AMT2016-sony-a6300-review-0423-2Photographer: Anthony Thurston Well everyone, I have finally made the switch.  I am officially a full-time, mirrorless shooter!  As you may know, I have been shooting DSLRs in some form or fashion for many years.  I went from entry-level cameras to professional grade cameras and lenses.  I used to shoot film cameras when I was younger, completely manual operation from exposure to focusing.  So I have evolved from film shooting, black and white developing in the bathroom, to color slides, to point and shoot digital, to entry level DSLR's, professional DSLR's, and now to mirrorless cameras.  There was a learning curve at each step, and I would like to think that my photography skills improved with each level.  So you're probably wondering, why switch if I have been shooting professional-grade cameras?  I have many reasons.  But first, let me say that the professional cameras are great!  I'm not putting them down in any way or fashion.  I learned a lot using them and am thankful that I went through the process of getting them and using them.  But why switch?  Let me go through how I got hooked on mirrorless cameras.

About five or six years ago, my photography got me out of the house to start exploring different areas of our state.  I started _MSP9570 hiking all of the trails I could find at State and National Parks and wanted to do more.  My son and I decided that we wanted to start back packing.  This entails hiking into the woods with everything you need to camp overnight:  tent, sleeping bag, food, etc... Well, we soon found out that the packs were heavy, and then when you carry a full-frame camera and a couple of professional lenses, the weight really added up.  A camera and a couple of f2.8 lenses could weigh up to 20 pounds. That's like three one-gallon jugs of milk that you carry around with you on top of all of your camping supplies.  That made the pack very heavy, and it was already heavy enough with just the camping stuff.  There were many pack configurations that were tried to relieve the weight of the camera and lenses, but nothing seemed to work.  I was working on getting lighter camping equipment, but the weight of the camera was just too much.  I had to come up with a solution that would still give me good quality photos, so I started looking into micro 4/3 cameras.  I set up a checklist of things that I wanted out of a little camera.  Some of them were that it had to be able to shoot in manual, it needed to be able to shoot in RAW, and it needed to be able to change lenses. I actually had it down to two cameras, an Olympus and a Sony.  They both had great reviews, but I finally picked the Sony because of the sensor size.  It had a larger ASP-C sized sensor, and the Olympus had a micro 4/3's, a smaller sensor.  So weight was the first thing that brought me to the mirrorless cameras.  But after a big learning curve, there were many other things that brought me to become a mirrorless camera user.  Here are some of them:

11-sony-a6300 1. Sensor Quality.  Sony makes a lot of sensors for many camera companies besides Sony.  There is Nikon, Iphone, and maybe more, but those are two big ones.  The sensors are great, and the quality of the photographs I was taking were just as good as my professional camera as far as I could tell.

2. Customizable buttons.  The Sony cameras are very customizable.  The camera comes with custom buttons, and all of the buttons can be customized to you and your style of photography.  For instance, I love back-button focus, so my camera is set up for it.

3. Size.  Not only is it lightweight, but it is also small.  A small footprint camera takes up less room in a pack or bag, and you can carry more with you and still be lighter than a full size DSLR.  I think this makes you a more nimble/mobile photographer.  I think that this makes you a better photographer, especially at the end of the day when the photographers have been lugging around a big camera and you are still rested enough to keep looking for good shots, not looking for somewhere to sit down. 20171102_untitled shoot_0001

4. Price.  Overall, the price of mirrorless cameras can be cheaper, especially in the ASP-C sensor sized camera. Now, like everything you can spend as much as you want for mirrorless.  But like everything else, you don't have to.  You can also adapt vintage lenses from the film days to your camera with a cheap adapter.  I use some of my Pentax and Nikon lenses on this small body, and it brings me back to the days of film when everything was manual. And the size is about the same also.

