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...

Sony SLT a57 review

Despite what I have written recently about my desire to move to a full-frame sensor, my journey with the Sony APS-C a57 A-mount camera system continues.

Call it the ravings of a delusion mad-man (I have just recently had Covid) or the sad musings of a hopeless GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome) addict if you like. I don't mind. It's probably both.

Yet despite my recent obsession with full frame, I have also concurrently been growing and developing my skills (and accessories) with the a57 DSLT.

It has come with me on my last two landscape outings (I've made myself leave the a99 at home), and I have - for the most part - enjoyed using it as a landscape camera. The camera has a lot of things going for it that I like, and a few that I don't like.

I have owned, and used, probably hundreds of different cameras over the last 35+ years. So I don't need to spend months getting to 'know' a system before giving my thoughts on it. I know what I like, and don't like, about a camera after shooting with it a couple of times. So what follows is my review of the Sony a57 - from my perspective. What I mean by that is simple - but deserves to be stated. I'm not a fast action sports, wildlife, product or portrait photographer - I'm a landscape photographer (mainly). So that will be where I place all of the emphasis on my thoughts and opinions. I don't shoot video, so I'm not even going to mention its video capabilities. And I don't need 20fps. So if you want to know what the a57 is like for sports photography, you may need to look elsewhere. Nuff said.

Cobden Beach Sunset. Sony a57 with SAL18250mm. f/11 @ 1/8th sec, ISO 100

Having got that out of the way and off my chest, what do I think of the Sony a57 as a landscape camera? Well mostly, it's positive. Mostly the a57 and me get along just fine out in the field, and it is creating some very fine landscape images. So yes, generally, my experiences and feelings towards the camera have been good.

It is an all polycarbonate body, that isn't weather-sealed - so in one respect that's a tick against it for a landscape photographer. And if you are the kind of landscape photographer who loves to be out in howling gales, getting you and your gear completely battered by the elements, then no, the a57 probably isn't for you.

I'm not that guy. I don't actively look to shoot in bad weather. In fact I actively avoid it. You don't have to shoot in the pouring rain to get moody and atmospheric landscapes. So I don't. I have occasionally been caught in a downpour when out photographing, so I put my gear away. I'm pretty sure that the a57, even though not weather-sealed, could handle exposure to a quick downpour. So no, I'm not bothered by it's all polycarbonate non-weather sealed body. Your mileage may vary.

Rapahoe Beach, West Coast. Sony a57 with SAL18250. f/11 @ 1/3rd sec, ISO 100. Grad ND filter

What I do appreciate about the Sony a57's polycarbonate body is that it is relatively light (yet with a decent heft) and relatively small. In fact, it's something of a 'goldilocks' camera for me in terms of its weight and size. It's bigger than the a55 that preceded it, fits perfectly in my hand without the need for an extra grip, and has excellent fit and finish. Nothing creaks or flexes (that shouldn't creak or flex) and all the buttons are in logical places.

My one gripe, maybe, around button placement, is to do with the positioning of the exposure compensation and ISO buttons directly behind the shutter button. They can require a bit of finger-gymnastics to reach, especially if you keep the camera up to your eye and want to do it by 'feel'.

And yet I say 'maybe' because it's really only a gripe when using the camera hand-held. When the camera is on a tripod - which it will be for 90% of my landscape shooting - then the issue goes away. It's also not an issue when shooting in manual mode, which I am also doing 90% of the time now. In full manual I set the appropriate ISO and then leave it, and of course don't use the exposure compensation button at all. Exposure is controlled instead by varying the shutter speed from the excellently placed front dial.

Rapahoe Beach, low tide. Sony a57 with SAL18250. f/8 @ 2.5secs, ISO 100. Grad ND filter

So yes, I'm very happy with the overall handling of the Sony a57 when out in the field. Especially for a more 'enthusiast' mid-level camera.

Except... for the articulating LCD screen. At 920,000 dots it's clear enough, and seems reasonably colour accurate (enough for me anyways). And it is an articulated screen. But therein lies the 'slight' problem. Because it articulates downwards, and not sideways (see the image of the camera on my tripod above). Since the screen angles down, the tightening mechanism on the universal ball head I'm using gets in the way of the full articulation. I've got around this by reverse-mounting the camera to the ball head, so that I now tighten the mount from the front of the camera. This works, but it means I've had to re-learn which way around to use the ball head. A minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.

