Sony DSC-H1

[in2blacktail]

Hello Camera pro's..
I want to buy either a Sony DSC-H1 or a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 tomarrow.
Any advice.
The minolta is a 6 pixel versus sonys 5 pixel.
I think the Konica carries 4 batteries versus Sony's 2 AA's.
Minolta is on sale for 399.00 versus Sony's 499.00price tag.

I read about 85 reviews and the Sony seems to be the popular choice.
There were a lot of crying on the Sony's reviews especially when it came to battery life.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[in2blacktail]

I bought the Sony H1 today.

I am going to experiment with it and shoot everything to see if it performs as well as I think it will.
Please add feedback in the next following days of your opinions. Still very valued.
Thanks.

 

[clutchkiller]

lets see some pics

 

[foulshot]

in2, from what I read it looks like a pretty good camera. Can't beat the 12x zoom. But if you do find that is not enough, you may look to see if you can get a teleconverter for it to add some length.

My advice would be to get to be able to use the camera in a mode other that auto. You will get more out of the camera that way.




CK, you still post over here huh?

 

[in2blacktail]

Here is a quicky I took of my dog when I was ready the quick start. Lighhting was not bueno, it was behind the dog coming through the window. This quick photo was on the auto setting. Much to learn quickly. Loving it already.

I feel your absolutely right about the auto setting. I can't wait to learn to confidently use the other manual settings. I will definately grow into the H1's potential.

 

[clutchkiller]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

CK, you still post over here huh?[/b]

Yup, but not too often..... it does not have anything to do with what has been going on (wish I could explain why). I still think this is the best site on the net.

Great pic in2, I love the clarity.

 

[Lan-Lord]

nice shot brian... I honestly dont know much about the H1. But I do like the sony cams (still shoot with 2 of them). They put pretty good hardware into their cams (zeiss glass, pretty good ccd, etc)

you pic looks good too. I found that my sony (old F707) was very forgiving in Auto mode, and allowed you to be creative in the manual realm as well.

I found my old 707 manual a little hard to understand, dont know if they put much more effort into the H1. I was also new to photography when I got my sony.. but I probably read the manual 3-4 times to fully understand a lot of the features and potential of the cam.

Only thing that I would be a little concerned with is the battery life. Of course, carrying extra AA's is not a show stopper though.

post up some more pics when you get a chance, I'd be interested in seeing more from the cam.

 

[in2blacktail]

Lan-lord,

Thanks for the help, advice and interest. I have been pretty disapointed lately of some of my hunting photo's. This is a big reason for my big push for upgrading into a mid priced camera and the desire to familarize myself with good picture taking basics.
So far the CD-rom that came with the H1 was pretty informative. Kind of a quick overview with before and after pictures. Pretty easy to see what they are talking about.
I tried to skim the manual and your absolutely right, most of the 1st read went right over my head. It went like, trying to read and absorb the bible with full comprehension. Didn't happen.
So, I will continue to read a feature or two a night and play with what I read in little bites. Eventually I will see the big picture. Hopefully.

The whole manual adjusting of the shutter and aperture settings are a mystery to me still. To know what number to set things on and to take a reading etc. The control of letting the right amount of lkight in or the right amount of time for the shuuter to remain open.. Practice I guess, like all things. That will be an interesting bridge when I cross it.

Here is a photo I took on University Street in Dowtown Palo Alto.
Its a bit blurred. I was trying to take a night photo. Its a bit blurred. I read in the manual its best to use a tri-pod with this setting. My bad. You can see the car traveling under 25 mph, looks like its trying to back to the future by traveling above 88mph.
Much to learn.

 

[in2blacktail]

Here is a photo of the H1 for those who would like to see the camera we are discussing and evaluating...
Pretty machine..

 

[foulshot]

in2, actually for a hand held night time shot, that is pretty darn good! You must have some steady hands.

Something to keep in mind also. When you are thinking of Aperture settings, remember the smaller the f/stop the less depth of field. If you want the whole scene to be in focus you will have to use a higher f/stop and most likely a longer shutter speed. Reversely, if you want to isolate a subject from the background use a lower f/number(ie:2.8 which will give you a shallow depth of field)

High F/stop(f/18 I believe)

Low F/stop(f/5.6)

 

[in2blacktail]

Awesome samples.
Thanks for the info and the tech tip foulshot.
I am still trying to comprehend the H1 manual before bed. Great sleep aid if you have trouble falling asleep. I learned that buying the camera from Ritz, they have an 18 class tutorial/ workshop for there customers who buy a camera over a certain price. I qualify for it, so I might actually pop in there to pick up tips as I get aquainted with my camera.
Today on the way home from work, waiting to merge on the Bridge that takes me a cross the bay, I zoomed in on some thistle type bush and snapped a picture off. I wanted to see what the textures of the plant would look like when I got home. This bush was at least 40-50 yards away, still had zoom to spare. I thought it was pretty impressive.

