Does Gear Really Make the Photo II, Post trip conclusions
Hey everyone! I hope you've had a good couple of weeks. Well, this is a Part II to the "Does Gear Really Make the Photo?" blog. My camera club went on our annual trip to the mountains for a week of fun photography. We shot wildlife, waterfalls, cityscapes, landscapes, and macros. We shot it all and had a great time. As I stated in my last blog, my experiment for this trip was to use my crop sensor mirrorless Sony A6300 for my main camera for the whole trip. We went to some of the same places that we went to in 2015, so I will show you similar shots that I took two years ago and this year and see if you can tell the difference from a 36 megapixel full frame camera compared to my 24 megapixel crop sensor mirrorless camera that I used on this trip. But first, let me tell you about the experience I had with my little camera on this trip.
Using this camera on this trip was fantastic and I think made my photography better because I could carry so much with me without being weighed down like a pack mule. I used a little side bag that I called my purse that held my camera, three lenses, batteries, SD cards, GoPro, filters, sunglasses, and phone. And I had room for a sandwich also if I wanted one. LOL! The weight of this bag wasn't any more that that of a full frame camera and a good 24-70 f2.8 lens. I loved having this bag with me. I could change lenses on the fly, and it was better than a backpack because I didn't have to take it off to access it. The three main lenses I carried were a Sony 10-18 f4, a Sony 18-105 f4, and a Sony 55-210mm f4.5-6.3. The last lens was the weakest in the set and at a range that I don't use often, but I did get a few good ones out of it. This lens I will replace with a better quality one. While on the trip, I used a Canon 70-200 f4 L non IS lens with an adapter that makes it autofocus with my Sony. It
worked great and quality was fantastic. I will be purchasing this lens soon. My main lens was the 18-105mm and was a great walk-around lens. Worked well on the long exposures also. The 10-18 was a fantastic performer when I used it mostly for long exposures. I had circular polarizers that I used often and a Lee filter kit that I used for waterfalls (long exposures) and sunrises and sunset. And all of this fit into my little purse quite well. I had the flexibility to add and remove things as I needed them all while being lightweight. As I get older and less agile, the weight and size of my gear makes a difference in my stamina, and that will affect my photography.
The quality of my little mirrorless camera didn't surprise me. It is a fantastic camera with a great sensor. As you probably know, I have been using a Sony crop sensor mirrorless for the last couple of years. I first bought one to use hiking and slowly fell in love with it. I upgraded from a Sony A6000 to a A6300 this year, and it is a great camera. A mirrorless crop sensor has been my main camera for a couple of years now, and I think I'm going to take the plunge and get rid of all of my Big Boy camera and lenses and go to a mirrorless crop sensor from now on. I have already sold a couple of lenses and plan to sell my full frame bodies and other lenses and flashes that I have. I'm going to gear down instead of gearing up like I usually do. The quality of my photos was the same or even better in my opinion. Below are some photos that I have taken from two years ago and from this trip. I put them side by side so you could see if there was a big difference in quality of the photos. Take time to look at them and see if you can tell which one was a full frame camera with F2.8 glass and which one was my little mirrorless Sony with F4 glass.
The photos on the left side column were taken with a full frame Nikon D800 with F2.8 lenses. The photos on the right were taken with a mirrorless crop sensor Sony A6300 with F4 lenses. To me it is hard to tell the difference, especially if they are going to be used on the internet or to make prints or canvases that I would print. Are the full frame cameras great? You bet they are they are fantastic! The professional 2.8 glass is awesome! But do I really need it for the type of photography that I'm going to do? I don't think so. The mere size and weight of theses cameras are what is really turning me, and the quality of the shots that I'm getting with this small camera is some of the best I've shot. If I were doing a lot of portraiture or weddings, the larger camera would be an asset. But for what I do, it is not. So now I am taking inventory and getting rid of all of my larger gear. Will I ever buy a full frame camera again? Probably, but it will be of the mirrorless cameras that are full frame which makes them smaller. But for now I'm going to stick with the camera that I used this year. Any thoughts? Let me know and keep shooting!
