Had a P3 making roundy-rounds at the airport today. Decided to try out the 55-210. I'm not overly happy with them, but it's probably operator error. I have a hard time hand-holding long lenses. These are ok for the web, but not for anything else. More shots on my blog.
Like I said, they're fine this size but the full size are just a tiny bit out of focus. Enough that you notice it anyway. I'll use the tripod next time and see how that works.
People would be surprised at the amount of computing power employed on these ASW aircraft. (former Navy computer geek)
pleased You should be moderately pleased. I have seen better, but on much more expensive equipment. A question about your image though. Right where the wings, wheels and body all come together it looks like there is a whole chunk missing.
That's actually the shiny underside of the wings/flaps reflecting the sky behind the plane. Looks weird doesn't it? Here's a 100% crop of the original RAW file.
Bimjo, is your 55-210 a Sony E or a Tamron? If it's a Sony (and in case you haven't already done so), check your Setup menu and go to "Lens Comp: Chro. Aber." and make sure it's switched-on. Being a native lens, the NEX software should recognise the lens and get rid of that blue fringe around the wheels, automatically. Also, if you use the 16mm Pancake indoors for architectural shots, it pays to switch-on the "Lens Comp: Distortion" to get rid of the barrel distortion. You'll see the distortion on the screen during composition but after you take the pic, it'll be gone on playback.
It's a Sony E mount. That's a good heads up and all three (CA/Shading/Distortion) are set to Auto, unfortunately it has no effect on RAW files, just the jpgs. Since there is no lens correction profile in ACR for the 55-210 you have to do it manually. Since I wasn't particularly awed by the sharpness of any of these shots I didn't bother correcting the CA or anything else. It was a "fact-finding" mission more than anything else and proved that while I'm getting better with age I still can't hand hold a 200mm lens, no matter how good looking I am. Tain't fair, but such is life.
It looks pretty good to me! - the hand held image of the plane I mean, lol Thanks for the heads up on the Lens Comp corrections not working when shooting on RAW. I did not know that.
Thanks, they're fine this size, not so much if I wanted to print them. I should rephrase my comment- the camera doesn't apply the corrections to a RAW file, but if there's one available (assuming your software supports it) you can apply them when you process the file on the computer. There isn't one for the 55-210 in ACR, but you can use the one for the 18-200 in a pinch or as a starting point.
Thanks RT. Apparently they are being phased out in favor of a jet, though I wonder how that'll be better for long slow loiter time.
