my time with the A200

In April 2008, the Sony Alpha A200 had some incredible and unique features. My research found it to be unique among many similar cameras for in-camera stabilization (SSS), dynamic-range boost (DRO), a screen whose info rotated when held vertically.. all sorts of things that were swiftly implemented in one form or another elsewhere. My A200 years were quite happy ones, but one small problem haunted me: Best Buy's decision to clear out the A700 occurred about two months later. This was a superior camera in every way, and for only slightly more money - but my return period had passed so I pretended to get over it.

The A200 was indeed the camera I had sought. Images in low light were now stabilized and shadow-boosted as needed, depth of field was a factor again, and I was having fun with photography. I played in RAW mode and bought some Elements software to tweak images more to my tastes. It came with me camping, backpacking, stargazing and nearly everywhere. On very few occasions did I look at the shots and feel that the camera had let me down (I cannot think of any times, but I suspect it must have so 'very few' will cover that :^). I especially liked shooting in RAW+jpg mode with the Monochrome 'style' - I had fine mono jpgs and a RAW file to adjust later.



My lens collection grew, mainly with Minolta lenses from the '80s. I really liked each one for its special reasons, but none of them could do it all. My main 1-lens solution was first a Tamron 18-250, then later a Sigma 18-200; I preferred its small size & lack of 'creep', and it came along on the Sierra hike. Other favorites were Sigma's 17-70 and Minoltas 100-200, 50 f/1.7 and 35-105 Macro, all 1st-generation AF classics.

Some of the most special Alpha images can be found at these links: beach - Sierra & Crater Lake - San Juan islands

Well, that completes the historic cycle - now for my Pentax transition go back to my June 2010 post.

21st century imaging (part 3)

At some point in the 1999-2000 'offseason', I moved away from the bulk of SLRs and into compact 35mm photography. Since compact cameras now had 28mm zoom lenses, my wide-angle capabilities were intact, and I could carry far less imaging gear with similar results. I was already shifting into digital with the mini-DV camcorder, and that method of recording my life held greater appeal at the moment. My 2000 and 2001 Sierra visits were captured with this camera, but Europe 2001 was strictly camcorder shots plus a tiny, no-zoom digital camera. In 2002 I again carried 35mm compact and DV-cam into the mountains, but I soon saw the flaw in my reasoning. I saw that images from that year had decidedly poor edge quality, and at 28mm some showed strong vignetting. I had gone too far in my search for compactness, and sacrificed too much quality!

At some point in 2000 I found a 1.6 megapixel Kodak DC260 on sale and began my voyage into digital stills. That camera came with me in autumn 2000 on an ill-fated hike that turned into a road trip, and captured a fine enough image of Mt. Shuksan and the autumn colors. It was promising, but images were mighty small at the time: not about to replace the enlargements that 35mm film brought me!


By 2003 I had moved up to a 4-meg camera, Kodak's LS443. A sharp 35-105 equivalent zoom brought me images worth showing off from trips to the Ruby Mts (Nevada) and Enchanement Lakes (WA) that year.

However, small digital cameras were lacking in wide-angle ability, and I missed that. At some point I shifted to a Panasonic LC40, also 4-meg but with a few more features that I liked, and while doing research into better cams in 2006 I found a closeout Casio P505 whose features were enticing and the price just right.

I spent much of 2007 and early '08 searching for my ideal camera, with relatively large sensor, wide-angle capabilities, and with luck reasonably compact size. I thought Fuji would win out; the S6000 supercam was almost perfect, and I was certain the updated model would be mine. Alas, their 'update' had no SuperCCD sensor and lost many advanced features. I began to look again at SLRs in digital form, hoping that the 4:3 sensor would result in smaller cameras. Again I was disappointed, as the Olympus E500 was a very talented camera but equal in size to APS-C cameras. Given my demands for image quality, and after plenty of research and dashed hopes, I finally accepted the result: I could only be happy with an SLR -- again.

