Sony Mirrorless Camera
Initial thoughts and image gallery
Those of you who know me from a past tour or workshop know that I've been using a Canon camera system for at least the past 10 years. I like it a lot and feel that for all shooting situations except high-action I'm happy and don't need anything more. But then there are those high-action situations!
In a world where we are inundated with millions of amazing images from all walks of life, I feel that high-action images of wildlife are the images which might impress even the most calloused viewer. Over many years of trying to capture high-action I felt like most of the time I missed the peak of action. Lots of times it was operator error and I'm not afraid to admit my own faults . Other times when I did everything right, it was my camera system that seemed to fail me. The most critical thing - the focus - just seemed like it was off a LOT of the time. After asking many questions of lots of people who know more than I do and doing TONS of research and even renting different photo gear other than the stuff I own, I came to the conclusion that there are better focusing systems out there other than my Canon camera's focusing system. I contemplated buying a Nikon system for fast action but the weight of what I considered buying was going to add 1.5 pounds to my already substantial wildlife setup. Mirrorless systems seemed to be a solution. These were definitely lighter in weight and some of them supposedly had more accurate and faster autofocus capabilities for action.
I bought and now use the Sony mirrorless camera system. This set-up saves me almost 1 pound in weight compared to my similar Canon system. But weight savings was NOT a primary concern. What I wanted was better autofocus for tracking fast moving subjects. I've had my Sony A6600 and Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G lens now since the end of February 2020. In a word - WOW! The autofocus capabilities of this combination are mind-blowing. It isn't perfect of course and there are many times when I still screw up the shot by clipping wings, etc. but when I manage to keep the bird in the frame, the camera keeps it in focus. The joy of this is thrilling and opens up an entire world of high-action photography that I rarely attempted in the past. Below are just 10 examples of action shots taken with my new Sony system. After being obsessed with learning this camera and lens and spending almost 24/7 thinking about it and messing with it since I got it, I am almost done with the steep learning curve that accompanied changing systems. I have done lots of testing on the different autofocus set-ups.
I've decided that the following will be my starting set-up for when I head out to capture high-action:
That's the basics and of course there are many other choices and things I'm not covering here but the above are my starting settings. Stay tuned for further updates on the Sony system I am now using. Exciting times!
In a world where we are inundated with millions of amazing images from all walks of life, I feel that high-action images of wildlife are the images which might impress even the most calloused viewer. Over many years of trying to capture high-action I felt like most of the time I missed the peak of action. Lots of times it was operator error and I'm not afraid to admit my own faults . Other times when I did everything right, it was my camera system that seemed to fail me. The most critical thing - the focus - just seemed like it was off a LOT of the time. After asking many questions of lots of people who know more than I do and doing TONS of research and even renting different photo gear other than the stuff I own, I came to the conclusion that there are better focusing systems out there other than my Canon camera's focusing system. I contemplated buying a Nikon system for fast action but the weight of what I considered buying was going to add 1.5 pounds to my already substantial wildlife setup. Mirrorless systems seemed to be a solution. These were definitely lighter in weight and some of them supposedly had more accurate and faster autofocus capabilities for action.
I bought and now use the Sony mirrorless camera system. This set-up saves me almost 1 pound in weight compared to my similar Canon system. But weight savings was NOT a primary concern. What I wanted was better autofocus for tracking fast moving subjects. I've had my Sony A6600 and Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G lens now since the end of February 2020. In a word - WOW! The autofocus capabilities of this combination are mind-blowing. It isn't perfect of course and there are many times when I still screw up the shot by clipping wings, etc. but when I manage to keep the bird in the frame, the camera keeps it in focus. The joy of this is thrilling and opens up an entire world of high-action photography that I rarely attempted in the past. Below are just 10 examples of action shots taken with my new Sony system. After being obsessed with learning this camera and lens and spending almost 24/7 thinking about it and messing with it since I got it, I am almost done with the steep learning curve that accompanied changing systems. I have done lots of testing on the different autofocus set-ups.
I've decided that the following will be my starting set-up for when I head out to capture high-action:
- Aperture Priority mode with lens wide open at f/6.3 (in this case the shutter speed falls where it falls depending on how much light you have). To stop action (depending on the quickness of your subject) I find that you need at least 1/500 sec. shutter speed and of course 1/2000 sec. is MUCH better.
- or Shutter Priority mode with a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec. dialed in (if there is enough light for this- not always the case!).
- or Manual mode with lens wide open and shutter speed of 1/2000 sec. (again only if the light is enough).
- ISO either set to 400, 800, 1600 or "ISO Auto" but limited in my menus to 100-1600 (I've found quite a bit of noise with this camera at anything above 1600 but I now use a Photoshop plug-in software called "Topaz Denoise AI" to help with this problem).
- AF-C (continuous focus) set 100% of the time.
- Back button focus - actually this is now linked to a convenient button built into my lens and conveniently located exactly where my thumb happens to lie when hand holding the lens. I press this lens button with my left thumb to focus and hold focus when the action happens, I press the shutter button with my right index finger to take the shots.
- Focus area - "Tracking Zone." - This is a CRITICAL choice on Sony mirrorless cameras. The focus area chosen will make or break your action shots. Do not make this choice lightly. Other photographers have suggested "Tracking Wide" but I have tested this quite a lot and I definitely capture more keepers with "Tracking Zone".
- OSS (optical steady shot) turned on at the lens and put on mode #2 (panning mode).
That's the basics and of course there are many other choices and things I'm not covering here but the above are my starting settings. Stay tuned for further updates on the Sony system I am now using. Exciting times!