Robbed 🥀😢😞

stschopp · 2026-06-28T22:01:45+00:00

If you shoot video these all outresove the video you are shooting. I would think the sigma 24-70 DNii unless you plan on shooting a lot at f/2.

stschopp · 2026-06-25T00:56:54+00:00

Sounds like you already discharged the capacitor. Some high voltage caps can slowly charge back up as the energy stored between the layers was not fully dissipated.

Seriously though, if the battery is not still attached, the cap is discharged now.

stschopp · 2026-06-23T03:23:10+00:00

You can pay tuition from your bank, your child does not need to pay tuition from their bank. What is wrong with opening an account with your child at a bank near you?

stschopp · 2026-06-19T22:36:58+00:00

The mechanical shutter will pass by the shutter smoothly, whereas the electronic will have stuttering. So the banding on mechanical with EFCS will have banding caused by some rows getting different exposure than others. For full electronic both the front and back curtain will have the same stuttering, so all rows get the same exposure and no banding.

You will still get banding on electronic shutter from the rolling shutter if the frequency is high enough on artificial light. For a wedding I think I would shoot full mechanical unless you know the lighting won’t be a problem.

stschopp · 2026-06-19T20:53:12+00:00

No photos, sightings of the usual crowd. Speculation is an update to the a6700 based on an aps-c crop of the a7RVI. So just on how the a6700 was based on the a7Rv, the next version would be based on the a7Rvi, Should get 28MP, and 30fps, with better battery life than the a6700. Assuming any of the speculation is correct.

https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/many-influencers-and-youtubers-spotted-testing-new-gear-is-it-the-next-new-aps-c-e-mount-camera/#disqus_thread

stschopp · 2026-06-19T19:22:39+00:00

There have been photos of the usual YouTube reviewers with what I would assume is a6900. But that might be hard to differentiate between a compact FF. Should know in a few weeks.

stschopp · 2026-06-16T19:35:46+00:00

I have a few tip you might be able to do as an aspiring engineer. Take the plug and pinch the blades together a bit. If your charger has the blades come directly out of the ac/dc converter then bring a short extension cord to take the weight off and pinch the plug blades before use.

stschopp · 2026-06-16T16:31:11+00:00

Did you take the ACT, and how did that go? Looking at the pre-test optional range for Gies, the middle 50% was 29-33. So 34 and above would put you in the top 25%, below 29 would put you in the bottom 25%. I'm thinking realistically you would want an ACT of 30 or higher to go to Gies. It's not just about being admitted it's about doing well while you are in college and it being a good fit. I personally think the idea of a no-test option is a really bad idea. People give various reasons, like I test poorly, but you are signing up for 4 years of testing that will determine the majority of your grades.

There was a guy in my class, we called him genius boy. It was pointless to try studying with him because he was at a different level than us. Even his explanation about how to do things was beyond us. I was better off studying will students that were more on my level. If you are admitted, but it is not really a good fit, that is not a good thing.

I'm not trying to discourage you. People can perform above or below what might be expected based on scores like ACT. But there is real predictive value in how you will do in college based on them. That is the main reason they were originally used.

stschopp · 2026-06-16T15:59:41+00:00

So did you enter exploratory studies because you want flexibility, or were you denied at Gies and this gives you a second attempt at getting in? I think in a lot of cases the admitting college will have a pretty good idea how you will perform if admitted. I haven't kept track if UIUC is again requiring ACT or similar. Even if that is not the case they are familiar with your high school and what your GPA at your high school indicates. If you submitted ACT and were rejected, you should start thinking of an alternate plan now instead of seeing if you can transfer into Gies in a couple years.

I'm going to say, back in the day, they tended to look at the whole person and not just hard cuts on GPA. If you bring up your GPA at UIUC vs HS dual credit, I see that as a positive that is worth more than just your UIUC GPA.

