Hey guys, welcome to Episode 117 of the This can't be that hard podcast. Now, the first 116 episodes of the podcast were dedicated entirely to the business of photography. But today we're going to be doing something a little different. So a couple of months ago, I booked a trip to Iceland for the summer, I had gotten my vaccine, Iceland was offering really good fares and was open to vaccinated people. So I just went for it and was like, I'm gonna schedule this trip, it's gonna be super fun.
And the closer I got, obviously, I started thinking about what camera gear I was going to bring with me on my trip. And for a while now I have been considering when it's going to be time to switch from DSLR because I currently shoot a Canon five D Mark for two mirrorless. I know that mirrorless is sort of the future of photography, they're kind of phasing DSLR systems out, I have been kind of slow to make the switch, because you guys know I don't like to buy gear unless I
absolutely need to. And you know, my cameras been serving me well, that I was like, wow, going on a trip like this, where I'm going to be doing tons of hiking and maybe don't want to carry around my heaviest gear might be the perfect time to try out a mirrorless system, I don't have a client, you know, depending on me to nail the shot, I can sort of take my time and learn different things. So I started looking into which systems I might want to try out.
And to be honest, I got a little overwhelmed as I often do when it comes to researching gear, I am not a gearhead, and I know what I want. I know what I need my gear to do. But I honestly cannot stand listening to these like bros talk about their number of megapixels and stuff like that, like I I get it, I understand what those things mean, I just don't want to hear that conversation over and over
again. And when someone gives a review of gear, oftentimes, it's really focused on sort of the tech aspects of the gear and not its functionality. So as I'm wading through all this stuff, and looking into renting gear for my trip, it occurred to me that maybe I'm not the only person out there who gets frustrated by that sort of super techie gear rundown and would instead prefer somebody to be like, Hey, this is how I use my
camera. This is what I need. And this is why I chose what I chose when I chose a particular piece of gear. And so I called up my friends at b&h and said, Hey, I'm going on this trip, and I'm considering getting into mirrorless. And I'd love to chat with you guys. So today's
conversation is exactly that. It is the conversation that I had with Gabriel Peterman from b&h who was kind enough to sit down with me talk about all of the different things that I am looking for in a mirrorless system, and then make some recommendations about what camera or cameras and what systems I should be considering, and why I hope that for those of you who may be still in the DSLR space and considering mirrorless hopefully this will be helpful for you. I know it was hugely
helpful for me. And this is part one of what will be two episodes when I come back from Iceland. I'm going to record a follow up where I talk about the gear Of course, I'm also going to be sharing that on social media, but talk about the gear talk about what I chose and why in a way that will hopefully be a little more practical rather than technical. Anyway, here's my conversation. I hope you enjoy. Welcome to this can't be that hard. My name is Annemie
Tonken. And I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the podcast, I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems that photographers at every level of experience can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way. Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard. You can do it. And I can show you how. Hey, Gabriel, it is so great to have you on this can't be that hard. How are you today? Yeah, it's
great. This is awesome. Thank you for this opportunity. No, no, the opportunity is mine. I'm so excited. I am have been looking forward to this trip for a long time and I feel like having well you're a photographer, you know how it goes. It's like I feel like I experience places almost more.
It's like more of an experience for me when I am thinking really specifically about the photos that I'm taking even though I'm a people photographer When I go someplace with amazing landscapes, I like to try my hand at those things. And I feel like it makes it helps me, like remember them more. So to add this layer of like I have new cameras to play with, and all that sort of stuff is pretty exciting. So thanks to you and to bnh for kind of being part of this project.
Well, you're welcome. And, you know, we do live in a golden age of photography right now, especially obviously, on the digital photography, and especially on the mirrorless front. So I hope soon, someday soon, they'll just be called cameras again, instead of this mirrorless versus DSLR. I mean, mirrorless is the future, it's, you know, we'll see, not many dsls will be coming out in the near future. So just we'll probably be cameras, but exciting times. And really, really kind of somewhat easy,
though. I know, there's a lot of choices out there. But it's, it can be a little bit easier than ever to find the right tool to match your vision.
