Sony Stupid mistake

In early spring when I was first able to get out and play with my new A7 IV, things were fairly limited to backyard and around the neighborhood. I played some with the programmable button on the 200-600 and changed it to APS-C, and since I never use the button for focus hold (or anything else for that matter) promptly forgot about it. Of course this programming happens in-camera, so the same selection applies to any lens with a button, including the Sigma 100-400 and even my old Minolta A-Mounts. This bit me in the butt on Sunday. Without realizing it I evidently pushed the button several times, resulting in some full frame shots and some APS-C shots, which are around 13-14 MP. Fortunately the vast majority of these are going be viewed on a cellphone, so no big deal. I just hope none of the car owners or drivers want the full resolution version so they can print it large.

I need to change the button back to Focus Hold or something innocuous, or at least momentary. When APS-C is programmed it's a latched switch, that is to say it stays there until pushed again. The FH is momentary, so reverts as soon as the button is released.

Jeez. :shakehead:
 
And here I thought I was going to read about opening the camera with film loaded in it, or going out to shoot without a card in the camera, or forgetting to check the battery charge state before an important shoot while having forgotten the spare battery. You know, something catastrophic or worse.

At least you got some of the shots, which is a lot better than none at all.
 
And here I thought I was going to read about opening the camera with film loaded in it, or going out to shoot without a card in the camera, or forgetting to check the battery charge state before an important shoot while having forgotten the spare battery. You know, something catastrophic or worse.

At least you got some of the shots, which is a lot better than none at all.
Oh, I got all of the shots, well over a thousand out of that one camera, it's just some are 14MP and some 33. Still, it was a stupid mistake. At least I didn't have a lens with a button on the other camera.

My Flickr page has exploded with over 80,000 views in the last week. Milan Dragway is posting links to my event albums on Facebook and using my shots on their website. Drivers and owners are joining Flickr and following me or sending friend requests just so they know when I've uploaded shots of their cars. They're coming up to me at the track and asking about purchases. As I stated above, the problem would be if an owner wants to buy a full resolution shot to print large and hang on a wall. How big can you print a 13MP file? No idea. I've printed 20MP up to 20+" x 30+", can't recall the exact size.

It boils down to reputation and I'm just getting mine established, having shot out there for two years under the shadow of several locally well known photographers. I'm not the only dog out there and certainly not the biggest. I don't ever want to find myself in a position where I can't provide what they're asking for, they'll go elsewhere.
 
My post wasn't a criticism, just got me thinking about some of the 'stupid mistakes' I've made when dealing with cameras.
The one that really sticks in my mind was one of the first times I actually shot pictures I wanted and didn't get. I had gone to the Times Grand Prix with my neighbors SR-T 101 which he was kind enough to loan me for the trip. I fell in love with that camera and shot up a roll of 36 pretty quickly. Having had pit access it was a target rich environment. When I got the film back from the developer I was shocked when it was all black. I hadn't loaded the film correctly nor checked that the take up reel was turning when advancing the film. I got nothing!
I wasn't disappointed as I had learned a lot from that experience and came to realize I'd bought the wrong camera, a Mamiya Sekor.

My latest 'flub' was grabbing a camera off the desk, driving 120 miles and finding out I left the card in the computer. Thankfully Sony's have two card slots, at least this one did(does).
 
When you pull up the list of things you can assign to the button, or any button, the very last option I have is "Not set". I have an A7R3 but would assume this is also true of the A74.
I wondered that. I was just going to put it back to focus hold, but planned to check if it can be defeated. I'll probably go through the list and see if there's anything can program it to that would be useful to my situation but not cause me problems in the event it gets pushed. Although, it's pretty clear I'm too fumble fingered to be trusted with an active button!

I have an RIII as well but the IV is my main camera because the action/tracking focus is light years ahead of the RIII. The RIII was originally bought as a backup, but it occurred to me that I'm further ahead using it for closer shots and not changing lenses in that nasty environment. Both bodies are programmed to switch to APS-C with the lens button, fortunately the lens in use on the RIII didn't have that feature.
 
My post wasn't a criticism, just got me thinking about some of the 'stupid mistakes' I've made when dealing with cameras.
The one that really sticks in my mind was one of the first times I actually shot pictures I wanted and didn't get. I had gone to the Times Grand Prix with my neighbors SR-T 101 which he was kind enough to loan me for the trip. I fell in love with that camera and shot up a roll of 36 pretty quickly. Having had pit access it was a target rich environment. When I got the film back from the developer I was shocked when it was all black. I hadn't loaded the film correctly nor checked that the take up reel was turning when advancing the film. I got nothing!
I wasn't disappointed as I had learned a lot from that experience and came to realize I'd bought the wrong camera, a Mamiya Sekor.

