Sony NEX users of TMIP!

Justin Miller FOR THE WIN! ; They had a refurb 18-200 (silver) for $549 which went home in my bag! ; They also had the VCL-ECF1 (fisheye) converter for $99. ; That went home also.

I will be going back for the HVL-F20AM flash pretty soon (requires adapter)... they have that for $89.

BIG savings off the retail prices and comes with 90 warranty on each item.

 

Yep - that's how I scored my ECU1 for $79 - it was a Sony store refurb. ; And now I remember - I thought I remembered getting the 16mm from KEH - but I didn't - I picked it up at the Sony store as a refurb too for $99.


Congrats! ; I love buying the refurbs from the store...it feels a little more reliable than buying used off eBay or Craig's List...at least you know they looked it over or fixed any problems. ; I'd almost consider the 18-200mm myself for that price, even though I don't really need it. ; I'd love to pick up the 35mm F1.8 on refurb, but it's a bit too soon since it just came out!

 

1. ; What's the difference between handheld twilight and multi frame noise reduction?

2. What's the difference between auto HDR and the dynamic range optimization modes? I know HDR uses three frames and the other only uses one but what is the main difference?

 

Actually you already answered #1 in another thread. ;

 

I think you answered it there. ; Dynamic Range Optimization uses one frame but tries to lower highlights and boost shadows in the same shot....depending on the circumstances you'll get noise in the shadows though. ; I try to avoid using it.

 

Based on your explanation, it would seem to be very ambitious with trying to do everything in one frame. While it sounds admirable on paper, It would seem logical that there is just too much going on.

 

Indeed - DRO is applying to a single shot - it adjusts shadows and/or highlights similarly to the way you might do in RAW - it can be left on auto and have it only apply when it feels it's necessary and to determine the amount, or set manually from 1 stop to 6 stops. ; It only applies to the JPG - so when shooting RAW, the DRO setting has no effect other than to tell the Sony RAW converter software what DRO you had set to - if you shoot RAW + JPG you might get the benefits of it, and in pure JPG shooting, it can actually be pretty nifty since it's giving you a several-stop highlight and shadow protection off the internal RAW file. ; You're right in that it's a bit ambitious for extreme dynamic range, but I find it actually pretty solid to use in DRO Auto mode when shooting JPGs in normal daylight. ; Look up a company called 'Apical' - it's their algorithm which is being used in the DRO function, and it's much more advanced than a simple tone curve adjustment - it's a pixel-by-pixel analysis of the shot for controlling highlight areas and shadow areas, so it can perform extremely localized adjustment to as small as a few pixels. ; Nikon uses it as well - they call theirs 'Active D-Lighting'. ; Once you get to night shooting, low light indoors, or extreme backlighting or dynamic range, then I switch off DRO.


HDR of course is a full 3-frame blend, HDR style, with one exposure for highlights, one for mids, and one for shadows, then aligned and blended in camera for a single JPG file...plus the camera will generate the original first frame with no HDR effects applied - so you always get two shots - the un-HDR one, and the HDR blend. ; Sony's HDR is pretty good in that it can be shot fully handheld, and does alignment first...and it can either be set to 'auto', or can be set manually from 1 to 6 total stops of range between the 3 frames.

 

How far apart do you set your HDR stops? Or do you just leave them on auto?

 

When using the in-camera HDR, I always set it manually. ; With DRO, I'll leave it on auto for daylight JPG shooting, but HDR auto doesn't really suit my taste - it either has next to no effect, or far too much. ; I find HDR+2 to be a pretty good start point for a very contrasty scene...then bump it up from there as needed. ; Usually I don't exceed HDR+4...unless I intentionally want to go for that cartoon landscape tone-mapped look. ; HDR+4 for me is just about the limit for dealing with high contrast but keeping it looking normal. ; OH, and fairly important with in-camera HDR - meter more for the highlights! ; If you meter the scene 'normally' or average, the HDR effect can flatten things out a little...if you meter off the shadows, the HDR effect can tend to make for some strange, flattish, grey looking sky highlight areas. ; It really seems to work best when you meter the highlights, and let the HDR frames restore the shadows.

 

Good to know. ; Thank you, sir!

 

Just found this little bundle of joy on the YouTubes....
SonyListens channel, broken down by Nex.

Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/user/SonyListens/videos?query=Nex

 

Still trying to figure out the autofocus system...

I have it set to center area autofocus. ; Sometimes when I half press the shutter, I get the green confirmation in the middle of the frame, which is good. ;

Other times, I get a green dashes box all the way around the frame as the confirmation. ; The pics are frequently way out of focus. ;

What gives?

 

If you're trying focus in low light, sometimes you get the wide box which essentially means that the center focus area was unable to achieve focus - I can only guess that it's still trying to allow you to shoot - or maybe the multifocus points switch on when the center doesn't work.


I tend to not use the center as much in low light, because it's too big an area - the spot focus left on center works much better for focusing in low light. ; Also, try turning off the focus assist light if you haven't already. ; Don't ask me why, but the focus assist light makes the low light focus much slower, and seems to contribute more to getting that outer green box. ; Focus assist light off, spot focus, and your low light focusing should be much better, faster, and more accurate.

 

That's what I have you around for, my man. ; Will try that setup. ; Only problem with spot focus is that I seem to lose my dedicated wifi button in lieu of an "adjust the spot focus" button. ;

 

In a thread on another forum, someone wrote, "The dotted green box does NOT confirm focus. It actually means that none of the focus algorithms applied work. Usually due to lack of contrast, too dark. In fact, it is very vague what actually will happen. Even the manual suggest that the AF will focus with center priority. Often it seems to just go to infinity."

Hmmm... ; Roger?

 

As a long-time Sony shooter, I'll defend Tim a bit there. ; Sony manuals are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.


Tim - don't forget too that DMF mode can be useful when shooting in those scenarios where the light is low and the AF system has any trouble locking on...if the big green box appears, you can manual focus the rest of the way while still half-pressing then shoot.


But I think you'll do better once the focus assist beam is turned off.


Also, I didn't know about the direct wifi button being located down there - I don't keep anything vital on that soft key, so that I can use the spot focus mode more often. ; I have DRO/HDR located on that soft button, when it's not serving duty as the flex spot focus point button.

 

Tim, did you switch completely to Sony? ; I have been thinking of a new body and now I am thinking of the new Sony and 18-200


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I still have the Canon 1dx with the full lens lineup but got the Sony Nex-6 with a few lenses as a "pocket" camera. ;

I am amazed at what it can do. ;