I went for the Sony Power of Digital Imaging launch at Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside Hotel on the 2nd of September 2010, where they launched a few products simultaneously. Of course, I really was there for the A55. And the NEX-VG10. And the Zeiss 24mm F2.0.

None of these shots were with the A55 - some of them will have EXIF data. I'll post the A55 shots in the next round.


Sony NEX-VG10 with Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS.


With the Sony E 16mm F2.8 pancake, it looks like a regular Handycam with an undetachable mike.


I have to say, I am not sure exactly which market this is for - the Handycam market, or the pro market? Videographers were gushing over the quad spatial mikes, but I'm not too sure they are excited about the video spec.

And yes, you can control aperture, shutter and gain (in steps of 3 decibels) in video.

The Sony E 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 Active OSS is fantastic! The Active OSS makes it much like the Handycams. The Sony NEX-VG10, because it has the same sensor as the NEX-5, also exhibits very little rolling shutter.


Here's the SLT-A55V with Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM. This is the exact combination I want to get! The 24mm is light and balances well, and the A55 grip is good in my hands.

The A55, however, had very obvious rolling shutter. Also, the RGB tearing is obvious in the EVF when you're pointing at a high contrast scene (people standing against pier) and you're panning.


A55 with Zeiss 24mm F2.0 with the Sony A900 with Minolta 24-105mm F3.5-4.5(D) on the right.


In sunny Putrajaya, the event organizers were chilling in front of the fan.


Malaysia notably did not launch the A560 and A580. I was looking forward to seeing it do contrast detect AF!

The A560/A580 bring back the depth of field preview button, mirror lock up with 2-second timer and shutter release without lens. Oh and video, which the A550 does not have, and 3D Sweep Panorama, Sweep Panorama, 6 EV Auto HDR, Multi-frame NR, Hand-held Twilight, 15 AF points (with 3 cross-type), losing only the Smart Teleconverter button.


The lakeside was chosen to show the A55's AF tracking capabilities with sports. A55 and A33 bodies were chained to a table, equipped with the 70-200mm F2.8G SSM, 70-300mm F4.5-5.6G SSM and 70-400mm F4-5.6G SSM.

However, this was shot with the A900 and screw-driven Zeiss 135mm F1.8, which was more than able to track with the center point. It is not even a 100% crop!


The Sony Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm F2.0 ZA SSM is everything I ever wanted - an extremely close-range focusing wide-angle lens with Zeiss sharpness and contrast, wide open! This was shot with the A900 and the subject is an A55 with Zeiss 135mm F1.8.


The A55 does have Release w/o Lens so you can use your unchipped adapted lenses (e.g. M42 mount) in Aperture Priority mode. Thank you Sony for reintroducing this in the NEX-3/NEX-5/NEX-VG10/A33/A55/A560/A580!


A cutaway of the A55 (or was it the A33, since there was no GPS label on the left?) How does the mirror look like?


Let's enhance!

What happens to translucent mirrors that get touched? They get donated to science. Yep, it does appear to be a thin membrane.


Another shot. It does not appear to be completely flat (but it could have lost tension or could be a prototype.)

Now I have no idea how you'd fix backfocus/frontfocus if it happens...


The electronic viewfinder. Note that the flash pops up in front of the hotshoe.


The TX9 with 3D Sweep Multi Angle, which works as advertised! You do a normal 3D Sweep Panorama - but when you view the picture you can tilt the camera to simulate you moving around the subject.

However your sweep should not be at a complex angle or it will have a warped tilt. I totally forgot to try Background Defocus mode, though!


Yes, people at Sony do read DPReview!

Later, at the media question-and-answer session, I asked:

"Will the future advanced models have translucent technology?"

Naoi Sudo, Managing Director of Sony Malaysia, said:

"Once it is well accepted in the market, why not, we will definitely continue. This is a first step for us. But we cannot promise all the models will be like this in the future.

We are expecting that this will be one of the most important technology in the future."


The S-Frame launched that day also plays AVCHD videos! So it's like... an iPad without the apps and phone. It uses batteries instead of being connected to a wall socket all the time.


Of course, Sony also makes bigger wall-socketed photo frames...


In the distance, I spotted something not many paid attention to.


The Sony 35mm F1.8 DT SAM! This was shot on the A33 at F1.8, which was on -2 EV ISO200 JPG only and I forgot to check. So I brought it back up in Photoshop.


100% crop. Effectively, bringing up the -2 EV shot made it ISO800. This was a JPG. Go easy, pixel-peepers!


The 35mm at close focus.

There was also the Sony 85mm F2.8 SAM, but unfortunately they had locked it in the glass display case so I didn't get to try it.

I tried to record a video with the 35mm F1.8 DT SAM but the A33 wouldn't let me - probably because I was running out of space. So I couldn't find out if the SAM motor is quieter, and whether the SAM mechanism in manual focus makes a gear-ish sound. (My friend wants a 50mm F1.4 because manual focusing a Sony 50mm F1.8 DT SAM is audible on the NEX.)

