Monte Casino with the Sony NEX F3 Mirrorless camera

In today's day and age of everything smaller and better than days gone by, camera technology is changing at an alarming rate. The days of small "point and shoot" Cybershot cameras are nearly gone with every cell phone now having a camera on board. Most people read the amount of pixels as the quality of the images but little do they know that on those tiny sensors more pixels generally means worse quality. So where do we really go if we want a compact camera but we want quality? We know that quality generally comes from sensor size and good lenses amongst other things like good digital processing by the camera and the ability for the camera to perform in all sort of light conditions. Luckily Sony has come up with the answer with the introduction of their small mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras. These are small and compact but pack punch and quality. The sensor size is exactly the same as their DSLR big brothers and there is an array of lenses for just about every situation available.

To me, being the typical South African male, a camera has not been a camera unless I have this big heavy chunky traditional camera in my hands. I have however recently being toying with the NEX cameras and find myself using them more and more in everyday situations. They are lighter, smaller, easier to carry and conceal in this crime ridden country of ours but deliver the quality that I require. They can be shot in the normal auto and semi auto modes as well as in my favourite  fully manual mode. They also allow for RAW image capture which is something I would not sacrifice at any cost. (yes, I am a control freak and want full control of my images).

Well it was with this history and the little baby of the range, the NEX-F3 that I found myself driving past Monte Casino yesterday and with a few minutes to spare, I thought why the hell not. Now I know that cameras are not allowed and I have heard of many of my photographer friends being tossed out with their cameras. 

The NEX is small and I held it in my hand with my phone as I was searched by security on the entrance to the venue. They were none the wiser. I first shot a couple of images in the bright sunshine outside and then proceeded into the dark abyss. If you have entered Monte Casino you will know exactly what I am talking about. Here the camera would really be put to the test. I only had the small 18-55 kit lens and nothing special extra. No flash was an obvious so the camera's low light capability was going to be put to the test. I set the aperture on F5.6 to get a little depth of field and to get a shutter speed of 1/40, I had to push the ISO to between 1600 and 3200 to obtain a correctly exposed image.

Looking at the results when I returned to the studio, I must confess that I was suitably impressed. The images were clear and of the standard I expect. Noise was very limited considering the higher ISO's. Colours and the dynamic range is very acceptable with nice detail throughout range. The little NEX will be becoming my little traveling companion from now on!

We even had a blue moon!

Radio Jacaranda's studio gave a wonderful colour splash.

Even police seemed to be off for the day. :)

A did a little processing on this image to give it a more antique look.

Loved the colours, contrasts and textures here

An evening at the Barnyard

I last night had the pleasure of attending a great musical at the Barnyard theater. Maybe great because the music was from my days.. it was called The 80's vs the 90's. I must say that even my son who was only born in the mid 90's also said that he liked the music and show so it really has appeal for all ages. Some nice rock and roll as well as some more calmer songs. The show is a never-ending Juke Box that takes you on a ride through two decades of nonstop hits. The lighting is superb with a plethora of colours abounding throughout the show.

Now I know "proper" cameras are not allowed and since I did go to enjoy the show, not photograph it, I took one of Sony's "little" cameras along. Now when I say little I am referring to size and not performance. Sony's NEX  range of cameras have the same size sensor of their larger brother APS-C DSLR's and have interchangeable lenses making it a complete system. I took the standard 18-55mm lens along because all I wanted was some general shots and I wanted to see the performance in the very low light. No flashes used, just light from the performance. I had to push the ISO up to between 1600 and 3200 to get some decent shutter speeds and reviewing the images this morning, I am very pleased with the performance and versatility of the NEX-F3 that I used. (this is the "baby" of the NEX family)

Marievale with the new Sony 500mmF4 lens

I recently took a trip out to Marievale Bird Sanctuary on the East Rand with the intention of testing the clarity of the Sony 500mmF4 lens. This was the one lens missing in Sony's line up since their acquisition of Minolta some years ago and was long awaited. The lens has Sony's new nano coatings on the elements which ensure superb image clarity and coupled with the 3 ED coated elements, eliminates any internal reflections. (I was keen to test these and thus the choice of  Marievale with the water and reflections seemed a good idea)

A lens of this nature is primarily used for Wildlife or Sports photography and I was keen to test it to see if there were improvements over the old Minolta or the Sigma fixed 500. It is not the lightest of lenses but then weighing in at 3.4Kg is also not the heaviest for this class of lens. 

I arrived before dawn and there was a slight fog over the water which left some dampness over the lens and camera but this was not too worrying as the lens does its part to fight the elements with interlocking weather-resistant seals in and around the focusing ring and other vulnerable points to protect against moisture, dust and moisture.

I must say I was very happy with the results. Here are a couple of images from the outing. I coupled it to the crop sensor A77 giving me an effective magnification factor equivalent of a 750mm lens.

On the far side of the pan.. about a 70% crop.

Filling the frame, no crop.

Between the reeds - focus spot on.

This African Snipe came so close that I had to step back. Completely filled the frame, no crop.

About a 40% crop.

This one caught me surprise... He just popped out the water and then was gone.

This little Grebe was also quite a distance away with this being about a 60% crop.

Test - Rietvlei with the Sony 70-400mm F4-F5.6 G SSM 11

I have been dying to get out there and see how the new Sony 70-400 performs. It's silver predecessor is a stellar performer and is hailed by many as one of the sharpest mid range zoom telephotos available. The updated version sports a new white colour more in line with the rest of the "G" series lenses that Sony has in their line up. It has also been updated with the new nano coatings that were first used in the recently available 500mmF4 prime. The other major improvement that has been bandied about is the fact that this version ll focuses 4 times faster. Well I have used the first version since it was released and it certainly didn't focus that slowly so this must be a major improvement.

I had a cancellation in the studio this morning so I decided that this was the gap that I had been waiting for. I quickly put the kit together and headed out to Rietvlei Nature Reserve. It was already late by my standards (after 9.30am) when I arrived there and I set off to find some targets! I mounted the lens on the Sony A77 which is a crop sensor body making the magnification of the lens effectively 105-600mm. The lens focuses incredibly fast is all I can say. I don't have any way to measure exactly how fast but it locked onto the subjects with phenominal speed. The focus was accurate and even in situations where focus is often confused with bright backgrounds and busy foilage, the lens locked on and was 100% accurate.

The dilemma that now faces me is where do I find the funds to replace my version l lenses with this awesome piece of glass!

Some images from this morning... some shot not for their beauty but more to show the ability of the lens.

The bright branches in the background would often confuse the focus abilities of lessor lenses

This Purple Swamphen would previously of been difficult to accurately lock focus onto because of the thick foliage

This male Stonechat was very nervous and I managed to get only get one shot off before he flew