Also, a quick word on the 1.4million dot evf. No, it's not the most modern out there. And yes, it's an RGB sequential device and not OLED. Some people have complained of  'tearing' of the image as they look around the display. But I haven't noticed this at all. And I find the viewfinder big, bright and perfectly fine to use. So no, no issues there.

Golden Hour, Cobden Beach. Sony a57 with SAL18250mm. f/11 @ 1/100th, ISO 100

At the end of the day, what do we really care about though? That's right IQ (image quality). And really, the Sony a57 doesn't disappoint here either. Some will say that it's 'only' 16MP - and APS-C at that. But it's an excellent 16MP Sony sensor, with very good dynamic range, and the resulting RAW images have a decent latitude for post-processing. I'm very pleased that the native ISO is 100 (as opposed to 200 on my Olympus cameras) - it just feels right shooting at ISO 100. The files are clean (noise free) at base ISO, and 'useable' up to 3200 or even 6400. For what I do, which at the moment at least is 99% web-based, the 16MP sensor in the Sony a57 is MORE than enough.

I don't crop hard on the computer - preferring to do all my cropping in-camera (or at least as much as I can). So quite frankly, more than 16Mp is probably a waste. And yes, I do understand the irony of that statement given my last few posts.

Would I prefer it had the 24MP full-frame glorious sensor in the a99? Yes, of course I would. But do I need a 24Mp full frame sensor? No, I do not... 

Rapahoe inlet. Sony a57 with SAL18250. f/11 @ 30 seconds, ISO 100. Grad ND filter

As befits a 21st century camera, the a57 is packed with whiz-bang techno stuff that I will never ever use. Panoramic sweep mode (in 2D and 3D - whatever that means), auto portrait framing, clear image zoom (apparently), numerous creative colour modes (for jpeg-only), lens correction - the list goes on.

The technology that I will use comes in the form of in-body image stabilisation (Sony call it 'Steady Shot') and full-time phase detection AF (due to the translucent mirror technology). Most of the time, if I'm using a tripod, the Steady Shot will be (should be) turned off. You don't need to stabilise a camera on a tripod. But I like the fact that image stabilisation is built into the body itself. This means that every lens you attach - even old Minolta lenses - are image stabilised.

The phase detect AF seems reliable and quick - certainly quick enough for landscapes. I'm also sure that it's quick enough for most other forms of photography too - with the exception of motorsport? The only other complaint I have with the a57 (although 'complaint' might be too strong a word - maybe 'niggle' is better) is with the AF points. There are 15 of them, in the same pattern as in the a99, which doesn't offer a very wide coverage. It's certainly not edge-to-edge like I'm used to with the Olympus system. There's no 'touch' to focus (it's not a touchscreen at all), and so AF is somewhat limited to the central portion of the image. Having said that, the same is true of the a99 as well, so it's not just an a57 issue. And again, manual focusing will get around this issue, especially for landscape work.

Rapahoe bonfire. Sony a57 with SAL18250.  f/11 @ 4 secs, ISO 100

Fortunately, manual focusing implementation is very good on the a57, as it is now with most modern digital cameras. The a57 has image magnification and focus peaking to aid in manual focusing, so nailing focus over the entire image area couldn't be easier.

Really, what's not to like? Battery life is very good (around 550 shots per charge using the lcd screen), the menu system makes sense and is easy to navigate, handling is (mostly) excellent, and IQ is stellar for a 16MP camera.

Overall, the Sony a57 makes for an excellent landscape photography camera and is a joy to use. I also get the feeling that I have yet to see it reach its full potential. My first few weeks with the camera have seen me use it exclusively with the SAL75300 and SAL18250 lenses - both of which aren't stellar performers. The 18-250 is ok, especially at the wide end for landscapes. But I have yet to try it with the Minolta 17-35mm f3.5 G lens that I've had paired with the a99. I may find that using this lens on the a57 bumps the IQ up a notch or two? It will be interesting to see...

