Sony a77ii quick shoot

Since receiving my Sony a77ii last week (while I was isolating at home with my second bout of Covid), I've been itching to get out and shoot with it. If only to set me mind at ease, due to my experience with the a57 (see here).

Given that I'm still in the Covid recovery phase, all I really want to do in the evenings is rest after a day at work. But I was determined to take some photos with the a77ii. And with bad weather forecast for the next week, I decided to go out last night (as I write this) and make the most of the good weather.

We've been having some stunning sunsets here on the West Coast recently, and I was hoping that this evening would be no exception. The conditions looked promising - but alas, it was not to be.

Cobden Beach. Sony a77ii with Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 ZA DT (SAL-1680Z)

The above image is pretty standard stuff - nothing to get too excited about. But it's the first photo taken on my 'new' Sony a77ii, with my 'new' Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* 16-80mm ZA DT lens (wow, that's a mouthful)!

Again, nothing special - the spectacular lighting never eventuated. But it is sharp (shot at f11), has good detail, and the colours look natural. So I'm happy.

Rusty wheel. Sony a77ii with SAL-1680Z. f/5.6 @ 1/30th, ISO 100

Taking landscape shots with the camera focused to infinity is all well and good. Even the a57 could do that. It was with subjects at closer focusing distances where the sensor alignment issues on my previous a57 showed up. So I found a subject to focus on, set the a77ii up on a tripod, and used the central spot focus area to lock on to the rusted wheel.

Result - pin sharp focus exactly where I wanted it. Whew! I can breath a sigh of relief. My Sony a77ii has no sensor alignment issues and is focusing perfectly on where I'm aiming. Great news 😀

In fact, I'm very pleased with the sharpness, although I guess I shouldn't be surprised - given that I was using the 16-80mm Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T* lens. You should expect nothing but stellar results from a Carl Zeiss designed lens, and I'm happy to report that that appears to be the case. I'm pretty sure this lens will remain practically glued on to the front of this camera, given its fantastic 24-120mm focal range and fairly good f/3.5-4.5 aperture. I will write a more in-depth review of the lens in due course...

Cobden Tiphead Sunset. Sony a77ii with SAL-1680Z. HDR blend in Photoshop

As previously mentioned, the brilliant sunset colours never eventuated. Which is a shame, since the clouds were looking very dramatic. The image above is really as good as it got, and even this had to be created from a two-shot blend - one for the highlights and one for the shadows. 

Soon after taking this image, and having only been out for about 20 minutes, it actually started to rain. The a77ii is weather-sealed, but I wasn't that keen to test that out just yet (and also, the lens is not). So my first landscape outing with the new gear was unfortunately cut short. It was long enough to show that everything seems to be working ok though. So I'd say despite the weather, lack of light, and average images, I'd call the first outing a resounding success! Onwards and upwards...