Has anyone got a Sony DSLR A200?

[eccles]

Shirley, what awful service. I don't blame you for slinging the whole lot back at the seller. Maybe you'll think of trying again in the summer, but the weight thing is something that you can only appreciate if you handle a DSLR first, and they're not for everyone because of that.
Thanks for the good wishes regarding the cold. It's just about past the worst point I think.

[web4160]

Just to say my £40 cashback on my Sony A300 has finally arrived. This is despite Jessops telling me I wouldn't get it because the camera was sold as a bundle with two lens. Thanks to Mike for encouraging me to apply despite this advice!

No butterflies in the north yet to try my new camera on but I did manage to get a nice picture of an obliging Robin at the weekend in Conway.

[eccles]

Well done on getting the cashback. That worked out a pretty good deal.
Nice pic of the robin especially since it's only your 280th shot. I presume it was taken with the Tamron zoom?

[web4160]

It was taken with the Tamron, although I have put my £40 towards a Sigma 105mm Macro lens which I am waiting to try out.

[Shirley Roulston]

Can anyone tell what I am not doing, a lot of my photo keep coming out like this photo.

DSC00583.JPG (120.45 KiB) Viewed 480 times

Thanks Shirley

[Pete Eeles]

At first glance, it looks like your metering mode is set to look at the entire scene and, because a bright sky is a large chunk of the scene, makes the rest of the scene look relatively-dark.

In this instance, spot or partial metering might be better.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Shirley Roulston]

Thanks Pete I'll give it a try.
Shirley

[eccles]

There is probably more stuff written on metering than any other photographic topic simply because every metering system can be fooled. In this instance if the subject in your example was metered with spot metering then it would most likely turn out OK because bluetits have a nice balance of colours without too much black or bright white. The A100 has a bit of overexposure headroom but is unforgiving with underexposure so if shooting against the sky, putting the exposure in doubt, go over by 2/3 stop and compensate later at the PC if necessary. Having said that, if you do that when shooting a blackbird with spot metering you'll be way overexposed. Most of the time if the sun is behind you multi-segment metering works quite well. Shooting into the sun can be difficult, although rewarding when you get it right. Check your screen often as you shoot so you can dial a bit more over or under exposure correction. It's the AV +/- button that should lie pretty much under your right thumb when shooting. You then adjust with the wheel at the front of the grip. Also keep an eye on your shutter speed. You'll soon get to know when the exposure is about what it should be.
There are also group exposure options where when you press the shutter the camera takes three shots in succession at different exposures.

[Shirley Roulston]

Thanks Eccles, that explains so much, the sea was coming out very dark and a Teal I took was also dark, even though I had a Field guide I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for, I can see its all to do with exposure, I'll be practising to-day.

lifeboat bay.JPG (73.61 KiB) Viewed 385 times

with this one is quite nice with all that blue but it wasn't all that blue when I took it, in fact I've lighten it a lot. I need to look at the screen more and alter it, which I haven't at all.
Lots of photos have come out alright.
Shirley

[eccles]

Generally speaking with landscapes like the above, you shouldn't have too much trouble if you stick to the multisegment metering option, although with all that sea and sky you may need to go over by 1/3 or 2/3 stop to get it dead right. It's when you take overly dark or bright subjects or shoot against the light that you need to take extra care. That's a nice picture too, by the way.