In the opening months of 2008 I surveyed the features available in dSLRs, and prioritized what I found important. I was willing to look past a few of them, but I was certain that internal stabilization would improve too many images to ignore (recall that lens-IS was still relatively hard to find). That left me with Olympus, Sony and Pentax for more study. I wasn't into AA power despite my 40mm lens on the shelf, and my E510 tests came up short - so the Alpha 200 became my new favorite camera.

big cameras & long hikes part2

1997 - my descent into madness. Everything was just fine, until we decided to hurry to a lakeside camp in the central Sierra. While preparing to cross a stream I tossed my water-bottle across, where it gently landed in a clump of shrubbery. Then I got stupid, deciding the camera could do that and avoid a plunge with me into the shallow creek. You guessed it: it bent the shrubs, then catapulted onto rocks and into the creek. Boy did I cross in a hurry!! I removed the film and dried it out, and the next afternoon the camera was fine. Can't say the same for the 40-105 lens, whose mount was slightly canted; the rest of the trip, half my shots turned out (the left side!). Stupid, embarrassing - and two consecutive years that a large camera failed to justify the weight. Sure both were my fault - but I had to bring myself along, so the camera took the fall (ouch).

one of the pre-fall shots


1998 - A triumphant return to the Wind Rivers, with Program Plus and a 24mm lens. It was also a flawless set of images, almost like normal again! Most memorable in many ways, but the day we needed good weather was of course the day it was its worst. Oh well, that's how the wilderness works - and oh those bugs!


1999 - Every ten years was an extra-Big Trip, so we kept tradition alive with an ambitious cross-country Sierra ramble. I was cutting weight like mad, and went with just the 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens. Incredibly sharp, a little bit wide.. and challenging in such a spectacular area.



It was a fine trip and I brought back some great images - yet my love of such bulk was wearing thin. Simple compact 35mm cameras now had 28-80mm zooms, and of course the film size didn't vary; why carry something so large for a small image improvement? Also, a small digital camcorder came along on the last two trips (the '93 trip was a larger type); that form of recording was growing on me, and could take poor stills on a chip.. would that format would be my next main medium?

And so I entered my Dark Years of imaging.

big cameras & long hikes part1

My love-hate relationship with SLRs came to a head during big hiking trips. Seeing a few shots of the Sierra triggered my flashback to what I've experienced on long backpacks, so here goes with a few long-ago memories. Apologies for the bad scans from my slide-shooting days!

1979 - My first Big Trip, into Wyoming's Wind River Range. I believe I had my Praktica SuperTL, a 50mm f/1.8 lens, and perhaps a 2x or 3x teleconverter. I know I had nothing wider, or I'd have done a far better job with the images. I took some great shots, but I also had my first (and sadly, not last) SLR failure. While taking a photo of granite rock from point-blank range the camera strap failed, and the camera hit very hard. I was in shock, as was the camera: it failed to take images, early on day two of a 5-day hike and just as I approached the most scenic part of the trip! I rewound the film, investigated everything I could reach, but the shutter would not trip. After several minutes I decided to crank the shutter to B and see if something changed: amazingly, a loud clunk shivered the camera when it went to B, and everything returned to normal. Stunned by my good fortune, and fearful it would swiftly end, I shot the Cirque of the Towers like mad, using an entire 36-exposure roll within about 50 feet of walking. (I knew at the time that a wide-angle lens needed to be in my bag, and that I'd have to return here to use it.) The remainder of the trip was saved as the camera never failed again - but boy was I spooked by it!


1989 - Ten years later it was the Sierra Nevada, and a Pentax SLR. Wish I could recall which lens went along, but no one has a shot of me with it. A gorgeous trip, and as best I can remember the camera performed flawlessly.


1993 - The next trip failed on several counts. I brought an SLR and a video cam, wishing to try my hand at 'action' wilderness shots, but the main failure was one of acclimation. My system breakdown at 10000' near Pine Creek Pass, Sierra Nevada was not SLR but altitude sickess; as I was hiking solo I was forced to retreat without meeting my hiking partner on day three. Bad memories, and few images!


Other trips were planned but postponed - then the camera errors began to haunt me..

1996 - A return to Pine Creek brought smaller headaches to me, but massive ones to my camera. Despite carrying a spare battery for my camera, I did not see its warnings and so shot a ton of underexposed shots, mostly in the morning when the battery was weakest. Afternoon shots tended to turn out, but it was a real pain to see these after the fact. Irreplacable sunrise shots and other great memories.. but some good ones too! It took a lot of time in a rental darkroom to retrieve some details, but many were lost and only remain in my fragile memory-book..

how many cPL filters? + bridge zoom

It happens to any lens collector at some point: how often will a polarizing filter be attached to a particular lens? Few lens suppliers spend energy on 'standardizing' their filter threads, but polarizers are expensive - so when to say when?

