The Amazing Sony A1/A7/A9/APS-C & Anything else welcome Mega Thread!

[woof woof]

I bought a car a couple of weeks ago

Just sold mine tonight

EDIT - NOT the Escort!

Spill all

I was thinking of replacing my Evoque with a newer one but I decided there's nothing wrong with it so why bother? Mrs WW hasn't mentioned getting a car for a while which means I might be able to keep my MX5.

I did price up lots of SUV's from bigger and I suppose more mainstream makers and I was surprised at the cost of quite a few of them. I did think JLR cars were at the more expensive end of the market but once you spec even something much more mainstream up to something like the same spec there often isn't much difference and now and again the thing I'd have thought should be cheaper was more expensive. I don't like the new tablet computer controls approach though.

 

[LeeRatters]

Spill all

I was thinking of replacing my Evoque with a newer one but I decided there's nothing wrong with it so why bother? Mrs WW hasn't mentioned getting a car for a while which means I might be able to keep my MX5.

I did price up lots of SUV's from bigger and I suppose more mainstream makers and I was surprised at the cost of quite a few of them. I did think JLR cars were at the more expensive end of the market but once you spec even something much more mainstream up to something like the same spec there often isn't much difference and now and again the thing I'd have thought should be cheaper was more expensive. I don't like the new tablet computer controls approach though.

My story isn't anything too exciting.....

Well, I've always thought I wanted the car I bought, but not under the circumstances. I've had my silver 2010 '10' plate Focus for over 7 years, it belonged to the dad of my best mate [since school] who sadly passed away from cancer in 2017 - now on just over 90,000 miles and pretty much not missed a beat I was more than happy to keep it for a few more years tbh. But, recently my stepdad has had his licence taken from him due to an Aortic Aneurysm which is pretty large & they have said they aren't going to operate on due to health & age - he's 81. He also had a 2010 '60' plate Focus, pretty much the same as mine aside from colour..... 31,000 miles on the clock so I couldn't really turn it down. Just as I said, I would have preferred it in 3-4 years time when he decided not to drive by his own decision He is pretty gutted & depressed about it really - cars weren't just cars in his life. A bit like me & some of us, he owned lots & lots of cars over the years. Engine swaps & built kit cars etc in his more younger years. He drove funeral cars for the Co-Op & was a driving instructor all through the 80-90's. I engine swapped my first Escort with him, after we rebuilt the engine together, when I was 18/19 - taught me at the time how to do ignition timing, set the points, valve clearances, adjust brakes etc etc and it's due to him how I am now with regard to mechanics. The Escort I have now was his initially.

On a more positive note, my mum has bought a Nissan Micra auto & started driving again. She passed her test around 40 years ago but hasn't driven for maybe 30 years or so! My stepdad was her instructor, that was how they met She seems to be doing okay though on todays hectic roads for the local, short journey's they do.

Anyway, sorry for the long chat......

I'll take a photo of the 'new' Focus when it's had a good clean. Or maybe I'll just Photoshop the colour of the old one....

 

[snerkler]

My story isn't anything too exciting.....

Well, I've always thought I wanted the car I bought, but not under the circumstances. I've had my silver 2010 '10' plate Focus for over 7 years, it belonged to the dad of my best mate [since school] who sadly passed away from cancer in 2017 - now on just over 90,000 miles and pretty much not missed a beat I was more than happy to keep it for a few more years tbh. But, recently my stepdad has had his licence taken from him due to an Aortic Aneurysm which is pretty large & they have said they aren't going to operate on due to health & age - he's 81. He also had a 2010 '60' plate Focus, pretty much the same as mine aside from colour..... 31,000 miles on the clock so I couldn't really turn it down. Just as I said, I would have preferred it in 3-4 years time when he decided not to drive by his own decision He is pretty gutted & depressed about it really - cars weren't just cars in his life. A bit like me & some of us, he owned lots & lots of cars over the years. Engine swaps & built kit cars etc in his more younger years. He drove funeral cars for the Co-Op & was a driving instructor all through the 80-90's. I engine swapped my first Escort with him, after we rebuilt the engine together, when I was 18/19 - taught me at the time how to do ignition timing, set the points, valve clearances, adjust brakes etc etc and it's due to him how I am now with regard to mechanics. The Escort I have now was his initially.

