Gear

Learning to like the Sony

Switching from the Fuji X system of cameras to the Sony Alpha setup is a drastic change in how I interact with the camera.  I can’t say that one is better than the other objectively, as they each have  their pro’s and con’s.  The Sony is a more ‘modern’ setup, whereas everything is driven by the options in camera.  There are many custom buttons on the camera to make things faster, but most things are set in the menu UI system.  This is good as it allows all of these things to be saved and easily switched at the same time.  When moving from shooting stills to video, a simple turn of the main dial will switch to my custom movie settings and I don’t need to  touch anything else.

The Fuji X system was different in most regards as the cameras are set up like an old analog film SLR.  Most lenses have an aperture ring, the camera bodies have set marked dials for shutter speed, ISO, focus type (S, C, M), metering, shooting mode, etc.  This system is fantastic for still shooting, but not as good when shooting both photo’s and video as all of those dials need switched around.

I moved to the Sony setup specifically because I was shooting more video and just felt it would make things I do easier, and for the most part, it has.  A part of me very much misses the classic lines and dials of the Fuji X camera’s though.  I won’t say one is better than the other, just different.  Which is great to have awesome choices.

Landscapes, Nature

Creek Walking up Bruner Run in Ohiopyle

There are not many places that I haven’t ventured too yet in Ohiopyle State Park, so when I hear about something new, I jump at the chance to find it.  This happened when I had a day off of work and needed a place to get some hiking in and test out the Sony A7iii setup that I recently moved into.  The place was the Bruner Run area of Ohiopyle and in particular, a half mile stretch that had a ton of small waterfalls as the creek made it’s way off the  mountain and into the Yough River below.

The hike itself wasn’t long, but there was a lot of up and down to stay along the creek.  This wasn’t a problem and gave my legs a good workout.  My loadout today was somewhat light; Sony A7iii, Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5, carbon fiber tripod, remote shutter release, ND filters, batteries, rain covers and other small odds and ends.  All of this fit beautifully into a Peak Design Sling 10l bag.  For the longest time I’ve fought the urge to buy that bag, but I’m glad I did.  It carried extremely well, didn’t hurt my shoulder and was much easier to work out of than a backpack that I would normally carry.

One of the biggest surprises was using my new Breakthrough Photography ND filters.  They simply worked as they should with almost no color cast or other detrimental effects to the image.  I’m used to using somewhat cheap ND filters and these normally leave a purple-ish cast that can be difficult to remove in post.  The Breakthrough filters exhibited none of this and just did what they should. I mostly used an X4 6-stop ND on the Tamron 28-75mm, but I also picked up a pair of X2 10-stop’s for use on the Tamron and another for the Voigtander 15mm.

All in all, this move to Sony is going well.  I do miss the Fuji control structure at times and some of the colors, but the Sony A7iii is a very powerful camera that I have a lot left to learn about.

Gear, Landscapes, Nature

Testing the Sony A7iii in the Snow

Since I bought the Sony A7iii, I haven’t had a good chance to get out and test its abilities much.  There have been a few pictures of the cat, a few of my family, but nothing that really had me focusing on the camera and the photography.  With some free time on a Sunday afternoon, the snow started falling and a winter weather advisory was announced.  When I hear something like that, it’s a signal to pack up the gear and get in the woods.

The snow was falling fast, but that didn’t bother me.  I made sure to bring a towel so I could cover the camera and lens with it while the camera was sitting on the tripod.  This kept most of the snow off of it and didn’t test out Sony’s weatherproofing too much.  The bag that I carried, a Peak Design Sling 10l however, was completely covered in snow and water.  To my surprise, the inside of the bag was dry.  I expect that performance from my Billingham’s, but seeing the Peak Design bag do that well gives me confidence about taking it out in more inclement weather.  I may have to give the Peak Design Shell camera cover another look for situations like this.

The kit I went out with today was the Sony A7iii with the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 mounted.  With the snow coming down strong, I didn’t want to be changing lenses, so I left the 50mm at home.  Also in the Sling 10L was the usual assortment of landscape/nature accessories; tripod, remote shutter release, Breakthrough X2 10-stop ND filter, cleaning supplies, batteries, etc.  I only attached the ND for a single shot by a lake, but I was glad to have packed it for that.

The Sony is vastly different than my old Fuji X camera’s, but it’s a camera and the most important controls (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) are easy to set and now that the camera is configured to my liking, using it is becoming 2nd nature.  The processing of RAW files is still a bit foreign to me for the Sony though, especially since I recently switched from Adobe Lightroom to darktable.  As with the Sony menu system, it’s just different and time is needed to master it. Overall, I’m still very happy with the switch and hope to be able to fully utilize the camera and software soon.

Gear

Silencing the Sony A7iii Strap Rings

Now that I’ve had the Sony A7iii camera for a few days now, I’ve come to really enjoy it and get a sense of just how powerful of a tool it can be.  Sure it has some quirks that can be complained about, but overall, it’s an amazing camera considering the price point.

Having said that, one thing has been really bugging me since I first picked it up and that is the strap rings that come on the camera.  They are the usual triangular split rings with plastic cover that every camera has, but for some reason they seem to be much louder that other camera’s I’ve owned.  I took them off for a day, then questioned how I’d attach neck strap and fiddled with a tripod-mount strap for a bit. Once I got tired of only having that option, I thought about how to quiet them down so I won’t hear them when shooting video.  My solution was a pair of rubber O-rings on each lug that keep the triangle split-ring in a mostly static position until pressure is applied to it.

As you can see, there are 2 different sizes of O-rings.  To install, I removed the plastic clip and the triangle split-ring.  I then slid the larger O-ring first followed by the smaller O-ring onto the strap lug.  Holding those in place with one hand, I reinstalled the triangle split-ring on the lug and then slid the plastic cover back on.  And just like that, no more clatter from loose split-rings.  The nice thing about this is that on the right side grip, my hand naturally rests just underneath the split-ring as it sticks straight out.  So I’m not fighting with it when I go to grip the camera.  The split-rings will still freely move when a strap is attached and they pivot without issue, but there is just enough pressure on them to keep them moving around by themselves.  The beautiful sound of silence.

The sizes I got for the O-rings are below.  They were each about 50 cents from a local hardware store.

2 of the bigger O-rings: 1/4″ x 1/2″ x 1/8″ #9

2 of the smaller O-rings: 7/16″ x 9/16″ x 1/16″

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