Sony Alpha A850 Notes (Part I)

Sony Alpha A850 Notes (Part I)
February 2013, Carl Garrard

Hello all. I wanted to share a few notes and thoughts about the A850 while I sit here sipping my morning coffee contemplating my day. I've recently acquired this full frame beauty after a long 4 year hiatus away from it. I've been desiring a full frame camera of late for landscape images (mainly) and have ran the gamut of them from manufacturers out there. Some were purchased, and some were loaned to me from manufacturers. My personal needs of equipment for landscape photography are kept simple- bring along a camera system that can remain as compact as possible, no matter what kind of camera I'm using (compact, DSLR, etc.). I do a lot of extended hikes, locally, and into mountains and back country which requires me keeping weight down a bit for long hauls. And for full frame, the Alpha Mount offers quite a few older but excellent lens options for the Alpha A850. So when I want to go out shooting landscapes, for my needs,  the A850 is not only familiar, but has the most resolution, best handling, best viewfinder, and best lens options for the dollar.

Sony Alpha A850 Availability and Price Check

Sony DT 55-300mm SAM f/4.5-5.6 Review

Sony DT 55-300mm SAM f/4.5-5.6 Review
January 2013, Carl Garrard

Sony DT 55-300mm SAM f/4.5-5.6 Review- Announced on July 25th 2012, Sony introduced the new 55-300mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM telephoto zoom lens. This lens doesn't officially replace any lenses in Sony's Alpha SLT lens line up yet offers an alternative focal length zoom lens at a budget price with the new SAM II focus motor and new styling design. Priced at $299.00 USD the lens is considered budget but the build quality and tolerances might fool you into believing it should be a higher price. Surley lenses aren't judged solely on those features alone, so, how does the new Sony 55-300mm SAM perform in other aspects? In this exclusive review I answer these questions and more.




BHPhoto Video Best Price Link

Canon Powershot S100 Quick Review

Canon Powershot S100 Quick Review
December 31st 2012, Carl Garrard

Canon Powershot S100 Quick Review: Happy New Year! This is probably the first camera review of 2013. Ok well, yet another from my "quick review" series. These reviews are intended to keep your interest as long as possible while I'm getting to the point with unfiltered comments backed by years and years of combined photography and review experience. Are you still reading? Good! Canon's Powershot S100 is the third in the not so recently revived S series and quite frankly the best deal going on the market for a "pocket compact". At $249.00 now in some places (check my link) the S100 is a steal- which is why I bought one too. The price wasn't the only reason so read on.

Canon PowerShot S100 Best Online Price

Auto HDR and Zero Sharpness

Auto HDR and Zero Sharpness
December 2012, Carl Garrard

Even though I think that Sony can improve the Jpeg engine in the A57, there remains a scenario where I still will allow out of camera Jpegs to be used. As the title of this article implies, I like to set my A57 for zero sharpness when using the Jpeg engine, and, use BASE ISO (as much as possible) along with HDR. In a way the Jpegs are three times better than a standard Jpeg considering there is a stack of 3 together into one. Sharpening out of camera, means you control that process almost completely yourself (as the OOC Jpegs at -3 sharpness are very soft indeed and look nearly untouched as seen below).

B & H Photo Excellent A57 Deal

Panasonic DMC-G3 Deal and Quick Review

Panasonic DMC-G3 Deal and Quick Review
December 2012, Carl Garrard

Panasonic DMC-G3 Review-  The last Panasonic I reviewed was the excellent DMC-L1. That camera is truly a work of art, and shows what Panasonic is capable of. And now the Panasonic G3 gets my attention. Yes it's a bit older but I don't feel constrained to just review new cameras. So lets get right onto my real bonafide quick review. Let me start by saying that I feel in a way  Panasonic has been slipping lately- trying to keep up so much with the heated race of m4/3 has left them a bit desperate with designing and functionality. The newest designs just seem nervous to me, for lack of a better word- and the G3 is no exception. I didn't like the G1 nearly at all, so how does the G3 sit with me?


B & H Panasonic G3 Excellent Deal

Sony NEX-6 Here for Review

Sony sent us here at Photographic-Central (and AMW) a camera for review today, the *new* NEX-6 and 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. Here's A Sony NEX-6 Amazon Deal So I'll finally be able to put this camera to it's paces and let you all know what I think of it. That's right, yes I will! More to follow folks. The camera is charging and later on I will be using it low light as well as getting to know that menu system and getting the camera set up to my specifications. Lots in this little rangefinder styled camera to use, lots of tools oh yes, so I need time to get to know my new little friend...



Here's A Sony NEX-6 Amazon Deal

Canon G15- Screaming Deal at B&H!