In my case I'm trying to stop at two: the 58mm and 67mm sizes that fit my 16-45 and 55-300 Pentax lenses. I have a 55 and 72 from my Alpha days though, but would prefer not to carry so many! I picked up the big set of step-up rings (eight, I think); my 50mm lens now has 52-55-58 (2 rings) which not only adapt the filter, it makes for a decent though shallow hood! I can take the 55-58 plus filter for my 135mm, and the 67mm size fits my Rikenon 28-100 just fine. Problem with that one is that it's a really heavy lens at 605g, I fear it's not long for my bag as it's over my personal weight limit.

I'm seeking a 'tweener zoom to bridge the 16-45 and 55-200, as the 50 is great but at times a bit of zoom would improve composition. Something in the range of that 28-100 is good, but smaller would be more used - I've sought in vain for a Sigma 28-80 f/2.8-4 (and its 58mm thread size!). In the meantime I've bid on a 28-135 Sigma that could go with me on many unscripted walks when 16 won't be needed and 300 is too large; we'll see if that bid wins in a day or so. I had hoped that 16-45, 50, 55-300 would be 'perfect' for me, but of course I'm not perfect so why should I expect it elsewhere? :^)

farewell A200

My first dSLR sold and was shipped away yesterday. I could have posted to an auction site and probably made more, but the hassle factor was too much - so someone got a very good deal! So now it's K-7 for 'everything', though my Casio P505 is my small and able backup. My wife's Canon A720 also does great work, especially now that Eneloop batteries keep it running forever (it hated alkaline, like so many cameras do today). We're all geared up, looking for a vacation to throw itself at us.

new tools.. er toys.. no really, tools!!

Since picking up the K-7 and a few lenses, I have been buying some accessories as well. Here's the story so far...

* second battery, generic
It charged up just fine, and the camera still functions and shows battery-life readout. I've been using it for several days with no incident. Let's face it though: both Pentax and generic have been charged only once, so this will need updating in a year or two! Since their disclaimer inferred that the camera might not display the battery's status, I thought I'd state that in my case, it does.

* nested set of step-up rings
These come as a massive set, sent by mail from Hong Kong. I didn't need them all so a surplus sale is coming soon. These allow me to step from 52mm to 58 so my current cPL can be attached to my Rikenon 50/2 using two rings (52-55+55-58). The bonus here is a cheap and short hood for the lens! I will also keep the 62-67 step just in case, since I have a 67mm cPL as well.

* Seculine Twin1R3-UT remote, wireless and wired capabilities
This sounded good, and hey it is good! I can use it as a wired remote and it uses no battery power, or it can become a wireless transmitter if that's important. Supposedly has a great range, and oh yeah it can be a flashing white light for .. well, some reason can be found for that I'm sure. I tested it with the wire and with battery out: works! I then pulled the wire and added the battery: works too! Yes, so does the flasher.. whoopee.

* Paint Shop Pro X2 Ultimate
The $20 price was too good to refuse.. but I haven't loaded it yet. I have Elements 6 and it met all my needs for Sony's A200, plus I've learned its features pretty well - so it should do my K-7 just as well. I think I will let this go unopened, and accept a few less dollars as the price of jumping on irresistible sales.

* 58 and 67mm polarizing filters
The 58mm purchase was a complete auction fluke, I looked for one and found a lightly-used Hoya right before this auction closed. It was an excellent price and looks/feels great, better than the 67mm Ritz mid-range model I bought in town. Both should do fine.

* 52mm UV
Just in case a UV filter can reduce veiling glare on my Rikenon 50. Well, let it be known that it doesn't - it may help a bit, but not enough to warrant more rigorous testing. Here's the before/after:

pushing buttons

Today I tried something that I've never succeeded at doing right: multiple exposures! It was not something I tried often with film, and for good reason: my cameras never made it easy to do. With the K-7 it was two or three buttons and done. I then cropped it in-camera as well, which I'd never done on a dSLR but had managed with my Casio P505. The result was easy, and quite nice. My wife had been doing some math problems earlier, so I shot her book then her in the kitchen; a quick crop boiled it down to essentials.

Once again, I'm impressed with this camera's abilities.