Well, I really appreciate the opportunity to like actually have this conversation. And the reason that I came to you guys about doing this on the podcast is that I you know, so I feel like a little bit of a dinosaur that I'm still DSLR bound. I've been
at this a long time. And you know, you know, the tools that you know, and you kind of get into a rut and I my listeners know, I am a big, like don't spend money until you know really good and well why you're spending that money, especially when it comes to things like here because I do think that in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing just about any gear can do the job it needs
to do. But at some point with the technology moving along, like you kind of have to keep pace and you don't want to wait until you are dealing with like a camera that you don't get technical support on anymore or you know, system software updates. So I feel like now it seems to me that now is the right time for me to switch now currently I am shooting canon, I am on the mark four. Prior to that I was a Nikon shooter for
several years. And I only switched over to canon because the person that I share my studio with was a Canon shooter and had a lot more gear than I did. So I was like always said that I couldn't pilfer the closet because our systems didn't match. So then I when but I never wanted to switch before the mark four came out. Because of the low light issues that I found, whenever I borrow the mark three, like it just that ISO couldn't get pushed as hard.
So Mark four came out, I've used that now for I guess it's about four years been perfectly happy with that, but the camera is starting to show its age, it's like almost time to get a new
camera. And I just feel like now is probably the time for me to really explore the mirrorless world and figure out where I'm going to go but because I'm not because it's a whole different format, I'm you know, there's I guess and we'll talk about Canon and going over and using adapters versus buying new lenses because it is an expensive switch to make when
you're buying all new gear. But other than that, other than having a you know, a couple of Canon lenses that I that I could theoretically sell I I am wide open to systems and all that stuff. So I've got my list of the different features that I that are important to me and the things that I need them for. And I'm excited to have you walk me and the rest of the audience through what your recommendations would be
awesome. Excellent. And you know, you're not alone and you're not a dinosaur. You know, the 5g for is a great camera, it has been a great camera. But you know, the way that the the camera world, you know, refreshes itself is usually every three to five years. And if you are a working Pro, yeah, you need to be on that cutting edge tech. And it's an it's a little bit of an unfortunate
thing. You know, those of you who used to shoot film and or still shoot film, you don't really need to replace a film camera. It's it's good for a very long time. But obviously, digital technology even, it's really great right now, but but you're right, they do show their age, you know, three to five years and if you're a pro and you are, you know you can't disappoint your clients, right? You can't just say you can't let the tool the hammer, you know, whatever, you not be getting
that nail, you know, so. So it does, you know, luckily you're making money or hopefully you're making money so you can put it back in as the investment and keep and keep up. Doing what and not being held back really is a bit of a jump, you know from Digital to mirrorless. But we're here with the safety net to help.
Right and I figure the way that I plan to do this. So we're going to talk today I'm going to try out some cameras and then my plan is to make a choice and a purchase before like a month or so before my busy season kicks in which will be in you know mid September. give myself that month to have both cameras and, you know, my old reliable and then the new one so that I'm getting used to sort of like the having it in my hands and making sure that I'm really fast with
it. But I would love to be fully switched over by the time that I'm doing all my shoots this fall. So, yeah, I'm excited. Well, let's jump in where I started, when I first started talking to you guys, I put together my like wish list of things. And at the top of my list of must haves is that I need good low light functionality. So I photograph families usually, or often at least, I'm inside their homes. And in North Carolina, we have like trees that go everywhere, it's just like surrounded by
trees all the time. So there's, there's not this beautiful, like wide open California spaces that I see in a lot of other people's photos. And so when I'm shooting in some inside someone's home, oftentimes I have my ISO up at like 4060 400, even I deliver photos, for better for worse, that's a really important feature to me for my cameras. So talk to me, we'll just start the conversation there about general mirrorless ISO capability and then like, which, you know which systems might work best.
