My Magic Box of Gear

Most everyone likes getting their hands on that next piece of gear...me included.  I've gone so far as to create a spreadsheet of every lens I've owned (and desired) with data on size, weight, cost, and aperture so I could play with various "kit" configurations.  Anyway here is what I'm currently using and some of my favorite accessories.

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Camera

Sony A7Riii - My workhorse for portraits and landscape images.  Battery life is so good now, I only need two.

Sony A7Rii - I can't live without the Sony PlayMemories Camera Apps (timelapse, and smooth reflection).  So it's my goto camera for long exposures, timelapse, and the general shooting backup.

Akaso Action Cameras - Full disclosure I am sponsored by them but having one along with me is great for B-roll video and behind the scenes clips.  Very similar to GoPro but at a much lower price with the tradeoff being a slightly more difficult user interface.

Lenses

Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM - My most used lens, great for astrophotography and wide angle landscapes.  Uses filters and is relatively small.

Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM - My least favorite lens but so useful I can't find a way to get rid of it.  Great at 24mm f/2.8 for astrophotography, useful for events, and landscapes.  However it is heavy and misses focus occasionally.  I wish there was a small fast prime <24mm/<f.28 and small 24-105 f/4 lens that I could swap it for without adding weight.

Sony 70-200 f/2.8 GM - Big, heavy, but great for portrait work.  Not something I would ever want to backpack with.

Sony 85mm F/1.8 - This lens is on notice that it may be sold soon...it's my solution when the 70-200 and 24-70 lens are too heavy.

Tripod

Feisol Tournament CT-3442 Tripod - I researched folded height, max height, weight, and cost and this guy is by far the best solution.  My only problem has been the "anti-twist" feature has worn down such that one leg can pull out if I'm not careful.  Someday I'll try to get a replacement part from Feisol.

Feisol CT-3332 Rapid Carbon Fiber Tripod - Tripod for my second body for timelapse work or as a light stand.

Drone

DJI Spark - Great choice for your first drone.  Very small, light, durable, and a camera nearly as good as a DJI Mavic.  It did all my Iceland video footage!

Lighting

Yongnuo - Flashes are cheap and I have had two die...but at their low cost I don't have to worry about them.  The LED panel is great for nightscapes.

Camera Bag

Shimoda 60L - Finally a camera bag that can also function for backpacking!  So good I'll probably have to do a blog post just on it!

Sony SEL1224G 12-24mm f/4 Lens Review

Many thanks to Sony Pro Support for lending me the new Sony SEL1224G 12-24mm f/4 lens!  I was excited to try it as 12mm is really - - - W  I  D  E - - -!  I already own the Sony SEL1635GM 16-35mm f/2.8 and was interested to test out the lens to determine if the wider 12-16mm range would be worth buying another lens.

Sony 12-24mm G f/4 left, Sony 16-35mm GM f/2.8 right.

I was on assignment to photograph some scenic locations in western North Carolina and brought both lenses with me to make some comparisons.  On a rainy morning I headed out to Dry Falls which was a perfect subject for me to try out the Sony 12-24mm lens.

Dry Falls at 12mm

As soon as I put the lens on my Sony A7Rii camera, I immediately set it to 12mm.  I crouched into a shallow cave behind this waterfall and used the 12mm field of view to frame the entire opening.  I was impressed with the lack of distortion at such a wide angle.  However to get even more cave detail I also tried to do a panorama at 12mm and was surprised to find the images would not stitch in Lightroom or Photoshop which was disappointing.

12mm from inside the cave

So obviously the Sony 12-24mm lens has the benefit of a wider field of view which makes new compositions possible.  However I also wanted to compare the quality against my Sony 16-35mm GM lens at a similar focal length.  Not surprisingly at a smaller aperture like f/11 the images were very similar in sharpness with the GM lens slightly better.  However when I opened up the aperture to f/4 reduce the shutter speed so I could add myself in the frame the sharpness dropped of significantly. 

f/11, 100% crop, Sony 16-35mm GM left, Sony 12-24 G right

f/4, 100% crop, Sony 16-35 GM left, Sony 12-24 G right

Final image from the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 lens

I hadn’t previously considered this lens as a purchase for two reasons.  First with a maximum aperture of f/4 and decrease in sharpness wide open it isn’t well suited for astrophotography work.  Second the lens will not easily accept filters, especially the screw on filters I typically use. 

