“UGH!” (Smacks hand against forehead) “I should have used a lens hood!.”

Nov. 12, 2008 Spend time at any event where photography enthusiasts congregate and you will notice plenty of naked lenses…lenses without lens hoods. That’s rather strange, when you consider that nearly every quality lens ships with a custom designed lens shade made expressly for that lens. It isn’t a matter of being able to afford a hood; it is nearly impossible to buy a Sony Alpha lens without a matched shade. Most quality glass from other makers also include a hood with their lenses. So all those photographers already own lens shades; they simply don’t bother to use them. Too many photographers treat lens hoods as part of the lens packaging — something to be dropped back into the box and packed away into the closet.

There are certain situations where a lens shade is unnecessary, or even detrimental to making good images. I’ll discuss the specific conditions when you shouldn’t use a lens shade in a moment. First, however, I want to look at why you should attach a hood almost every time you take a lens out of your bag.

Kill the glare, stick a shade on it

Most photographers know that lens shades are intended to exclude glare and reduce hot spots. In addition, lens shades increase contrast, improve sharpness and retain color fidelity. Consider the fact that many photographers spend large sums on top-quality lenses because they know that excellent glass will produce better images. Yet many of these same photographers can’t be bothered to attach a hood, even though that hood is essential to getting the most from that expensive lens.

Lens shades come in a wide variety of shades and designs. The best hoods are designed expressly for the lens they are being used on.

Flare comes in two varieties

There are two kinds of lens flare. The first is obvious flare. It is often referred as ghosting because the appearance is akin to the images the paranormal investigators get excited about. It is characterized by distinct ghostly areas caused by light reflected off the interior of the lens. These reflections are usually visible in the viewfinder, although sometimes you won’t notice the flare until you process images on your computer. Most of the time this type of flare is deadly to your images, because it is nearly impossible to repair the effects of obvious flare.

The other type of flare is more subtle. Instead of a prominent ghostly area, the reflection occurs across all or most of the surface of the lens’ front element. The result is a subtle loss of contrast and color fidelity. You might not even realize that flare has affected your image, because the difference is so delicate. Yet, the difference exists. If you could eliminate the flare, the image would look sharper and richer.

Suppose a respected lab announced that a specific lens had five percent better contrast and sharpness than any other lens in it’s class. That lens would immediately become a highly lusted-after optic. Photographers would speak of it in hushed tones and be willing to spend huge sums of cash for the privilege of saying they shoot with that lens.

Yet, although we know that use of a lens shade can dramatically improve our photos, many photographers can’t be bothered to use one. Spend hundreds of dollars on a lens that provides sharper images with better color? Of course. Spend ten seconds to attach a lens hood to improve sharpness and color? Sorry, just can’t spare the time.

Hopefully, you already use a hood whenever applicable. What if your original hood is lost or broken? You have several options. If the lens is still in production, you can always order a new one from the manufacturer. This is often the best route, because you know the hood will be matched to the lens. Unfortunately, original replacement hoods don’t come cheap. In some cases, the list price of an original equipment hood might be twenty percent as much as a complete new lens — a fairly high sticker for a plastic cylinder or stamped piece of aluminum.

I lost my hood, now what?

You could look for a used hood on one of the online auction websites, but if the hood is for a popular lens, you may find it difficult to secure a second hand lens shade. That narrows your choice to one of the many aftermarket hoods available. Unfortunately, one size of hood definitely doesn’t fit all focal lengths. A longer shade will be more effective, but long hoods cannot be used with wide angle lenses because the hood will cause vignetting. Zoom lenses can be even more problematic, since it may be difficult to find a generic hood that offers sufficient sun protection without vignetting at all focal lengths.

Aftermarket hoods are available in metal, plastic and flexible rubber. A generic hood may not be as fully effective as one specially tailored to a specific lens, but the aftermarket shades are much more affordable.

One final source of replacement hoods are printable hoods that can be downloaded from the internet. Type “printable lens hoods” into your favorite search engine and you will find dozens of paper hoods designed expressly for a wide variety of lenses. Print them on stiff card stock, cut them out and attach them to your lens.