So for I mean, for for low light, image quality, but also focusing, right, because we want that to happen as well. Gone are the days of the mirrorless slow focusing that was sort of 15 years ago, when mirrorless was first coming out, they're focusing was slower than
DSLRs. However, so many cameras, so many mirrorless cameras right now, put the auto focusing on the sensor, you know, on the chip and use a combination of contrast and phase detect DSLRs only use face detection, most of them, they're now starting DSLRs, newer dsos are actually starting to do adapt mirrorless technology of using contrast, you know, but when the contrast gets low in low light situations, you need that face
detection to take over. So right now again, there's a lot of good cameras, and especially if we hone in on full frame cameras, because full frame cameras do give you the better by one to two stops higher ISO image quality. And that's kind of across the board. So and I do a lot of night photography. So I get that's one of the things I always test, right, you know, are those high ISOs. And now everyone is you know, it has different eyes, and everyone has
different needs. So you and I could be using the same camera and shooting at 6400 you know, but I'm shooting landscapes in Milky Way and I'm like, okay, that's fine, because the rocks are granular The sky is granular, you know, there's the Milky Way's guide grain in it.
And I know how to do my tricks in Photoshop and Lightroom to reduce it portrait work, which you do a lot of you really you know, unless it's a very specific thing where you're trying to amplify that grit or green or something like that, you really got to watch them, but for the most part, keep that smooth. And I'll say that in my eyes, every full frame, cameras get up to 6400 ISO, there are a some of these other ones that can push it a little bit beyond
that. And again, it depends on your eyes and as well as your skills in post processing what you can get away with where we where things get challenging is with micro four thirds cameras, and APSC cameras, micro four thirds, I feel the cap is 3200 and some people can't even live with that, right APSC can sometimes get to 6400 it's a little bit you know, it's a little bit more subjective to
it. It's definitely granular but you can make it work i think you know, but definitely full frame 6400 ISO is a safe place to visit and you can live in for a little bit and then you can even kind of go to 12,800 now again most cameras advertise and use marketing materials that say they go well past that. Sure they'll tell you exactly right all the way up. I'm talking about deliverable.
Exactly and what and you know, you hit you hit it before where you're saying hey, I want to get this gear so I can test it try it and before I'm really getting doing my paid gigs, I know and I'm comfortable where to go and that's what I would definitely you know suggest to anyone is Get to know your gear don't get a piece of gear three days before you go on a trip or three days before you assignment get it a week or two minimal so that you could be comfortable and do
a high ISO test in the scenarios that you you know like to live in and then see what you need to do and don't just look at this back of the screen, bring it into the computer, look at it 100% and also do a little massaging and post because there's great software out there you know, that really goes hand in hand with with these cameras.
Bonus points for also going ahead and sending off test prints of some of these things. Because yes, we all want to be able to deliver things that people can print as well. Agreed. Excellent. So in the so as long as I can get to 6400, and you know, feel safe about that, that's great. And full frame is what I have shot since. And my very first camera was not, that wasn't a PSD, but but then I moved into full frame and haven't looked back, so. So I
get that. But the next piece, and you touched on this a little bit, that is important to me is that fast, accurate focus. And that's actually where I feel like my current camera is weakest like I feel it and maybe it's user error. Maybe I'm not, you know, maxing out the capabilities that the mark four has for focus. But I do feel like I it's not uncommon, especially with like bass toddlers running around, they don't take direction very well. I you know, it's like I don't
like overshooting. But in certain scenarios, I tend to overshoot just to keep, you know, to play it a little safe. But I keep hearing like mirrorless is where it's at when it comes to focusing systems. So talk to me a little bit about that.
Yeah, so, you know, the Canon five D, mark for just uses. As I mentioned before us uses face detection focus, it's not using contrast focus, and it's only focusing on a very small area, right. And that is maybe half, you know, where every mirrorless camera is anywhere from 93% to 100% of your what you're looking at in the electronic LCD, you know, viewfinder, so you could put that autofocus point anywhere, you can get really creative compositions, the tracking is awesome. And all of these right
now. So when you match it with the right tracking and speed, and the sort of the most recent thing that's a bit of tech that everyone is embracing Sony was really leading the way on this, but Canon and Nikon and Fuji everyone else now is doing it is the eye focus. And I focus on people and pets, animals the
whole bit, right? You know, no matter what you do, you can get your eye, you can make sure that those eyes are in focus, because as you know, as a portrait photographer, if you guys aren't focused, you're That's it, just delete that image, you know?
