A 68 help

Hi,

I have just received a Sony A68 and done several test in the last two days.

This morning I micro adjusted the focus to what it looked like to me the sharpest setting, in this case +7 with the 55-300mm.

The results still seem to me not as good as the shots I get from my A37.

Apart from the sharpness, when I crop the shots it gets mushy much sooner than it does with the A37.

I often crop my shots to 1/4 or so , I was hoping that the extra pixels and larger file size would help.

Any idea ?



It is possible that I was expecting a lot more given that from 16 to 124 MP is not a big step.

Anyway I would be pleased to hear any suggestions on how to optimise the output. (note that I haven't processed the image as yet)

With the A37 I mostly shoot birds on trees at 1/400, the shot above was at 1/500, both with the stabiliser on .

It is not very sharp, and there is quite a bit of fringing. I am not sure why it would look any better with the A37, maybe slightly less noise?

I dont know about the A68, but if its like the A77ii, check the menu for "Stabilized with Shutter" . Turn that off.

tqlla said:

I dont know about the A68, but if its like the A77ii, check the menu for "Stabilized with Shutter" . Turn that off.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll try that.

I had no idea of what that was before yesterday (that feature did not exist when I sold cameras, that I can remember) .

I found conflicting reports on that feature, some saying it just uses more power but does not affect the photo , just the VF view.

Still, I will try it on.

In the meantime I calibrated another lens, a 30mm macro, that made a big difference.

Again it worked well on my A37, no micro adjustment needed nor available there. Odd.

FrancoD said:

Hi,

I have just received a Sony A68 and done several test in the last two days.

This morning I micro adjusted the focus to what it looked like to me the sharpest setting, in this case +7 with the 55-300mm.

The results still seem to me not as good as the shots I get from my A37.

Apart from the sharpness, when I crop the shots it gets mushy much sooner than it does with the A37.

I often crop my shots to 1/4 or so , I was hoping that the extra pixels and larger file size would help.

Any idea ?



It is possible that I was expecting a lot more given that from 16 to 124 MP is not a big step.

Anyway I would be pleased to hear any suggestions on how to optimise the output. (note that I haven't processed the image as yet)

With the A37 I mostly shoot birds on trees at 1/400, the shot above was at 1/500, both with the stabiliser on .

Click to expand...

How are you focusing? Single point, multi, etc...was it windy, was the bird moving? Jittery birds need a higher shutter speed...The camera may have focused on the needles/leaves in front of the bird [just to the rear]

When you MA'd, did you adjust to the 300mm end?

-Martin P

Lensmate said:

FrancoD said:

Hi,

I have just received a Sony A68 and done several test in the last two days.

This morning I micro adjusted the focus to what it looked like to me the sharpest setting, in this case +7 with the 55-300mm.

The results still seem to me not as good as the shots I get from my A37.

Apart from the sharpness, when I crop the shots it gets mushy much sooner than it does with the A37.

I often crop my shots to 1/4 or so , I was hoping that the extra pixels and larger file size would help.

Any idea ?



It is possible that I was expecting a lot more given that from 16 to 124 MP is not a big step.

Anyway I would be pleased to hear any suggestions on how to optimise the output. (note that I haven't processed the image as yet)

With the A37 I mostly shoot birds on trees at 1/400, the shot above was at 1/500, both with the stabiliser on .

Click to expand...

How are you focusing? Single point, multi, etc...was it windy, was the bird moving? Jittery birds need a higher shutter speed...The camera may have focused on the needles/leaves in front of the bird [just to the rear]

When you MA'd, did you adjust to the 300mm end?

-Martin P

https://www.flickr.com/photos/photosauraus_rex/

Click to expand...

Single AF spot, probably did pick up the needles nearby.

I did calibrate the lens at the 300mm end because a lot of my shots are at that end .

The bird was maybe 3 metres from me, taken at the 300mm end.

I did calibrate at +5,=7 and + 9, so maybe tomorrow I'll try +6 and +8 to see if it makes a difference.

took this shot later on :



That was processed. 1/640, probably at 5.6 , 300mm end.

I think that I have the 30mm calibrated correctly but I might need to do more work with the 55-300mm.

This is a shot straight out of the camera , from the 30mm :



BTW, I do realise that both lenses are at the lower end but I was comparing the shots with what I have had from the same lenses used on the A37.

FrancoD said:

I did calibrate the lens at the 300mm end because a lot of my shots are at that end .

The bird was maybe 3 metres from me, taken at the 300mm end.

I did calibrate at +5,=7 and + 9, so maybe tomorrow I'll try +6 and +8 to see if it makes a difference.

took this shot later on :

That was processed. 1/640, probably at 5.6 , 300mm end.

Click to expand...

The distance between the calibration tool and the camera should be approximately 25 times the focal length of the lens (e.g. 85mm x 25 = 2.1 m = 7 feet), are you MA-ing the correct distance? Heat, coastlines and other weather conditions [atmospheric variants] can also alter how sharp your images turn out.

-Martin P

Thanks.

I set up my tripod at almost exactly the distance you suggested, 7m for the 300mm end and aproximatelly 70-80 cm with the 30mm.

(on self timer)

No real reason I did that, it just looked right to me.

I was shooting my CR card bill since it has some fine writing on it.

FrancoD said:

Thanks.

I set up my tripod at almost exactly the distance you suggested, 7m for the 300mm end and aproximatelly 70-80 cm with the 30mm.

(on self timer)

No real reason I did that, it just looked right to me.

I was shooting my CR card bill since it has some fine writing on it.

Click to expand...

You might want to use something more rigid than a paper statement. A math ruler tilted at 45 angle will show whether the lens is back or front focusing. But you probably know this already...