So when should you forgo a lens hood? There are times you might want to introduce lens flare as a creative element. Hollywood movies often go out of the way to show flare effects in establishing shots. You may want to include this technique in your own portfolio.

When shooting flash, use a hood with care

Finally, use care when using a lens shade with electronic flash. Lens hoods can block the light from a hot-shoe mounted flash unit or a built in popup flash. Generally this isn’t a problem with longer focal length lenses, but with a wide angle lenses, there is a real possibility that the shade will cause a dark shadow at the bottom of the frame. It is a good idea to check how your wide angle lens hoods perform with hot-shoe mounted flash units.

So do use your lens shade? Why or why not?

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The Sony Alpha hot shoe is the best in the business…but where is the radio trigger to fit it?

Nov. 6, 2008 Last time I discussed the A900’s lack of a popup flash and the need for a $500 HLV-F58AM flash unit if you want to trigger the Sony Alpha wireless flash system. The hope is that Sony may offer another method to wirelessly trigger remote flash units with the A900.

Sony could offer some sort of less expensive optical trigger, which would be capable of serving as a master for the Sony wireless system. But why optical? True, the Sony wireless system, derived from the original Minolta optical wireless system, is excellent. Maybe more than excellent. But optical flash systems have limits, which is why most top pros choose wireless radio triggers.

Radio triggers work at longer distances, don’t need to be in line of sight of the camera and work reliably in brightly lighted conditions.

Unfortunately, as as far as I am aware, there are no radio triggers that will attach directly to the Sony Alpha flash shoe. Nor are there receivers designed to attach directly to any of the Sony or Minolta dedicated flash units that are fully compatible with the Alpha dSLRs.

No radio trigger for the Sony hot shoe?

Most(all?) of the radio triggers on the market are designed to attach to the standard, old-style hot shoe employed by the majority of cameras not manufactured by Sony. The receivers either attach to the foot of the older style flash shoe, or plug into the old-style PC sync port. That leaves Sony Alpha users out of luck, unless they attempt to cobble up a home-brew solution utilizing adapters. Setting up a radio trigger system with adapters isn’t rocket-science and I always encourage users to experiment with modding their gear. Still, it is disappointing that no “off-the-shelf” radio trigger is available for the Alpha.

Am I the only one who is flummoxed that Sony hasn’t stepped up to address this deficiency? I mean, this is Sony we are talking about. How many radio engineers do they have on their payroll? They may not be the be-all and end-all when it comes to radio technology, but they come pretty close. Walkman personal stereos, clock radios, component stereo equipment, car receivers, boom boxes, cordless phones… you name a piece of radio equipment; and Sony has probably produced a version of it.

Except, of course, radio triggers to accompany their line of Alpha dSLRs.

It’s not that there isn’t a market out there. The A100 was said to sell 360+ thousand units in the six months it was available in 2006. I don’t have exact sales figures for 2007, but with an entire 12 months to work with and the introduction of the outstanding A700, I have to believe the numbers well exceeded 2006. We are still in 2008, of course, so figures aren’t available, but with the A200, A300, A350 and A900 all joining the A700, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sony dSLR sales easily exceeded both 2006 and 2007 combined. That is a lot of Alphas.

Then there are the Minolta Maxxum dSLRs. The Maxxum 5D and 7D sold well and most of them are still in service. Minolta also sold truck-loads of the non-dSLR Dimage 7 variants, which begat the similar Konica-Minolta Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) cameras; the A1, A2 And A200 (not to be confused with the Sony A200). These units share the same hot shoe and flash circuitry as the Minolta Maxxums, making them fully compatible with the latest flash units from Sony.

There are still millions of Maxxum film cameras hanging around. Film may be all but dead, but the Maxxum 9 film SLRS are still trading for well over $100 - $600 on ebay. Maybe those are being bought by collectors, but I have to believe at least some photographers are buying those used film SLRs to use, not sit in a display case.

