[drhoneycake]

Just need some expert advice from you guys,

It's been a year since I got my Sony A58. Now I've used the kit lens (18-55) for almost all occasions. I've had absolutely no issues with the image quality which btw is brilliant. I've noticed that it is quite inefficient at certain occasions.

Now I want to upgrade, try out newer lenses and explore my camera better.

Is there any one lens that will do it all ?? Indoor, outdoor,family functions, vacations and of course my love - my car😊

I was looking at a 18-135 but is currently out of my budget. What about 55-200 ??

Thanks & Regards,
Aniketh

[Aroy]

Most of the mirror less camera suffer from a time delay. between the press of the shutter and the exposure. DSLR do not. If you are taking landscapes or monuments the delay rarely matters, but for action shots and family, the delay does result in a lot of missed shots - the subject moves out of the frame. That is one of the reasons that I finally moved from my Lumia to a DSLR for mainstream photography, other wise given good light and small (< 7x5) prints the 5MP lumia was brilliant. In fact for small 6x4 prints even 5MP is too much.

[latentpotential]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Most of the mirror less camera suffer from a time delay. between the press of the shutter and the exposure. DSLR do not. If you are taking landscapes or monuments the delay rarely matters, but for action shots and family, the delay does result in a lot of missed shots - the subject moves out of the frame. That is one of the reasons that I finally moved from my Lumia to a DSLR for mainstream photography, other wise given good light and small (< 7x5) prints the 5MP lumia was brilliant. In fact for small 6x4 prints even 5MP is too much.

I dont think the lumia phone is classified in the mirrorless cameras.

This is what is meant by that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrorl...le-lens_camera

If you meant to refer to a Leica, then I guess you are still wrong, some of us may give a arm, leg and kidney for a good leica.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Most of the mirror less camera suffer from a time delay. between the press of the shutter and the exposure. DSLR do not......That is one of the reasons that I finally moved from my Lumia to a DSLR for mainstream photography

What??? And I moved from dSLR to mirrorless. What is this time delay problem in mirrorless, how is it caused? And what is Lumia doing in this discussion?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Most of the mirror less camera suffer from a time delay. between the press of the shutter and the exposure. DSLR do not. If you are taking landscapes or monuments the delay rarely matters, but for action shots and family, the delay does result in a lot of missed shots - the subject moves out of the frame. That is one of the reasons that I finally moved from my Lumia to a DSLR for mainstream photography,

Chalk and cheese buddy. Please go through the below link to know more about mirrorless cameras.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1606798

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Samurai

What??? And I moved from dSLR to mirrorless. What is this time delay problem in mirrorless, how is it caused? And what is Lumia doing in this discussion?

Your sports shot (head on, running) came out very nice.

Apparently D7200 is a little better than D7100 in terms of high ISO performance. If so, then it will have the best DX sensor in the market. Looking forward to detailed reviews - not just from gear sites such as DP Review, but field tests from respected nature and wildlife photographers.

The D7100 does a decent job. Here's an ISO 2000 photo, lucky sighting (well, still took 15 minutes of patience and effort) of a lion-tailed macaque with its baby. Does it make sense to upgrade if a D400 doesn't come out? Undecided.


(I am not sure what is happening with the images nowadays, the rendering on Team BHP is just bad. And I can't post links to photography sites such as 500px)

I don't get why some people in this forum (and in other photography forums) say that 5-10 year old cameras are still good enough, and that gear doesn't matter. High ISO and AF performance today are far better.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Most of the mirror less camera suffer from a time delay.

Originally Posted by Samurai

What is this time delay problem in mirrorless, how is it caused?

With latest mirrorless cameras, this lag is close to non-existent. (Olympus OM-D E-M5 II for example) There are two technical reasons for delay (~400 ms in older cameras):

1. EVF

Sensor needs to keep capturing the scene and LED/LCD display needs to updated with changes in the scene. This will take some time. So, whatever is seen on viewfinder is delayed by few frames.

Extreme example will be fast moving sports like 100 meter race at finish line.

Newer cameras, almost eliminate this by bumping up refresh rate of LCD to 100 Hz when shutter is half-pressed. (Human Eye refreshes at ~30 Hz)

2. Contrast Detect Autofocus

Till two years back, image sensors did not have phase-detect autofocus sensors (DSLRs have a separate sensor just for autofocus, that sensor is phase detect + contrast detect).

That is a reason SLRs had a upper hand in autofocus.

Now, latest sensors (E.g.: The one used in OM-D E-M5 II or Samsung Galaxy S5) have phase detect sensors built into image sensor itself. So mirror-less can:
A. Send the lens commands in near zero time to move the motor to near-focus with Phase detect.
B. Fine tune focus with contrast detect

(This is same as a DSLR, this was not possible earlier with mirrorless)

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

With latest mirrorless cameras, this lag is close to non-existent. (Olympus OM-D E-M5 II for example) There are two technical reasons for delay (~400 ms in older cameras):

...
Now, latest sensors (E.g.: The one used in OM-D E-M5 II or Samsung Galaxy S5) have phase detect sensors built into image sensor itself.

