In the territory of the DSLR camera we seem to have inherited a duality that continues, model to model.

On one hand we have cameras with an APS-sized sensor, roughly half the area of the 35mm film frame. These benefit from the use of smaller, cheaper lenses, yet still capture well-accepted images.

In the other hand we have high end DSLRs with full size sensors, like this one, able to use ‘normal’ 35mm lenses, with no enlargement factor involved when comparing the field size. Bigger and more expensive lenses is the price we pay for a full frame sensor.

However, there is much going on behind the scenes as makers of high end medium format digital cameras watch with creeping anxiety as full frame DSLRs lift resolution levels, while offering comparable camera product at much lower prices. Watch out for the battle between Hasselblad and kin versus Canon, Nikon — and Sony.

Sony, in particular, is biffing the market with its attractive full frame pricing, as already seen in the A900 and now with the A850.

Sony Alpha 850 DSLR Features

This is a hefty piece of kit, the high-tensile aluminium chassis and magnesium alloy body shell tipping the scales at just under 2kg, with battery, lens, card and strap loaded.

The lens supplied with the review camera was a Carl Zeiss f2.8/24-79mm optic. All up, substantial, but well-balanced, thanks to the prominent grip.

I found in general shooting that steadiness was not a problem, only getting a little ‘dangerous, in lowish light on one occasion with the zoom out a bit and an exposure of 1/50 sec. This shot needed a little sharpening as a result.

But sometimes a little movement can create a pleasing image.

As I suggested earlier, cameras like the A850 with 24.6 million pixel capture have high ambitions and nowhere is it more evident than its image specs: the maximum size of 6048×4032 pixels will make a 51×34cm print.

No movies, sorry. You’ll have to look at APS-sized cameras from Nikon, Canon and others. Oddly, Sony does not offer a movie capture feature in any of its DSLR cameras.

There is also no Live View as the camera uses a pentaprism (a solid block of optical glass) rather than a pentamirror (a mirrored box constructed to mimic a pentaprism). Live View requires elements of the pentamirror to be physically movable, simply impossible when using a pentaprism.  

There’s also no built-in flash, but the hot shoe and PC flash sync terminal link with external flash.

Sony pursues the principle of an internal stabiliser, no mean feat given the size of the full frame CMOS sensor. The promise is up to 4 f stops of anti-shake performance. A five bar finder indicator shows how well the stabiliser is performing, telling you when the camera is most stable.

The nine point AF system is augmented by 10 focus assist points to assist subject detection, improved out-of-focus detection to reduce focus hunting and a dedicated F2.8 sensor for enhanced AF accuracy with wide aperture lenses.
The A850 can save images as RAW files, cRAW, JPEG and bundles of RAW+JPEG — as well as cRAW+JPEG.

The RAW file format is an image written to memory as pure data; in adding cRAW capture Sony has taken it one step further and applied data compression to the file. Here’s how it works out:

Typical RAW file: 37.4MB. cRAW data compression takes it down to 25.1MB. RAW+JPEG weighs in at 41.7MB. cRAW+JPEG: 29.4MB. An Extra Fine JPEG image on its own: 10.4MB.

The CD supplied with the camera contains a free app — Image Data Converter SR — that can ‘unpack’ the RAW files. Alternatively, you can download a Photoshop plug-in (http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Camera_Raw_5.6).

ISO speeds run from 100 to 6400. Here are some examples:

The best you can get is at ISO 100.

At ISO 800 smooth, clean pictures with no noise.

At ISO 1600 noise is slowly creeping in. Still, a useable setting.

Flat out, guns blazing at ISO 6400, we hit noise to such a degree that you would have to be careful in choice of subject.

Finally, continuous shooting is not a red hot spec, as the A850 will only run a burst of 3fps. RAW allows a total of 16 shots, while the Extra Fine JPEG setting delivers 34 shots.

Sony Alpha 850 DSLR Quality

This is the sort of sharpness you get with the Carl Zeiss lens and full frame capture.

The Sony A850 is simply a magnificent machine to pull stunning pictures from the world around you. It rarely gets much better than this! But to be honest, the camera would be absolutely not ideal for the beginner.

Why you would buy the Sony A850: full frame quality; access to superb Carl Zeiss lenses; internal stabiliser; great price.

Why you wouldn’t buy the Sony A850: no pop-up fill flash; LCD screen does not tilt/swing; no Live View; no movie capture.

