BIF, My First Attempt w/A6300 + EA-LA3 w/70-400mm G

I wanted to give BIF a try with my new A6300 w/LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G. I received the camera yesterday so things are still pretty rough for me but I can see that things will get better with practice. I usually shoot 100% RAW so working with jpg was not good for me (hopefully ACR will not be too far off). Last night I tried several of my A-Mount FF SSM lenses and am very happy with the results. My biggest surprise is how sharp my 18-55mm (Hasselblad lens is - absolutely amazed me).

Setup was on a tripod and all settings were manual except focus was AF-C, Flexible Spot.

And OMG, the camera got a lot of attention from other photographers. I had to let everybody touch, hold it and snap a few shots (lots of fun and I would guess I sold a couple).

I was a fun day with my new A6300.

Amazing shots.

grasshpr wrote:

Amazing shots.

Thanks for viewing and comment.  It was a totally fun day.  The A6300 really does a nice job behind the LA-EA3 and my A-Mount FF SSM 70-400mm G.

TLopez wrote:

Finally a post full of goodness!

Stunning!!

Thanks for viewing and comment.

I have to tell everyone I did a lot of reading before receiving my A6300. When it arrived I slapped the LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G on and went out to play. I used all the same settings I normally use on my A-Mount camera.  Oh, and I have to mention that I got some help from AarSee (Rick Church) who has an A6000.  He shared his experiences and it was a great help.

I wanted to give BIF a try with my new A6300 w/LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G. I received the camera yesterday so things are still pretty rough for me but I can see that things will get better with practice. I usually shoot 100% RAW so working with jpg was not good for me (hopefully ACR will not be too far off). Last night I tried several of my A-Mount FF SSM lenses and am very happy with the results. My biggest surprise is how sharp my 18-55mm (Hasselblad lens is - absolutely amazed me).

Setup was on a tripod and all settings were manual except focus was AF-C, Flexible Spot.

And OMG, the camera got a lot of attention from other photographers. I had to let everybody touch, hold it and snap a few shots (lots of fun and I would guess I sold a couple).

I was a fun day with my new A6300.

First of all, thank you for posting.

Then I have a mixed feeling with your photos.

The good : AF seems very good, I'm impressed byt he result.

The bad : ISO 800 looks not really to what I was expecting. How do you compare it with your A99 fe.

fzrTom wrote:

I wanted to give BIF a try with my new A6300 w/LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G. I received the camera yesterday so things are still pretty rough for me but I can see that things will get better with practice. I usually shoot 100% RAW so working with jpg was not good for me (hopefully ACR will not be too far off). Last night I tried several of my A-Mount FF SSM lenses and am very happy with the results. My biggest surprise is how sharp my 18-55mm (Hasselblad lens is - absolutely amazed me).

Setup was on a tripod and all settings were manual except focus was AF-C, Flexible Spot.

And OMG, the camera got a lot of attention from other photographers. I had to let everybody touch, hold it and snap a few shots (lots of fun and I would guess I sold a couple).

I was a fun day with my new A6300.

First of all, thank you for posting.

Then I have a mixed feeling with your photos.

The good : AF seems very good, I'm impressed byt he result.

The bad : ISO 800 looks not really to what I was expecting. How do you compare it with your A99 fe.

Franck, there is a big difference between A99 RAW images and the first images I have posted from my A6300 (in focus but looks soft and painted effect). I did not expect this (although my images are cropped a bit). I expect the images may be a result of how I post processed (or at least attempted to post process). I used Adobe Bridge and selected all the jpg files and then opened ACR to use the tools (looks like not a good idea). I suspect my process has caused image degradation and will try other tools for post processing.

Thanks for your observation and I totally agree with you and hope I can figure this out (I am sure it is me the operator not the fantastic camera).

William Curtindale wrote:

fzrTom wrote:

I wanted to give BIF a try with my new A6300 w/LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G. I received the camera yesterday so things are still pretty rough for me but I can see that things will get better with practice. I usually shoot 100% RAW so working with jpg was not good for me (hopefully ACR will not be too far off). Last night I tried several of my A-Mount FF SSM lenses and am very happy with the results. My biggest surprise is how sharp my 18-55mm (Hasselblad lens is - absolutely amazed me).

Setup was on a tripod and all settings were manual except focus was AF-C, Flexible Spot.

And OMG, the camera got a lot of attention from other photographers. I had to let everybody touch, hold it and snap a few shots (lots of fun and I would guess I sold a couple).

I was a fun day with my new A6300.

First of all, thank you for posting.

Then I have a mixed feeling with your photos.

The good : AF seems very good, I'm impressed byt he result.

The bad : ISO 800 looks not really to what I was expecting. How do you compare it with your A99 fe.

Franck, there is a big difference between A99 RAW images and the first images I have posted from my A6300 (in focus but looks soft and painted effect). I did not expect this (although my images are cropped a bit). I expect the images may be a result of how I post processed (or at least attempted to post process). I used Adobe Bridge and selected all the jpg files and then opened ACR to use the tools (looks like not a good idea). I suspect my process has caused image degradation and will try other tools for post processing.