So I have a question that is like a super non techie question about eye tracking focus. How do the cameras judge which set so let's say you're photographing three people, and you're wide open at one, two, or one, four? And they're, you know, at slightly different distances from the camera? Does it select the front? I like the closest eye?
How does it generally does? But you know, it's it's using computer AI to do this right? So here's the cool thing. I know Sony's got this tech, I don't know if anyone else has this yet is that Sony does allow you to switch between left and right I, you can actually, you can override it, and say left or right I focusing weeks, that's
kind of cool. Because you know, obviously you have someone kind of towards the side or something a little bit, you're shooting those 1.2 1.4 lenses wide open, that's going to make a big difference. Yeah, in general, generally, what you what you have, when you match that eye focus tracking, is all those little boxes, you know, the red box comes up, and but you will get multiple one if it sees
multiple eyes on there. You know, again, depends what mode you're in, you know, if you're in more of a programmable mode, or let's say aperture priority, then yes, it'll say, Hey, I'll choose the aperture for you to then make sure that it has a depth of field. If you're in manual mode, then, you know, you might need to just say, Okay, I understand that scene, and maybe I should be stopping down to f4 or something like that in order to get that shot.
Right. Yeah, I feel like a lot of my work is not completely wide open, but on the open side, even when I'm photographing multiple people, but that's a look that I like. So I don't mind that however, I am pretty choosy about what's in focus. So I'm just, you know, like any other bit of like tech, there's sort of the bells and whistles side of it. And then there's also the functional side
of it. Like I'm curious and I'm curious to actually just put this to the test I'm curious to see where I find that balance with this because my suspicion is I'm not just going to like stop you know, I'm not gonna just gonna turn over all of the decision making to the to the camera, but it'll be nice to have that as a sort of the backup agreed, agreed. And again,
when matched with any particular lens, your depth of field is going to be different. So just like we kind of talked about testing your camera, test those new lenses to it know that hey, I need to stop this down to get six inches of depth of field. right you know for those group shots and multiple people shots
Yep. Cool, well, when it comes to the switching back and forth between, let's say single point focus and, you know, eye tracking focus, or whatever the case may be, that's another piece of I feel like camera systems. So with a DSLR, you're generally talking about a bigger bias, is that accurate? Right? And so, you know, in my hands, I instinctively know exactly where my fingers need to go to change my focus to change my you know, all the different pieces of it with the
mirrorless. And the smaller bodies, do you feel like they have done a good job, or certain systems have done a better job of making the bodies intuitive and sort of arrogant automatically? Correct for forgetting good, you know, switch ability and quick circumstances? Well, as
you know, when you switch from Nikon to canon, right, right, is left and left is right.
programming your brain, you know,
so, you know, everyone has definitely different buttons, dials and stuff like that. Yeah, you know, the better ones have the toggles that and, you know, and the, the joysticks, the elevated joystick and stuff like that, what I will say is most almost all the mirrorless cameras, you know, have a lot of programmable buttons. And yes, they're coming, especially Nikon and
Canon. They, they're, they're kind of mindful of that, and kind of keeping the layout similar to people to people migrating, you know, over to mirrorless. But they also want to use the newest tech, they also want to say, hey, we've got a smaller footprint Now, where does it really make sense now that we can kind of redo our
cameras? What does that make sense where, and I will say a lot of the companies have done a lot of feedback with, you know, with photographers and videographers, to say, Hey, you know, ideally, where, what are you using this for, and where, what is it makes sense for these buttons to be, but for the most part, almost every button is
programmable. So even if the button says, you know, autofocus, you're back, it's your typical back on focus button, you can change that to anything else, you know, you just kind of get get in there. Each menu system is a little bit different. And that's a little annoying, you know, but, you know, you got to embrace it. You got to get to know it. And then and then as you spend your time with that stock camera, definitely take your time to customize the buttons and make it fluid for you.
Yep, yeah, that's what long plane ride
100% that's where I right now, so many manuals, and everyone sees me on the plane, like cradling a camera and going over everything. But yeah, you get the job done.
