Alphatracks

DSLRs are technological wonders, but they don’t have to wreck your budget.

Dec 3, 2008: Christmas is the time of the year when digital SLR sales typically ramp up. Of course this year is anything but typical. The state of economy, at least in the US, is on most people’s minds. Many prospective dSLR owners are tightening their belts and holding off buying that new camera, lens or flash unit. I would never suggest spending money you don’t have on photo gear, unless you earn most or all of your income from photography. If you are a hobbyist, you may need to retrench and put off major purchases until the economy improves.

DSLR photography will always involve a substantial outlay of cash; that is the nature of the beast. You can’t eliminate that cost, but with a little creative planning, you can reduce it. If budget constraints are forcing you to postpone that new dSLR or lens purchase, these suggestions might help you stretch your photography dollars.

Choose a lower-price camera body

There is a famous old saying: “…if wishes were cameras, then we would all be shooting with the A900..” Or something like that.

If you have A900 tastes, but your budget is more along the lines of the A200, there is nothing to be ashamed of. The Sony Alpha A200 or A300 can produce excellent images, and both cameras offer a wealth of features. Don’t be afraid to start out with one of the less expensive models. Most professional photographers, if they are on a budget, will opt to cut corners on the camera so they have money to spend on what really matters: high quality lenses. A great lens on a inexpensive camera can create wonderful images, but even the best camera cannot overcome an unsharp lens.

If you are one of those people who only buy the best so it will last, remember the digital SLR market is still evolving. Only a few years ago, most professional dSLRs were 6 megapixel, APS-C sensor models. Today, full frame, 20+ megapixel dSLRs like the A900 are blurring the distinction between portable single lens reflex cameras and medium-format studio units. Live-view and video capabilities will soon be considered mandatory on any dSLR.

Today’s full-featured camera will undoubtedly fall short of the cameras of the near future. Don’t put off purchasing a camera while you save for a top-of-the-line model. Buy a dSLR that you can afford now and work hard to create great images.

Consider buying used equipment

Buying a used dSLR is an iffy proposition. I have bought two used high-end digital cameras that have worked flawlessly. That said, dSLRs are packed with miniaturized electronics and are sensitive to moisture, dirt, cold and heat. Problems can hide unseen inside the camera for weeks or months before they show up. Unless you know the seller and the history of the camera, I would be leery of buying a used dSLR unless it came with an ironclad warranty.

You can still save money with used equipment, however. Second-hand lenses, flash units and accessories offer a much safer opportunity to save cash. Do your homework and make sure you know what to look for in a used item. You can often save more than 50% by buying used.

Try your local pawn shop

Online auctions and used camera stores are popular places to seek pre-owned camera gear, but don’t overlook your neighborhood pawn shop. You can often find great deals, especially if you know what to look for. Pawn shops are no longer shady enterprises hiding out on the outskirts of town. Pawn shops have moved into the mainstream and now serve a respectable clientele. Pawn shops offer several advantages when buying used equipment. Unlike an online auction, you can actually see and handle the item before you buy. Even better, many reputable pawn shops will offer you a 24-48 hour trial. These shops will allow you to use and return an item within a certain period of time if it doesn’t perform correctly.

Rent camera equipment that won’t be used often

You might be surprised to discover that many pro photographers rent most or all of their equipment. A pro needs to consider the ROI (return on investment) of every piece of gear. If an item will be used infrequently, it is much better to rent it when needed, rather than drop a bundle of cash on something that will sit on the shelf most of the time.

You can use the same technique, even if you are just starting out. Short term (daily or weekly) rental prices can be quite affordable, even for high-quality lenses and flash units. Some rental operations rent camera bodies, so you don’t even need to actually own a dSLR to start taking great images. In addition to saving money, renting is a great way to preview a piece of equipment you are thinking of buying. Spend a week with an expensive lens or camera before you buy. You could save yourself from making an expensive purchase you later regret.

Until recently, it was difficult to find places prepared to rent Sony/Minolta dSLR gear. Alpha Lens Rental in Minnesota offers a very good selection of A-mount lens and equipment. They even have the Sony Alpha A900 (Yes the one with 24.5 mega-pixels) available for rental. They will Fed-Ex to your location within the USA. Hopefully, we will see more A-Mount lens rental operations in the near future.