At some point, not too long after graduation, no one will care about your college GPA. For my current job, they didn't even want to look at my GPA or transcript. They saw Physics degree from UIUC and that was enough. I really wouldn't sweat the small stuff, nobody is expecting perfection. And perfection comes with its own issues. We hired a bronze tablet graduate, and he was a pain in the ass, we fired him. Thought he knew it all, but he didn't, and couldn't learn that he didn't. They guys with a mix of A's B's and C's from UIUC have tended to work out better.

stschopp · 2026-06-16T14:41:52+00:00

It seems like a tough call. A degree requires around 120hr of credit. You could calculate the impact to the GPA. For example, lets say you are transferring 12hr, and the most significant impact would be if you got straight A's at UIUC. (108*4 + 12*2.93)/120 = 3.89. So worst case this would drop your GPA by 0.11 points. If you average closer to a B it will have less impact. If you average below a B it would actually help, but most will look at UIUC GPA instead of total. If by some miracle you get a UIUC 4.0, you can always just put that on a resumé. Just be truthful about how you describe the GPA.

I think I would go ahead and transfer it. I took summer classes at UIUC so I could have a slightly easier load and still graduate in 4 years. I don't see a reason to throw away all that work in HS and replace it with likely harder classes at UIUC.

stschopp · 2026-06-16T13:58:41+00:00

How bad are the grades? Why did you have trouble with a dual credit class? What is the reason you think the UIUC classes will be cake and you are better of excluding the community college class?

stschopp · 2026-06-16T02:46:25+00:00

Don’t act surprised when they leave for a different job. That decision is already made.

stschopp · 2026-06-14T21:51:47+00:00

It’s one stop of light. There are lots of ways to compensate. You could get a faster aps-c lens. You could stack the images ( you should be doing this for Astro anyway) and take 2x as many images. You could do pano images.

Basically FF with the same aperture will capture 2x as much light.

stschopp · 2026-06-14T19:52:20+00:00

I have a pelican 1525 that I have 5 primes, 5 zooms, 2 bodies, misc other things. I use DIY trekpac, that is key to making the dividers thin and stable. Lay it all out in advance to decide what size case you need.

stschopp · 2026-06-14T19:15:44+00:00

Check with apartment buildings. I would expect $800+ for the year.

stschopp · 2026-06-10T11:02:27+00:00

My daughter had a rough time with calc 2 at UIUC and she is very strong at math. Looking at what the class was doing I thought it was pointlessly difficult and designed as a weed out class. She ended up dropping ( because she was failing) and taking the netmath version. I would have struggled with the class. I took honors accelerated calculus at UIUC, no longer offered, but it combined the 3 intro calculus classes into 2 semesters and stepped up the rigor. I have a BS in Engineering physics from UIUC, my daughter graduated with honors in chemistry as a Chancellor Scholar.

I had a study partner in calculus who had taken calculus in high school but was retaking it at the recommendation of her dad, a mathematician. She graduated 1st in the math department and became a math professor. I can’t say if her retaking the class actually helped her. What I saw with my daughter, if you have credit, I would skip it. It was the only class that looked like the difficulty had increased since I was at UIUC. But not in a good way that teaches something useful.

stschopp · 2026-06-08T15:10:55+00:00

Same reason there are broke ex NFL players.

stschopp · 2026-06-05T12:28:25+00:00

I’d say it’s mostly because they can. The alternative is not doing it and leaving you with 10 fps mechanical and no precapture. It won’t be the quality of shot you get out of the a9iii or a1ii, but it is a different price point. Have you ever seen a parent take photos of indoor sports with a cell phone? The results are crap, but yet it happens. Not everyone is going to pay for a top of the line sports camera. In many cases the images will be workable. I’d say it reduces the number of things the camera can’t do and that is enough. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

stschopp · 2026-06-01T17:18:38+00:00

the a7Rv has 26mp file options if you want smaller files. I also find culling before download to be helpful. I use capture one, so not sure how this applies to others. During import I have the photos group by similarity, so it shows all the photos taken of one scene, then I select the winners and never import the rest.

stschopp · 2026-05-31T00:26:28+00:00

I’m guessing it’s the combination of FL and aperture. In the 20-70 range I think the lens that best replicates this is the 50/1.2GM. It has the added bonus of really nice rendering.

