Sonolta.com blogs

Super Sexy Sony Alpha Cheerleader Gallery Now Open - Sony Alpha a700 Does the Crush Girls in Milwaukee!!

Sonolta — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:18:26 -0500

The Sony Alpha a700 DSLR performed beyond my expectations in Milwaukee while covering the Rock River Raptors playing the Boncerushers in CIFL indoor football action. The Bonecrushers have a stunning dance team, and I am very happy the Sony a700 was able to capture the beauty and the enthusiasm of this awesome indoor football dance squad adequately.

Click here to view the amazing Sony A700 Crush Girls photo gallery.

Click here to view all of the Sony Alpha photo galleries.

Click here to view all of the football and cheerleader galleries at RockRiverFootball.com

-Sonolta 7-17-2008

Sony Alpha a700 ISO 3200 No Flash Cheerleader Image Gallery is Now Open

Sonolta — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:12:28 -0500

The Sony a700 ISO3200 cheerleader images have now been posted to the Sonolta.com image galleries. The Sony Alpha A700 did a fine job under the challenging lights of the Rockford MetroCentre at ISO 3200. All photos were made hand held without a flash and the lens used was the Minolta 135 2.8.

Click here to view the Sony a700 cheerleader pictures from March 3, 2008.

Click here to view main page of the Sony photo galleries.

-Sonolta 3-12-2008

Sony Alpha A700 Working Review Firmware Version 3 - Professional Indoor Football ISO 3200 Sports Photos

Sonolta — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:22:37 -0600

Finally, the indoor football season has arrived. In the past years I have
used the Konica Minolta 5D as my primary camera, but this season will be
different. This year my primary camera (I shoot with two) will be the Sony A700. My
early testing seem to show it will bring home more keepers than the KM5D can at this
particular venue. The KM5D produced very clean ISO1600 output that printed very
well, but the Sony Alpha A700 is a completely different beast, and most of that
beast is a big upgrade from the KM5D. The Alpha A700 focuses faster, tracks
better, and provides a much higher frame rate, and all of that is very much
appreciated. Another great addition is the MF/AF button which I used constantly
througout the night. The KM had great color and clean files, but was a slow
dog in comparison to most "sports" cameras. The A700 is fast enough,
and gives adequate output even at very high ISO values.

The main faults of the camera on this shoot were as follows. The main dials
are very easy to bump which change the settings, several times I had
accidentally changed my aperture or shutter speed value during the shoot. The
tone curve and metering is significantly different on the A700 when compared to
the six megapixel KM5D camera. I had anticipated shooting at ISO1600,
using center weighted metering, and a color temperature around 4200 M2 like I
have in the past with the 5D, but on Monday night I ended up trying several other
settings, including shooting the majority of this gallery at ISO 3200, and using
a couple different WB and Color Temp settings.

All-in-all the camera performed well, but it does takes some getting used to
seeing the A700 100% crop watercolor look. This was only an exhibition game, and
when the season opens I will shoot in the ISO1600-2500 range, and use slightly
different metering and white balance scheme and the shots will get even better.
The camera JPGs at ISO3200 seem easier to work with than the Raw files and the
JPGs are what you will find posted here. The lens I used was the Minolta 135 2.8
and a few of the frames are slight crops of the original. No flash or strobe has
been used on any of the shots. The lighting was the nasty yellow stuff you
normally find in dimly lit arenas. The arena that this Continental Indoor
Football League game was played in was the MetroCentre in Rockford, Illinois

My home town team the Rock River Raptors got crushed by the defending
league champion Rochester Raiders 50-10 on this night. We will be
back....and I am sure glad it was only exhibition for the Raptors and my Sony
Alpha A700!

Click here
to enter this football game gallery.

Cick here to enter the
main Sony photo gallery page.