Of course, not all of the owners of those millions of cameras are potential flash trigger buyers. Some photographers never use flash, especially off-camera flash. Others are satisfied with the current optical wireless flash available with the dedicated Sony flash units. Still others will fire their off-camera flash with sync cords, or use adapters to use standard radio wireless flash.

Even so, there are have to be a good percentage of users who would be eager to add a Sony brand wireless trigger on their Alpha or Minolta cameras. And don’t forget, Sony is in this dSLR thing for the long-haul. Which means millions more Alpha cameras will appear in the future. How many of those new Alpha owners will be looking for a radio trigger solution?

Radio flash triggers — why aren’t there any to fit the Sony Alpha?

Sooner or later, someone has to step up to the plate and offer a comprehensive radio trigger solution for the Alpha series. I don’t really care who it is…if the PocketWizard folks or Metz, Bowens, Quantum, MicroSync or someone else comes forward with a reliable solution, I would be happy.

But consider Sony’s clear advantages in this area.

In addition to the radio engineering experience I alluded to earlier, Sony owns all the specs, the pin-outs and the internal technology of the Alpha system. The third-party makers have to disassemble off-the-shelf cameras and flashes to determine this information, and they have to hope they don’t miss something significant.

Sony also has access to all the special components: flash shoes, dedicated sync connectors, etc. If you are a third-party vendor, you have manufacture your own components, since you can’t just order a package of components from a supplier somewhere.

Finally, Sony has a huge built-in advantage in brand recognition. When the third-party makers create a radio trigger for the old style flash shoe, they can sell the same basic unit to Canon, Nikon, Pentax and other shooters. If Nikon or Canon were to develop their own trigger, the third party vendors would still have plenty of other customers. If they develop an Alpha shoe radio trigger, the only people they can sell it to are Sony (and Minolta) shooters. That is fine…unless Sony steps up with their own branded solution.

Could any radio trigger maker compete with Sony?

If Sony enters the fray, how does a third-party trigger maker compete in the Alpha arena? Sony’s Alpha components are generally excellent, so you probably won’t be able to beat Sony on quality or performance.

Sony will probably also beat the third-party makers on appearance. True, the look of a radio trigger device has no impact on it’s performance, but you can’t argue that a trigger with a matching finish and a big orange Alpha logo won’t be more appealing to the majority of Alpha shooters.

That leaves price as the only way a third-party maker could compete against Sony. But here Sony holds all the cards. Sony generally prices their stuff on the high side, but if they wanted to compete against a third-party interloper. all they have to do is come in somewhere close to the other guy’s list price.

I don’t have any hard figures, but I would guess that if most Alpha users had their choice, they would buy a Sony brand trigger, even it it was ten or twenty dollars more expensive. Even if the Sony product was thirty or forty dollars more, Sony would probably still outsell it’s competitors. To compete against Sony in the radio trigger arena, you would probably have to price your trigger at least $50 less than Sony.

Sony, of course, is in the driver’s seat. They could bring their mythical product in at a price point where no high-quality aftermarket trigger could compete.

Of course, this is simply my own musing. I have no idea if or when Sony will offer an Alpha radio trigger. I don’t know if any of the third-party makers are really taking a look at offering a dedicated Alpha radio trigger.

Interestingly enough, two separate Alphatracks readers: Paulo Rodrigues and a reader named Dave, commented on my earlier post to explain how they rigged up a wireless radio flash system for the Alpha hot shoe. You can see their DIY flash trigger notes here. I have been considering an attempt at something similar. If I do, I will do a full report on Alphatracks.

I am convinced that the market is there and the A900, with it’s lack of a built-in optical trigger, creates a real need for this sort of product. Sooner or later, someone has to address the need.

Are you listening, Sony?

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Will Sony provide a way to trigger the wireless optical flash system other than with the HLV-F58AM?

Nov. 4, 2008: At long last, the A900 is starting to wind its way into the hands of eager photographers and it looks to be every bit as sweet a camera as we hoped. Of course it is hard to miss with a 24.6mp full frame dSLR, but it appears that Sony has exceeded most people’s expectations.