Skimp on accessories, not the camera and lens

There are some things you shouldn’t compromise on, such as lenses. There are many other items that could offer temporary savings. It is nice to own a top-of-the-line camera bag, but the type of bag you use will not have any effect on your images. Make do with a padded cooler or gym bag until you can afford the real thing. You can shoot wonderful images with inexpensive “clamp-on” lights from the hardware. You can find free plans online for DIY light modifiers and camera stands.

Use your creativity and you will find many household items that can be pressed into service in place of higher priced photo gear.

Save money with manual lenses and flash units

While I don’t recommend wasting money on cheap lenses, my concern is with lenses that cannot produce sharp images. Don’t overlook the wide variety of manual aperture, manual focus lenses on the market. Some of these lenses have wonderful optics, but they sell for far less than a fully automatic lens of similar length and aperture.

You can find millions of very good M42 and T-mount lenses on the used market, some selling for only a few dollars. You will need an inexpensive adapter to mount them on your Sony Alpha dSLR, but if you choose wisely you can find some razor sharp bargains. They will require additional work on your part, but they will force you to develop your photography skills. You won’t be able to rely on your camera’s automatic settings with this equipment. Still, a few weeks of shooting with a manual lens will develop skills and techniques it would take years to learn shooting in the program mode.

How about it? Anyone else have suggestions for reducing the high cost of entering the dSLR market?

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I’m back….

I haven’t abandoned Alphatracks…although it probably seemed like I had.

In actuality, I have been wrapped up finishing the Sony Alpha DSLR-A300/A350 Digital Field Guide
 for Wiley Press. It was a lot of work, with many late nights and more than a few weekends spent rewriting text and editing images. I really enjoyed the process, however, and I am happy to say the completed manuscript is the printer and the book should be shipping by early December. My only regret is that I had to neglect this blog for so long. I hope to make up for lost time in the coming months.

The new book is part of the Wiley Digital Field Guide series, each of which focuses on a specific dSLR camera. As you may have inferred from the title, this particular book is for users of the Alpha A300 and Alpha A350 dSLRs. I found the A350 a truly fun camera to work with, and I attempted to convey that in the book.

Following the patten of all Wiley Field Guides, this book includes a full description of the A300 series, exploring the menus, controls and features of both cameras. The A300 and the A350 are nearly identical, the only difference being the A300 has a 10.2mp sensor, while the A350 utilizes a 14.2mp chip. Because files from the A300 are smaller, the Alpha 300 offers a slightly faster continuous frame rate, while the A350 cranks out massive 4592 x 3056 pixel images. Otherwise, the controls and operation of both cameras are the same, so this book covers both cameras in depth.

There are chapters on compatible lenses and flash units, including a look at compatible Minolta AF lenses. There are also chapters on basic photography, lighting, camera troubleshooting and image editing workflows. All the Digital Field Guides include a large section comprised of photo exercises designed to elevate your skills in a wide variety of photographic pursuits; including sports, travel, event photography, animal photography, portraiture and many other specialty disciplines.

My goal for the book to create a resource that can be tossed into your camera bag to provide help, instruction and inspiration when you are shooting in the field. That is the field guide portion of the book. At the same time, I hope readers might find it useful to curl up with these pages on a rainy day and immerse themselves in the operation of the Sony A300 and A350.

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, but I have been living with this book for the last several months, so I have to talk about it here.

One final thing. The book won’t be available until December. It is however, available for pre-order on Amazon now. If you buy it in advance, Amazon will knock $6.40 off the list price, so you can get it for $13.59. That represents a 32% savings. After the book is published, Amazon will raise the price back to $19.99.  So, if you’re interested, you can save almost a third by buying in advance. The book qualifies for free shipping from Amazon, however there is a $25 minimum, so you will have to combine the order with something else to qualify.

If you’re interested, there is an Amazon link on the sidebar that will take you directly to the book’s Amazon page. It is also available through must online sellers; Books-A-Million, Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc. Once it is in print, you should be able to find it at most brick and mortar bookstores as well.

Although this book is aimed at the A300 series, Alphatracks will continue to look at all the full range of Sony Alpha and Minolta SLRs. If your camera uses A-mount lenses, you’re always welcome here!

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Mark Weir, the Senior Technology and Marketing Manager for Sony’s Alpha dSLR division appears in an interview on the latest podcast from The Digital Photography Show.

I am a frequent listener to the DPS podcast. It is an easy-going. no-stress show. Hosts Scott Sherman and Michael Stein freely admit they aren’t professional photographers — they are just a couple of regular guys who are nuts over digital photography. The testimony to their interest in digital photography lies in the latest show, which happens to be episode #84. It takes a lot of work and effort to produce a podcast on a regular basis — most of casts in my iTunes library are abandoned during the first year. Sherman and Stein, however, have just released their eighty-fourth show and don’t appear ready to quit anytime soon.

