Having got around to loading the camera up with the v4 firmware yesterday, I was ready to play with the new functions.
The progress of technology however, has revealed two sticky points. The first is that my vintage 2007 card-reader isn't able to read the new SDHC memory cards. The second is that the AVCHD video files the camera produces can't be edited with the software I had (Adobe Premiere Elements 8). Aah, the dilemma of whether to upgrade or not.
Okay, the main issue with using the camera at first is that it was very menu driven. This is different to the other cameras I've used where many functions have had easy access through dedicated buttons. The Sony a700 has one of the most economical user-interfaces I've used on a camera. The Sony NEX-5 generally requires much more button pushes to cycle through to the options you want.
The new firmware 4 however makes some welcome changes. I have been able to 'customise' two buttons. One has been set for the White Balance menu and one for the ISO. I like to shoot largely in aperture priority, so the shooting mode is largely stuck on A. This customisation makes a noticeable improvement to the UI.
So here's a shot I took with the kit lens today.
This is a jpeg shot straight from the camera. The ISO is 800, and the noise in the scene is very nicely controlled. The colour fidelity is also high. I customised the white balance by calibrating the camera against a purpose white-card. This makes using the camera's jpeg software much more useful.
This kind of customisation, combined with a superb manual focus function and high image quality, makes this a very appealing kit to the serious photographer wanting something portable.
Day 4 with Nex 5 Nov 04
2 Comments Leave a comment
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Brendan Moyle 561 days ago
Aah, well I guess the simple answer is that white-light isn’t always white. Subjects under artificial light or even at different times of the day get exposed to light with different colour-casts.
The funny thing is that the human brain makes these adjustments automatically. The relatively blue-light of a florescent bulb or orange-red of a candle, gets converted to a natural light in our minds. Cameras can’t do that.
With film photography, we used ‘warming’ or ‘cooling’ filters to physically change the white-balance. (The terms refer to light having a Kelvin temperature that needs to be cooled or warmed to calibrate the scene).
With digital, we can be much more accurate. It matters for when you want the colours to be right. Otherwise you end up with a blue or red cast to all the colours that can look well, wrong.
There are three ways to getting this correct.
First, you can leave it up to the camera. The autowhite-balance in many cameras often gives a good approximation. It can struggle where there are multiple light sources or extremes.
Second, you can shoot the subjects as RAW files, and adjust the white-balance when you convert.
Third, you can calibrate the camera (especially important if you are shooting jpegs where tweaking white-balance is more challenging). This is what I did here. I had a dedicated white-card which I used to set the white-balance first.
Hi,
I was wondering if you could explain in more detail how exactly you use white balance, and when you ascertain that it is required. It is something I’ve never fully understood, and never utilised in my photography.
Cheers,
Brent.