There are plenty of other sites discussing the A900, and I will be offering up my 2 cents as well. Today, however, I want to talk about options for triggering a remote flash with the A900.

This post came about because, as expected, the new A900 doesn’t not have a popup flash. Not a big concern, as the top level dSLRs from other makers don’t include a popup flash either. Pros seldom, if ever use flash units located directly above the lens axis, so why design a pro-level camera with a popup that will never be used? Besides, the flash might not fit so well with the A900’s impressive looking pentaprism.

There is just one fly in the ointment. All the past Sony dSLRs, as well as the dSLRs from Minolta were equipped with a popup flash. All these cameras use the popup as a trigger for the Sony/Minolta wireless flash system. It is a good thing those cameras had the popup, because until recently, the popup was the only way to trigger the wireless flash system. Some of the older external Minolta flashes could act as trigger for other flash units in the wireless mode, but that only worked with film cameras. In the dSLR arena, the only trigger for Sony or Minolta wireless flash units was with the built in flash. Which as I already mentioned; the A900 is lacking..

Fear not, the A900 supports wireless flash, when equipped with the brand new HLV-F58-AM flash unit. The 58AM can serve as a flash trigger for any flash in the Sony Alpha system.

The HLV-F58AM lists just south of $500, and since it is brand spanking new, you will probably have to pay the full sticker if you want the privilege of using wireless flash with your new A900.

That isn’t to say the HLV-F58AM isn’t worth the price, but who wants to shell out all that cash just to use that top-of-line flash unit as a lowly flash trigger?

Consider the poor guy who already has a collection of Sony and Minolta D series flash units. To use them wirelessly, he has to buy yet another flash unit. The kicker is the F58AM specs make it hands-down the best flash available for the Sony Alpha. If you use it a s a flash trigger, however, you don'’t get the benefits of all that power and multi-jointed flexibility. With the Sony wireless system, if you use the trigger to fire two or more remote flashes, the trigger fires before the exposure so that the trigger’s light doesn’t spoil the lighting setup. That’’s all well and good, however, it means if you buy a HLV-F58AM to trigger multiple wireless flashes from your A900, your newest and very best flash can’t be used to light the scene. it can only be used as a trigger. Unless you are sufficiently well healed to be in a position to acquire an A900 and multiple copies of the F58AM.

Now I fully expect to hear from someone pointing out that: “If you can afford a new A900, I guess you have enough cash to add a F5AM or two.”

That isn’t how it works in real life. Sure, there will be some people who have a fat enough wallet that they can afford three A900s; one for the summer house, one for the winter house and another one to use while traveling between the two. But there are many shooters who have to scrimp and save to snare a copy of a A900, For these photographers, digging up another half-grand for a flash trigger represents somewhat of a hardship.

Of course pro photographers can shell out for any piece of equipment they need, right? In reality, pros have to watch their expenses just like anyone else. There is an old joke that “only wealthy amateurs can afford pro photography equipment.” It is simplistic statement, but there is more than a grain of truth there. Working professionals have a whole raft of stuff to spend their cash on. In addition to cameras and lenses, there are any number of things like computers, software, marketing, studio rent, lighting equipment and much more that can eat up the budget. What’s another five bills on top of that overhead? For some pros, it’s a lot.

It is possible that Sony could offer develop some optional, less-expensive way to trigger the wireless flash system, but for the moment it appears its the HLV-58AM or nothing.

Hmm… maybe there is another option. That will be the topic of my next post….

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We spent a couple of days in Winston-Salem (North Carolina) recently. One of the highlights was a visit to Old-Salem Village. Established by the Moravians in the 1700s, the village is an interesting mix of modern shops in a historical setting. Unlike most attractions of this type, the town is freely open to everyone, with no admission. A Ticket are required to enter some of the buildings, but you are free to wander about and enjoy the setting without paying an admission.

Old Salem Village Image Gallery.