My latest 'flub' was grabbing a camera off the desk, driving 120 miles and finding out I left the card in the computer. Thankfully Sony's have two card slots, at least this one did(does).
Thanks, no offense taken. I'm just a bit stressed with all of this recent new attention, I feel pressured to not screw something up.
 
In early spring when I was first able to get out and play with my new A7 IV, things were fairly limited to backyard and around the neighborhood. I played some with the programmable button on the 200-600 and changed it to APS-C, and since I never use the button for focus hold (or anything else for that matter) promptly forgot about it. Of course this programming happens in-camera, so the same selection applies to any lens with a button, including the Sigma 100-400 and even my old Minolta A-Mounts. This bit me in the butt on Sunday. Without realizing it I evidently pushed the button several times, resulting in some full frame shots and some APS-C shots, which are around 13-14 MP. Fortunately the vast majority of these are going be viewed on a cellphone, so no big deal. I just hope none of the car owners or drivers want the full resolution version so they can print it large.

I need to change the button back to Focus Hold or something innocuous, or at least momentary. When APS-C is programmed it's a latched switch, that is to say it stays there until pushed again. The FH is momentary, so reverts as soon as the button is released.

Jeez. :shakehead:
If it’s any consolation Tim I did exactly the same thing at a speedway practice session with my A7R3 - ending up with a set of 17mp shots instead of 42mp - the problem was I was also shooting allowing for cropping later from what should have been 42mp shots and I ended up cropping from the 17mp ending up with circa 10mp !
The cause was exactly the same - the APSC mode being assigned to the lens button - so easily pressed accidentally when just gripping the camera and lens in the normal way - lesson learnt and I will be re programming the button !
 
As I stated above, the problem would be if an owner wants to buy a full resolution shot to print large and hang on a wall. How big can you print a 13MP file? No idea. I've printed 20MP up to 20+" x 30+", can't recall the exact size.
It's a center crop, right? So it should be 14 properly sharp megapixels.

I've printed 12mp images from my OG X100 up to 80cm / 32 inches on the long size, and that image looks great even up close. I did upres the image to 24mp before printing (nowadays I'd upres to 300 PPI). Although the subject matter helped; another image of 12mp upressed to 24mp was printed at 75cm / 30" on the long side, but it has less favourable subject matter, and when viewed from up close, there is some minor softness in places. But that's only when you're less than a foot away from the print, which means really examining the detail rather than taking in the entire image.

With some careful processing and upressing, I think 24 inches on the long side should give dependably high quality prints. Depending on image and lens quality and subject matter, you may well be able to go larger.

You could take some crops of images and print them at the enlargent you'd like to offer the full image at, just to see if the image quality holds up without breaking the bank
 
If it’s any consolation Tim I did exactly the same thing at a speedway practice session with my A7R3 - ending up with a set of 17mp shots instead of 42mp - the problem was I was also shooting allowing for cropping later from what should have been 42mp shots and I ended up cropping from the 17mp ending up with circa 10mp !
The cause was exactly the same - the APSC mode being assigned to the lens button - so easily pressed accidentally when just gripping the camera and lens in the normal way - lesson learnt and I will be re programming the button !
Well heck, I'm in good company!
 
I can honestly say that the night before an event, I make sure all batteries are charged, lenses are cleaned, cards are emptied and formatted, photo related and non-photo related accessories are checked, etc. etc. All I have to do before I leave is fill my water bottle and grab the backpack.
 
My best effort was to leave the camera in self-timer mode one day, and then to convince myself the following day that it had locked up or suffered some serious malfunction, while taking several photos of my own legs and feet. This was during a once-in-a-lifetime trip, when I was supposed to be taking in the views and recording it all for posterity. Only took me about 20 minutes to figure it out.

-R
 
Any rangefinder user that tells you they've never , even if only once, taken a shot with the lens cap still on is lying. That dreaded sound of the shutter taking ages to process....
Believe it or not, that was/is one of the biggest fears I had when using my Grandmothers M3 after I inherited it. Having to leave the lens cap on to protect the shutter curtain from having holes burned in it really added to the 'stress' of using that camera.
 
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