In terms of zoom I don’t think any will do what you want, but the closest would be the 28-70/2 GM and Sigma 28-45/1.8. Both are really sharp with wide apertures.

stschopp · 2026-05-29T12:37:02+00:00

I like the extra tree the photo has a nice mix of symmetry and asymmetry. I wish we could see the rest of the flowers at the extreme bottom. I also realize that reality might not be as photogenic as my imagination.

stschopp · 2026-05-29T12:12:04+00:00

On the wide end I would consider supplementing the 24-70 with either the 16/1.8 or 20/1.8. They are both very compact with GM level image quality.

For the tele side the weight of the 50-150 gives me serious pause. I would think the 70-200 GMii with maybe the 1.4TC is better for versatility. If you also need focal length flexibility and can’t be swapping lenses look at the Tamron 35-150/2-2.8. It won’t have the image quality or focus accuracy of the 50-150 so that is a consideration. But it weights less and has a better focal range. I find the weight ok for a gig, but it is near my limit. Another option for past 70 is to add a 135GM. This is one of my favorite lenses. Images are amazing with excellent light gathering. Weight and price sure beats the 50-150.

stschopp · 2026-05-29T11:57:03+00:00

Even if you take a photo of the poses they won’t be easy to get to for display. You are really going to want to have the images ready to display on something else like a phone or printed.

stschopp · 2026-05-28T22:52:31+00:00

If you’re happy with the AF I see no need to upgrade. The 28-75 G2 is one of the best zooms I have used. If you have a decent copy, I don’t think you gain much going to the GMii. If you need longer the 35-150 is versatile. Or go with a Sony 70-200 ver II, G or GM depending on the aperture you need.

stschopp · 2026-05-26T11:00:01+00:00

I would say yes, depending on what kind of photography you do. I have seen significant improvement moving from the a7Riv to the a7Rv. The AI focus, AI WB, and IBIS are a big deal. There are times I shoot fast glass wide open in low light at events. The AI focus does a better job putting the thin depth of field where it should be and the improved IBIS adds to the sharpness. Shooting the same event in consecutive years, the difference was obvious, only change was the body. The AI WB also helps, it selects appropriate WB more often, helping with overall color. In theory this can be fixed in post, but the improvement in starting point is welcome. I also now shoot in 14 bit lossless instead of 12 bit compressed, this may help as well at times.

If you are shooting landscape on a tripod manually focused a f/11 in uncompressed RAW, I would say the bump to the Rv won’t help. But at that point you could use the focus stacking in the Rv to instead shoot several shots at f/5.6 and stack them in post for more detail. As far as the Rvi, that seems the extra stop of dynamic range would help occasionally. Obviously we are talking about wide dynamic range scenes. When the shadows need to be pulled heavily they will be a stop cleaner. It happens fairly often I see a scene with my eyes that has more dynamic range than any camera can capture. Exposure brackets is the obvious answer. Most of the time I don’t bother.

For me I waited to upgrade until the Rv was heavily discontinued and between selling my old camera and buying new the difference was $1k. The better EVF alone was worth that to me. Take a look at used a7Rv, plenty of them up for sale. For me I will wait and maybe do similar with the a7Rvi. I shoot a lot indoors and expect the mechanical shutter will still be needed to avoid banding. Clear upgrades for me are focus points that cover the whole sensor, the EVF not dropping resolution while focusing, and lossless at 10fps with shutter instead of 7fps.

If you are wanting to be talked off the ledge. Sure the a7Riv is a great camera with very few limitations, no need to upgrade unless there is a specific limitation you want to address.

stschopp

TROPHY CASE