We only had a couple of hours to spend in the village, but the light was grand for photography. I had the Sony Alpha A350 with me, and since there wasn’t much time I decided I didn’t want to lug around a camera bag. So I selected my Minolta 28-85mm lens, figuring it would provide the best combination of focal lengths for a quick tour.

There was no shortage of subjects to shoot, and even though it was late in the afternoon, I found the long autumn shadows were quite interesting.

I used between a half and one and half stops exposure compensation to open up the shadows many of the buildings. I shifted between aperture and shutter priority for most of the shots. Everything was shot in RAW.

The lens revealed the famous “Minolta Colors” in many of the images. All in all, I was pleased with what I shot. I was somewhat surprised, however that my favorite shot was the front of a couple of buildings lining a side street. There was nothing especially noteworthy about the buildings and I the resulting photo was pretty much a simple grab shot. When I first looked at the image on my Mac, I thought it was okay, with pleasing colors.

There is more to this building in Old Salem Village than meets the eye…

Then I looked closer and started to notice dozens of small, but interesting details. The architecture and construction drew me deeper and deeper into the photo. This has nothing to do with me as a photographer. Well, maybe a little..:). I did see the potential in the shot, but I never noticed the details while we were in Old Salem. My true appreciation of the building’s construction details didn’t come until several days later, sitting at my computer. An even then, it didn’t jump out at me as something special. It wasn’t until I went through the images in Lightroom a few times that I started to see the things that make the image special.

I’ve put together a small gallery images from my visit. You can view it here: Old Salem Village Image Gallery. As I said, all images were shot with the A350 and the Minolta 28-85mm lens.

As I said, we spent less than two hours at the village. My appetite has certainly been whetted to go back when I can spend more time. I am sure Christmas time would be an excellent time to return. I imagine tons of Moraivain stars everywhere, steaming cups of hot chocolate…and of course; Moravian cookies! Yes, Christmas time should be an excellent time to go back.

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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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We knew it was coming, but details were rather sparse. Now we know the new flash unit will have a guide number of 58 (when the head is zoomed out to 105mm).

Sony says the new HLV-F58AM will arrive in September.

Speaking of the zoom flash head, the new flash knows whether it is illuminating a full frame sensor (think Alpha A900) or a APS-C size sensor and will zoom accordingly.

The big display on the back looks easy to read, and there is a mini joy stick controller to change settings. Naturally it offers TTL, HSS and ADI, as well as manual settings. Sony says the High Speed Sync on the HLV-F58AM can use shutter speed os /500 to 1/4000 second.

The HLV-F58AM features Sony’s new quick shift bounce feature, which allows the entire body of the flash to orbit like a fan to the left and right, in addition to the usual bounce and swivel capabilities.

The flash also includes a modeling light and a stroboscopic setting that will fire multiple times during an exposure, creating an in-camera multiple exposure of moving subjects.

Sony also claims the new unit will recharge 55% more quickly than the older HLV-F56AM. There is also a claim that the electronic whine has been done away with. Sony apparently thinks that is a good thing, but I always relied on that high-pitched whine to know my flash was charging properly. I guess I will get used to it, but to me, that whine was a feature, not a bug!

Like all Sony flashes the HLV-F58AM supports wireless flash — and apparently it can serve as a controller as well as a slave. (More on that next time.)

Like the dSLRs it will be matched with, the new flash will have a large, easy to read LCD and a joy stick controller

Finally, Sony has also announced the price. Earlier this week I brought you news that the price of the older HLV-F36AM flash unit dropped to $199. Sony gives and takes it seems. The new flagship flash will be priced at $500 — not outrageous for a flash with all these capabilities — but much higher than the HLV-F56AM.

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Today, the Sony Style page has a line through the $299 price and a $199 price tag appears next to it. Sony has not said this is a permanent price reduction, but it look like it might be. Considering the recently introduced HLV-42AM is equal or better than the F36AM in almost every category, and that the F42AM also carries a $299 price tag, Sony couldn’t have been selling many F36AM units. Who would buy the F36AM when they could buy the F42AM for the same price?