And you're I mean, it's like the perfect, no distractions. All right, well, good. So the next piece, so that's sort of the camera itself. And the functionality itself, the other side of my tools that are important to me is how they affect my workflow. So, you know, obviously, with any camera that's coming out recently, I'm confident that I'm going to be able to get good print resolution, and all that sort of stuff. So that's not a
concern, really. But on the other hand, I feel like some camera systems have gone so far in the direction of like, look at how many bajillions of megapixels we have, and you know, you can print this the size of the house, I don't need that. And actually, when it comes right down to it, like I don't want to have to deal with files that are so large that I'm gonna have to be, you know, adding Bay's to my server every
other year. So, yeah, I mean, I look at my friends who shoot film, film, not film films, and I am just in awe of the amount of data like raw data that they have to manage. I would like to avoid over doing it on that end, do you feel like the systems are kind of more or less all the same? Or is there some wide variety there? So
it's great, you know, your needs are common needs for the masses. And again, the camera companies have listened to to two people. Imagine that. Imagine that. And they have come out with, you know, different versions with that offer, usually a 20 to 2020 to 30 megapixel zone, which I think that's where you would fit in nicely. And then they also offer a 40 to 60 megapixels zone that other people might fit more into. And again, what do you get
with one or the other? Generally speaking, the 20 to 30 megapixel cameras are going to be better than load like, you know, just your again, imagine this, you're still putting both of those sensors are all the same, that full frame sensor is the same Now are we going to put in 20 million, you know, pixels in there, or we put it going to cram in 50 million, you know, over twice as many in there.
Right. And the You know, you know, the less you put in, the bigger those pixels Can, can be, the more light that they can, you know, take in, and it's just going to make your processor in the camera because you're really really your cameras a computer, let's be honest and matched with that processor, you know, you're gonna be able to move those two things along in a fast way, in a clean way and effective way.
Now, that being said, some of these higher megapixel cameras are now coming with dual processors, you know, so that's going to help chug it along quicker. And I will say, we'll see we're gonna see what's happening because there are some very interesting cameras, the Sony A one is specific, kind of a little specific to that. But again, also canon r five, Nikon z five, and obviously the medium format offerings from Fuji, and Hasselblad. But they are doing a better job, it's not as bad as
it used to be. And again, in my testing between the higher megapixel cameras and the sweet spot megapixel cameras, is those sweet spot megapixel cameras get you about a really a solid stop to a stop at a half cleaner ISO that those higher ISOs get that that's for me. What you do gain with those higher megapixel cameras, inevitably is because there's more megapixels, you are getting more dynamic range, you
know. So that's important. For a lot of people that are operating maybe a landscape photographer or something like that, or someone who's offering operating in high contrast areas, when you really want to eke out as much information as you can, more mapic megapixel is going to give you more detail more detail means you know better dynamic resolution. And of course, some people just want to sell those
40 by 60 prints. You know, man, which, you know, I think both those cameras can handle it, you know, nicely there's again, different there's different approaches to how we print that make it good for all. But unless you're doing billboard or really large stuff, you probably don't need all those megapixels mega pixels. That's all you need. So that's that's what
Yeah, no, I think that that makes a ton of sense. And is good to hear. And I think you know, it is funny. It's like the we spend so much. Well, I don't but these companies are spending so much r&d money and development of these, you know, bajillion megapixel cameras that still are fighting for the clarity of film. It's like, you go back to analog, and you get that. So that is not my top priority, my top priority is sort of that combination of low light and storage and all that sort of
stuff. And then yeah, my clients are, I generally don't sell prints that are much bigger than 20 by 30. That's what I kind of, that's my sweet spot. It's what I like in my own home and everything else. So I'm not usually pushing the giant ones, but I've had clients, you know, want large prints before and even with the smaller files that can be done if you're if you're doing your homework on the print process, and you
use 100% to that, if you are if you do feel that those higher megapixel cameras are what you need, you really need to also assess your computer, your memory cards and your storage, because they all will fill up quick and the computers is the tough one because I you know, we talked about cameras, you know, when you need to be refreshed every three to five years, you all sudden throw a high megapixel care, you know, camera, you know, and maybe even dabbling in
video and forget about it. Now you need the latest and greatest computer, which that's not a small investment.