Thanks for your observation and I totally agree with you and hope I can figure this out (I am sure it is me the operator not the fantastic camera).

OK that's clear, so waiting for the final result.

fzrTom wrote:

William Curtindale wrote:

fzrTom wrote:

I wanted to give BIF a try with my new A6300 w/LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G. I received the camera yesterday so things are still pretty rough for me but I can see that things will get better with practice. I usually shoot 100% RAW so working with jpg was not good for me (hopefully ACR will not be too far off). Last night I tried several of my A-Mount FF SSM lenses and am very happy with the results. My biggest surprise is how sharp my 18-55mm (Hasselblad lens is - absolutely amazed me).

Setup was on a tripod and all settings were manual except focus was AF-C, Flexible Spot.

And OMG, the camera got a lot of attention from other photographers. I had to let everybody touch, hold it and snap a few shots (lots of fun and I would guess I sold a couple).

I was a fun day with my new A6300.

First of all, thank you for posting.

Then I have a mixed feeling with your photos.

The good : AF seems very good, I'm impressed byt he result.

The bad : ISO 800 looks not really to what I was expecting. How do you compare it with your A99 fe.

Franck, there is a big difference between A99 RAW images and the first images I have posted from my A6300 (in focus but looks soft and painted effect). I did not expect this (although my images are cropped a bit). I expect the images may be a result of how I post processed (or at least attempted to post process). I used Adobe Bridge and selected all the jpg files and then opened ACR to use the tools (looks like not a good idea). I suspect my process has caused image degradation and will try other tools for post processing.

Thanks for your observation and I totally agree with you and hope I can figure this out (I am sure it is me the operator not the fantastic camera).

OK that's clear, so waiting for the final result.

I will shoot some RAW tomorrow and post process in Sony IDC to see how that compares.

Ken Sills wrote:

Fabulous! I'm so jealous!

Are these from a single burst? Or multiple shots?

Thanks Ken

I was out for about three hours (it was a fun afternoon of learning).  I took 400+ images of many different birds.  The images I posted are from multiple shots but I did have the Drive set to High.

I certainly missed your bird shots

I know you can do much better job of processing with proper RAW support but in the meantime the AF looks great in general. Thank you for sharing, something to look forward to.

nandbytes wrote:

I certainly missed your bird shots

I know you can do much better job of processing with proper RAW support but in the meantime the AF looks great in general. Thank you for sharing, something to look forward to.

Thanks, I can't wait for ACR (Dam).

The A6300 w/LA-EA3 and my 70-400mm G were very quick to focus (even as the subject distance changes).  I am totally pleased with the focusing (and I know it will get even better as I become accustomed to the A6300).

These were amazing captures and A6300 did a good job on tracking the birds.

However, I find these pictures looking posterized.  Is that because of the lens or the camera? Or is it just me?

dchao wrote:

These were amazing captures and A6300 did a good job on tracking the birds.

However, I find these pictures looking posterized. Is that because of the lens or the camera? Or is it just me?

Thanks for viewing and comment.

No, definitely not you (or the camera) it is me and my crummy post processing.  I normally shoot 100% RAW but shot jpg and tried using ACR tools to post process.  Yeah, the images are in focus but soft and painted effect (will not do that again).

William Curtindale wrote:

TLopez wrote:

Finally a post full of goodness!

Stunning!!

Thanks for viewing and comment.

I have to tell everyone I did a lot of reading before receiving my A6300. When it arrived I slapped the LA-EA3 and 70-400mm G on and went out to play. I used all the same settings I normally use on my A-Mount camera. Oh, and I have to mention that I got some help from AarSee (Rick Church) who has an A6000. He shared his experiences and it was a great help.

This looks like you got off to a good start.

Your first problem was listening to me about anything.  

I think once you shoot raw and process like you are used to, your results will improve greatly. I find the jpeg images OK for prints, but when viewing on a computer at higher zooms, the images look mushy & watercolored.  Seems to be one of the compromises that Sony has made with the jpegs.

I await your further tests.

Nice to hear other people were interested in the camera.

Great pics and thanks for sharing.  I am looking into the 6300 since my A6000 was stolen this weekend .  I am hoping the insurance company comes through.

AarSee wrote:

This looks like you got off to a good start.

Your first problem was listening to me about anything.

I think once you shoot raw and process like you are used to, your results will improve greatly. I find the jpeg images OK for prints, but when viewing on a computer at higher zooms, the images look mushy & watercolored. Seems to be one of the compromises that Sony has made with the jpegs.

I await your further tests.

Nice to hear other people were interested in the camera.

Thanks Rick, I had a question while I was out today and was going to call you but didn't want to bother you at work.

The birds were really active (it was nuts and lots of fun - wish you could have been there).

I will work on post processing jpg and see if I can get a handle on it (should not be too difficult - I mean everybody does jpg except me). LOL

The camera is a DREAM (even with my FF A-Mount SSM lenses).

Superglue wrote:

Great pics and thanks for sharing. I am looking into the 6300 since my A6000 was stolen this weekend . I am hoping the insurance company comes through.

Thanks for comments.

Yeah, hope the insurance comes through.  Hope you can get an A6300.