My wife and I just completed a trip to the East Coast where we visited both NYC and Washington, DC. It was my first time to either city, and I wanted to use the occasion to get back into photography. So of course I talked her into letting me spend money on a new camera. Can’t shoot the big apple with an old camera now can we?
A few years ago, early on in the pandemic, I bought an entry level Canon digital camera. It was pretty basic, but it helped me learn the ropes. At first I looked at getting a more advanced camera from them, but they retired the lens format my camera used. Which meant buying a new Canon would mean buying new lenses. So, I started looking at other options since I’d have to start from scratch.
After watching many YouTube clips and reading many reviews, I decided on the Sony a7Cii. Compact size, full frame sensor, in-body stabilization, compatible with the full suite of E-mount lenses (which are also made by third parties, which means lower costs and more options than Canon offers), and it has silver accents! Stylish and powerful.
This is all a long winded way of saying, I bought a new Sony camera, I went to the East Coast, and I took a bunch of photos. Here are some of the things I learned along the way…
- I took a fixed focal length lens (the Sony 40mm) because I thought it would be better to travel light. However, I quickly realized the error of my ways. This is a great lens, and I loved the portrait shots of my wife I was able to take with it, but everything else was a pain. Going forward I will trudge the extra weight and carry a zoom lens. Right now I’m eyeballing the 24-70mm Sigma.
- Don’t rush the shot. There were many photos where I had the composition set, but didn’t stop and look around to watch for things like tourists wandering through the background. I wish I’d been the asshole more often, sitting in one spot waiting for the tourists to clear just a bit in order for the better photo opportunity to present itself.
- Take more photos. The memory card holds thousands of pictures. I need to get better at shooting more takes of the same thing. When we were in the Dumbo district shooting the Manhattan bridge I took over a 100 photos. When we were on the top of Rockefeller with the beautiful setting sun I only took 20 photos.
- Center spot focus is great for shooting a statue. Center spot focus is not your friend when using face detection and trying to line up a portrait. I came home with a number of photos where the person was blurry and the background was razor sharp.
- My shaky hands needed that in-body stabilization more than I thought. The number of sharp photos the Sony delivered was significantly higher than the Canon ever delivered. I can’t wait to take this camera out and snap pictures of the corgis playing.
- Apparently, I don’t understand aperture settings nearly as well as I thought. Going to be spending some time reading up, watching some more videos, and working through this before our next trip.
- Light is more important than location. Location is more important than light. There are a handful of photos I took where I wish that we’d been there at a different time of day. Yet, I’m glad we were there at all. You can do a lot fussing with Lightroom sliders, but at the end of the day they call it “golden hour” for a reason.
- Don’t be afraid to stop and shoot. I came home with too many off center photos because I was hesitant about the idea of stopping in the middle of a cross walk. Or because I didn’t want to intrude on other tourists.
Overall I’ve been pleased with the Sony Alpha 7Cii. It’s been a joy to use, and I haven’t even really scratched the surface of what it’s capable of doing. At this point I would recommend the Sony E-mount system over Canon’s based on my experiences using their devices. I think Sony’s auto-focus technology is amazing, and their lens system is open to third parties which enables a wealth of options you don’t get on Canon.
You can find some of my favorite photos from our trip on my Photography page. I’ll also be posting some on my Instagram account.
Ross Weisfish 