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from "The Complete Guide to Sony's Alpha 560 and 580 DSLRs and the Alpha Mount System"

 

 

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Table of Contents


CHAPTER 0 - INTRODUCTION    
  
CHAPTER 1 – THE ALPHA 560 AND 580 IN A NUTSHELL     
INTRODUCTION 
MAJOR FEATURES          
Improved Noise at High Sensitivities        
Movie Mode      
Live View and Face Detection     
Two Live View Modes     
Smile Shutter     
Handheld HDR Shooting 
“Friendly” Help Guide    
Insanely Long Battery Life           
Vertical Grip      
Steadyshot™      
Anti-Dust            
Wireless flash    
Responsiveness  
Dynamic Range Optimization      
Up to Seven Images per Second  
Small and Light  
Scene Selection Modes   
Two Panorama Modes   
Live Focus Check             
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A560 AND A580 
A Slightly Higher-Resolution Sensor         
A Larger Memory Buffer             
Other Differences           
SOME ESSENTIAL HISTORY ABOUT SONY, MINOLTA, KONICA MINOLTA, AND CARL ZEISS  
LENSES  
Crop Factor        
Sony and Minolta Lens Nomenclature      
Frequently Asked Questions about Lenses             
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1           

CHAPTER 2 – THE BASIC GUIDE FOR THE IMPATIENT USER           
CONTROLS         
SHORTHAND NOTATION             
Power Save modes         
AUTO SETTING  
PROGRAM (“P”) MODE  
THE LIVE VIEW / OVF SWITCH     
DIFFERENT DISPLAYS      
THE “IMAGES REMAINING COUNTER”     
FOCUSING BASICS           
How does the camera know what to focus on?     
Autofocus using Live View and Face Detection     
The Focusing Sensors      
Autofocus (AF) / Manual Focus (MF) Switch          
Single-Shot AF / Continuous AF Focusing Modes   
BATTERIES         
AC Power           
THE OTHER BATTERY     
FLASH   
SELF-TIMERS      
THE “RESET” FEATURE   
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2           
 
CHAPTER 3 – AFTER YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR PICTURES   
INTRODUCTION 
VIEWING YOUR PICTURES WHILE THEY’RE STILL IN THE CAMERA 
Variations on a Theme - The Display Button         
Magnifying the image    
Deleting an image (or multiple images)  
Protecting an image       
Viewing your images on an HDTV            
Slide Show using the Optional Wireless Remote Commander        
HAVING YOUR PICTURES PRINTED AT A 1-HOUR PHOTO LAB        
Canceling DPOF files      
DOWNLOADING PICTURES TO YOUR COMPUTER             
EPILOGUE          
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3           
 
CHAPTER 4 – THE BASICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY       
HERE WE GO…  
SHUTTER SPEEDS            
SHUTTER PRIORITY MODE          
SPORTS ACTION MODE  
F/STOPS             
APERTURE PRIORITY MODE        
What you see is NOT always what you get            
MANUAL EXPOSURE MODE        
SO, IN SUMMARY…        
Tradeoffs           
THE NEW HELP DISPLAY 
ISO – HOW SENSITIVE IS THE CAMERA TO LIGHT?            
High ISO Noise Reduction            
Multi Frame Noise Reduction (Multi Frame NR)   
EXPOSURE COMPENSATION        
TIME EXPOSURES           
THE SCENE SELECTION MODES   
Sports Action Mode        
Sunset Mode      
Portrait Mode    
Macro Mode     
Landscape Mode            
Night  Portrait Mode      
Night View Mode            
Handheld Twilight Mode             
Summary of Scene Selection Modes        
THE PANORAMA MODES            
3D Panorama    
Other ways to view 3D .mpo Files            
VIEWFINDER EYEPIECE DIOPTER CORRECTION    
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4           
 
CHAPTER 5 – REALLY COOL ADVANCED FUNCTIONS         
FOCUSING MODES         
Single and Continuous AF with Subject Tracking   
Why Bother with Manual Focusing?         
HOW YOUR EXPOSURE METER THINKS   
Center-weighted  and Multi-Segment Metering   
Spot Metering   
How Do You Switch Between The Three Metering Modes?            
SPOT METERING AND EXPOSURE LOCK   
The AEL button  
Combine AEL with Spot Metering             
A Brief Recap    
STEADYSHOT™  
WHITE BALANCE             
Auto White Balance and Pre-Set White Balance   
Tweaking the Pre-Set White Balance       
The Color Temperature setting   
Custom White Balance   
FLASH, FILL FLASH, AND WIRELESS FLASH             
1) and 2) Auto Flash and Fill Flash            
3) Flash Exposure Compensation 
4) Rear Sync Flash          
5) Wireless Flash            
6) and 7) ADI and Pre-Flash TTL  
8) Red-Eye Reduction Mode        
DRIVE MODES   
Single-Shot Advance       
Continuous Advance       
Speed Prority Continuous            
Self-Timer          
Bracketing         
White Balance Bracketing           
Remote Commander      
ADVANCED TOPICS: THE HISTOGRAM DISPLAY    
Brightness range, sensors, and the human eye     
Using the Histogram for a Finer Degree of Control           
DYNAMIC RANGE OPTIMIZATION            
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) FUNCTION             
DRO VS. HDR     
CREATIVE STYLES            
Contrast Setting 
Saturation Setting           
Sharpness Setting           
Combining Settings         
B&W Mode        
AdobeRGB         
MY PERSONAL CAMERA SETTINGS           
Menu Settings   
Function Parameters      
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 5           
 
