sony a7rii

Why I shoot with a high resolution camera (A7Riv)

For the past five years, I’ve been using high-resolution full-frame cameras for my photography -- starting with the A7Rii, and now the A7Riv. This choice might seem surprising, especially given the type of images I create.

The reason is very simple: cropping.

I crop every single photograph I take, even when I get the perfect framing in-camera. Creating square images means I “discard” a third of the pixels, every single time.

A7Riv’s 61MP let me crop even further, and I often do. Switching to APS-C mode gives that extra reach I sometimes need, effectively turning my 28-200mm superzoom into a 28-300mm, while still producing large, detailed files.

In fact, in APS-C mode, the A7Riv matches the 26MP of a dedicated crop-sensor camera like the a6700. This means I can mount a lens like the 70-350mm and get an equivalent 525mm focal length in a compact setup -- much smaller than the full-frame counterparts. Or mount a prime like the 35mm 1.4 and "switch" to 50mm with the press of a button.

So, it’s not about having 61MP images; I couldn’t care less about that. It's about the flexibility those megapixels give me: I don't have to carry as much gear; or I can shoot in bad weather and not have to worry about switching lenses to get the focal length I need. I like camera gear that gets out of the way, because I can focus on what really matters: subject and composition.

Camera gear I carry on my daily walks

I love walking, and I love photography. So, of course, a big part of my photography is done during my daily walks.

The camera gear I carry with me has changed quite a bit over the years, as I try to find the balance between flexibility, versatility, convenience, image quality, and low light performance. In this video, I talk about my current gear.

You can find a more exhaustive list of the camera gear I use for photography and video here: my camera gear.

My ND filter collection

I use ND filters almost on a daily basis, both for my photo and video work. My collection has grown over the years, so in this video I show you which ND filters I have, why and how I use them.

The ND filters shown in this video are:

Where the Pacific meets the Cascades, and other recent videos

Still catching up after my road trip. I never shared the video I made in Northern Washington here, and that’d be a mistake. Washington is probably my favorite state (sorry, Oregon), and the coast and mountains north of Seattle are my favorite part of it. Beauty everywhere.

But there are some other recent videos I never got to share here:

That’s quite a few videos, I guess I’ve been busy lately. And there are many more coming soon. I’ll be sharing them here, but don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It really does help.

APS-C lenses on Full Frame bodies: best of both worlds?

In this video, I'll try to show you why using APS-C lenses on a Full Frame body not only might make sense, but it can also be a great way to achieve performance that'd be very hard to get otherwise.

I used a Sony a7rii and the following APS-C lenses: Rokinon 12mm f/2, Sigma 16mm f/1.4, Sigma 30mm f/1.4, Sigma 56mm f/1.4, Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f/4, Sony 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3. Check out some of the examples in this gallery:

Why I bought a 5-year old Full Frame camera (A7Rii in 2020)

I bought a new camera.

Actually, I bought it 3 months ago. I didn't mention it here or anywhere because the last thing I want is anyone thinking they need a new camera -or even worse, the camera I bought- to create good images.

But a few people have spotted it in my videos and asked about it. I also want to be as transparent as possible when it comes to what I use to make my images, so here we go.

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