Although I enjoy listening to show, the pair spend way too much time yammering about cameras that start with the letters “C” and “N,” WAY too much time. Until recently, they attempted to defend their posture with usual “most people” use certain brand cameras. Now, however, it appears they have had enough complaints from listeners that they have rethought their show. They have started discussing lots of other cameras on the podcast. The Mark Weir interview is one of their efforts to welcome other dSLR makers to their party.

They caught up with Weir at the Sony booth at the recent PMA show. The interview runs about 30 minutes — the first half discusses the Sony Alpha dLSRs, while the second explores some of the new technologies Sony is bringing to their point and shoot models.

There isn’t anything really new in the interview, but it is still worth listening to, especially if you are an A-mount shooter. Weir explains in detail the advantages to the new Sony Live View system offered in the Alpha A300 and A350. He also hammers home the advantages of in-body image stabilization. In addition to not having to buy IS with every lens you acquire, Weir points out that it is impractical to add lens-based IS to many macro and wide aperture lenses. Thus the Sony in-body system allows users to enjoy IS in many types of lenses that are simply unavailable from competing lens-based IS systems.

Weir also proudly announced that the upcoming Alpha flagship dSLR will be the first full-frame SLR with in-body IS. I guess that answers some of our questions on that point. I was really impressed that he was able to say the phrase “Super Steady Shot” and not sound the least bit silly.

Sherman did try to pry information about the price of the flagship out of Weir, but got nowhere. All Weir would say on the subject of price is that he thought everyone would be pleasantly surprised about the price — or words to that effect. I liked hearing that, but only time will tell.

You can download the Sony Mark Weir interview at The Digital Photography Show. As you might expect, the show is also available on iTunes. Just search for The Digital Photography Show in the podcast directory and download episode #84. It’s a fairly long podcast, and a lot of the stuff in the beginning wasn’t all that interesting to me. The Weir interview starts exactly at the 30 minute point.

A while back, I pointed out that the A700 was forcing many of the media to look at Sony with fresh eyes. With the addition of the A200, A300 and the A350, Sony is developing a line of dSLRs that demand respect and attention. It appears that Scott Sherman, Michael Stein and the Digital Photography Show have started to get the message. After all, “A” comes before “C” and “N” in the alphabet!

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What a difference a year makes. At the 2007 PMA show Sony Alpha dSLR line was shunned by most of the press. There were no great announcements, although Sony did show off two mockups of yet unnamed dSLRs. The “Advanced Amateur” model eventually came to pass as the A700, while the tantalizing “flagship” is still waiting to be released. Other than the concept cameras, which Sony refused to elaborate on, there wasn’t much to see. The press lavished tons of coverage to other major and minor dSLR offerings, but except for the few A-mount sites and forums, Sony was just a postscript at PMA 2007.

Sony was not about to let that happen again. The 2008 PMA show was packed with Sony and Sony Alpha dLSR news. Of course everyone is still talking about the incredible 24mp, full-frame sensor that Sony announced, and the introduction of not one but two new live view dSLR bodies caught a lot of people by surprise. The A300 and A350 are a huge shot in the arm to the Alpha line, and should go a long way to convince potential customers that Sony is serious about playing in the dSLR arena.

In the excitement of the huge sensor and live-view SLR announcements, many observers may have overlooked Sony’s release of several new dSLR accessories.

Sony will add a new flash unit to their existing Alpha flashes.

The first totally new Sony Alpha Flash unit, the HVL-F42AM, will be available in the near future. The other Flashes in Sony’s line up appear to be re-badged versions of Minolta flash units. That isn’t a bad thing, Minolta’s wireless flash system was considered by many to be excellent.

The new HVL-F42AM might appear to be a middle of the road unit, filling the gap between the the HVL-F36AM (GN 36) and the big HVL-F56AM (GN 56). While the new flash’s guide number of 42 does place between the current two Sony shoe mount flash units, the HVL-F42AM has an zoom range of 24-105mm. You can cover up to a 16mm lens with wide angle adapter. The current flashes in the Sony catalog offer a range of 24-85mm and the adapter covers 17mm.

As usual, Mike Hohner seems to have an inside track on Sony’s latest products. Here is Hohner’s “Flash tech data for Sony Alpha HVL-F42AM” page.

