Thinking about New Gear

Shot taken with 1 year old and now obsolete camera.

Sorry for being slow on posting this week.  My primary income is trading and the possible default this week kept me focused on things other than photography.

The big news in the photo world this week has been the release of the Sony A7 / A7R cameras.  It's the full frame Nex that has been rumored for so long.  I've tried to catch up my reading last night and this morning.  I had very high expectations for this camera, and from the initial reports it looks like Sony has taken Camera technology to an entirely new level.  In spite of all the hype I was leaning toward the Nex-7 replacement, with APS-C sensor, as a possible new camera. 

Now the A7 comes along and completely upsets my thinking.  From the initial reports the low-light capability will be multiple stops better than my A77, and probably at least a full stop better than the Nex-6.  No AA filter would be great for landscape and wildlife shooting.  A proper view finder unlike the RX-1.  And I can use most all my existing lenses, with adapters.  But the real killer is video.  The A7 has clean, uncompressed raw video (most likely 10-bit) at the HDMI port.  That means you can color grade, so exposure compensation and most of the other things you do with stills in Photoshop.  10-bit is what they shoot major feature films in.  The Sony A99 has it, Canon upgraded the firmware on the 5D Mk III to support it, and the higher end camcorders have it.  For those not up on video, keep in mind that you dump the raw data to and external SSD drive, usually terabyte size.  The data flow is like Niagara Falls, 16 or 32 gig memory cards are not going to handle it.  Sony also has an adapter to use XLR audio gear.  XLR is pro grade microphones and such.  Bottom line, this device should be able to shoot video with the best of them. 

Shot taken with 2 year old, now prehistoric camera

Another thing that makes the A7-A7R appealing is that it's more than a half pound lighter than the A77.   What I was looking for in a new camera was something small and light, along with small and light lenses that would be suitable for landscape work and backpacking.  Weight becomes a big deal if you are hiking 3 or more miles into the bush with 2000 foot elevation changes.  Giant, heavy autofocus zooms are not good in this situation.  The fully manual and super high quality Zeiss - Leica Mount 35mm f/2 glass I use on the Nex-6 has been wonderful.  Even so, it would be nice to have 24 megapixels instead of 16 for landscape. 
A backpacking trip might only need something like the Voightlander 21mm f/1.8 and my existing Zeiss 35mm.  Or maybe the 35mm and a fast 50 or 85.  A light weight tripod and the weight saving over the existing gear could be anywhere from 3-6 lbs.  That definitely has some appeal.  It would make a difference even spending a summer afternoon walking around town. 

It's a lot to think about.  Cameras from any of the major brands are so good that you have to wonder what you actually get for spending the big money.   Plenty of images hanging in museums were taken with gear that would be regarded as less than primitive by today's standards.  Then again this new technology is so cool.  Maybe it does open up new opportunities.