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R1 w/Sony 1.7X Teleconverter sample

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GaryMAk

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I have seen a number of threads asking about the quality of Sony's HUGE 1.7X Teleconverter. I had bought the TC with the camera but had never made a serious effort to use it so I wasn't able to answer the questions. Well, I had an opportunity today. I was at this marshy pond about 51 miles out of Valdez, Alaska where I had seen swans feeding before. I hiked out to the shore line with the R1 and the TC, hoping to find swans. The bad news was that there were no swans. The good news was that there was a young bull moose across the pond from me. Without the Teleconverter he would have been a tiny, though barely recognizable object in the wide expanse of scenery. With the Teleconverter he was still small but quite visible. I was shooting RAW and when I got home and started processing the shots I was very pleasantly surprised. I had expected blurry shots from the Teleconverter glass plus movement as they were handheld shots.

Here is one of my favorite shots: "Moose Crossing"



Here is a 100% crop from the same photo so that you can see bottom line quality:



Although I'd much rather just pack an H5 with the R1 (it would be a lot smaller and lighter) I haven't made that purchase yet. At least I know that the Teleconverter will certainly do in a pinch!

--



http://www.betterphoto.com?garyminish
 
Thanks for sharing. Wow ... I am impressed with the TC preserves plenty of details in 100% crop.

--
OLY 2020 > PANASONIC FZ1 > FUJI F10 > CANON 350D > SONY R1, H5, T30
 
A very nice shot, with good exposure to show details on the dark moose against the brighter background. We all wish we were there (now, that is----not in January). The advantage of all those pixels and quality of that large CMOS, allows for a lot of cropping and still gives a sharp picture.

I think you would have a big advantage with an H5 as an extra camera, to grab the really long shots you must encounter out there. With the 1.7 extender on a 5-MP Smart Zoom, you'd have 23.8X total and 48.4X at 2-MP, for shots clear across the sound.
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Steve McDonald
 
I should have said that the H5 would give you 37.4X total magnification, with a 1.7X telex and at the 2-Megapixel Smart Zoom setting. I was mistakenly thinking about using my 2.2X telex, when giving the 48.4X figure.
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Steve McDonald
 
Of course the fact that you properly exposed it helps a lot!

Darn nice shot!

--
Busch

Take the scenic route! Life is too short to do otherwise.

http://www.pbase.com/busch
 
like everybody else, I love the detail, color and exposure and sure wish I could be out there. Nice composition, too.

thanks for bringing us your part of the world...'tis a nice way to wake up with the early morning coffee :)
--
Cheers,
Charles
 
just ordered the converter and should have it Thursday. Looking forward to using it. I will keep you posted. About what was the original distance from you to moose...? This shot of yours helped me a lot...
Orogard
Helena, Montana USA
 
GaryMAk said:
You know, I didn't even think about trying to combine smart zoom
with the teleconverter.
Click to expand...
You can still do that with PhotoShop (or any other imaging software, for that matter) - it does nothing else than crop the inner part of the image.
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Stefan Hundhammer
 
That's really a wonderful shot. Thanks for sharing.

But it still makes me wonder if that 1.7x teleconverter is worthwhile buying - and, worse ;-) humping around all the time. The R1 has 24-120 mm equiv.; with the teleconverter you get up to 120 mm x 1.7 = 204 mm equiv.

My previous camera was a Canon S1-IS with 38-380 mm equiv.; I had found that if an object is far away, it's too far away no matter how long your zoom is (you know, Murphy was an optimist...). And that was with 380 mm equiv., not just puny 204 mm.

So, what is the real-world use of that teleconverter?
(Just asking, I am not trying to start a flame war)
--
Stefan Hundhammer
 
Stefan Hundhammer said:
Stefan Hundhammer wrote:
You can still do that with PhotoShop (or any other imaging
software, for that matter) - it does nothing else than crop the
inner part of the image.
--
Click to expand...
Hi Stefan. Could you please tell me on what basis you say this? Without thinking too much about it, is the camera not taking an image of the rearranged pixels?

--
Cheers

Glynne from Toronto
 
longshot said:
longshot said:
Stefan Hundhammer wrote:
You can still do that with PhotoShop (or any other imaging
software, for that matter) - it does nothing else than crop the
inner part of the image.
Click to expand...
Hi Stefan. Could you please tell me on what basis you say this?
Click to expand...
From reading the manual, for one thing. ;-)

I can't find a link to an online version of the R1 manual, but here are some web pages that explain the difference (it's the same with all recent Sony cameras):

http://www.digitalsecrets.net/Sony/AdvancedKnow5-SZ.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/H5/H5A.HTM (search for "smart zoom")

Ever wondered why "smart zoom" works only if you reduce the image size from 10 MPix down to a smaller number? That's why. If you reduce the image size to 3 MPix, the camera simply only uses the innermost 3 MPix of the image.

With the same zoom factor, normal digital zoom ("precicion zoom" - the name is clearly an overstatement or even outright fraud) then blows up those 3 MPix of image information to the normal image size of 10 MPix. Of course those 7 remaining MPix have to be filled with, err, creative values - they are simply interpolated.

"Smart zoom" simply does not do this - it leaves the 3 Mpix and does not invent 7 MPix of image information that is not really there.

And that's exactly what you can do with PhotoShop or any other imaging software as well. Probably you can do it a lot better on your computer screen than on the tiny display you have on the camera.

BTW you can also do it in the camera after shooting an image: Use the "image review" mode, zoom the image as you like it, move it with the camera's tiny joystick, hit the "menu" button and select "crop". This will create a new image, leaving your original image unmodified in case you change your mind later.
longshot said:
Without thinking too much about it, is the camera not taking an
image of the rearranged pixels?
Click to expand...
No. The camera can't move sensor cells around. Maybe next generation's cameras will be able to do such a thing... ;-)
--
Stefan Hundhammer
 
I can screw it up big time...ha ha.

Miguel Furlock talked about using the telecon for portraits. Ever checked that out?
John Dunn
 
I tried to use 1,7xtele for portraits,but it is a little too unbalanced and the metal adaptor awkward to hold.Think it is better to use R1 at 100-120mm end without a converter.
--
shape'n'colour
 
as I've never seen the R1 with that big lump of glass on the front - anyone tried it with a DSLR lens ;-) - imagine that tacked on the front of a Canon 100-300L (58mm) etc ;-)

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
I got my Tele a few weeks ago, but I haven't been able to get out and snap some shots with it. Your wonderful shots have me itching to take some pictures with it when I'm on vacation next week. I figure for the quality, it's a good price. Why would I want to get an H5 and deal with poorer pictures than I'm used to? Why do people get so wrapped up in the megapixel numbers versus zoom between the R1 and H5? Am I the only one that doesn't see a huge picture quality difference between the two? I just don't get it. Yes, the H5 takes nice pictures for the price, but it's not an R1.
 
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