B&H Photo and Video are running a deal on the G15 that expires on December 29th. For $419.00 you get the G15, a free 16gb class 10 SDHC card, a Pearstone camera case, free 2 day shipping and NO sales tax. Now this was a deal that was too good for me to even pass up. For those of you waiting... you might not want to push it. I think this is as good as it's going to get for quite a while. Jump on it. I'm not one to normally go out of my way to post deals on this blog but felt it was truly worthy of making it known.
 CANON G15 $419.00 B&H DEAL

Aberlour A'Bunadh Review

Aberlour A'Bunadh Review- Single Malt Scotch Whisky Sherry Bomb!

Aberlour A'Bunadh (or, the origin) is my 14th whisky brand I've tried in the last 6 months or so. I'm new to scotch whisky, but I'm learning quickly. This particular whisky received very high ratings from several reviews and thus, peaked my interest. A local shop in Costa Mesa CA called High Time Cellars, stocks this beauty so I made a run there to try it out. Lets get right to the chase here, this malt lives up to all expectation in quality and overall deliciousness. I'm a big Springbank fan (a unique distillery look them up) so any Whisky that can impress me beyond that brand is worth recommending.


Aberlour A'Bunadh 750ml Best Price

DPR Post A99 Review

DPReview has posted the long awaited Sony A99 review. Sony's A99 is the current full frame flagship DSLR with a fixed semi-transparent mirror. It's more of a hybrid DSLR much like the Canon EOS 5D MK III in that it can shoot professional quality video just as surely as still images. The main difference between what Sony offers and what the competition offers are two things: An electronic viewfinder and a fixed semi-trans mirror system vs. a glass prism viewfinder and moving mirror. Take a look at what DPR have to say about the A99.


Sony Alpha A99 Body Only Best Amazon Deal

Canon G10 Review- Still A Powerhouse Compact

Canon G10 Review- A Powerhouse Compact
November 2012, Carl Garrard

Canon G10 Review- The Canon G10 has been said to be the wolf in sheep's clothing. That it can't deliver the goods from its brilliantly serious, enthusiast friendly, function follows form design. It's said that it's sensor is too small and noisy to deliver professional quality results above its lowest sensitivity. Lastly, that the G10 is really just as good as any other small compact camera's output of its time. Ultimately then, the greatest criticisms of the G10 surround  its sensor and its processor. Three models have replaced it since, so all of that must be true right?  Well, I certainly beg to differ. Read more..   Canon Powershot G10 Best Current Used Price

Fujifilm XS1- Preview

Fujifilm XS1- Preview
October 2012, Carl Garrard

Fujifilm XS1- Preview- October has literally filled my office with cameras from several manufacturers, with the latest coming from none other than Fujifilm (a pleasant surprise). The XS1 arrived very quickly new in box: Pristine and untouched too (kudos Fujifilm). I first handled the XS1 back at CES when they were unfinished pre-production products, and although I had just a quick handle, the camera impressed me quite a bit. Today I used the real deal and although my testing is preliminary, I've enough to share a preview of the camera with a full review to follow later on.


Fujifilm X-S1 Amazon Best Price

Canon G15- Preview

Canon G15- Preview

I've had less than a half a day with the new Canon G15, but it's been a very pleasurable experience. Right out of the box and in the hand I knew this camera was the G series camera I've been waiting for from Canon. No it doesn't have everything I'd prefer, but its likely to be the best one yet. I know this line of camera well, I've owned, reviewed, or evaluated every G series camera since the G6. Therefore I'm intimate to what the G15 has in common with its predecessors already.


Canon PowerShot G15 12.1 MP Best Price

The Macallan- Thanks Neil

The Macallan- Thanks Neil: Neil Peart drums for my favorite progressive rock band of all time- Rush. He's recommended this whisky on more than one occasion, and to date I have not yet had the privilege of enjoying this fine crafted Scotch. Tonight was my first (and second/third) taste of The Macallan, and I can see why Neil endorses it so. Yes this post is a huge deviation from the normal camera related reviews I do here on this blog but nevertheless my blog was started as a free platform to talk about whatever I like. Hence I figured, I'd share some glee about a Scotch Whisky that I'd definitely recommend. The Macallan is a pretty popular brand as far as Irish Scotch Whisky goes, so for scotch fans this endorsement should come as no surprise.