On a more positive note, my mum has bought a Nissan Micra auto & started driving again. She passed her test around 40 years ago but hasn't driven for maybe 30 years or so! My stepdad was her instructor, that was how they met She seems to be doing okay though on todays hectic roads for the local, short journey's they do.

Anyway, sorry for the long chat......

I'll take a photo of the 'new' Focus when it's had a good clean. Or maybe I'll just Photoshop the colour of the old one....

Bit of a bitter sweet story that. Sorry to hear of your stepdad’s health issue

 

[woof woof]

My story isn't anything too exciting.....

It was interesting.

I'll be gutted when I have to give up driving. It's not just the love of cars and driving it's the ease and independence too.

While I'm here. A crop from a picture I took yesterday.



I told Mrs WW I was going out but when I got home... SEVEN missed calls. And as she monitors me coming and going on CCTV she must have known I was out

Whole picture.



I like this one.

 

[GreenNinja67]

I have the A73 and an old Tamron 500mm F8 catadioptric (mirror) lens with me at work today.

Now the sun is shining I'm hoping to give a test on full frame.

It was really awful on M4/3 but I have a feeling it's the design of lens which makes it unsuitable for use on anything other than full frame.

We shall see.

It also has a Tamron matched 2x teleconverter but I'm not holding out much hope of good images at 1000mm.

 

[mav]

You can adjust ISO without pressing a button if you switch EASY ISO on in the menu (menu B3) but IIRC the actual ISO setting is not displayed on screen when easy iso is on.

Thanks i will have a look at that , but dont think it works in manual Mode. I think i could assingn the iso to one of thefront fn buttons which would be a work around

 

[ancient_mariner]

I have the A73 and an old Tamron 500mm F8 catadioptric (mirror) lens with me at work today.

Now the sun is shining I'm hoping to give a test on full frame.

It was really awful on M4/3 but I have a feeling it's the design of lens which makes it unsuitable for use on anything other than full frame.

We shall see.

It also has a Tamron matched 2x teleconverter but I'm not holding out much hope of good images at 1000mm.

Old mirror lenses tend to be poor - I have a Sigma 600 f8 , and what was tolerable in film days really looks bad now. I think the results with a superzoom compact at longer focal lengths would be better out of the camera.

 

[GreenNinja67]

Old mirror lenses tend to be poor - I have a Sigma 600 f8 , and what was tolerable in film days really looks bad now. I think the results with a superzoom compact at longer focal lengths would be better out of the camera.

I'm not expecting miracles Toni.

More a bit of fun before I eBay it to be honest.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Old mirror lenses tend to be poor ...

They certainly vary a lot.

My Tamron Adaptall 500mm works well for me, but it needs to be used on a tripod or monopod, even on a sunny day...

 

[GreenNinja67]

They certainly vary a lot.

My Tamron Adaptall 500mm works well for me, but it needs to be used on a tripod or monopod, even on a sunny day...

View attachment 438708

That's the one I have Andrew.

I'll give it a go from the top of Birmingham library and balance on the handrail.

 

[the_accidental]

None I can share cos they’re of family, but I got some excellent shots with my Minolta 500mm AF mirror on a recent half term holiday. So they can do great. Though that’s a fairly high end more modern one, by mirror standards.

In particular there’s one head and shoulder’s shot of my niece on a high ropes course that’s one of my fav portrait shots ever - almost worth the cost of the lens alone to me.

All shot handheld with the IBIS generally at 500th or more usually 1000th, shoot raw, let the iso go wild and if needed bring it back with the AI NR in lightroom.

 

[ancient_mariner]

None I can share cos they’re of family, but I got some excellent shots with my Minolta 500mm AF mirror on a recent half term holiday. So they can do great. Though that’s a fairly high end more modern one, by mirror standards.

In particular there’s one head and shoulder’s shot of my niece on a high ropes course that’s one of my fav portrait shots ever - almost worth the cost of the lens alone to me.

All shot handheld with the IBIS generally at 500th or more usually 1000th, shoot raw, let the iso go wild and if needed bring it back with the AI NR in lightroom.

I'd see the Minolta af mirror lens as being a serious piece of kit, rather a toy for the curious like my Sigma, hence the price difference.

I appreciate the chance to have tried a mirror lens, but as someone who uses other film-era lenses, was a bit shocked at how 'not very good' it was. I suspect better image quality would be obtained using a good 70-210 zoom and cropping.