Besides the difference in guide numbers, (36 of the old flash, 42 for the new) the F42AM has a greater zoom range, swivels 180 degrees and offers white balance assist. Even more importantly, the F42AM offers manual control, while the F36AM can only be controlled by the camera. With all the extras the F42AM offers, the F36AM was really starting to look over priced. Knocking A hundred bucks off makes it start to look much more attractive.

Naturally, I would prefer the extra swivel and the manual control of the F42AM, especially if it was my primary flash unit. But the lower price of the F36AM is good news for any Alpha dSLR shooter.

The F36AM is compatible with the F42AM and F56AM wireless flash units, so if you are trying to assemble a multiple wireless flash set up, the cost of entry just got less expensive. You could pair a couple of F36AM with a F42Am or F56AM main units and have a very nice wireless setup. Neither the F36AM or the F42AM can be used to control a wireless setup, so you would need to either use the camera’s built in flash or use a F56AM as a master.

The lower price of the F36AM is also a bonus to Alpha shooters who want an external flash but just couldn’t justify laying out $300 for the privilege. All of a sudden, it is possible to buy a Sony brand flash for less than $200.

I would want the manual and swivel features that come with the F42AM. Still, for those just starting out, the F36AM does provide many good features. The head doesn’t swivel, but is does pivot so you can use bounce flash. It features ADI, so a Sony Alpha dSLR can control it from the hot shoe. It also has autofocus assist lamp, enhancing focusing in dim light. And if you purchase the FA-CS1AM flash shoe from Sony, you can add a cable socket to the F36AM, giving you off camera flash capability.

This fills a big hole in the Sony flash lineup, especially for those just starting out. You either had to spend a princely sum on a Sony branded flash, or try to cobble up something off ebay that you hoped would work with the Sony/Minolta hot shoe.

If Sony extend the price cuts to dealers, many of which discount equipment below the suggested list price, you may be able to pick up a Sony brand ADI flash for well under $200.

I like it.

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Maybe they have. Sony is embarking on a pretty incredible advertising campaign, centered around, of all things, white foam. To create “Foam City,” Sony covered a big part of Miami with white foam and turned photographers loose to record the event with Sony dSLRs and camcorders. This was a major production, with entire city blocks buried deeply in foam. We’re talking an avalanche of foam, covering everything less than the size of a skyscraper.

You can watch a clip of the Foam City promotion right here:

What is required to coat blocks of a major city with deep white stuff? Among other things, all the drains in the area had to be sealed to keep the foam out of the city’s water supply. The foam is biodegradable and non-toxic, but Sony wasn’t taking any chances. After the shoot, a special spray was used to dissolve the foam and street cleaning machines were used to mop everything up.

Although the principle purpose of the shoot was to create a television commercial, shots from Foam City will be used to promote all sorts of Sony products, including the Sony Alpha dSLR. According to Sony Europe press release:

The foam theme is being used across all digital imaging advertising activity, and, there will be product specific ads appearing in addition to the main advert - focusing on the different technologies of the new ranges.

Oddly, it wasn’t Sony USA reporting on the event, rather it was a release from Sony Europe. Does that mean the campaign will be aimed at Europe rather than the US? Then why film it in the United States?

Wherever the commercial will appear, it sure to be an attention grabber. Those who see it will remember it. Hopefully they will remember the Sony Alpha brand as well.

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I had hoped to update my copy of Adobe Lightroom to version 1.4, which is required to read the RAW files from the Sony Alpha A350, A300 and the A200 as well as several other new cameras. Unfortunately, Adobe posted the update for only a few hours. If you click on the link to update to 1.4, you get the message:

Adobe hasn’t said when the revised 1.4 updater will be available, but until they get their act together, I won’t be able to process my A350 RAW files in Lightroom. This limitation also applies to Adobe Camera Raw, meaning at this point there is no way to edit A350 RAW files with an Adobe product.

Sony has started shipping the A350 model, with the similar A300 to come shortly. Don’t expect to edit RAW files in Lightroom/ACR until Adobe perfects the latest update to ACR.