Sony 12-24mm G f/4 left, Sony 16-35mm GM f/2.8 with circular polarizer right

Now that I’ve had a chance to use it I really enjoyed the wider 12mm field of view but it wasn’t enough to change my mind and buy it when I already have the Sony 16-35mm GM lens.  I do a lot of travel photography and often need to limit the weight and number of lenses I bring with me on assignment and the Sony 16-35mm GM lens does many things well.  Also when I want a wider field of view in a lens that can also do night photography I use the much cheaper, lighter, faster, and sharper wide open Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 lens.  Therefore I’ll pass on the Sony SEL1224G 12-24mm f/4 lens and keep hoping for a fast ultra-wide angle lens <14mm to be released someday.

Rokinon FE14M-E 14mm F2.8 Ultra Wide Lens

ONE MORE THING...Thinking of alternate lenses did make me recall I did own the Sony SEL1018 10-18mm Wide-Angle Zoom Lens three years ago when finding a wide angle lens for the Sony A7r was more difficult.  While it is a crop sensor lens it will cover the A7r full frame sensor from 12mm to 17mm making it a lower cost alternative.

Sony SEL1018 10-18mm Wide-Angle Zoom Lens at 12mm

Sony SEL1635GM 16-35mm f/2.8 Lens Review

My quest for an all around landscape and astrophotography lens continues as I recently received the Sony 16-35 f/2.8 GM lens.  It has all the features I want in a wide angle lens for my Sony cameras but does it beat the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM?

In the Carolinas I like to photograph hidden places, waterfalls, and overlooks that don’t often have much room around them to compose a photo.  Therefore a wide angle zoom lens is essential for me.  I often camp or stay out after sunset to photograph the stars at night so I also need it to be able to shoot at f/2.8 as I don’t want to carry around a separate lens just for night photography.

The best one lens solution I had found so far was the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L III using the Sigma MC-11 adapter.  The sharpness was amazing for stars at f/2.8 and landscapes at f/16.  It has a mechanical manual focus ring with an accurately marked distance scale making it easy to check infinity focus in the dark at night.  However the lens has a lot of vignetting, especially at f/2.8 for nightscapes, and correcting for it in Lightroom adds a lot of noise.  While I prefer some vignette to draw the eye to the center of the frame, it was too much and it made panoramas difficult to merge without creating darker “bars” where the vignetting overlaps.

When I unboxed the Sony FE 16-35 f/2.8 GM lens I was initially surprised with how small and light it was.  It is 1.5” shorter and roughly ¼ pound lighter than the Canon with the MC-11 adapter attached.

I'm not a professional lens tester but wanted to share these photos to help anyone considering purchasing this lens.  These are taken out of Lightroom with minimal processing and 100% crops of the center and corners.  I started out testing the lens against my garage door to check that the lens was well centered.  I have had to return several Sony lenses for having one side out of focus versus the other.  In my comparison I thought the Canon was sharper but I was happy that the Sony was even from side to side and had much less vignetting.  There is also a noticeable difference in the color rendering with the Sony being a bit cooler.

I tested 24mm out in my backyard.  I did seem to notice the Sony lens tended to be front focusing slightly and put in a yardstick for comparison with the focus point on the sticky note.  In the yard the Sony had more contrast and better bokeh.

I added a third lens to test at 35mm between the Sony 16-35 GM, Canon 16-35L iii, and Sony 24-70 GM.  This is a 100% crop from each lens.  The two Sony GM lenses had a similar look and surprisingly I thought the Sony 16-35 GM was the sharpest of the three.

Astrophotography was the one area I was really hoping for an improvement with the Sony 16-35 GM lens.  I finally had a clear night to test both lenses at 24mm, 15 seconds, and f/2.8.  I was very happy not to see any coma or distortion in the stars and the vignetting was improved.

In conclusion I'll be keeping the Sony 16-35 GM lens and selling the Canon.  While I think the Canon 16-35L iii is slightly sharper in some instances the sharpness from the Sony is still excellent.  I would also prefer the mechanical manual focus of the Canon but I thought the focus ring felt slightly stiffer than the Batis 18mm lens which I really didn't like the feel of.  However I like the look of the colors and contrast from the Sony better, the smaller size, and less vignetting which more than make up for the other minor differences.