DSLR/DSLTs

[Chutes]

Beautiful pictures James. What camera did you end up getting?

The two pics i quoted above are stunning. Definitely calendar material!

The second picture is multiple shots from tripod right? It looks great.

Alex, I got a Sony a33. The second shot was actually a single shot. The moon was bright enough to light up the vehicle and surroundings.

That's a nice camera. I think its in the same league as my entry level Nikon D3100. Although a quick search revealed that yours can do in camera HDR and 3D pics. While some "serious" photographers might consider these a novelty I think it might be fun to experiment with.

I thought that night pic with the tent may have been HDR. The moon light explains it well though.

[Trail X]

HDR was one reason I bought it. There are actually a few HDR shots in that series, but I don't generally overdo mine. I just like it to bring in some extra detail in the lights and darks. For instance, the leaves on the ground, the log in the stream, and the last photo were done in HDR.

I haven't seen anything about 3D, you sure it has that capability?

The other reason I bought the 33 was the fast shooting, and autofocus during full HD video.

Only downside I've found so far is the battery life. After 1.5 days of non-aggressive shooting the 33's battery was depleted, but my friend's Nikon was still essentially at full charge. That will be the first accessory I buy - another battery.

[Chutes]

HDR was one reason I bought it. There are actually a few HDR shots in that series, but I don't generally overdo mine. I just like it to bring in some extra detail in the lights and darks. For instance, the leaves on the ground, the log in the stream, and the last photo were done in HDR.

I haven't seen anything about 3D, you sure it has that capability?

The other reason I bought the 33 was the fast shooting, and autofocus during full HD video.

Only downside I've found so far is the battery life. After 1.5 days of non-aggressive shooting the 33's battery was depleted, but my friend's Nikon was still essentially at full charge. That will be the first accessory I buy - another battery.

I know what you mean about overdoing it. I don't like it when someone takes one picture and throws it into photomatix. Some people love it, but I just don't care for it.

It has 3D sweep panorama mode. It will take a "left eye" and a "right eye" view for viewing on a 3D display. I just think it would be fun to see what it would look like.

Also I was thinking about getting an extended battery grip for mine but my battery usually lasts a while anyways. I think i would like a bit more to hold on to though.

[Trail X]

It has 3D sweep panorama mode. It will take a "left eye" and a "right eye" view for viewing on a 3D display. I just think it would be fun to see what it would look like.

Ah yes, I do recall something about a 3D setting when in panorama mode. I haven't played with the 3D yet (I don't have any way to view it anyways). I'm just glad it does high quality panoramas in camera. Anything I can do to cut down on post-processing time on the computer is very helpful to me!

[Chutes]

It is nice not to have to process anything while you are trying to upload. I wish mine had built in HDR.

I am anticipating the rest of the photo story. Hopefully with the usual 2 or 3 food pics.

I wish there were a way to just query all photos on this site. Maybe a photography thread? (random rig shots does require a vehicle to be present)

Please move the camera discussion out of your trip report(sorry about that) and to another thread if you see fit. Or to the trash. I was just curious as I am also getting more and more into photography as a hobby.

[KE7WOX]

Only downside I've found so far is the battery life. After 1.5 days of non-aggressive shooting the 33's battery was depleted, but my friend's Nikon was still essentially at full charge. That will be the first accessory I buy - another battery.

The SLTs have a notoriously bad battery life, as you're always using a screen, but you can't beat the 6fps on a consumer grade camera and the video autofocus. Regular SLRs get excellent battery life if you don't use live view; I can use my 7D intensively for 2 days on one battery, but the video autofocus is junk.

[Trail X]

Actually the one I have (a33) does 7fps with live autofocus - the a55 does 10fps! That's how I got the water spray shot.

The good thing about the a33, is it's built in eye-sensor. So the viewfinder LCD turns off until you put your eye up to it, then it turns it on. I've found that conserves power a bit better - but still depletes the battery pretty fast.

The sony's battery takes about 4 hours to charge, so I figure as long as the batteries last me more than 4 hours of shooting, I should be fine because I can be charging the second battery in the truck while using the first.

(BTW, I ended up splitting this into it's own DSLR/DSLT discussion thread.)

[Trail X]

We had a bit of snow today, so I took the DSLR out and took some video around the property. I went for the "artistic" medium... sorta a living picture effect.

I'm amazed at the quality from the a33. (Watch it in HD)

[Chutes]

living picture effect

I'm impressed! It's amazing how multi-functional these things are. I really like the close up shots. (I absolutely love trees) Also the music was a perfect choice.

It took a lifetime to buffer with my crap internet at 1080p but it was worth it. Beautiful in full screen.

[NC_IslandRunner]

I want one even more now.

[Chutes]

I didn't have any idea where to put this, but thought it was pretty neat to know what goes on when you push the little button on top.

[Trail X]

Here's one I had bookmarked a while back. Shows not only the shudder, but the iris action too during continuous shooting.

One of the reasons a DSLT is nice! No moving mirror!

[RICHIET]

Great videos!! They help visualize some of those menu options that a lot of people skip over like mirror lockup, front or rear curtain synch etc. Amazing how much happens in a split second.

[ConradM]

Bumping an oldish thread. I've had an a33 for almost a year and am in love it. I initially wanted a Nikon or Canon but couldn't find anything comparable to the a33 in the $500 range.

The 7fps comes in super handy when I'm shooting my kids -

[Trail X]

Hey, another A33 user! Nice shots! I'd suggest messing with vibrance settings in photoshop, you can bring out some of those lesser-colors without completely oversaturating the images.