On the A55, I tried the 10 FPS mode with my Zeiss 135mm F1.8 - no problems tracking a walking subject and no dropped frames. However it loses steam after 28 frames and starts writing. If you burst just 5 frames and stop, it will start writing also. So it is critical that you know when to start.

I don't remember setting Focus Priority or Release Priority, but it seems that 10 FPS works in Release Priority. Then again I was testing it on a wakeboarder and 70-400mm F4-5.6G SSM - so the waves will register as 'in focus' and the camera will fire anyway.

More to be posted soon!

Sony released a whopping number of cameras on the 24th of August 2010 - the DSLR-A560, DSLR-A580, SLT-A33 and SLT-A55!


(Click image for a bigger view. There are a few missing bodies - the white NEX-3 and the Sony A450 launched early 2010, and the discontinued Sony 500mm F8 AF Reflex, Sony 55-200mm F4-5.6 DT (I) and Sony 24-105mm F3.5-4.5.)

I'd usually blog about the latest Sony Alphas and stuff but somehow while I am still very excited and very much intent on buying a Sony SLT-A55, I am not so sure what would be the purpose in blogging about stuff people already know (I am having a hard time compiling it as I've gotten information overload since it launched!)

I would rather blog about these once I've had a hands-on, so pardon me if I miss out anything in this, as the A560 and A580 have little information known about them.

I would definitely be better served by a 7-series Single Lens Translucent camera (SLT) but I could buy the A55 and sell it when the A77 comes (or if it's merged in the A700 replacement, even better!)

The A55 and NEX-5 will come with me to gigs since both do video, and the A55 and A900 will come with me for photography work (the NEX-5 doesn't support an external bounced flash yet.)



I would probably pick the A55 for travel as it has a pop-up flash that is always there, and it supports AF with A-mount lenses and video.



The A560 and A580 are unfortunately not getting the love they deserve from review sites. I could understand why - the A5xx series is more of an inbetween than anything now - it has a small optical viewfinder, doesn't have phase detect autofocus in video, and is bigger.

However, the A560 and A580 add Hand-held Twilight, Multi-frame NR (and an Auto+ mode to know when to use these), Sweep Panorama, 3D Sweep Panorama and 15 AF points to the A450/A500/A550 series. Oh and contrast-detect AF in Focus Check Live View - the first ever in a Sony Alpha dSLR! (The NEX bodies use contrast-detect AF but are not dSLRs.)

The A560 and A580 apparently cannot use contrast-detect AF when recording video (I may edit this later if other reports prove otherwise.)

So what's the big deal about contrast-detect AF and phase-detect AF?

The A55 uses phase-detect, while the Canon 550D uses contrast-detect, and the difference is obvious in Focus Numerique's video below:



There is a downside to using phase-detect AF in video - the lens needs to be shooting wide open, so a F1.4 lens might need a ND filter in daylight. You can choose to shoot at any other aperture but AF will be disabled (from http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/sony-a55-preview.shtml.)

The A560, although being cheaper, still gets 7 frames per second continuous shooting.

The A580 and A55 both get 16 megapixels, instead of the A560 and A33's 14 megapixels. The A55 also gets 10 frames per second with phase-detect autofocus!

The A33 and A55 can use on-sensor SteadyShot while recording videos but it makes the recording limited to 9 minutes to prevent overheating. With SteadyShot off it can do 29 minutes (darn EU regulations taxing cameras that record 30 minutes or more!)

The A55V has built-in GPS, a first for any dSLR! Note that this is different from the regular A55 which does not have GPS (and this might be the only option in certain countries.)

The A33 and A55 have an electronic viewfinder similiar in size to the A900's optical viewfinder, at 100% coverage, 0.73x magnification (the A900 does 100% 0.74x.)

And here's the official trailer for the A33 and A55:



Here's a video of the A55 doing 10 frames per second:



And here's a video of the A55 with a Sony 35mm F1.4G showing continuous auto-focus:
http://vimeo.com/14066500

Here's yet another video - I don't know what lens was used:
http://vimeo.com/14376901

Tranlucent Mirror Technology

The translucent mirror on the A33 and A55 will reflect some light up to the phase-detect AF sensors up where the pentaprism used to be, even when recording video or taking pictures, so there are concerns that the 1/3rd of a stop of light loss will cause more noise.

What is 1/3rd of a stop? The difference between F3.5 and F4.0. The difference between F1.4 and F1.6. Not much eh?

Progressive, Not Interlaced

It is very nice to know that Sony now acknowledges that they record progressive video in an interlaced container. I quote Sony Style:

"The DSLR-A560L captures Full HD video at 1920x1080/30p and records in 1920x1080/60i and is one of the very few DSLRs with exactly the same resolution and frame rate as most broadcast and cable HDTV channels. You also have the option of recording HD video in 720p in web friendly MP4 format. "

I took the stock photos from:

http://www.pbase.com/anserum/alphacams (good work compiling, thanks!)

