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Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:59 am

Image

An earlier shot with the original allotment, likely needed a narrower aperture to get it all in focus, though I do like the effect as is.
Last edited by Airmantharp on Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 1:13 am

Image

Here's a shot of a friend's cat at f/1.8 on the 85mm. I'm finding that I"m really having to watch the ISO settings with these lenses to keep the graininess out!
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 1:29 am

Image

Another at f1.8, but at ISO3200 requiring more post processing.
 
lonleyppl
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 3:10 am

Airman,

Looked over the photos on flickr (larger size). They look really nice. Couple quick questions though. How dark was the second cat picture? Just seems like f/1.8 and a shutter speed of 1/60 would let a lot of light in already, so unless it was quite dark you'd be okay. Second, do you have any tips for minimizing/removing CA in bright spots? I noticed a little bit in the jalapeno popper picture, on the holder, and have found it to be really aggravating when I shoot with my Vivitar 70-210mm, as the coating is a little suspect.
Lenovo W520
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:39 am

Hold up - what is "CA"?
 
Captain Ned
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:46 am

flip-mode wrote:
Hold up - what is "CA"?

Chromatic Aberration. Usually seen as purplish fringes on the edges of objects in bright light.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
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Grand Admiral Gerbil
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:59 am

Thanks Ned.


OK, update on the dark spot: after cleaning it is still there. The following shot is an in-camera panoramic. It shows the spot very well, in normal pictures the spot is harder to identify, but in the panoramic it is easily seen because it repeats:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8119/8675 ... 826a_k.jpg


I'm going to try cleaning again, as it seems that cleaning made the spot diminish in intensity, which makes me think it is a droplet of oil or something.

But if repeated cleanings don't work, I'm starting to consider my options - I'll see if Best Buy and get the thing replaced.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:59 am

Captain Ned wrote:
flip-mode wrote:
Hold up - what is "CA"?

Chromatic Aberration. Usually seen as purplish fringes on the edges of objects in bright light.


Yup. Look at the jalapeno holder, in the empty holes, and you'll see a magenta tinge that follows the round contour. That's next on the list to fix (I was tired last night :)), and I'll be attacking them first with Lightroom 3.
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:05 am

lonleyppl wrote:
Airman,

Looked over the photos on flickr (larger size). They look really nice. Couple quick questions though. How dark was the second cat picture? Just seems like f/1.8 and a shutter speed of 1/60 would let a lot of light in already, so unless it was quite dark you'd be okay. Second, do you have any tips for minimizing/removing CA in bright spots? I noticed a little bit in the jalapeno popper picture, on the holder, and have found it to be really aggravating when I shoot with my Vivitar 70-210mm, as the coating is a little suspect.


That cat shot was in a very dark area, with only ambient light through a curtained window opposite of the sun, in the late afternoon, handheld. I found this situation to be especially challenging. Even worse was the black cat (not yet pictured), as the autofocus couldn't lock on!
 
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:08 am

Ah, I definitely see the CA in the jalapeno holder hole edges now.
 
lonleyppl
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:31 am

Didn't mean to call you out, just figured you had a lot more experience with LR/post-processing in general and figured I'd ask. I don't have much luck with removing it, and it's bummed me out a little as there have been some nice shots (birds especially) that I just wasn't too pleased with because of the CA.
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Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:25 pm

lonleyppl wrote:
Didn't mean to call you out, just figured you had a lot more experience with LR/post-processing in general and figured I'd ask. I don't have much luck with removing it, and it's bummed me out a little as there have been some nice shots (birds especially) that I just wasn't too pleased with because of the CA.


Image

Taking the image posted earlier with obvious CA, I was able to remove most of the purple and magenta fringing by adjusting those colors' saturation to zero from 100 and their luminance to something below 100. I was able to mostly avoid artifacting here. I was, however, quite disappointed that Lightroom 3's Chromatic Aberration tool was outright useless- it had no affect whatsoever.
 
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:25 am

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to return the camera. This breaks my heart, because I was falling in love with this thing. And it appears that Best Buy has divested itself of all Sony Alpha cameras. This has happened within the last week. I was willing to pony up some more cash for an a65, but that's not an option.

So... I'm going through a little mourning process at the moment.
 
TheEmrys
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:39 am

So sad! What's going on?
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:43 am

The spot on the image sensor.
 
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:44 am

I can just return this one to Best Buy and order one from B&H. Best Buy can eat a bag of hot dogs.
 
Captain Ned
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:00 am

flip-mode wrote:
Best Buy can eat a bag of hot dogs.

Better yet, a can of Potted Meat Product.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
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Grand Admiral Gerbil
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:28 am

Yeah, too bad I've got a nearly worthless $210 gift card for Best Buy. The only reason I would shop at Best Buy is if there wasn't another option, and that's is the effect of a Best Buy gift card.
 
Voldenuit
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:48 am

Airmantharp wrote:
Taking the image posted earlier with obvious CA, I was able to remove most of the purple and magenta fringing by adjusting those colors' saturation to zero from 100 and their luminance to something below 100. I was able to mostly avoid artifacting here. I was, however, quite disappointed that Lightroom 3's Chromatic Aberration tool was outright useless- it had no affect whatsoever.