5. What you see is what you get.  WYSIWYG when you look through the view finder or the back of the camera.  What you are looking at is what the sensor sees, so you know before you take the photo if it is correctly exposed or in focus.  There really is no need to chimp, and it takes the guesswork out of exposure and lets you concentrate on composure, light, and subject.  After the big learning curve, there is less fiddling with the camera.

22730511_10210704932196387_7018311079726609722_n All the things above and more make the mirrorless cameras more fun to use.  Isn't that why we love photography so much? It's fun! That's the reason I am gearing down, not up!  I have sold all of my big boy cameras and lenses and now only have one camera. I think this will make me think more about photography and less about gear.  Now when I go somewhere I carry my camera, three lenses, and filters.  The lenses are 10-18 f4, 18-105 f4, and a 70-200 f4 full frame equivalent to 105-300.  This kit is very light, and I can carry it very easily in a shoulder bag that I call my purse.  I used this system at our annual photography workshop a couple of weeks ago, and it was fantastic!  While everyone was lugging around a large camera and one lens, I had my purse with three lenses at my disposal at the same weight or less.  I know famous people like Jason Lanier and Gary Fong have made the switch, but they are sponsored by Sony.  I am the only one that I know of that has made the switch from DSLR to mirrorless.  I know I'm the only one in my photography club that has made the jump into full-time mirrorless.  Some have dabbled in mirrorless, but none have gone full in.  I believe I am the first of many that will eventually switch to mirrorless. For me and the photography that I do (landscape, travel, and occasional portraits), this camera works for me.  I don't need the professional camera rig.  This mirrorless fits me and the photography that I enjoy.  So choose the gear that is right for you! Keep shooting!

22814418_10210727646164222_1824769434837060805_n 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.

22687733_10210704932316390_5072236385493429418_n 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 22730511_10210704932196387_7018311079726609722_n 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!

Photo 1 D800 70-200 2.8Max Stansell Photography 20171022_GAPC FC Day 8_0113Sony A6300 70-200 f4

2015-10-24-MSP-022Max Stansell Photography 20171018_GAPC Fall Colors 2017_0016 20171018_GAPC Fall Colors 2017_0018 Looking Glass Falls NCMax Stansell Photography 2015-10-24-MSP-073Max Stansell Photography 20171022_GAPC FC Day 8_0090

20170826_untitled shoot_0002  Hey, Everyone !  I've got a new product review that I want to share with you.  As you may know, I have fallen in love with the Sony Alfa series of cameras for doing the majority of my personal photography.  Most of this stuff is outdoors, but I wanted a flash that would do TTL.  I am a big believer in the Yongnuo brand of inexpensive flashes for my Nikon camera and have several that I can use in manual mode with my Sony A6300 which is fine, but I wanted at least one flash that I could use TTL with and hopefully one that would easily travel.  So I started my search for a small flash that could do TTL. 

20170826_untitled shoot_0001 I stared with Google and of course my beloved YouTube.  The flash that kept coming up was the Nissin i40 made in Japan.  It does TTL and high-speed sync with a guide number of 40.  So I looked it up on Amazon and it was $260, which was out of my price range. Then I saw the Neewer N40S made in China.  It's pretty much a copy of the Nissin i40 and the price is right at 75 bucks, so I had to try it.

My first impression of it when I got it was that it was small.  It feels well built and comes with a case that is well built. The guide number is 40, and the guide number of my Yongnuos are 58.  So they are not quite as strong as the Yongnuos are.  But thats okay.  I'm not looking to do a lot of flash photography with my Sony.  Very easy to operate with dial and not a digital display with complicated menus.  The unit can be run in manual, automatic , TTL, and high-speed sync, and it has a video light built in.  Now, the video light is not its strongest feature, but it's kind of cool that it has one.

20170826_untitled shoot_0021 20170826_untitled shoot_0023

Here are two photos that were both taken at 1/2000 sec @ f4.0, the one on the left without flash and one on the right with flash. High speed sync check!  This little flash has ticked all the boxes on my checklist.  I think for the money and what I'm going to use it for, it's the right one for me.

Keep shooting!