Sony 135 F2.8 STF lens bokeh and A700

Furono

I finally bought the Sony 135 2.8 STF lens and tried it out for the first time today on my A700. I'm very impressed with it and found it a joy to use. The bokeh is everything they said it would be and the manual focus is not a problem on the A700 view finder. If you don't know about it you can read here.

When I was taking pictures today I didn't use a tripod which would of definitely helped since it was a very cloudy day. However, I still managed to get some hand held pictures of moving Koalas and little birds. I can't wait for spring, cherry blossoms and bring my tripod to officially try it out.

Heres a sample of the bokeh (it really is the best) on an untouched photo:

Icebear

Nice!

jsmiley

Furono

These are some nice photos. This is the first I've heard of the 135 very interesting. I started using the Minolta along time ago. And now have the A100. I would be interested in your opinion of what the advantages the A700 as over the A100.

Thanks

John

www.smileysphotography.com

Furono

Hi John, it was a very huge upgrade going from the A100 to A700. The first thing I noticed right away is how much faster the A700 is at taking pictures. The A100 would lagg a bit focusing and such whereas the A700 doesn't have a noticable pause and is snappy. The shutter is a lot quieter too. Picture quality is better. High ISO is better. Bigger and better screen on the back and clearer view finder.

Lots and lots of other new features which was nice, like multiple save settings.

The new wireless remote is good too but lacking so I still use a wired remote.

I love that you can use your computer to take pictures and download directly. I can see many uses for this.

I would seriously consider upgrading if I were you. If you have the money you might wait for the full frame Sony that I heard is coming out. I don't know when it's coming out or how much it will be (probably expensive). I bought the A700 and use my A100 as a backup so it worked out well.

Steve

Furono

Here is a link that talks about all the new Sony Cameras coming out this year in April - A300 on up and the crazy looking 24.81 mega pixel full frame.

HERE

gus

That is the strangest looking koala ive ever seen...and ive seen a lot of them.

jsmiley

HI Steve

Thanks for the info. I give more credence to someone that is using one over the online review.

As for the Oxbow bend photos on my site. I was shooting film, Kodak's E200 and FujiFilm Velvia & Provia 100 using a maxxum 7 and 9


John

gman33

Great shots Steve....so glad to see other Sony Alpha users on the board. I was going to get the A700 but opted for the 70-200mm SSM instead...will wait to see what else Sony comes out with this year before begging my wife to let me get another body

Great work
Ed

harjtt

Nice shots and always good to see what the new A700 can do with nice glass!.

Cheers

Harj

harrylew

Another Alpha User
Hi, all,

I'm new on the site and just wanted to introduce myself to other Alpha users.

I've got a closet full of Maxxum film bodies and lenses. But I recently got my first DSLR, the Alpha 700. What a camera!

One of these days -- or years -- I'll get the STF. That is a dream lens come true.

Harry

ziggy53

harrylew wrote:

Hi, all,

I'm new on the site and just wanted to introduce myself to other Alpha users.

I've got a closet full of Maxxum film bodies and lenses. But I recently got my first DSLR, the Alpha 700. What a camera!

One of these days -- or years -- I'll get the STF. That is a dream lens come true.

Harry

Harry,

Welcome to the Digital Grin.

Congratulations on the new camera. By all reports it is awesome, but I'd like to hear more about what you like about it.

Also, if you'd tell us about the "STF" lens ...

harrylew

Thanks for the welcome
Great to be here!

My reasons for liking the A700:

1. Excellent ergonomics. Even though it doesn't have two knobs like the Konica Minolta 7D, it's still very easy to use. Most settings can be made by pushing a button on the body, and then making selection with a control dial. Alternatively, you can use the camera's Quick Navigation System -- an innovative four-way toggle button that allows you to select choices from a display on the back LCD. All the main choices are right there and it's easy to move vertically and horizontally between them using the toggle button. I was initially dubious about this, but I've found it works very well. I hardly ever have to access the menus to make basic settings on the camera.

2. The LCD screen is very high resolution, with 920,000 pixels. Very bright,large, clean type, and super easy to read in bright light.

3. The body is robust. The front and top are magnesium. The bottom and parts of the back are engineering grade plastic. It all feels very solid, yet light to carry around all day.

4. The camera offers Sony's so-called Super Steady Shot stabilization, which is sensor-based, not lens-based. I'm finding it buys an extra three stops or so, sometimes more.

5. I went for the optional vertical grip. This is the only grip I've seen that includes a second set of full controls on the grip.

6. The camera is very quick. Quick to turn on, save to disk, and autofocus.

7. It has some new technology built in to extend dynamic range (Dynamic Range Optimization). There are a few options of DRO available depending on how aggressive you want to get. On a recent hike, I used it to retain detail in show while maintaining the exposure in the overall scene. It worked really well!

8. Noise at higher ISO is improved over Sony's first model, the A-100. Up to 1600 ISO, noise is minimal. I hardly ever go beyond that.

9. It is fully compatible with legacy Minolta, Konica-Minolta, and third-party lenses available for the A-Mount. I finally can use the lenses i acquired during my Minolta film days.

Re: the Sony 135 STF. This is a Sony rebadge (I believe) of a classic Minolta lens. I'm not totally sure how it works, something about a special optical element that produces superlative bokeh. The downside is that it's manual focus. For more information, go here:

http://www.magnuswedberg.com/index.php?doc=STF-review

http://www.dyxum.com/columns/articles/lenses/SAL-135F28/Sony-AF-135-STF-SAL-135F28_review.asp

http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/detail.asp?IDLens=308

ziggy53 wrote:

Harry,

Welcome to the Digital Grin.

Congratulations on the new camera. By all reports it is awesome, but I'd like to hear more about what you like about it.

Also, if you'd tell us about the "STF" lens ...

ziggy53

harrylew wrote:

... Re: the Sony 135 STF. This is a Sony rebadge (I believe) of a classic Minolta lens. I'm not totally sure how it works, something about a special optical element that produces superlative bokeh. The downside is that it's manual focus. For more information, go here:

http://www.magnuswedberg.com/index.php?doc=STF-review

http://www.dyxum.com/columns/articles/lenses/SAL-135F28/Sony-AF-135-STF-SAL-135F28_review.asp

http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/detail.asp?IDLens=308

Thanks so much for your appraisal of the A700, but thanks sooo much more for enlightening and informing about the 135mm STF lens. That thing is "awesome", and I had no idea. clap

ziggy53

Furono wrote:

I finally bought the Sony 135 2.8 STF lens and tried it out for the first time today on my A700. ...

My apologies Furono. You started this thread and provided a review of the camera and examples of the lens. I have to admit I was ignorant of the qualities of this lens but I should have investigated further.

Absolutely incredible! I would appreciate any further images as well as "detail" images of the bokeh areas which might not be fully apparent at web sizes.

Thanks,

harrylew

No problem
Ziggy,

Glad to help.

Harry

ziggy53 wrote:

Thanks so much for your appraisal of the A700, but thanks sooo much more for enlightening and informing about the 135mm STF lens. That thing is "awesome", and I had no idea. clap