CHAPTER 6 – MOVIE MODE        
INTRODUCTION 
TELL A STORY    
FOCUSING AND EXPOSURE          
Focus Tips          
EXTERNAL MICROPHONE            
THE FILE FORMATS         
Video Formats   
EDITING YOUR FOOTAGE            
Saving a Freeze Frame   
CREATING DISCS             
Burning AVCHD videos   
MP4 Videos       
Creating a Data Disc      
PLAYING MOVIES ON YOUR PS3 
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 6           
 
CHAPTER 7 – WIRELESS FLASH AND ADVANCED FLASH TOPICS     
WRITING WITH LIGHT    
COMPOSITION – THE RULE OF THIRDS    
Texture 
Out of place shot            
Classical Portrait            
Environmental Portrait   
“Hey, Look at Me!”         
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 7           
 
CHAPTER 8 - WIRELESS FLASH AND ADVANCED FLASH TOPICS
INTRODUCTION 
HOW TO USE WIRELESS FLASH   
HOW DOES IT WORK?    
Will the Pre-Flash Bursts Affect the Exposure?     
HOW TO DO “RATIO FLASH” FOR PROFESSIONAL LIGHTING RESULTS        
BOUNCE FLASH 
LIGHT MODIFIERS           
FLASH AND CONTINUOUS SHOOTING      
MANUAL FLASH MODE (HVL-F58AM, HVL-F56AM AND HVL-F42AM ONLY)             
HIGH SPEED SYNCH (HSS) FLASH 
How to Activate HSS       
WHICH FLASH SHALL I GET?        
PARTING SHOT  
TO PROBE FURTHER       
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 8           

CHAPTER 9 – DIGITAL IMAGING CONCEPTS          
FILE FORMAT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR THE IMPATIENT READER           
THE CHAPTER BEGINS… 
“WHAT’S A PIXEL?  WHAT’S A MEGAPIXEL?”        
“HOW MANY MEGAPIXELS ARE ENOUGH?”         
FILE TYPES         
JPG COMPRESSION ARTIFACTS   
ASPECT RATIO   
IMAGE SIZE AND RESOLUTION    
MEMORY CARDS            
Some Background on Sony’s MemoryStick Pro Duo           
Memory Card Corruption Issues 
DUST ON THE SENSOR   
“HOT PIXELS” ON THE IMAGE SENSOR    
“HOT PIXELS” ON THE LIVE VIEW SENSOR            
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 9           
 
CHAPTER 10 – AN INTRODUCTION TO SONY’S PMB AND IDC SOFTWARE  
READ THIS FIRST             
INTRODUCTION 
AFTER YOU INSTALL       
AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFER YOUR IMAGES         
BROWSE YOUR IMAGES 
BASIC EDITING   
Rotating and Cropping   
Saving Your Image          
Adjusting the Tone Curve and the Color Balance  
Sharpness          
PRINTING           
OTHER EDITING SOFTWARE        
RAW CONVERSION USING IMAGE DATA CONVERTER       
Version Stack     
Extreme examples          
What’s Available             
TAKING THINGS FURTHER…         

CHAPTER 11 – LIVE VIEW            
INTRODUCTION 
A Little History   
The Solution – the Single Lens Reflex       
Frequently Asked Questions        
Advantages of Live View              
Advantages of the Optical Viewfinder      
So Show Me How To Use Live View, Already!       
Live Histogram  
Face Detection  
Smile Shutter     
Focus Check LV  
Focus Check LV DISPlay views     
Standard DISPlay Views: 
Additional DISPlay Views.            
Speed Priority Continuous           
How Live View Can Help You Get More Creative  
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 11         
 
CHAPTER 12 – ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 
INTERNET FORUMS AND DISCUSSION BOARDS    
CAMERA AND LENS REVIEW SITES           
TWO OUTSTANDING IMAGING MAGAZINES         
25 WAYS TO “WOW!” E-BOOKLET           
ADVANCED TOPICS 1 AND 2        
THE FRIEDMAN ARCHIVES SEMINARS      
THE ROAD TO CHINA     
THE MAUI XAPHOON     
EPILOGUE          
 
APPENDIX A - A “COOKBOOK” FOR SPECIAL SHOOTING SITUATIONS         
INTRODUCTION 
FIREWORKS       
ARTISTIC WATERFALLS   
STAGE PERFORMANCES / ROCK CONCERTS         
SHOOTING IN SNOW      
NIGHTTIME TIME EXPOSURES     
OUTDOOR GROUP PORTRAITS   
STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 
SUNSETS AND SILHOUETTES        
THE MOON        
NIGHTTIME SPORTS       
Christmas Lights             
PRODUCT SHOTS            
INTERIORS THAT SELL    
LIGHTNING        
CANDLELIGHT SHOTS

APPENDIX B – MEMORY JOG CARDS
 
INDEX   
 



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