What you have here is an example of Longitudinal CA, sometimes abbreviated to LoCA, which is seen in lenses with residual spherical aberration. It is caused by different wavelengths of light rays focusing at different distances from the lens and shows up mainly when the lens is focused on close-up subjects. This is a lens issue; most fast lenses have some degree of LoCA. The way to get rid of it is to stop down the aperture to a smaller value, although some lenses (usually high end ones) are apochromatic (or near-apo) and can diminish or eliminate this artefact.

Unlike the more commonly known Lateral CA (LaCA), LoCA is a lot harder for image processing software to fix. Lightroom will remove LaCA without any problems, but LoCA is a tougher problem for it. Some newer Canon bodies are now able to remove LoCA in-body. If it really bugs you, there are 3 things you can do to fix it (in order of cost and hassle):
1. stop down when shooting close-up subjects (try f/4-f/16 range; any smaller and you'll run into diffraction on APS-C bodies - stopping down will also increase your DoF, which may be undesirable depending on composition)
2. manually edit it out in post
3. get a lens without (or with less) residual spherical abberations.

A quick way to test the susceptibility of a lens to LoCA is to focus on a close up subject (traditionally, a ruler with markings) and to stop down the lens. If the focus point shifts when stopped down, the lens has residual SA and will probably exhibit LoCA in the field. Since most people don't use their fast zooms for macro shots, and msot people don't shoot wide open for macro, LoCA is generally not a big issue for most users.

EDIT: Some lenses and lensmakers intentionally undercorrect spherical aberration to get smoother-looking bokeh, so like everything in photography, eliminating LoCA can be a tradeoff.
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TheEmrys
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:26 am

flip-mode wrote:
I can just return this one to Best Buy and order one from B&H. Best Buy can eat a bag of hot dogs.


Why not just use Sony's warranty? Register it, then fill out a support ticket. They are pretty good about doing that. Here's the thing: they may end up upgrading you to a higher priced product, or have to include an 18-135 kit lens. I'd be tempted to give it a shot.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:51 pm

Flip: Man, that sucks! There are few things more annoying than getting something really nice and finding some small but deal-breaking flaw :(.

Voldenuit: I've been reading up on 'longitudinal' chromatic aberration, and I realize that the shots I took above were just about the worst case, and not how I'd actually use the lens. These shots were about six feet away, around twice the minimum focal distance of the 85mm 1.8, but I'll likely not be using this lens like that. It'll be more of a head and shoulders lens with it's 136mm effective focal length, and it won't be shot in such horrible light!
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:49 pm

Image
Rockwall with Primes by John C. Tharp, on Flickr shooting a Canon 60D with Canon 24mm f/2.8 IS USM, Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM and Canon 85 f/1.8 USM on a very cloudy and slightly windy day in Rockwall, TX.

And Flip, how are you doing on that replacement?
 
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:04 am

I have an a57 on the way from B&H.
 
flip-mode
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Sat Apr 27, 2013 6:15 am

Airmantharp wrote:
Image
Rockwall with Primes by John C. Tharp, on Flickr shooting a Canon 60D with Canon 24mm f/2.8 IS USM, Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM and Canon 85 f/1.8 USM on a very cloudy and slightly windy day in Rockwall, TX.

And Flip, how are you doing on that replacement?


"A day with primes" :P Cool title. I'd love to see some pictures of that fountain with a lens in the 11-16mm range. I like those fountain pics, especially 0826, 8598, 8597, 8593

Is that place very close to you? It would be really interesting to go back to the same place on a sunny day and take the same shots!
 
TheEmrys
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Sat Apr 27, 2013 8:31 am

flip-mode wrote:
I have an a57 on the way from B&H.


So happy for you!
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Airmantharp
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 30, 2013 1:02 am

It's been cloudy here lately, but I did set aside a few minutes to get some prime work in, all hand held with the focus limiter set to its closest setting:

Image
Steelseries Sensai 'palm light'

Image
Razer symbol on one of their nice mousepads

Image
And a US Quarter focused manually with a narrow f/16 aperture to increase depth of field and a Bower ring light, mostly in focus

And Flip, I think your camera should be here by now, you're holding out on us!
 
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:04 am

Tracking info tells me... that the package is out for delivery :P

That pic of the mouse pad is awesome! It's visually uncomfortable, mildly, to look at but it's a wonderful illustration of camera optics.
 
TheEmrys
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:54 am

So, SonyAlphaRumors have no more APS-C DSLT's. SAR states with high likelihood that Sony will move its Alpha line to Mirrorless. This will be quite interesting to see, because the loss of light because of the translucent mirror will go away. Moreover, it implies that they have solved the AF issue, or are very close to it. Apparently, the a58 will be the last of the DSLT's.

While I love my DSLT and it suits my needs wonderfully, I'm pretty curious about being able to use all of my A-Mount Minolta lenses with a mirrorless body that is still Image Stabilized.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Voldenuit
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:46 am

TheEmrys wrote:
So, SonyAlphaRumors have no more APS-C DSLT's. SAR states with high likelihood that Sony will move its Alpha line to Mirrorless. This will be quite interesting to see, because the loss of light because of the translucent mirror will go away. Moreover, it implies that they have solved the AF issue, or are very close to it. Apparently, the a58 will be the last of the DSLT's.


I guess everyone is moving to on-sensor PDAF (combined with CDAF)? Nikon, Canon, Sony and Fuji already have models with on-sensor PDAF. If they can continue to refine it, it may be that SLTs end up being a transitional technology.
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Re: Just got a Sony a57 (name changed)

Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:59 am

I'm so glad to hear that my camera will be out of date as soon as I get it :D
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