-Martin P

IMO, it's not possible to diagnose the problem from this photo - simply too many variables involved. If you were using the center spot, it's not even on the bird. In fact, it's off in the distance (which is way OOF). It appears that the bloom is in pretty decent focus, but there could still be some motion blur. The bird seems slightly behind the bloom. Regardless, it looks like there is some motion blur.


Center of photo - not on bird

When I shoot wildlife, I take many shots of a subject - sometimes as many as 50-100. Even if sitting still, I might take 10-20. Focus/blur can be all over the place - just from slight camera movement. Also, steady shot seems to work best with shutter in the 1/100 - 1/400 range (for longer lenses). With shutters over 1/1000, it's likely better to turn it off. Below 1/100, it's just hit or miss IMO - but SSS will definitely help. Basically I always leave it on unless using a tripod (which is rare).

I've been shooting manual with shutter 1/400, aperture at sweet spot (f8 usually, but f5.6 or f4 using some faster shorter lenses) and auto ISO. If subject isn't moving, I'll dial the shutter down to 1/200 after a few shots - just to get a lower ISO.

All that said, I'm pretty old and not very steady now. You may well be much steadier and able to use slower shutters for sitting subjects. But, moving subjects, you'll be better of with higher shutters.

Also, I've tried micro adjusting several lenses. I've not been able to improve sharpness with any setting. Maybe I'm just lucky with my cameras (A-100, A-77 and two A-68s) and lenses being well adjusted when new.

--
AEH
Question: What do you do all week?
Answer: Mon to Fri. Nothing, Sat & Sun I rest!

To add to what Ed says, the DoF with your camera and settings is only about 1cm either side of your subject, so the exact location of the focal point is quite important.

--
Paypal? Just say "No!"

I believe Lensmate is correct that the focus was on object in front of the bird, not on the bird. With multisport focus this is something you have to really watch.

I use focus lock with the centre spot.

I have always done that with other cameras that had that function.

As for the stabiliser, with the A37 and that 55-300mm I found that at 1/320-1/400 I was getting as good results (for anti shake) as at 1/640-1/800 but of course gaining an f stop or so.

The same does not seem to apply to the A68 but I have in the meantime re-calibrated the focus and switched off the VF anti shake so introducing other variables.

I might have a go at fine tuning the micro focus today and see what happens.

BTW, my questions were more about possible quirky settings or behaviour of this specific camera, (such as the suggestion about the steady shot with shutter) I have a bit of an idea on how to take photos otherwise.

FrancoD said:

I use focus lock with the centre spot.

I have always done that with other cameras that had that function.

As for the stabiliser, with the A37 and that 55-300mm I found that at 1/320-1/400 I was getting as good results (for anti shake) as at 1/640-1/800 but of course gaining an f stop or so.

The same does not seem to apply to the A68 but I have in the meantime re-calibrated the focus and switched off the VF anti shake so introducing other variables.

I might have a go at fine tuning the micro focus today and see what happens.

BTW, my questions were more about possible quirky settings or behaviour of this specific camera, (such as the suggestion about the steady shot with shutter) I have a bit of an idea on how to take photos otherwise.

Click to expand...

Oh good, so the A68 does have the stabilized viewfinder. Turning it off made a huge difference for me when I had the A77ii.

I am surprised more people dont complain about the softness with that on. Plus that buzz buzz noise was very annoying.

And it looks to me that the OS on the A37 is more effective than the one on the A68.

Maybe the extra pixels affect that, I don't know.

From a few minutes ago:





Getting better.

lI find the A68 stabilization very effective. I suspect the comparison with your older camera may come from pixel peeping with the higher pixel count, which magnifies any motion or focus errors compared to a lower pixel camera. The sharpness of some of the foreground needles indicates the camera locked in focus on something other than the bird. Bird movement is also a possibility as they have a lot of short, quick, jerky motion.

An update.

Just for some background, I sold cameras for 30 years , till ten years ago, and spent a lot of time testing and fiddling with them.

Still I had no idea how initially fiddling and frustrating it would be changing from the , to me, very point and shoot A37 to the A68.

I expected to just mount the lenses on , shoot away and see some improvements.

It was not like that ...

Anyway , after several tests and following some suggestions here and stuff gleaned from the Net, I fine focused the Sony 55-300mm to -3 and the 30mm macro to -5, switched the EVF stabiliser off, set the AF to the 15 Flexible spot and finally started to get some decent shots.

This wattle bird I had no idea of what it was when I took the photo because I could only see its shape against the light :





this egret is a crop :





not brilliant but much better than before the focus adjustments.

BTW, I don't get the distance listed in the MetaData reader, does anyone ?

(I see it with Canon and Nikon at least)

FrancoD said:

BTW, I don't get the distance listed in the MetaData reader, does anyone ?

Click to expand...

Focus Distance2?

The data in the EXIF is magnification. The tools are reporting it wrong. At least they were last time I checked. Only D lenses will give that information.

dkeller said:

lI find the A68 stabilization very effective. I suspect the comparison with your older camera may come from pixel peeping with the higher pixel count, which magnifies any motion or focus errors compared to a lower pixel camera. The sharpness of some of the foreground needles indicates the camera locked in focus on something other than the bird. Bird movement is also a possibility as they have a lot of short, quick, jerky motion.

Click to expand...

You are not kidding!

Now that I can focus I can see how it works.

By mistake I had the camera set on 1/160 .

I went to take some shots of Bert (the kestrel) to see how it compared with the A37 shots.

Totally unfair because of the low (for me...) speed but still OK when not zooming in.

I then took some more shots of it, several flying , but those were too blurry.





This tern as well as the egret I posted above, were also shot (again by mistake) at 1/160.





Also a crop from the 450mm equivalent.