All pictures here were shot in 2007 or 2008 with the Sony Alpha 700.


Monochromatic parrot against the blur of colors.


Birdbath.


Gossip and the crows that spread it.


Takeoff.


Layover.


Dropped nuts?


And now, for some street birding with the Sony 18-70mm F3.5-5.6 DT kit lens at the widest 18mm setting! This picture is not cropped and EXIF is in the picture.


This was at 50mm.


Ah, the thrill of the chase!


30mm for a more natural field of view.


Another 18mm shot, uncropped...


...and another.


This is a crop to the right.

Who says birding has to be done with a long lens? You could very well set up a feeding place and camouflage your camera and kit lens in a tent!

Over a year ago, 10th July 2009 to be exact, I built my own ring flash light modifier! One can either stick a lens of 77mm diameter through the hole, or turn the modifier upside-down to become a directional light, looking very much like a beauty dish.


This is how it looks, straight on, through the ring.


Enche Ted the lighting guru with the directional light.


Muzzammil against the wall.


Muzzammil not against the wall. I have to say I really like the directional light mode!


Waifon through the ring.


smashpOp with a light from the side.


Isz, camera salesman, through the ring...


...and Rames with that beauty dish-like effect.


How about some macro?


This was a far more difficult shot (thanks Kevin Wong for taking this!) Two flashes with wide-panel diffusers pulled out, and one flash with ring flash light modifier from above.


My inspiration to build this came from another lighting modifier master, Templar! His far more refined version is on the right. Trust an engineer to make precision look easy!


There was, also, this O-Flash RF175 light modifier - it was significantly heavier, but gives one stop better light transmission. Did I mention that the light modifier sucks power and decreases range significantly?

The bottom left picture with with the O-Flash; the bottom right, with my version, which had a warm cast.


Version 2, built on the 1st of August 2009, transforms and holds a Sony HVL-F58AM flash. However I'd rather lug around the Version 1 because the collapsed Version 2 doesn't fit in much smaller bags.

Someday when I am freer, I shall revise this into an even smaller design, I hope. It would be too easy to make a collapsible beauty dish - but ring flash?


Left is Version 2 next to a Metz Mecablitz 15 MS-1 Digital. Powered by 2 AAA batteries, that ring flash amazingly packs a punch - it can even be triggered by your camera's pop-up flash! Now, if only it would fit lenses having a filter thread size bigger than 72mm... (though, you'd want to stick a medium telephoto through this, so you'd probably zoom your lens through it.)

More pictures from the same setup: (and some are the same but in lower resolution...)
Lucky 8

On the 16th of June 2010, I got myself a Gakkenflex DIY twin-lens reflex camera! (Hand model is Lydia Kwan.)

It comes with a Japanese magazine, Otona no Kagaku, which includes a DIY kit in each issue. Very cool idea, and this particular issue number #25 is a hit, with many reprints!


Ironically, this is the back of the magazine.


This is what it looks like, unassembled.


The shutter mechanism. Fixed at F11, 1/150th of a second, unfortunately, limiting it to bright light even with ASA400 film. In theory, I could remove the aperture plastic, but it also holds the lens in place - so even if I did take it out, I'd have to find something else to hold it in alignment, or else my pictures would be out of focus.


Here it is with some other buddies who didn't last the SLR revolution. Top left is the Blackbird Fly, a TLR where the top viewfinder does not show focus, but shows everything in focus - so it does not give you that amazing TLR experience, focusing on a viewfinder from above and having a most 3D viewfinder.

Technically, the Hasselblad 501CM here is a Single Lens Reflex since it does have a medium format-sized mirror...

There is also the Polaroid Land Camera to the left, with a very cool rangefinder mechanism, and a Leica M6 and M3 somewhere in the picture. At the bottom is the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport, which I will blog about sometime later.

Thanks to Azrul of 807studio for your hospitality and having a few cameras to pose with!


This is what it looks like from above. You can't really see much focusing going on unless it's at close range. The viewing lens is brighter than the image-taking lens, though, and it thus does not represent depth of field exactly.

There is a sports finder, which I have not managed to teach anyone how to use.

And now, on to my first roll, with Kodak Gold ASA 400!


My first shot. Metered with my A900, I had to do a little trick where I flip the shutter down, pull it slowly up, and it goes into Bulb mode. The exposure here was 20 seconds, I think.


Azrul and I then went to the demolition of the Pudu Jail wall. With streetlights, I could get 5 second exposures.


The machines eat into the wall.


Here's a hotlamp going as close as it can go through a softbox. F11 1/150s at ASA 400 is hard to satisfy! That would be almost three stops below Sunny F16.


The lens has decent central clarity, and rapidly diffuses into softness, and some sort of shakiness I can't put my finger on.


The last shot I took with it, 14 frames into the roll of 36. The remaining 22 were black blanks! I had no idea why this was so, unless the shutter had malfunctioned.

Sadly, I would only know when I finish the roll of Fujifilm Superia ASA 400 currently in the camera - then I could open it up to inspect it again.