No, in fact, that ends up being way more in a short period of time than your camera system. So these are all good things to think about. I think, just to take it back to when I was switching from Nikon to canon, the I was shooting, I was a I have the D 700. And there were all these people going to the D 800 800. Is that what it is? And and I was just like, I don't think that I want those files. So even even that and even then, which now seems
like ancient history. Okay, so next on my workflow wish list is that in addition to photographing for clients these days, between the podcast and the education work that I do, and just the fact that we're all in zoom meetings all the time, I do I would love my camera to be able to do double duty for me for you know, simple video again, I'm not a filmmaker, but to be able to sort of plug and play things like have that be my my webcam, if you will, and that sort of thing is are there any
systems that you would say that's not gonna work? For this, or all of these mirrorless cameras now basically good for that kind of functionality,
you know what the beauty of mirrorless is that it was really kind of, you know, I don't think we knew it, but it was built to be a web camera, you know, it was really built to be it. And some of them you need adapters to kind of make sure you get a good flow in and plugged in. But a lot of the A lot of them, you could just plug here, you can plug it in USB C into your computer, your
computer will power it. And oh, you get, you put usually that the recommendation is to put a 35 or 50 millimeter prime lens on because that way you'll get the better, you know, bokeh for your webcam. And you know, unlike my room right now, which looks like a mess, you will see that it's actually a beautiful shade of colors. Just office, yeah, so you know, that's, that's great. And a lot of them also have like a web utility that you can now control it from and make adjustments there for
that as well. And the focusing does really well again, you put on your ifocus tracking, and there you go, you can be moving in and out and stuff like that, where a lot of those web regular web cameras don't, you know, can track you at all. And then once the light gets low, it's you forget about it. And also the image quality boost is insane. Now, a lot of these two now just web as well as web, you really only are fine with HD. But then taking it away from thinking as
a web camera. Yeah, all cameras since with the Canon five D Mark two, you know, have put in video there as well. And that has been a great boon for photographers and videographers, photographers can now dip their toes into that world. And videographers can use smaller rigs and have more and make more intimate, you know, films that get them closer and don't like it don't have to bring a team of six or eight or 10 you know, people with audio is seamless to kind of plug into
it. And you could shoot 4k, as well as, as well as HD usually at 30 or 60 frames per second.
Now, there are a few cameras like the Sony A seven s three, which is really geared towards videographers and I believe can shoot 6k and then the Canon r five katroo de K, which which is just insane, you know, but for those of you are just need a little bit, there's definitely, especially the full frame cameras, and the latest batch of them can do really excellent video, both internally or even better get a, you know, a storage like view or like the atom most ninja or something
like that. And you can get the raw recorded right to that. And it's you can build rigs around all these and everything like that, you know, if you really want to go down that rabbit, that video hole. But right dual purpose, easily or triple purpose if we conclude the webcam, the triple threat?
Well, I mean, and I do I think that it's good because most of us are working within some amount of budget constraint. And we do have to think about these things. It's like, Okay, great. How can I make this tool? How can I push it as far as possible? And how can I get sort of the most bang for my buck? Well, at this point, I'm looking at my list here, I think that you have more or less covered everything my my last little bit was for my bags.
And for my kids. when my kids were a little I was carrying, you know, a giant diaper bag. So sticking my DSLR in there and taking it along with no big deal. Now they're 11 and 15. They're embarrassed if I pull anything out other than my phone, and sometimes that too, but I you know, I feel like at this point for both like my shoulders and my back and for just ease of like having it with me when I'm traveling things
like that. I am there's for sure something about the mirrorless like size, that is very attractive to me. But again, unless we start talking about getting into the new mirrorless medium format, options, they're all significantly smaller than DSLRs. Is that
accurate? is correct. Um, you know, full frame is a little bit more challenging than the others, right? I mean, obviously, Olympus, Panasonic, their micro four thirds, those are tiny cameras and a lot of wildlife. You know, photographers love that. Those cameras for that purpose just because they're using those big lenses, which are now half the
size. You know, NTSC is also significant weight reduction, but I will say on the fullframe market, you are saving at least a half a pound from a DSLR to a mirrorless. And then here's the key. You know, obviously we realize that the lenses need to be the somewhat similar size because they still need to Be able to take the light, and then, you know, no matter DSLR or mirrorless, you still need to cover a full frame sensor.
