Podcast Episode 4 – Rumour Round Up and Exposure Modes Explained

PodCast – Alpha Tutorials

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We do a Rumour Round Up ahead of some big Sony announcements expected next week and expose the exposure modes of your camera. This is Episode 4 of Alpha Tutorials.

News / Rumour Round Up

With talk of Sony announcing some new Alpha products on the 24th August 2011 the internet is alive with rumours and leaks – which experience with Sony products in the past this close to launch date are usually spot on.

Lets recap what is being rumoured. Before we do so we must let you know that we have been invited to a local event on the 24th and 25th and can hopefully bring you the news from their on the day.

Two great websites to follow for rumours on new cameras are Sony Alpha Rumours and 1001 Noisy Cameras which focuses on all brands.

Here is the talk thus far.

A77

First the announcement of the long awaited Alpha A700 replacement in the form of the A77. Already there is a website that has been set up under this name where they are listing the specs and other rumours http://sonya77.com/sony-a77-specs/ to list them:

24 Megapixels

New kit lens (See below)

1080p/60/24fps plus 720p/60fps and 720p/30fps HD video

AF fine-tuning capabilities

3 Million dot OLED viewfinder

Magnesium alloy body and weather sealing

Takes SD cards – CF dropped at late stage

12 Frames a second (not clear whether at 24MP or at a cropped resolution)

19 point AF system with 11 cross sensors

50-16000 ISO

1/8000 shutter speed

New 3-way tilting LCD (?)

1200 zone metering

Smart teleconverter function with 1.4x and 2.0x option

Built-in GPS

Battery life with over 500 shots

In addition to the specs there is a video of a Sony camera being used in harsh conditions that made its way onto the web and has since been removed.

Another place where the camera crept up was on the Nomination page for the Good Design Awards

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/10/unreleased-sony-alpha-a77-already-nominated-for-good-design-awar/

A65

From the talk on the web this model seems to be a cut down version of the A77 in some ways though the excitement seems to be more around the bigger A77.

http://www.sonyrumors.net/2011/06/23/sony-alpha-a77-and-a65-pictures-and-details-leaked/

NEX-5n and NEX-7

The NEX-C3 was released not so long ago and it is given that sooner or later the NEX-5 would be replaced. The rumoured NEX-5n specs are

16.1 MP Exmor sensor (Same us Sony NEX-C3)

ISO 100-25600

1920×1080 60p/60i/24p AVCHD 2.0 video recording

10 fps

Capacitive Touch Screen

The NEX-7 is the very interesting one, in essence the specs look like a mirrorless A77.

24,3 Exmor HD sensor

100-16.000 ISO

1200 zone metering

1920×1080 60p/60i/24p AVCHD 2.0 (28Mbit/s) video recording

3 million dot XGA OLED viewfinder

3inch 921k TruBlack LCD display (touchscreen)

10 fps

20ms startup time

Built-in flash

New universal hot shoe

Battery life for over 400 shots

Magnesium alloy body

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr4-an-nex-7-hands-on-report-and-nex-5n-info/

Lenses

There are a number of lenses rumoured to be announced. In the mix are three new NEX lenses. They include a Zeiss 24mm f/1.8, a 50mm f/1.8 and a 55-210mm f/4-6.3 OSS

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-full-size-images-of-all-three-upcoming-nex-lenses/

Tutorial

Essentially, all the modes on a camera are based around the above mentioned, 3 foundation stones of creating a photograph. A camera’s mode dial in its most basic form will offer 4 settings. P, A, S, M or P, AV, TV, M. Lets briefly look at them individually.

P – Program

This mode grants the camera and its computer the ability to take full control of your exposure. It essentially will set the ISO (if you have left the ISO setting in the menu of the camera on Auto) as well as the Shutter and Aperture trying as far as possible to make sure: the shutter is not too slow to allow for camera shake, the ISO too high that you have lots of Noise or Digital Grain and the Aperture to allow enough depth of field for what the camera thinks you want to be in focus. Perhaps you have spotted the problem already. The camera doesn’t really know what you want the end picture to be like. Some cameras will allow in the “P” mode for you to nudge it to a faster or slower shutter speed, or to manipulate the aperture, but there will be a limit to how far it will let you go.

A – Aperture Priority / AV – Aperture Value

Commonly referred to as Aperture Priority Mode, this mode does just as

the name suggests. It is a semi-automatic mode that allows for you to choose the Aperture you desire based on the depth of field you wish to have and the camera will match the shutter speed. Despite what some people may say about real professionals only shooting in Manual mode, the vast majority of serious and professional photographers do in fact shoot in this mode.

S – Shutter Priority / TV – Time Value (not TeleVision)

This mode is used in the reverse of Aperture Priority, namely you select the shutter speed you need and the camera will take care of the Aperture. It tends to be rather useful in photographing sports for example.

M – Manual

Manual is as the name suggests, where you take full control. The camera’s light-meter will guide you to correct exposure as you adjust the combination of Aperture and Shutter speeds till they are in balance.

What About All The Other Modes?

In essence, the AUTO mode is a non nudge-able or shift-able Program mode and the different Picture Modes that show a Person for Portrait, or Mountains for Landscape, or a Running Guy for Action are just ways of trying to tell the AUTO mode to focus on Shutter Speeds for Action or Depth and Aperture for Landscapes. In the end it is far better to just know, understand and use the 4 modes mentioned above.

Conclusion

That about brings us to the end of another show. Be sure to check out our website http://alphatutorials.co.za for more articles and information. For example there are three articles following our first show each on one of the areas of exposure, ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speeds. You can also send your questions in to us on the the site.

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