What they don't tell you about Mirrorless

December 1, 2017 -- Vero Beach, Florida

Shortly after selling all of my Canon gear and getting Sony mirrorless equipment, two observations that became quickly clear to this once I switched over to mirrorless cameras.

Number 1: dust is problem. 

Dust on the sensor! Time to clean. Sony a6000

Probably pretty obvious to anyone who has used an SLR camera…if you take away the mirror and the physical shutter, there’s nothing protecting your sensor! You have to be really careful with these things when changing lenses. Like, really careful. Like, I’m not even sure I want to do it on a beach careful. And you’ll have to be handy with sensor cleaning wipes like these from Amazon:

Camera Sensor Cleaning Swab Type 2 (VSOG DDR15) for APSC Sensor (CCD/CMOS): Package includes 10 X 16mm Cleaning Swabs

Number 2: lens distortion.

I’m sure not all mirrorless cameras are created the same, but these Sony lenses create a ridiculous amount of distortion. That includes the $1000 Zeiss FE 24-70 I bought. You probably would never notice this as an issue if you shoot in JPG mode. The camera's built in correction automatically fixes the pictures for you. It does a decent job too. But I’m a RAW guy, so once I loaded those pics into Lightroom some ugliness happened. Not only am I a RAW guy, I’m also a cheap guy. When Adobe switched to subscription based pricing they lost my business. So I’m stuck with Lightroom 4. Luckily Lightroom has a built in lens profile for my a6000…but not for my a7! For the moment I’ve been surviving in JPG mode, but I will eventually create my own lens profile for Lightroom for this camera/lens setup. What a PIA!

Sony a7 image in RAW vs JPG format, i.e. without and with built in corrections

All of this can be fixed with software, of course, but as someone who learned on film I don’t think that’s an acceptable answer. For someone who spent this much money on the “nice” lens, I don’t think that’s an acceptable answer. This is a price I didn’t know I was paying to “upgrade" to mirrorless: the impossibility of perfect, right out of the camera photos.

What do you think is better, an old school heavy camera that takes better pictures or a smaller, lighter camera that uses software corrections to achieve the same result?  

Upgrading to Sony Mirrorless

August 1, 2017 -- New Bern, North Carolina

In my last post I covered how my L-series lens let me down. After a lot of soul searching (and even more Googling) I decided to switch up my life: I’ve gone mirrorless <gasp!>

Assorted shots from around the Abacos with our new toy, the Sony a6000

The Rebel (my backup camera) was the first to go, replaced by a Sony a6000. This was an experiment to see if I even liked it. I played with the a6000 for a month in the Abacos and during our passage back to the States. I was hooked and converted. 

Upon reaching North Carolina, basically my entire camera bag went on eBay or got sold to KEH. The 6D was replaced by a Sony a7 full-frame mirrorless camera. The Canon EF 24-105 f/4L was replaced by a Sony-Zeiss FE 24-70 f/4. In the end, I came out about even money-wise with two caveats: I lost my telephoto lens and have not decided what I’m going to replace it with. I kept my two Rokinon manual focus lenses that I use for nightscapes and bought an adapter tube to use the Canon EF-mount on the Sony e-mount. 

The primary reason I made the switch was size. The Sony is much lighter and easier to carry. I learned a long time ago, the lighter and easier to carry a camera is, the more often it will get used!

This might be a contender for one of my all time favorite photos.

The Sony cameras are very popular for use with older manual focus lenses. The Sony glass can sometimes make Canon L-series lenses look cheap. When spending this much money, I want the best, most reliable and quality glass I can get. I’m very interested and looking into adapting Leica M-mount lenses for use on the Sony. More on that later! 

Beach walk

Death of a L -egend

June, 2017 -- Sea of Abaco, Bahamas

The last photo series my Canon 6D took before I dumped her for another...

While on our sailing trip to the Bahamas, my trusty and beloved Canon EF 24-105 f/4L bit the dust. A bit of internet research turned up that this is a common problem: a tiny ribbon cable that controls the aperture assembly becomes worn over time, rendering the $800 lens into a sharp looking paper weight.

I should also say this isn’t the first Canon lens to let me down. Before I bought my 6D, I was shooting with Rebel bodies because I loved their compactness. They travel easy! My favorite lens for the Canon APS-C cameras was the EF-S 16-85 f/3.5-5.6. I’ve been through three of these guys. They all stop focusing eventually. Ugh!

To say I was bummed about the loss of the L-series would be an understatement. Basically, my camera bag revolves around this lens. It’s supposed to be a weather-sealed, go anywhere, professional quality lens. The repair costs about $300-400. I started shopping around (why would I put 50% of the value of the lens towards it’s repair? I could pick up a used one cheaper, but would it do the same thing? If I did repair it, would it happen again?) 

In the end, I sold the non-functioning lenses on eBay. To my surprise, the L-series lens sold immediately under Buy It Now. Some dude in Russia bought it for parts, and I wish him the best of luck. For me, I've moved onto a new love. 

What would you do if your favorite piece of photo equipment let you down in the middle of a trip of a lifetime? Would you stick with your brand or move on? Can you guess what I did?

Looks like some fun "frolicing"