There is also a Sony Europe press release covering the PMA announcement floating about. Here’s what the release has to say:

With wireless, ADI and manual modes, plus a full range of tilt and swivel possibilities, the new flash unit sounds like it might be an excellent addition to any A-mount user’s camera bag.

Then there are the lenses. Although technically not a PMA announced product, Sony’s latest two lenses were introduced on the eve of the show, so they might as well be considered new PM products. Both of the new lenses use SSM technology for quicker auto focusing.

Say hello to the Carl Zeiss® 24-70mm f/2.8 lens

Coming this spring, the $1,700 Vario Sonnar T* 24-70mm f/2.8 ZA is a very-fast, wide to mid range zoom lens. According to the Sony release:

The second new lens, also available this spring, is the $800 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G-series zoom.

The SAL70300G lens incorporates the optical performance of Sony’s G series in a compact and flexible telephoto zoom lens ideal for sports and portrait photography. Constructed of 16 elements in 11 groups, with one extra-low dispersion element, this lens offers superb contrast and sharpness across its wide focal length range.

The use of extra-low dispersion glass compensates for chromatic aberrations which challenge long telephoto zoom lens design, maintaining excellent optical characteristics from center to periphery. Internal focus construction not only realizes compact size, but also a close focusing capability of just 47 inches (1.2m), unusual for a lens of this focal length range.

New 70-300 G-series SSM Alpha mount lens

Like the SAL2470Z, focus drive is provided by Sony’s Super Sonic wave Motor (SSM) technology. Silent and highly accurate, the SSM system is ideal for providing larger lenses with the speed and rotational precision often required by telephoto shooting. To match auto focus operation to the situation, a focus range limiter can be set to a minimum distance of three meters. A lens barrel mounted focus hold button locks focus if desired.

These lenses are good ammunition to use against those who imply that Sony doesn’t offer sufficient quality glass to complete against the “established camera makers.” We will have to wait to see how these lenses perform in the real world, but it sounds like they could hold their own against anything similar from other manufacturers.

Next up, the new vertical grip. Again this isn’t technically a PMA product, as it was announced along with the A200. The grip is available now at a lest price of $249.00 (less batteries). The PM news is that it is compatible with the A300 and the A350, as well as the original A200. This provides a great deal of flexibility if you trade up or add second body in the A200-A350 family. It does not fit the A700, which has it’s own specific vertical grip, and will not fit the A100 style bodies.

With the PMA announcements, Sony has taken a major step forward in it’s quest to become a major player in the dSLR realm. Many observers have relegated the Sony Alpha as niche product, offering some nice features but unable to compete against the big name dSLR makers. Sony continues to add luster to its brand, unhurriedly creating a dSLR system that can compete against the best of the best. As these products begin to gain momentum in the marketplace, watch for Sony to assume a dominate role as a dSLR maker.

Read the complete Sony Alpha Europe Press release

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Another week, a couple more new Sony Alpha dSLRs…

Sony has officially announced two new dSLRs, both featuring Sony’s new Quick AF Live View system. This brings the Sony dSLR model lineup to five, provided you include the original A100, which is no longer in production but still available in many outlets.

Only about four months ago, the A100 was Sony’s only dSLR and had been for eighteen months. To many observers, it seemed Sony had lost their direction and might even abandon the dSLR market.

Tilting live view LCD appears on new Alpha dSLRs.

Sony has effectively shut down the naysayers by releasing the A700 in September of 2007, then unleashing the A200, A300 and A350 in January 2008.

The A200 was announced at the CES show, and only a few weeks later, Sony sends word that the A300 and A350 will ship in March and April.

The A300 specs seem similar to the A200 with the same 10.2mp sensor. The A350 ups the ante with a new 14.2mp CCD sensor.

The feature that sets the two “main-stream” dSLRs apart is the Live View system. The tilt out 2.7” LCD panel allows the user to compose and shoot from a variety of angles. The Quick View system uses a second sensor to continuously monitor the scene:

Here is what the Sony press release has to say:

Although I am not particularly interested in Live View, on paper it appears the Sony system is one of the best implementations of Live View yet.

Alpha 350 boasts 14.2mp (CCD).

After an incredible drought, A-mount shooters suddenly have wide selection of dSLRs to choose from. And yesterday’s huge announcement of the 24mp full-frame sensor is a reminder that the A900/flagship model is yet to come.

All of a sudden, it is a great time to be an Alpha Mount shooter!

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