aimed to catch the Autumn/Christmas seasonal stock orders; Nov-Jan is the other window, aimed to catch pre-Spring/Summer season stocking. The photo trade in the UK now operates these two major restocking periods in place of a four-seasonal cycle, and - causing great headaches for publishers like me - the industry now advertises in two relatively short season, with gaps of two months, so they only conduct full campaigns for eight months out of twelve.
David

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

So Sony likely to anounce the new Alpha DSLR in June time :think:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=23131073

announce... mean can start saving til next year... :bsmilie:

 

[zcf]

announce... mean can start saving til next year... :bsmilie:

yup, if you want to wait until the price has falled, think I will try to resist the BBB virus until then :sweat: .

 

[zcf]

Damn! I just read that the new Pro model (the one with the pointy head pentaprism) is a potential Full Frame! And at 25 megapizels!!!

That's it... my ability to sleep has gone to hell!

source>> www.alphatracks.com

:bigeyes:

that flagship won't be out until next year, so you can keep drooling until dry up :bsmilie:

 

[Trigger Happy]

relax lah bro... it'd be a while yet before we can even get our hands on one, whatever it'll look like.. if you lose sleep now you won't make it until then

 

[TME]

Damn! I just read that the new Pro model (the one with the pointy head pentaprism) is a potential Full Frame! And at 25 megapizels!!!

That's it... my ability to sleep has gone to hell!

source>> www.alphatracks.com

:bigeyes:

Read carefully lar bro... it's the picture that is 25MP...

 

[eow]

coming june? how come still so quiet:think:

 

[TME]

coming june? how come still so quiet:think:

SONY always like that one what... when A100 launched, there was fanfare only like some weeks before... anyway the launch is likely to be autumn... around Sep - Oct... Jun/Jul would be the most optimistic date... I think it is unlikely...