Sony Alpha 850 DSLR Specifications

Image Sensor: 24.61 million effective pixels.
Metering: Evaluative and partial metering, centre-weighted; spot.
Effective Sensor Size: 35.9×24.0mm CMOS.
35 SLR Lens Factor: 1:1.
Exposure Modes: Auto, Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Shutter Speed: 30 to 1/8000 second, Bulb. Flash sync: 1/250 or 1/200 (SteadyShot activated/deactivated)
Memory: CompactFlash card Types I/II, Microdrive, Memory Stick Duo.
Image Sizes (pixels): 6048×4032, 6048×3408, 4400×2936, 3984×2656, 2896×1928, 3024×2016, 1984×1320.
Viewfinders: Optical pentaprism, 7.5cm LCD (921,600 pixels).
File Formats: RAW, cRAW, JPEG, RAW+JPEG, cRAW+JPEG.
Colour Space: Adobe RGB, sRGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100 to 6400.
Interface: USB 2.0, AV, HDMI, remote, DC input.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, AC adaptor.
Dimensions: 156.3×116.9×81.9 WHDmm.
Weight: Approx. 850 g (body only).
Price: Amazon currently has the Sony A850 DSLR priced at $1999 USD Body Only or $3598.99 USD with a 24-70mm lens.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

Sony Alpha 850 DSLR Review

Weekly Assignment

You can tell it is winter for a lot of our forum members if you look at the Landscapes assignment we finished this week. There were a lot of snow covered landscapes out there. Our winner this week was one of those snow covered landscapes, lisa’s Lonesome Tree. The soft colour palette, composition, and simplicity of the landscape really made it stand out amongst the other lonesome trees. Our first runner up was Cpt’s Once Upon a Time. The starkness of the shot with just hints of the house and the lonely horse standing outside really tells a great story of winter. It suits it’s title of “Once Upon a Time” very well. And last, but not least was RH09’s Winter Sadness. We liked the way that this shot implies the nature of the landscape while keeping many of th elements in the foreground. The photo does give off a feeling of the sadness many of us feel during winter. Well done everyone!

Our newest assignment this week is Streets. Whether your street is rural or urban, busy or quiet, we want you to show us the personality of a street by you. Use what you learned in your landscape shots because it will come in handy in creating a scene that shows the sense of a place. Make sure you consider your choice in depth of field and composition when taking the shot. We want to feel like we’re there. As always, a quick overview of the rules if you want to participate in the mini-contest. First, your photo must have been taken between 13-27 January 2009. Your post must include “Assignment: Streets” and the date it was taken. Finally, your EXIF should be intact and it’s helpful if you can include the main points in your post (camera, lens, ISO, shutter speed, and aperture). Next week’s assignment will use a compositional technique that we’re often told to stay away from: Centered Composition. Centered composition is generally considered too static, but a centered subject can be very arresting and dominate the composition. So the next assignment is to take a photo where the main subject is dead center.

Hot Threads

• Your General Shooting Technique: One of the questions that came up in the forum this week asked what steps you go through when shooting a picture? What order do you set your ISO, shutter speed and aperture in? Do you use a handheld light meter or a grey card? What are your personal rules of thumb for when you’re shooting a scene? Come share your techniques over in the forum.
• 3 Rules for Great Candid Photography: If you’re interested in candid photography, a great tutorial was posted last week which offers some tips on how to get started. From tips on how to set your camera to tips on how to approach the overall candid photography genre and even people, this thread has a wealth of tips to get you started.
• If you could ask one question of a sports photographer…: What would it be? This was posed in the forum last week. How do you pick the one question that you would ask? As an aside, sports photographer Jim Bryant has been participating a lot answering questions in this thread. So throw your question in the thread (whether they’re for Jim or another sports photographer).
• Werewolf before and after the moon: Sometimes we get some amazing photoshop manipulations on the site. And this time Usuqa has been kind enough to explain exactly what he did to transform his subject into a very convincing werewolf. If you’re looking for a photoshop challenge, this may be the thread for you!
• What Would You Do: Every week we post a photo from a forum member for you to practice your post-processing skills on. This week is no different. Whether you’re a pro or just starting on learning post-processing, you’re welcome to participate in the thread.

Post from: Digital Photography School – Photography Tips.

This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (17-23 Jan ‘10)