What made you buy an Alpha over the other brands? (tua-pau, nikon, etc)

[wreks]

I just bought my first DSLR, a Sony A230. Bought Sony over other brands because it fit my budget. Im a practical person!

 

[sohzai]

Canon clips highlights and loses detail. Nikon uses an AA filter that gives tighter noise grain, but has poorer color separation. Sony, using the same sensors as nikon (except for the D700, D3 and D3s) actually has the *same* noise level as the nikon counterparts, but prioritized color separation, which results in more chroma noise. But when printed, the color separation advantage makes a difference to me.

When the canon 500D was reviewed, it was compared to the Sony A200, which easily was right behind the Canon (beating the Nikon counterpart). Now with the A500/A550, (the A500 uses the same sensor as the D90), sony has easily caught up in the "ISO noise" race. but honestly, I don't quite see the point. Most people resize their image for posting on the web, in which case noise is no longer an issue.

I almost never shoot above ISO 800. But if you were always shooting at ISO 1600 or 3200, and that was the majority of your shots, I'd recommend a D700 or D3.

First of all, thanks for these responses. I am not trying to go for the "iso noise" race. I am basically concerned at the iso I use, can the a850 better my current 40d? If yes, I am almost satisfied enough.

 

[sohzai]

Personally I don't see much of a problem with shooting @ high iso on the alpha system. I typically shoot in cRAW & process from there on so none of the noise issues from jpeg outputs annoy me. Might be a long winded process but the results speaks for itself.

Guess what's ISO used for the below shot.

This is definitely enough and looks clean enough to me, though I would prefer the skipping of the processing part. I believe though that future firmware updates can help to reduce the need of post-processing or shooting in RAW.

 

[sohzai]

if yr work constantly require u to shoot at high iso, then the existing canon and nikon system are definitely a good choice,however having said so, i also have a friend who owned a D3 and 2xD300s for his work.
He sold away his D3 for 2 D300s and eventually sold both D300s for A500....
Reason being the A500 noise ctrl at iso 6400 is actually quite comparable without compromising too much and at half the asking price of his previous system also.

If u do a check in Pnp sub forum, let said if 95% of the contributor are nikon and canon users, u can see 75% of the pics are quite mediocre......these group of people are already having problem getting proper pics at base iso... how much do u think they can do in higher iso?

True true, and I am not far away from them if not equal. Still learning....still learning...

 

[boombox]

True true, and I am not far away from them if not equal. Still learning....still learning...

Yo bro, welcome to the dark side... :angel:

There are somethings that can help you ease your way through the last technical hurdle: i.e. a good Raw converter like DXO optics pro.

Noise Ninja or Noiseware Pro

Within the camera, there's this set of settings from this guy known as agorabasta which can really improve the output from your camera:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=29698285

 

[vibranze]

Is it advisable if I use Agorabasta setting with auto ISO (200-3200) for night shooting? Will I get the same (less noise) result if the auto ISO use, eg. ISO 800/400/200 at night instead of ISO3200?

 

[Aimevous]

Is it advisable if I use Agorabasta setting with auto ISO (200-3200) for night shooting? Will I get the same (less noise) result if the auto ISO use, eg. ISO 800/400/200 at night instead of ISO3200?

Hi,

on the topic of agorabasta settings, is there a similar setting for Minolta 7D for optimal noise?

Thanks

 

[MontoyaSG]

Is it advisable if I use Agorabasta setting with auto ISO (200-3200) for night shooting? Will I get the same (less noise) result if the auto ISO use, eg. ISO 800/400/200 at night instead of ISO3200?

Think auto iso is from 200-1600?

 

[vibranze]

Think auto iso is from 200-1600?

Yes bro, my mistake, paiseh so is it advisable?

 

[Rashkae]

Hi,

on the topic of agorabasta settings, is there a similar setting for Minolta 7D for optimal noise?

Thanks

Nope, these settings seem specifically to "help" the Sony output.

 

[MontoyaSG]

Yes bro, my mistake, paiseh so is it advisable?

The settings seems to work best in extreme ISO settings (e.g. 3200-6400).

IMO out of cam ISO 1600 shots are clean enough to be used with minimal impact on IQ.

 

[chanalb]

I was looking for a dSLR after my PnS died. I initially looked at Canikon but chose the A300 because of the tilt screen (which is very useful for low angle shots), the superior live view and the in-built stabilizer which would have made future lens purchases more affordable. :thumbsup: I quite like my cam so far as it has good IQ, superb battery life and generally affordable lenses. I am very happy with Sony and I have no regrets. My main wish now is for Sony to produce a light and affordable 30mm or 35mm prime that has F2 or F1.8

For all those out there looking at Canikon but also considering Sony, my advice is that don't let all the unfair Sony bashing affect your choice too much. Sony makes good dSLRs and spec for spec is more affordable than Canikon.

 

[TBSOO]

I got it cos my bro has the alpha lens. So can borrow from him and save $$.

 

[shutterkhai]

hehe s.khai here...never posted in this thread before but some of u already know me..why i bought sony? cuz i was oblivious to the differences in dslr market when i bought it and also because it was the cheapest..and my, my a200 still works like a bomb. hehe..kit lens one of the best kit lens around. minolta lenses are good and lasting. and cheaper than the sony ones if ur on a budget. though IQ may be a notch better on the rebranded Sony..the people in sony are friendly...

i can't think of anymore..too long to list down haha..


p.s. crossing my fingers tonite midnight for the new a7xx...

 

[xkingx]

I tried canon and nikon before.. Although it's the much "preferred" brands out thr.. I still choose Sony becoz I like the colours and the IS in the body! I feel that I like the grip better too.. I guess like what all the other bros have said.. It's fate.. My wife and I are using Sony dslr..

 

[kendedes]

Good and cheap usually don't walk together, but there're some rare exceptions, if you look hard enough. Alpha is one of them

Agreed..extraorinary.

 

[calodin]

My older cousin got me into photograhpy in the early 90s when i was still in secondary school, he had a Minolta SLR then, and I always was a fan of Minolta, when Sony took over Konica-Minolta, I guest the most logical choice when I was able to afford a DSLR was an Alpha

 

[groovinZhou]

I bought sony because that time still very newbie with DSLR, the sales shown me that time A350 have highest mega pixel and the cheapest among 3 brand. have tilt live view which is interesting and.... It's a Sony!!

 

[groovinZhou]

Hmm.. sorry if OOT. doesn't mean to start brand war / flame.But I really need few comments from senior here.

I waiting for Sony to release their DSLR with HD video recording features, i saw alot of video clip made using DSLR its amazing! and I enjoy video editing as well. While temptation from other brand is quite high i still want to wait for Sony to release, why? because i fell in love with Sony color tone and sharpness!

but then few days back me and my friend took these pictures, we took side by side. I know photographer skill is still the key, i still newbie and dumb. But my friend also newbie, this is his first DSLR which he bought this 500d not more than 1 mth ago. I using A350 with aperture setup. i believe he also use the same setup or even maybe auto, from the exif details i saw all is the same set, except the speed. If we would take the auto setting from our camera, same position, same entry level camera and kit lens. but the result is different

His photo: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a131/groovinZhou/IMG_1103.jpg
My photo: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a131/groovinZhou/DSC08554.jpg

what did i do wrong? or is the a350 is better than 500d?

*doesn't mean to offense alpha user, i also an alpha user that need to be enlighten

 

[takane]

iso, shutter speed, AWB difference, Focus and slightly more handshake?