I have the OM-D E-M5 II and it doesn't have phase detect. Yet, it is considered one of the fastest AF camera according to DPReview.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympus-om-d-e-m5-ii/11

I have the original OM-D E-M5 too, never faced any lag even though I switched from a dSLR to this one. BTW, I rarely shoot action, so I may not have had too many occasions to notice it.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I have the OM-D E-M5 II and it doesn't have phase detect. Yet, it is considered one of the fastest AF camera according to DPReview.

DPreview qualified that with "single-acquisition mode". On Burst mode, AF is disabled at 10fps. Review mentions "Our experience with the camera's autofocus has been mixed".

A camera with phase detect sensor will do much better.

However, since you have not appreciated this in your usage; this can be treated as theoretical.

[Aroy]

Mirrorless cameras have a shutterlag which is generally more than in DSLR. Here a few tables, though dated

http://www.impulseadventure.com/photo/shutter-lag.html
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.co...content119.htm

[ani_meher]

I have noticed that the mirror less cameras soon get a huge discount in about 1-1.5 years as compared to DSLRs. Has anyone else too noted this?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Mirrorless cameras have a shutterlag which is generally more than in DSLR. Here a few tables, though dated

http://www.impulseadventure.com/photo/shutter-lag.html
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.co...content119.htm

Both these articles you cite were clearly written before mirrorless cameras were invented. Therefore, they don't list a single mirrorless camera. You seem to be lumping mirrorless with P&S cameras.

This is how I usually shoot (99%). I point the center dot on the object I want perfectly focused, and then half press to achieve autofocus. Then I reframe to compose the shot, to get everything in the right place, then I press fully. If I am shooting action, then I can switch to CAF. The time lag in prefocused and CAF clicks is 0.056 sec and 0.158 sec respectively, according to this article. This is from a mirrorless released 3 years ago, on a kit lens.

Their verdict (notice the highlighted part):

The Olympus E-M5's full-autofocus shutter lag in single-area AF mode (center AF position) was 0.277 second with the 12-50mm kit lens. In 35-point "All Targets" AF mode, lag decreased to only 0.175 second which is faster than most SLRs and very swift for a contrast-detection system indeed. We also tested with a 14-42mm II R kit lens, and got 0.246 second in All Targets mode, a little faster than the E-P3's 0.267 second with the same lens. Enabling the flash increased shutter lag to 0.438 second, still reasonably fast. Continuous AF mode resulted in a shutter lag of 0.158 second. Release Priority is enabled by default in Continuous AF mode though, so the camera may not have achieved focus for each iteration. When manually focused, the E-M5's shutter lag time was a fast 0.102 second, though we've seen faster. The E-M5's prefocused lag time of 0.056 second was however very quick, faster than most SLRs. Enabling the flash increased prefocused lag to 0.190 second, but that's expected (preflash metering) and still quite fast.

[sdp1975]

MRP drop for 32 canon lenses . PDF taken from Canon India FB page. Is the drop global or only in India to make prices comparable to US ? Lenses were always priced higher in India !

[nilanjanray]

AF has multiple characteristics. Here are a few that might be of interest to folks who shoot moving subjects:

• Number, geometry, type and coverage of AF points. What to use when?
• Accuracy = focusing accurately? needs micro-adjustment? (true for static subjects as well)
• Precision = repeatability (important for static subjects as well).
• Speed = how fast acquisition happens. E.g. people are saying that the D7200 locks on faster - in bad light - than the D7100.
• Sensitivity = AF in low light. The D4S can focus till -2 EV, the D750 can focus till -3 EV.
• Dynamic subject tracking - how well it can track a moving subject. What lock-on settings to use for a situation?

Here is an approach that works for me, I feel:
1. Characteristics that are part of a camera - can't be configured by a user (accuracy, precision, sensivity, number of cross type AF points, f/8 coverage by certain AF points etc.): choose the best camera that fits budget and needs
2. Characteristics that can be configured: mode, number of points, lock on for subject tracking etc. - read, figure out, practice, improve - contnuous loop.

DSLRs still have an advantage w.r.t. tracking dynamic subjects in real life situations. But one needs to set up AF appropriately, depending on the subject and conditions. E.g. the new Nikon 5 point group AF is very nice. But for many situations it is not the right choice.

Group AF, AFC, release priority



Tiger moving through undergrowth. Cropped shot, I had to wait till it would pass through a relatively open stretch. Bad light. Single point AF-C, release priority.


AF-C, 9 points dynamic area


AF-S, single point. Static subject. Well, more or less static - she didn't want to pose. This was shot without flash, so AF-C would have been better to track as she moved. But shutter speed was too low in any case (even with high ISO and a f/1.4 lens).


For folks wanting to learn more about (DSLR or mirrorless) AF theory, just Google. And read your camera manual or a good book. And then test it out on your camera - each camera has unique characteristics.

[adimicra]

Guys, can you suggest a cheap and best tripod for my Canon 600D?

Also, I have never used external flash. Whenever I have used the built-in flash, I don't like the results. Do you guys suggest buying an external flash? I guess I need to learn a lot about flash photography!