However, mirrorless liche that lens get closer because we got rid of the mirror, that lens can get closer to the sensor. So you can actually make lighter weight 2.8 zooms or more or full frame lenses. And I want to focus a little bit on the 2.8 zooms because, you know, 2.8 zooms usually weigh a pound and a half to two and a half pounds 7200 nobody, everyone has a love hate relationship with that lens.
Yeah, the mirrorless equivalent for most brands shaves off at least half to three quarters of three fourths of a pound, which is awesome. The lenses tend to be a little fatter, but they're shorter. And again, the overall weight reduction is significant for that. So a big big difference we're able to and also were able to see some really imaginative lenses that never were able were able to get designed 12 to 24 2.8 lens, a 14 millimeter 1.8 lens, really, I can't get that 20 to 70 f two
lens. So really, really interesting lenses now that we're kind of using different algorithms to kind of, you know, do this again. And for Nikon and Canon, we're just sort of, we're watching their their systems mature, Sony has been added a little bit longer along with Fuji, you know, and, and Panasonic and Olympus. But adaptors also open up their full lineup of AV plus lenses that they've had previously.
I know it's fun, I really I'm very excited to sort of dive in and try all this stuff, I have literally not had my hands on a mirrorless camera for the last four years. So I am confident that this is going to be like a whole different thing. So you've heard what I need and what I'm looking for, I would love to hear what your recommendations are.
Yeah, so if we stay with the full frame, and you know, again, full frame, low light, low light focusing as well as low light image quality, I think that's going to lead first always, I always suggest that staying within an ecosystem that you're familiar with is going to make the best transition. So if you're a Canon shooter, you're in luck canon has a great solution for you. It took a while. But you know, I would I would point you towards the Canon AR six. That is a 20 megapixel full frame CMOS
sensor. It has canons technology that they've been using, it was very groundbreaking for its time it has a dual pixel CMOS autofocus and now we're in version two on on this and I believe this started in their video cameras, but they adapted to their DSLRs. And again that this is what I talked about a little bit earlier on sensor autofocus, so don't have a mirror in the way don't have anything like that. And it is really good. Great over 1000
autofocus points. And if the AR six is the only camera or full frame camera, at least I know, that can focus in very, extremely low light. Their ratings are they can go to a negative 6.5. Evie, which that's really low. You know, usually it's minus three, Evie, which that's pretty dark, you know, that's like e minus three v would be the equivalent of like Twilight, you know, but you know, minus six is like, that's, that's like me, you know, so
well when I used to shoot weddings and I don't anymore, but you know, you're on the dance floor, the lights are off, you're shooting with, you know, on camera or off camera flash, but the focus part is the hardest.
It is so and again, it has their eye focus, animal focus, hand focus, as well, if you if you know, if the eyes are moving too quick, you can kind of sometimes zone in on that on the head focus. It has a built in image stabilization. And this this is also we talked about this, but you'll find that I was gonna say I forgot to talk about that. Yeah, you'll find that in most all of the bodies as well
as matched. If you match it with a lens that has that image stabilization, vibration reduction, whatever, then you're going to gain even more stops that you can hold it and I guess you know, and with the Canon r six, when you match it with one of their RF image stabilized lens you can get up to eight stops of image stabilization, which that's also insane. I mean, yeah, I personally don't shoot below the 30th of a second 15th the second without going into a burst mode and praying a
little bit. But you know, there's super creative, a lot of creativity can be coming out of those, you know, somewhat slow shutter speeds.
So just a really quick pause for my listeners who may not know this and I only know this because I was doing some research trying to not I'm like a total idiot when I'm talking to the people from b&h, he that's in body image stabilization is new to mirrorless. As opposed to, you know, you can't get that in a
DSLR. And it is that it basically takes away the need, or at least it compounds the usefulness of lens image stabilization, just meaning that when you're moving so slow, slower shutter speeds, or, you know, if you're in a situation where you're maybe trying to photograph a table, and you're holding your camera up and trying to balance or whatever, that's going to compensate for that. And it's up to five stops, and I
have done up to five stops on its own but matched with a lens, the AR 16. Yeah, so and it's, and it's, you know, getting this five axis. So again, it's like, when we kind of went when we press the trigger, right, our camera goes down here, right, but it's also that x, the y axis, the your so you know, no matter which way you move, they got your coverage.