-Sonolta 03-06-2008

Sony Alpha A700 DSLR Images and Information - Winter Blues

Sonolta — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:23:17 -0600

Do you have the winter blues? let the Sony DSLR-A700
take you back a few months into the late summer and fall with some glorious
summer macro and fall landscape photography. The Sony Alpha A700 delivers great
image quality and exceptional dynamic range shot, after shot, after shot. The
metering system on the Sony Alpha A700 seems fantastic and this camera easily
delivers more keepers than any camera I have ever owned.

To view the Sony Alpha A700 Nature and Bee gallery
click here.

To view the Sony Alpha A700 Autumn photo gallery click
here.

To enter the Sony Alpha Image gallery main page click here.

-Sonolta 2-9-2008

Sony Alpha A700 Handheld High ISO Images Look Like Other Folks Studio Shots!!! Amazing SSS Performance & Great Image Quality!!!!

Sonolta — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:19:27 -0600

Handheld 1/20 f2.8 IS0 2000 Sony Alpha A700 and the Minolta 135 2.8.

Handheld 1/50 f2.8 ISO2000 Sony Alpha A700 Minolta 135 2.8.

Handheld 1/40 f2.8 ISO1250 Sony Alpha A700 Minolta 135 2.8.

Let me begin by saying "Who needs a
studio??" These shots were made handheld
in very dim room lighting with the Sony DSLR-A700 at ISO1250-2000 and just
look at the beautiful results!! I was shooting the Minolta 135 2.8 wide open,
with no flash, in some seriously harsh conditions and the results are beautiful. This camera does black cats
better than any camera I have ever owned!

Anyway, the point is you can make handheld no flash
lowlight snapshots with the Sony Alpha A700 that look close to some folks studio shots!!
Wowza, I am nothing but pleased with this kind of result from the Sony Alpha
A700 DSLR!

Click here
to view the Sony Alpha A700 cat photos.

Click here
to view the Sony Alpha A100 cat photos.

Click here
to view the Sony Alpha A700 review gallery.

Click here
to view all of the Sony Alpha image galleries.

-Sonolta 2-4-2008

Sony Alpha A700 and Alpha A100 Combined Image Gallery is Now Open!

Sonolta — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:28:56 -0600

I have taken a few minutes time to process some
squirrel images made with the Sony Alpha A100 and the Sony Alpha A700. The
lenses used to make the images in the squirrel gallery were the Minolta Beercan
70-210 f4 and the Sigma 70-300 APO DG macro and I do report the lenses work very
well on both Sony cameras.

Click here
to view the squirrel photographs.

Click here
to view the Sony Alpha image gallery main page.

-Sonolta 1-25-2008

Sony Alpha A100 Fireworks Photo Gallery is Now Open!

Sonolta — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:02:03 -0600

I finally had time to process a few dozen of my July
4th, 2007 fireworks images I shot with the Sony Alpha A100. All of these long
exposures were done on a tripod with a remote shutter release. The lens used on
this beautiful night in Rockford was the Konica Minolta 28-75D.

Click here
to view the Sony Alpha A100 fireworks images.

Click here
to view the Sony Alpha image gallery main page.

-Sonolta 1-25-2008

Sony Alpha A700 Making the Money Shots Even at ISO 6400!!! Great Detail, Resolution, and Dynamic Range!!!!

Sonolta — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:50:16 -0600

Sony Alpha A700 ISO 6400

Holy smokes, folks, the Sony Alpha A700 is giving me
great detail all the way up to ISO 6400! All of the shots above were made at
ISO 6400 under normal room lighting conditions. No flashes, strobes, or spots,
and all of the shots are hand held. The lens used for all of the coin shots was the Minolta 50mm 1.7 plus
either 1 or 2 Konica Minolta CL49-200 close up filters on the end of the lens. I don't
know what the two magnification factors are for sure, but Minolta says the
filters are roughly a +5 and the image quality even stacked is terrific. What a
great lightweight Macro rig!

As you can see the Sony Alpha A700 has terrific
resolution and wide dynamic range even at the top ISO of 6400! The detail is
simply fantastic and the high end exposure latitude is nothing short of amazing!
These images will easily print to 24 inches or better and who is not happy that
sort of performance at ISO 6400! Wowza, simply put, I just love it.

