Sony A8?
- Thread starter Cmaier
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Shooting one-handed is something I really miss a lot using my iPhone; despite the ability to keep it in my shirt pocket.
When I used a dSLR and with my Fuji XT-1 I had a special well-designed wrist strap that I could cinch up tight to get a nice grip. When I used my RX-100 I attached a thick O-ring to the right lug for my trigger finger. Both worked great.
Still keeping an eye out for an updated Sony RX1R or similar cam; ideally with a fixed largish aperture 35mm lens.
Your Q2 looks like a great camera! Hope you enjoy using it!
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Taking my kid to the amusement park tomorrow and plan to bring the camera along. First real test.
An RX1 with much higher resolution (to allow high res crops to simulate 50 and 85mm, say), and Sony’s modern autofocus, would be fantastic. Especially if they’d calm down with all the controls - on a small camera, it‘s much nicer to have an aperture ring, a shutter speed dial, and maybe an exposure dial, and that’s it.
Eric
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I find it impossible to take a well composed shot during the daylight with it, not only is the button too unwieldy to line up but I simply can't see the screen. It will never replace a real camera IMO which is why I didn't want to bother waiting for the 14 with the higher resolution.
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Don’t worry, Eric. In another year or two, the phone will just automatically save the image when the AI determines that the composition is appropriate. In fact, if you are trying to look at the screen to take a phot, Siri will ask you to mind your own business.
Eric
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Cut out the middle man, I like it!
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Assuming you're speaking about shooting 1-handed. The other gripe is even with two hands it's tough keeping my phone normal to what I'm shooting. The good news is perspective correction in LR makes it an easy/quick fix (assuming I don't lose too many pixels around the edge that I care about).
Still, today, it's my favorite camera. Though I am noodling a project where an updated RX1 would be ideal. The thought of going back to my 6D and honking 35mm f/1.4 just doesn't feel very appealing.
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Eric
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Fair enough, one's camera of choice is personal and I get it. Funny that you mention the 6D because I still have one from way back (not the MKII) and I've been pretty much leaving my 16-35 f/4L on there by default, every now and then I'll swap out for the 150-600 but it's really nice to be able to jump to it from my Sony, which pretty much has the 70-200 on it permanently these days. So I'll just grab whatever camera is easiest for the subject now, even at 20 megapixels it does great for my needs.
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For me... I think it's more reflective of how my philosophy of making photographs has changed over the years.
Years ago it was about gear and taking frequent trips to SF or other places for the purpose of making photographs. Go somewhere, maybe downtown SF or in the Mission, or LA, etc., walk around for a few hours with say a 5D/6D, come back home and LR-process 200+ image files from the outing, and maybe get a couple worthy of keeping. Probably did that at least a few hundred times. Probably more. There was always this self-imposed pressure to make a ton of photos, LR-process them, and see what happened.
Starting around 2013-2014 I changed that up considerably, not going somewhere for the purpose of making photographs. Rather, I had an iPhone in my pocket with me all the time. And if I happened to be somewhere and saw an interesting potential composition, could be at Ocean Beach, San Jose, in an airplane or train shooting out the window, in a building, a person in the downtown, or wherever, I'd make a few photos with my phone. I noticed the ratio of decent photographs to ho-hums increased considerably, and without the pressure. And they print/frame well.
Is my current iPhone technically as good as my dSLRs/mirrorless cams and expensive lenses? Of course not, far from it.
On the other hand it's more than good enough for what I like to make photos of. And think I've become a much better photographer in the process. Clearly, if I was shooting sports, BIF, weddings (though that's debatable), forensics, etc a phone camera would not be a good choice. For what I do, urban settings/neighborhoods, people, landscapes/seascapes, farmland, etc it works fine. And most importantly, though now sounding hackneyed, it's always with me.
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For me, shooting something which captures my eye and my interest is definitely key, and if something comes up unexpectedly while at home, I grab the tool which happens to be closest at hand which could be my iPhone or my A1 that I haven't gotten around to putting back into the cabinet after an earlier shooting session, or perhaps the Sony RX10 IV which often sits out on a table, ready to be grabbed..... When I'm out-and-about, the iPhone 12 Pro automatically takes the responsibility of doing the honors.
