Can sony alpha 100 dslr take black and white photos?

[Lilchilichoco]

Hi again people,

I need to know 2 things:

1. Can the sony dslr take black and white pictures?

2. is it possible to convert color shots to black and white post capture?

3. if such an option exists and the sony cannot take b/w shots,does it have it?


another thing that I need help with....ISO:

1. How important is ISO?---my camera usage----casual family both indoors and outdoors,landscapes,macro,people specific situations.



2.The sony dslr loses out to canon 350/400 and nikon d/80 at ISO 800.should it be a big hitch in zeroeing in on sony considering my camera usage?

thanks a million for your time and help.

[cdifoto]

Hi again people,

I need to know 2 things:

1. Can the sony dslr take black and white pictures? yes.

2. is it possible to convert color shots to black and white post capture? yes.

3. if such an option exists and the sony cannot take b/w shots,does it have it? huh? does what have what?


another thing that I need help with....ISO:

1. How important is ISO?---my camera usage----casual family both indoors and outdoors,landscapes,macro,people specific situations.

ISO is 1/3 of the exposure equation. the other 2/3 are shutter speed and aperture. ISO is extremely important. it's essential. a requirement. you cannot take a photo without an ISO value. it's not physically/electronically/technically possible.


2.The sony dslr loses out to canon 350/400 and nikon d/80 at ISO 800.should it be a big hitch in zeroeing in on sony considering my camera usage?

that's up to you to decide.

thanks a million for your time and help.

Answers in bold.

[Lilchilichoco]

thank you for your reply.....about the "huh!"......

I said,in case the sony cannot take b/w pictures,does a method exist to change color photos to b/w on camera,and if it does,does sony has it?...got it?

ok ISO....
so now we know it's EXTREMELY IMP.....but so is image stabilization,automatic sensor cleaning,megapixels...particularly because I intend larger landscape prints. How does it compare in importance to the features I stated?

[SpecialK]

Hi:

Few people shoot at ISO 800, unless trying to do some "artistic" shots or something, because the image quality goes down. If you are mostly interested in B/W, then it might be exactly what you want, however.

Most photographers want (and pay much more for) lenses with very large apertures (smaller f number) so they do not have to use high ISO settings.

Generally, most peole shoot at as low an ISO as possible, which is normally 100 or 200 depending on the camera. For each doubling of the ISO number (100 to 200, or 200 to 400, etc) it is the equivalent of gaining one larger aperture on the lens, or being able to use the next faster shutter speed.

[cdifoto]

Hi:

Few people shoot at ISO 800, unless trying to do some "artistic" shots or something, because the image quality goes down. If you are mostly interested in B/W, then it might be exactly what you want, however.

Most photographers want (and pay much more for) lenses with very large apertures (smaller f number) so they do not have to use high ISO settings.

Generally, most peole shoot at as low an ISO as possible, which is normally 100 or 200 depending on the camera. For each doubling of the ISO number (100 to 200, or 200 to 400, etc) it is the equivalent of gaining one larger aperture on the lens, or being able to use the next faster shutter speed.

Hmmm actually I go to ISO1600 regularly on my Canons. Image quality doesn't go down. That must be a Pentax thing. ;) :p

[timmciglobal]

The sony would honestly be at the bottom of my list of cameras to buy.

Rebel XTi/30D is quite nice.
Nikon D80
Pentax K100D

Tim

[cdifoto]

thank you for your reply.....about the "huh!"......

I said,in case the sony cannot take b/w pictures,does a method exist to change color photos to b/w on camera,and if it does,does sony has it?...got it?

ok ISO....
so now we know it's EXTREMELY IMP.....but so is image stabilization,automatic sensor cleaning,megapixels...particularly because I intend larger landscape prints. How does it compare in importance to the features I stated?

Gotcha. Too many "its" confused me. :eek:

To really answer the question, since the camera can shoot B&W, there's no need to "convert" it in-camera. However I always shoot in color then convert to B&W on the computer. It's faster to shoot that way, since I'm not always trying to decide if I want the next shot to be B&W then switching the camera settings, and I can do a better conversion at home than the camera does by itself. I also get to keep the color version in case I wanted it in color after all.

You probably mean high ISO performance, rather than just ISO itself. Just saying "how important is ISO?" is like asking "how important is oxygen?" The answer is....you can't do without it. ISO is the value for the sensitivity of the film or sensor. You can't just be like "I don't want any ISO because it's not important." because it just doesn't work that way.

High ISO performance, on the other hand, is how well a camera does over, let's say, ISO800. We'll call that "high" for the sake of argument. Some people consider 400 to be high. I don't. You obviously want a camera do to as well as possible. As clean as possible for the most detail to be retained for the nicest prints. However some people shoot outdoors in daylight all the time so they really don't use ISO800/1600 much. Others are always shooting in dark places so they need ISO1600 to be as clean as possible AND they're using fast lenses just to get shutter speeds that are usable. I'm usually in that second group, although not always.

How important high ISO performance is to you is, well, up to you. You can compare a lot of popular cameras, complete with full reviews and 100% crops and all that good stuff so you can see for yourself at www.dpreview.com. I'm pretty sure the Sony Alpha's there, and I KNOW the Canons and Nikons are.

