Why the A700 over the rest of the pack?

[DonSchap]

I am going to assume you have taken a few minutes to look over an α700 ... and if you have not ... and you are reading this, it may be time to do so ... because you are definitely thinking about it.

Everyone seems so worried about the "new" one coming down the pike, people tend to forget just how unique the α700 truly has been. Even today, by most standards, it is an awesome tool for taking images.

Using MR Mode (Memory Recall), you can instantly setup the camera for roughly everything you need for a specific type of shot, in MANUAL or whatever. While there are the "Creative Modes" (general scene specific variations of the AUTO feature), Memory Recall allows you to be completely in charge of how the camera "initially" sets up.

This is my high speed panel for "airshows" ... and does a pretty good job on a sunny day. You can tweak as you wish, but when you need a fast setup, this has proven to be a winner. 1/2000 may even be slow for some shots ... the beauty of the MR-settings is that it gets your rig close, with one click of the Mode knob.


The "Just try and get past me" settings



Try it out and see what it can do for you.

One of the other truly special capabilities of the α700 is sculpting around the noise curse ... by reducing this attribute and increasing that attribute (sharpness, contrast, brightness, zone <- see manual) ... you can take a lot of noise out of High-ISO shots. It's not prefect, but a heck of a lot better than the default. It tends to reduce the saturation, but you can easily add that back in post processing w/o the sensor noise.

Indoors, you should see significant results at ISO-3200 ... try the default AdobeRGB settings and then this modification in the custom. I added DRO Lvl 5 to the shot to pull up all ambient light ... it makes a tremendous difference in the overall exposure, and again, an α700/α900 exclusive feature and always subject to your taste and lighting.. Also, DMF is employed here, being a much slower shot and probably subject to some manual focus changes ... after autofocus is achieved, e.g., allowing management of a shallow Depth of Field.

The "Low-light Imaging Machine" settings



Again, if you shoot RAW ... you can pretty much ignore all of this, because you could have just half-the-camera the α700 is and RAW would yield the same result. In RAW, no serious processing is taking place in the α700 camera, but ONLY in your RAW software. These settings make use of the tools already built into the α700 camera's software processing for creating extraordinary JPEGs. JPEGs straight from the α700 can be transferred immediately and, quite obviously, that can be a real time saver.

Let me tell you this ... you won't find this on an intro-DSLR. And yes, you need to have access to these features to truly appreciate them. Although, using the intro-DSLR ... you should kind of get the feeling of what they cannot do, directly through your image results. That is where the α700 camera steps up, excels and just fills in the gaps in your photography.

Now, go get one and learn the good stuff.

[bmcguirk]

Very informative, Don, thanks! I have an airshow to go to next month and will try out your settings.

[DonSchap]

Remember, these settings are not set in stone. But, they can get you some good results, if you stay with the plane.

AF-C (Spot Focus) will trip only when you have a subject to focus on ... otherwise the camera focus just hunts with the shutter release depressed and will not fire.

It can be a bit tricky as you follow a highly maneuverable aircraft.

Oops




Oops (part II)




And you wind up having to "sew" them together with Panorama tools:

Oh yeah!