In general, I tend to be spontaneous, rather than a deliberate planner, and often when I go out for a walk around the neighborhood with the camera in hand I have no expectations about what we might capture, just trusting that there will be something out there..... and usually there is. That said, some days I come home with very little, other days I feel as though I've hit the jackpot. Mostly it's the flora, fauna and water birds which find themselves under scrutiny of my lens. I am not a people shooter. Occasionally I do decide to go somewhere specifically with the intention of shooting -- a botanic garden, a scenic area, whatever -- and I pack up the appropriate gear and off we go. Now that things are opening back up after the whole pandemic thing this is finally again easier to decide to do spontaneously. On bad-weather days I stay at home and if inspiration or a weird idea strikes me, I get out the gear and we experiment....
Some -- actually, more than a few -- years ago I wouldn't have thought twice about getting on the Metro (our subway system in DC) and heading downtown for an afternoon of shooting, but these days I am definitely hesitant to do so for various reasons -- my own safety and that of my gear being paramount, of course. While at events I used to attend I would fire off shots of people doing whatever the activity was, I never was all that interested in street photography, taking photos of strangers who may or may not be willing to have someone doing so. As a not-so-young, petite female of slight build I feel that this sort of venture would put me into a very vulnerable position. Not a risk I am willing to take now at this point in my life.
Sure, I could do the touristy photos of monuments thing, but, argh.....for those of us who live in the DC area, how boring is that?! Even if I managed to find an interesting perspective and truly different way of looking at a familiar monument or other often-photographed element of a familiar landmark in DC, I am not keen on dealing with the crowds of tourists and people blocking my line of sight as I am trying to frame and compose a particular scene/image. Been there, done that in the (now long-ago) past.
Years ago there were several of us, or at one time, actually many of us, who would get together and go shooting together, but sadly those days have gone by the wayside as the years have come and gone, life has interrupted, people have made changes, people have departed this life, etc., etc. Those days were fun and I have happy memories of them.
We are so lucky these days to have such a wide choice of tools to use when we get the urge to capture a photograph of something wherever we are at the time..... It's fun, isn't it?
In general, I tend to be spontaneous, rather than a deliberate planner, and often when I go out for a walk around the neighborhood with the camera in hand I have no expectations about what we might capture, just trusting that there will be something out there..... and usually there is. That said, some days I come home with very little, other days I feel as though I've hit the jackpot. Mostly it's the flora, fauna and water birds which find themselves under scrutiny of my lens. I am not a people shooter. Occasionally I do decide to go somewhere specifically with the intention of shooting -- a botanic garden, a scenic area, whatever -- and I pack up the appropriate gear and off we go. Now that things are opening back up after the whole pandemic thing this is finally again easier to decide to do spontaneously. On bad-weather days I stay at home and if inspiration or a weird idea strikes me, I get out the gear and we experiment....
Some -- actually, more than a few -- years ago I wouldn't have thought twice about getting on the Metro (our subway system in DC) and heading downtown for an afternoon of shooting, but these days I am definitely hesitant to do so for various reasons -- my own safety and that of my gear being paramount, of course. While at events I used to attend I would fire off shots of people doing whatever the activity was, I never was all that interested in street photography, taking photos of strangers who may or may not be willing to have someone doing so. As a not-so-young, petite female of slight build I feel that this sort of venture would put me into a very vulnerable position. Not a risk I am willing to take now at this point in my life.
Sure, I could do the touristy photos of monuments thing, but, argh.....for those of us who live in the DC area, how boring is that?! Even if I managed to find an interesting perspective and truly different way of looking at a familiar monument or other often-photographed element of a familiar landmark in DC, I am not keen on dealing with the crowds of tourists and people blocking my line of sight as I am trying to frame and compose a particular scene/image. Been there, done that in the (now long-ago) past.
Years ago there were several of us, or at one time, actually many of us, who would get together and go shooting together, but sadly those days have gone by the wayside as the years have come and gone, life has interrupted, people have made changes, people have departed this life, etc., etc. Those days were fun and I have happy memories of them.
We are so lucky these days to have such a wide choice of tools to use when we get the urge to capture a photograph of something wherever we are at the time..... It's fun, isn't it?
Sorry for radio silence. Was on holiday with the family. Gorgeous camera. I used mine almost exclusively on holiday but had my RX100M7 with me for more reach on the odd occasions I wanted it.
I see like all of my Leicas yours too gathers dust around the shutter speed dial. Does my head in. Having to clean it more often than the screen!