Click here
to view all of the coin shots.

Click here
to view the coin shot slideshow.

Click here
to view the A700 Review ISO 6400 Gallery that includes many coin and other
images that also have 100% crops to view as well.

This Sony Alpha A700 ISO 6400 performance is so good in this sort of shooting condition I really do feel comfortable
shooting many types of Macros, in very dim conditions, without the aid of a flash.
Since I am not a flash guy, I could not be more pleased with this sort of
top end performance out the Sony DSLR-A700.

-Sonolta 01-19-2008

Sony Alpha A700 Delivers Amazingly High Image Quality at ISO 6400! Sony SSS Is Working Miracles Too!

Sonolta — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:10:06 -0600

ISO6400 1/125 f2.8 @ 135mm Sony DSLR-A700 Awsome Image Quality

ISO 5000 1/160 f5 @ 135mm Sony DSLR-A700. Wowza...what brilliance and clarity!

Amazing Sony Super Steady Shot Performance! This shot is, like all shots
here, handheld, at ISO 6400 1/30 f2.8 @135mm! Sony Alpha A700 is
Simply Amazing!

ISO6400 1/125 f3.5 @135mm ISO6400 Sony DSLR-A700 Eye popping color and DR!

ISO6400 1/80 f2.8 @ 135mm Sony Alpha A700 amazing resolution and color
rendering accuracy

ISO 5000 1/100 f2.8 @ 135mm Sony Alpha A700 showing amazing ISO 5000 image
quality and resolution!

ISO 4000 1/200 f10 @135mm Sony DSLR A700 Poster Size Prints at
ISO4000!

ISO4000 f7.1 1/320 @ 135mm No Noise Reduction Sony DSLR A700 Printable at Huge
Sizes.

Hi folks, I finally got a few minutes to update the site
with some Sony Alpha A700 high ISO material I shot just yesterday. Wowza,
the Sony Alpha A700 was delivering the goods for me all day long, both indoors
and out. The above shots were done with very minimal light, handheld, and
without the aid of a flash.

I was a bit amazed as consistently I was getting 2-3
stops of aid out of Sony SSS! I am also amazed at the detail and resolution the
DSLR-A700 was giving me even at ISO 6400! I mean WoW!

This camera performed so well for me at high ISO's these
shots could be printed at large sizes with ease. All of the files were Raw files
converted in Sony IDC. Processing in IDC was limited to NR only and exports were
to 16bit Tiff. All other retouching was done in CS3 and that was very minimal,
if any. Everything here was shot with the "Pocket Rocket" Minolta 135 2.8.

Feel the deal people...the Sony Alpha A700 is
delivering excellent quality images even at top ISO's. With Sony's SSS and high
quality top ISO performance users across the world are loving the Sony Alpha
A-700.

Click here
to enter the Sony Photo Galleries.

Click here
to enter the Sony Review Galleries.

-Sonolta 1-11-2007

Edit: 100% Crops of the new Sony A700 ISO 6400 images have been added to the review gallery. 1-13-2008

Early Sony A200 Sample Images Are Showing the DSLR-A200 is Capable Camera at High ISO's

Sonolta — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:10:06 -0600

The Sony DSLR-A200 sample images have trickling out
since the news of it's existence hit the street just a few days ago.

Below are some links to some early images made with
the Sony A200. The Sony A200 is the replacement for the Sony A100, and it does
look like Sony has delivered us a capable camera at high ISO's with the
announcement of the DSLR-A200.

Early A200 Sample Images

http://fabu.beareyes.com.cn/2/lib/200801/07/20080107232.htm

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_DSLR_A200/

Best A200 ISO series I have seen yet with crops.

http://masterchong.com/v2/dslr-guide/sony-alpha-200-a200-iso-100-iso-3200-sample-photos.html

These early images seem to show the A200 is a very nice replacement for
the A100, and a possible worthy upgrade path for some of the remaining Konica Minolta
DSLR users that wanted a decent IS0 1600.

-Sonolta 1-11-2008