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22 The A77 II in a Nutshell
“bump”), the entire image transfer process becomes insanely simple once
everything is properly configured.
Here are some cool and essential things about this feature:
It was designed specifically to upload images to web-centric social
networking sites. And so the camera gives you the option of sending
resized (smaller) images to your phone – high enough resolution for the
internet, and much smaller so your international roaming data plan
doesn’t get eaten up so quickly.
If your smartphone has the new NFC (Near-Field Communication)
feature built-in, you can save time and initiate said transfer by simply
touching the back of your phone to the side of the camera while
viewing the image you wish to share. It works, it’s simple, and it’s the
feature I’ve wanted for a long time.
Again, using your Wi-Fi (and optionally NFC)-equipped smartphone,
you can use your smartphone’s screen as a remote viewfinder, and take
stills and movies by remote control! I think I’ve had more fun playing
with this feature than any new feature of any camera in recent memory.
Those of you who love the idea of tethered shooting might welcome the
ability to transfer the images you just took to your home computer via
Wi-Fi (if you also have quite a bit of patience).
I give the details of using each of these new features in 3.12.5.
1.1.5 AUTO ISO IN MANUAL EXPOSURE MODE
“What could be more useless than Auto ISO in Manual Exposure mode?”, I
used to tell myself. “After all, you only use manual exposure mode at
times when your exposure meter would fail (when the scene wasn’t evenly
lit, or the subject was predominantly white or black). Giving the camera
license to make things look “average” in such situations completely
nullifies the purpose of a manual exposure mode!”
Well, it turns out that there are situations where it can come in handy, one
of which is illustrated in Figure 1-4. Of the three variables of exposure
(F/stop, shutter speed, ISO), sometimes you have good cause for nailing
down the first two, and still want the camera to give you a good, average
exposure automatically. This is one of those features that doesn’t appear in
the product brochure. Sony has given it to us stealthily.
Contents of this book Copyright © 2014 Gary L. Friedman. All rights reserved.