[PatrickLeonardo]

Hmmm actually I go to ISO1600 regularly on my Canons. Image quality doesn't go down. That must be a Pentax thing. ;) :p

Quality doesn't drop at 1600, boy are you full of shit. Either that, or you don't know how to look at a photo.:p

[cdifoto]

Quality doesn't drop at 1600, boy are you full of shit. Either that, or you don't know how to look at a photo.:p

You use Pentax, I use Canon. Canon has quite high quality at ISO1600. I don't really know about Pentax. Maybe it's you that doesn't know how to look at a photo. ;)

[Lilchilichoco]

Hold it guys! I'd hate to think my question stared a war!

Everyone has their favourite cameras I'm sure and to each his own.

Cdi-buy,thanks for your detailed answer. Truth is I'm a baby to this thing,but boy do I dream big! So u have this 34 year old who lost her only camera,a very basic point and shoot, a few years back.Have dreamed of taking photographs for years now!Life's too painfully beautiful to not frame it.

Anyway....point is I still am grappling with the idea of ISO,reading my hundredth review. But I am not saying I don't need it, I was asking vis-a-vis image stabilization,sensor cleaning,higher megapixels, how does it comapare in importance. But I get your point.

Tim,I have gone through about 4 comaparisons and indepth reviews of canon rebel,nikon d-80 and sony alpha,including a head to head. I based my choice on those really painstaking reviews,including one one this site. Perhaps if you read them you'd see this my way. But anyhow it is a personal choice,I like what I read and saw and I am quite sure I need image stabilization,and sensor cleaning looks like a really important issue. This may make u feel like going,"hey dumbo!",but I have nothing else to go by except the reviews.

Now the point is, you can't have everything. I want excellent image quality,image stabilization,wide angle,optical viewfinder(reviews say this is the best type),sensor cleaning,low noise,really good low light/night performance,excellent landscapes,and ability to get good prints at large sizes,and be able to capture my daughter's antics.

So basically I need to point and shoot and also want to compose pictures.

Now.....what do we do?
Tell me if I need two cams,because that's what my first question which I posted last month was answered as. If I do,which one for point and shoot and which one for a dslr.
And manna from heaven if you could tell me any one Dslr that'd do all these!!!!!

Million thanks and best regards.Compliments of the season too.

(whew!! need I tell u I'm a poet too? Explains my too many words.... :)

[cdifoto]

You don't really need IS. It's useful. It's handy. It's not necessary. If you get a camera that's good at higher ISO and/or an external flash that you can bounce (and become slightly proficient with), you'll be surprised what you can achieve.

Point and Shoot cameras are worse at high ISO than even the poorest high ISO cameras. That's the nature of the beast because of the teeny tiny sensors in the P&S cameras. dSLRs have much larger sensors and as a result, image quality is inherently better.

You don't need that auto sensor cleaning either. It's another handy feature - sortof - but a $10 blower will take care of the same stuff as that stripper-esque gyrating sensor motor thing will, and probably do a better job of it.

Just about any of the current cameras, along with good technique, will allow large prints. I've had 20x30 inch prints made and framed for customers with my former Rebel XT.

All dSLRs have optical viewfinders. That's a non-issue.

All you need to do is decide on a good camera, get an external flash for it, and the right lens(es).

All current cameras are good cameras. There isn't any true "junk" out there. They just all have compromises and your money should go to the company that fulfills most of your priorities.

[cgl88]

You'll soon find out that you will want both an SLR and a compact. The SLR will give you everything your list asks for, and more: creativity, no red-eye, great details, etc. But SLRs are bulky, so your compact (a Canon SD or Sony Txx is so very convenient) will let you have a camera around all the time.

I've been researching like crazy on cameras and every camera has tradeoffs, so having two things will narrow those tradeoffs :)

Have you narrowed down your list of options? I bet once you see a great deal (and price) it might come down to that.

[Lilchilichoco]

Hi everybody.....hope u had a great holiday.....me too...however,still haven't bought my first DSLR. Some of the threads here have given some great info....specially the one's about the comparison I am considering...but I am still not so sure which one to go for....in my part of the world the two are absolutely the same price...so that's a non issue...The Canon is giving away a free tripod as holiday offer,so that somewhat takes care of the IS issue....but u can't have your tripod everywhere.... so the cost goes higher if u include the IS lenses.
Sony lenses are also huge price.

So the issue is,as an absolute novice,how much do u actually use high ISO shooting modes?

Also, in sensor type,is the CMOS better than the CCD? How?



cgl88,I am actually looking for a good point and shoot as well,at least till I can decide which slr to buy....but it just seems such a waste considering I am going to spend a huge amount on the slr.But u are right, a p and s is an always around thing.Have any choices in that category?

best regards and thanks for your patience everyone

[mattdm]

2. is it possible to convert color shots to black and white post capture?


Think about that for fifteen seconds and I think you can come to the correct answer yourself. :) All you need to do is throw away the chromatic information and retain the brightness, and there you go.

In fact, it's actually preferable to do this afterwards, because at that point you can adjust the amount of brightness you're saving from the red, green, and blue filters -- like putting a color filter over your B&W camera's lens, but you get to decide which one after the fact. This can make a huge difference in the feel of the final image.