Macallan 10 Year Old Highland Single Malt Best Price

Sony 18-135mm SAM f/3.5-5.6 Review

Sony 18-135mm SAM f/3.5-5.6 Review
September 2012, Carl Garrard

Sony 18-135mm SAM f/3.5-5.6 Review: Sony's Alpha camera division has shown some interesting cards in the DSLR game of late. They've shown that they are listening more intently to enthusiasts needs than ever, both in the product types and how the products are being designed. It's a refreshing change of events that I'll be honest has taken me quite a bit by surprise. Ever a fan of a good bang for the buck lens, Sony introduced the 18-135mm SAM lens earlier this year when the announced the Alpha A37 SLT model. Yet its just now, that I'm getting around to actually testing this lens on one of Sony's better camera models ever- the Sony A57.  Join me for a review adventure of galactical proportions (space helmet, on!).

Sony 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 SAM Best Price

Sony Alpha A57 Review and Thoughts (Updated 9-13 Gallery)

Sony Alpha A57 Review and Thoughts
August 2012, Carl Garard

Sony Alpha A57 Review and Thoughts: Recently I've had the pleasure to use Sony's Alpha A57, after quite a hiatus from using Sony slt/dslr models. The break was needed, I had to detach myself from the EVF/SLR concept Sony were trying to pull off on the market in order to let that concept completely sink in. After the hiatus a few models emerged, and one of them being the A57. To me the A57 is the most mature SLT Sony has brought to the market, with none of the glitches that plagued earlier models and a sensor which, quite frankly, I feel to be superior as an overall design decision than other models.

Prices Sony Alpha SLT-A57

Tamron Announces Development of SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD

Tamron Announces Development of SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD
September 2012, Carl Garrard

Woo hoo, another nice 90mm Macro lens. I reviewed Tamrons venerable older model so I'm quite excited to see how the new one performs. The older lens was tack sharp and made gorgeous images so its going to be difficult to improve upon that. Main improvements are the new optical design, addition of vibration control (VC), new sexy look, and USD (Ultra Sonic Drive). So a quieter, faster focusing, better performing optic is coming! Great news! By first impression this lens looks a lot like the very excellent 60mm f/2 macro that I fell in love with when I reviewed that lens at www.alphamountworld.com (both the 90mm and 60mm reviews are there). Can't wait to use this lens, sounds like it handles better and is faster and quieter to use in general. A great lens for portraiture more so than ever with those improvements.




Tamron Best Lens Deals

HOT- New Sony Zeiss 50mm f1.4 ZA SSM Lens Coming in Spring!

This was announced from Sony Japan on a website so I don't have a lot of information. Looks like the A-Mount gets a new Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 ZA SSM lens in spring of 2013. This is an excellent edition to the 35mm Zeiss (and others) already available by plugging that gap, and strengthens Sony's already very solid lens lineup for the A-Mount even more. I guess things are going well for Sony at Photokina this year. More info on this lens later on as it develops.

Sony Lenses Best Prices

-Cheers, Carl

Sony Alpha A99 Preview (Updated Additional Commentary)

Sony Alpha A99 Preview
September 2012, Carl Garrard

Sony Alpha A99 Preview: Today Sony announces the long awaited (and rumored) A900 replacement, the Alpha A99 SLT. The A99 comes in with the same 24mp of resolution as the camera it replaces, but in a completely different form factor, improved weather sealing, a raft of video features, and of course the SLT mirror design. This is Sony's new flagship still image camera for the interim and shows Sony's full commitment to the SLT design with its full lineup now complete with SLT cameras and no traditional DSLR design on the marketplace.


Sony A99 Best Price Check

Sony Cybershot RX1 Preview (Updated W/Brochure)

Sony Cybershot RX1 Preview
September 2012, Carl Garrard

Sony Cybershot RX1 Preview: The first fixed lens compact camera with a Full Frame sensor. Who thought it would be Sony, raise your hand? Of those few of you with hands raised, who thought it would be the Cybershot division? I doubt there are any hands in the air at this point. I am surprised, and pleasantly. Yes the price is high, yes this is a niche camera, but so what! Just when I thought (and I'm sure others did too) the Cybershot division were never going to make another "serious" camera again, Sony fire two shots nearly back to back. First the RX100 and now the RX1 model.


Sony Cybershot RX1 Best Price Check

Sony NEX 6 Preview (Updated Commentary)

Sony NEX 6 Preview
September 2012, Carl Garrard

Sony NEX6 Preview: Sony's NEX 6 is a bold move for the NEX lineup of cameras. Sporting the wildly popular 16mp sensor (found in many other makers cameras including Sony's in the Alpha and NEX line), a new hotshoe, improved handling, built in EVF, and revamped menu system- this camera could really end up being the biggest seller of the new announcements easily. If you ask me, it looks like the Sony V3 replacement with lines and heritage back to those Cybershot glory days.


Sony NEX6 Best Price Check