My fall back has been Sony’s Image Data Converter and Lightbox SR which shipped with the A350. The two programs do a credible job, but I know exactly what to expect from LR. It will take some time to become comfortable with editing in with the Sony software. In addition, the Sony software does not recognize my older Minolta RAW files, so I require two different sets of software to work with my image collection. Grrr. I hope Adobe fixes the bugs in 1.4 soon.

Of course there is another solution: Apples’ Aperture. Frequent Alphatracks contributor Bert Pasquale has been playing with Aperture 2.0 and he seems more than happy with it. He writes:

Let me think about this. Aperture and iPhoto are more or less niche products in Apple’s product line. They help with the bottom line, of course, but they are far from Apple’s main bread and butter. On the other hand, Photoshop is Adobe’s crown jewel. They make a lot of cash from other sources, but Photoshop is their premier product.

So how is it that Apple appears to effortlessly produce an update that supports the latest cameras well in advance of their release date, while Adobe’s can’t ship it’s famed Camera Raw software until after the new models hit the street? For that matter, why did Adobe release an ACR/Lightroom update that was so filled with bugs that almost a week afterwards they still haven’t been able to fix it?

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So what’s happening with the HVL-F56AM? I know it was listed on Sony Style a couple of days before, because I was ordering some accessories and it was there as big as life. Now it’s gone.

Well, almost gone.. I found that if your order a dSLR, the HVL-F56AM still shows up as an available accessory. I’m not sure if you can actually order the unit, but as of yesterday, if you were buying a camera it was still listed. I also found that if you click on the specs for the F42AM, you can find a sidebar link to the F56AM. That link indicates it is in stock for shipment. The HVL-56AM does not appear in the list under the flashes and lights category.

Sony hasn’t said the HVL-F56AM has been discontinued. So what happened to it? The brand new HVL-F42AM offers most of the features of the HVL-F56AM, and is priced at $299. The HVL-F56AM’s most recent list price was $449.

I don’t have any hard information from Sony, but if I had to guess there are two things going on here. First, the HVL-F42AM offers almost the same features at $150 less. Admittedly, the HVL-F56AM has a guide number of 56, while the HVL-F42AM has a lower guide number of 46. The HVL-F42AM is more or less equal to the HVL-F56AM in most other respects. I suppose that 14 guide units might be worth $150 is some cases, but for most people the HVL-F42AM will appear to a be a better value.

Is the just released HVL-42AM Sony’s current high-end electronic flash?.

The second aspect is that Sony has indicated that there will be a flagship flash unit to accompany the new flagship dSLR. I don’t have specs on the yet to be announced Alpha flagship flash, but I have to believe a electronic flash unit billed s the flagship will have to be superior to all current Sony and Minolta electronic flash units.

At the same time, how much higher could Sony price the flagship flash? It would have to be considerably higher than the HVL-F56AM at $449, otherwise who would buy the HVL-F56AM at the expense of the flagship? On the other hand, if they reduced the ticket on the HVL-F56AM, it would cut into sales of the HVL-F42AM and the HVL-F36AM.

So Sony (apparently) chose to axe the HVL-F56AM. Maybe sales of the more expensive unit were flat. Or maybe Sony needed the production facilities to start building the flagship flash.

Does this mean the flagship will be coming sooner than this fall? Or will the new flash unit be released before flagship dSLR? Since the the upcoming dSLR will be full frame, its possible the new flash will cover a wider angle, since one of the reasons for shooting with a full frame dSLR is the opportunity to shoot with a full complement of wide angle lenses,

Of course, this could be a simple mix-up. Someone at Sony redesigned the web page and happened to leave the F56AM off the main flashes and lights order page. Maybe Sony just had a temporary shortage of HVL-F56AM units and the F56AM will appear on Sony Style in the future.

On the other hand, if I really wanted a HVL-F56AM, I mean I really wanted one, I would start looking around to find a merchant that still has a new HVL-F56AM in stock.

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