Losing my landscape mojo

A few posts ago I talked about my general lack of interest in taking photos over the past couple of years, and how this might be turning around with macro photography. Hoping that this macro passion might re-kindle my excitement in general, I decided to head out last evening to photograph the sunset at my local beach. In years gone by, an outing such as this would have got me very enthused and eager to be out with camera in hand. Every sunrise and sunset was a photo opportunity, and I could get rather grumpy if I missed capturing a beautiful sunset.

Wind-sprayed waves, Cobden beach. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm. f/5.6 @ 1/200th, ISO 400

The signs for a colourful sunset looked promising, although the wind was very strong on the exposed beach. Not great for setting up a tripod and trying to keep a camera still - but excellent for capturing some fairly impressive wave spray!

I put the 45-150mm Panasonic on my E-M1 and racked it all the way out to 150mm to get as close to the spray as I could. The setting sun was back-lighting the waves perfectly and supplying enough light that I could hand-hold the camera in the wind and still get sharp images. The image stabilisation in the E-M1 (and Olympus cameras in general) is the best in the world, and is truly impressive. But image stabilisation won't correct subject movement, so a decently fast shutter speed was also required.

Washed up. Olympus E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm f2.8. f/5.6 @ 1/60th, ISO 200. + Polariser

I had headed down to my local beach for two reasons. One - it was close and I didn't have to travel far. And two - I knew the tide was going out and an old shipwreck that I'm fond of photographing would be revealed on the beach.

The wreck itself has broken into two sections. The image above is of the section that is higher up the beach and away from the water at low tide. I liked the deep red rust colour complementing the blue of the sky and the neutral grey of the beach pebbles, especially when using a polariser on the lens to intensify the blue of the sky. I'm attracted to old rusty machinery in the natural environment as a subject anyway (who isn't), so it was an obvious choice for a quick snap.

Cobden Beach Gold. E-M1 with 45-150mm. f/7.1 @ 1/160th, ISO 400

Then the sunset kicked-off. And boy, did it kick-off! The image above is NOT processed with extra colour vibrancy or saturation increase. That's really what it was like. Just the deepest, richest, golden-orange I've seen in the sky for quite a while. It was beautiful to witness, and yes, exciting to capture. I'm glad I was out, and glad that I got it on an SD card. Been there, done that...

Shipwreck at Sunset, Cobden beach. E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/5.6 @ 1/60th, ISO 200

What I was really there to photograph - the shipwreck exposed in the water - was a tougher challenge than I had expected it to be. The 'low' tide didn't really go out far enough to get some long-exposure sea interaction happening, and this meant I couldn't really get close enough for the compositions I was after.

I took dozens of images, varying my angle to try and get what I wanted. The above image is the best I could do. It's OK, but really doesn't 'do' it for me.

And really, that's the feeling that I get from all the images I took that evening. When I got home to process them, I looked at them all in Lightroom and thought 'meh'. I practically had to force myself to process any of them. And the sunset was stunning! 

Am I losing my photography mojo? Finally. After all these years?

I turned my computer off in disgust, and went and had a shower. Hands up who does some of their most productive thinking in the shower? (Yes, I see those hands...). I think I've come to the conclusion that I haven't lost my passion for photography (I'm very keen to get underway with some macro fungi images), but that, after 20+ years living in the same place, I've finally lost interest in my local landscape locations.

I've probably photographed down at my local beach, local lake, local waterfall, local rocks, local (you get the idea) literally hundreds of times - and I'm just not that interested anymore. Even in great light.

I think that when I returned from my amazing photography holiday two years ago, where everything was new and exciting, and found myself back among the all-too familiar, I just lost interest. Familiarity really does sometimes breed contempt.

Which sounds terrible. And it partly is terrible. I'm so lucky, as a photographer, to live in such a beautiful, and accessible, part of the world. I should be grateful. And I am. Honest. But I am also (if I'm still being honest) a bit bored with my local landscapes. As landscapes.

Does that mean I'll stop taking local landscape photos? For a while probably - yeah. In fact, I've already practically stopped as it is. Does that mean I'll never take another local landscape image? No - course not. It just may be a while....