I'll post some images ASAP.

Queen's Jubilee... Olympics... Bah Humbug to them both! I'm far more interested in taking photos that watching all that pomp and ceremony!!

I would argue that the camera is less important that the glass you use. I use Sony... it was all I could afford at the time, and there are plenty of older Minolta lenses (Sony bought Konica Minolta) for peanuts on eBay.

I bought a cheap set of macro extension tubes that I use for my macro shots.

It depends what the picture is, I would say. In bright light, you may notice no difference, but in low light you may well notice a major difference.

I tried this with my Sony A230 vs A580. In low light there is an incredible difference. The A580 produces cleaner, sharper pictures every time. In normal light, the images are much the same, but the A580 seems sharper.

(Note, the A230 is CCD, the A580 CMOS, so there are technical differences between the two. Such a difference may not exist on the Nikons.)

So Adobe Bridge adds copyright to the metadata...? Never knew that. I'll have to check it out.

But, if it can be added to the Metadata, that means it can be removed!

Personally, to watermark the images I use Picasa. I can export the pictures for web-publishing, and Picasa will auomatically add my chosen (c) message - and in a suitable colour, too.

Lets all use AA batteries. Problem solved.

Hello.

I stumbled across UHH quite by accident - clicked a banner ad out of interest - and I'm quite surprised that I didn't get bombarded with requests to sign up for newsletters, and requests not to leave the page, etc.

It's quite a pleasant community here.

Anyway, I've been a DSLR user for a couple of years, and own two Sony Alpha cameras - an A230 and an A580. Both are great cameras.

In honesty, I would say I am merely an adequate photographer. Sadly, my photos tend to look like holiday pictures from a pocket camera. Given this, I have resolved to promote myself from 'adequate' to 'good'.

How will I achieve this? Well, I'm not going to let the camera take control. I have bought myself a couple of old manual-only M42 mount lenses, and I've using them exclusively on the 230. Simply, I've forcing myself to understand, and SEE IN MY MIND, the interaction between aperture and shutter speed (with a hint of ISO and exposure compensation).

By going manual only, I am forcing myself to understand light.

At the same time I am also trying to master composition. But until I understand light, then composition is a secondary factor.

My children and pets are the main subjects of my shooting, but I love anything subject that reveals the truth. By that I mean I like photography that using only the available light, and that doesn't rely on subjects assuming a pose. The photographic equivalent of Cinema Verite, I suppose.

On the subject of Cinema Verite, I come for a background in video - my work has won awards and been broadcast. Unfortunately, there is no 1:1 translation between video and photography. Techniques are, of course, similar, but not quite the same...

Anyway, I'm here to learn, so I better be off to peruse the forum...

Best wishes,

Leonardo

Given the settings, and that it was a kit lens, I'm envious of your skill at capturing such a striking image.

Some might argue that it's a little grainy, but I could not be one of those. You know what - sometimes grain look great! (I don't see grain as an enemy; it's part of the story. Just like b&w can be part of the story.)

Keep up the good work.

I use a manual lens on my Sony A230 (haven't tried the A580 yet) and it produces superior pictures to any AF lens I've tried. Maybe the camera isn't better than my judgement, after all! Definitely save for an adapter, I don't think you'll regret it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxjiQoTp864

is the link.

I wish I could take a moonscape even one tenth as good as that.

Looking at it makes me ask about the technicalities:
what camera did you use?
lens?
settings?

-----------
I've just examined the EXIF info on that photo, and answered most of those questions!

Delighted to see a fellow Sony user here.

What I want to know now is what lens you used. I have no idea what Lens Type 29 is!

Yes. I am primarily a videographer (my background is in television) and I cannot watch a film without noticing a whole load of technical and camera jiggery pokery going on.

To the untrained eye it all looks completely normal, but to my eye I see what is really happening.

My photographer's eye is developing (no pun intended) and I'm beginning to see light in a different way.

And someone coined the phrases 'pre-chimping' and 'post-chimping'...

Post-chimping is looking at the LCD AFTER you have taken the picture, as with conventional DSLRs.

Pre-Chimping is what you do with Sony DSLTs. they have electronic viewfinders that show you what the image will look like once taken.

Doesn't work for Sony A580 either...

OK, so 'm new here and I'm late to this thread. Still, might I agree with an earlier post that suggest the use of Fill Light. No need for Photoshop though... just use Google Picasa which is completely free.

It includes tools for Fill Light, Highlights, and Shadows, and it does a reasonable job in a very short time.

This is my take on your picture. (I didn't try reducing the noise from the original image.)

Picasa Fill Light Tool

FWIW, my special lenses I always buy new - the Tamrons currently have a 5 year guarantee here in the UK. Vintage lenses I'm happy to buy from eBay.

As for compatibility, I'm pretty sure that some (very few) Sigma lenses had an issue with compatibility, but Sigmas was reasonably good at fixing the problems. And there are plenty of blog explaining how to chip the lenses yourself.

I'd always known what it meant, but never why I needed to know!