The buildings in the background do not add much to the photo..

 

[Backcountry]

Congrats on the new camera Brian! You're gonna have fun with it I'm sure.

As far as photo taking tips for you... I would strongly recommend you take those tutorial classes from Ritz since they are free. Also, you've complemented me on a lot of my photos that I've taken on our joint hunting and backpacking trips over the past couple years (maybe you were humoring me). FYI, I took all those pictures with a 3.1 or 4.1 mp camera that costs less than $200 today (and a couple years ago just $300). I personally think the average person doesn't need a great camera to take great photos, and I don't want an expensive and bulky camera for the field (but i wouldn't mind having one for the truck). Put a good camera in someone's hands that doesn't know how to compose photographs and you get a nicely exposed, poorly composed photo. Conversely, put an average camera in someone's hands that does know how to compose and expose photos, and you'll typically get outstanding photos.

I do (and/or have done) five things to maximize the chance that I get good photos...

1) when I first get a camera, I read the manual, cover to cover... after a few months of using the camera, I read it again... I know the exposure features inside and out.

2) I take a lot of pictures... and I mean a lot... when I see something that I want a picture of, I typically will take 5 to 15 pictures of it from various angles and exposure settings... this costs me nothing but time, and not much time at that. It's easy to delete 14 shots when one is a real gem. I shoot almost all my photos in automatic mode, and I can very, very quickly change the exposure by pre-focusing on different objects in the same focal plane that are illuminated differently (i.e., bright sky, mountainside in shadows, etc...).

3) Of utmost importance, I take great care to frame my photos appropriately... if a person is the subject, get close... a person holding a fish that is 2cm tall in a landscape photo is a distraction, get in close... in general, landscape photos look best when about 1/3rd of the photo is sky, ceteris paribus. Cameron Haines and the Eastman's crew have said A LOT on how the average guy can take good photos in the field, and it would behoove most of us to read their advice and take it to heart. Dig into Lanlord's brain and I bet you'll find he can share a heck of a lot more than the Eastman's crew that will serve you well.

4) ...and if you like reading, get a quality book on how camera lenses work (aperature vs. exposure time, and the resultant picture attributes) and educate yourself on the rudiments of optical physics. I've got a couple that have really helped me understand how the camera works and indeed that has helped me compose better photographs.

5) discard all of the above tips and take unconventional pictures... occassionally you'll end up with something really great!

Have fun, and good luck in Oregon!

Backcountry

p.s. You need to get me your trophy from last year ASAP.

p.p.s. I really like the thistle photograph!

 

[Lan-Lord]

Very well stated Backcountry.
Its good to hear tips from one's own experiences and photo learning curve.

 

[in2blacktail]

Thanks for the advice. I will try to follow it.
I took some photos last night at my folks house. My mom is great with flowers. She and a friend have been working on a few pieces so my wife and I where over for dinner, perfect, where is the camera.

This picture I shot in macro and the lighting wasn't all that great. I forced the flash off. What would you have done in the manual seeting or tried to get a little more clarity, softness, and detail?

 

[Backcountry]

1) In general I think the artifical lighting at your parents house is not full spectrum and that contributed to the overly orange tone to the photos. Keep that in mind when you want to take photos indoors in the future.

2) If your subject was intended to be the flower arrangement, the first photo is not well composed... that retro couch in the background behind the flowers is virtually identical in color to half of the flower arrangement, making it hard to distinguish from one to the other; the glass table has distracting reflection, either from the flash or from overhead lighting, which is frequently a problem when shooting around windows and other glass items; the carpet beneath the glass table with all the flowers and detail make the subject's background way too busy. Basically, there is no subject in this photo... back to the Pulitzer drawing board...

3) The blury photo (second) is likely blury because although you forced the flash off, the camera was still in auto mode, and compensated for the low light conditions via a long exposure which required the use of a tripod... rule of thumb: exposures longer than 1/30th of a second require a tripod.

Indoor photos ain't easy, and I probably can't do much better than you, just telling it like I see it as I know you can hanlde it (just like when I told you those glowing eyes outside of camp was probably a fox, or maybe *gasp* a bear).

Another tip, as part of framing and composition, you should concentrate almost as much on your subject's background as on the subject itself. Do everything you can to minimize background chaos. I bet that flower arrangement is virtually unphotographable where it sits in your parents house, by you, me, LanLord, etc... given all the variances in background and poor lighting... if you want to take photos of flower arrangements

, use a white or off white background like a sheet draped down a wall and over a table.

Backcountry

p.s. Don't forget, I liked yesterday's thistle photo!

p.p.s. I got your trophies, thanks!