Yeah, it's the, it's like turns you into a human tripod. That's exactly. Okay, so canon RS six, I am definitely excited. And I'm excited at the possibility as I said, I'm open to the potential to switch systems. But I love the idea of being able to keep some of my lenses and use an adapter. Yeah, and
one other final thing I'd like to point out about the AR six is the AR six also has a three inch, very angle, touchscreen LCD. Now most I think that's the way we're going
users have asked for that. The people most most of the other cameras have a like tilting touchscreen, right, which can good for low but the very angle will let you do you know let you do some vlogging right, and let you actually even be even more creative and get into more comfortable low angle positions as well as high positions then that usually a just standard
tilting. You know the thing, I think where a lot of companies were hesitant about going to a very angle way is because obviously it's a little bit it's some more parts, it's more plastic parts. So they just worry about the integrity of the camera, so that tilting one, the standard tilting one is technically more sound, but I think I think very angle is the future personally.
Cool. Yeah, you know, it was actually the thing that I missed the very most when I went from my D 700. To the mark four was my was my LCD, which was never a selling point for me on the 700. But it made such a difference. You know, I do love to have that adjustability. So that's great. That's exciting. Yeah.
Next, so next up, I would say I would like Definitely, yeah, we have to think about Sony and Sony's got a ton of options. You know, they have their whole a seven lineup the a seven is the right standard a seven in which they're all at their third or fourth generation, which that's awesome, right? You know, canon is really this is the first generation of VR five or six but it's sort of its second generation on the bar system. I think they did an excellent job.
The first ones were first ones, you know, but but definitely Sony has been paving the way and and you know, whatever it wasn't five six years ago when they announced the original a seven and photoplus it was like everyone was like yes, finally we have a full frame mirrorless camera, and they've come a long
way since then as well. Now, there's a lot of different ways that a seven is sort of their standard entry level one, the seven R R stands for resolution they and you can go to our for which is 40 megapixels that are five is February 50 megapixels, I think I don't think that fits your need and the ACE seven S is really that's a great low light machine that is probably the best on the market. However, it's really geared more towards videographers because you really you only have 12 megapixels on
that one. So that one kind of limits a still photographer a little bit more but you don't want I think it would be a good fit for you would be actually this Sony A nine mark two. Now this used to be their flagship camera. And what you know, especially for sports came out it was really geared towards sports. And you can actually plug in with the Sony you can plug it in to like a T 1000 base
t server connection. So this is a this is very journalistic but you can kind of just plug it into a server just transfer your files, get them to Getty right away all that kind of stuff. That's a little much for you, you know, I think but what it has is it has a 24 megapixel full frame, high speed and stacked back illuminated CMOS sensor. Now Sony can make their own sensors, right. So there's a cool thing there and obviously, probably given, you know, making the best sensors on the market
for themselves. And plus they know how to really write the algorithms to it. This backlighting CMOS sensor that's been studied Act is like the
newest technology. And it's been doing a great job, especially for the smaller sensors, like we're seeing better image quality out of these point and shoot, they are x 100, and all these other ones, but that's really doing a good job with that low light and everything with that, they've got the bionz x image processor, which, you know, that powers that through, they have four D autofocus, you know, which again, they're been, what's unique about Sony is they have no blackout, especially
with this camera, that's something we always experienced, you know, with DSLRs is when that mirror goes up, we don't we miss, we miss a moment. Right, you could shoot 20 frames per second with this camera, or in the heist continuous mode, or 60 frames per minute you can do at a lower speed and not suffer any blackout. Awesome. You know, that's great, you know, obviously geared towards sports, but I think you'd benefit from that for little kids running
around. Not all the time. But when you want that speed you definitely want exactly and again, similar five axis image stabilization built into the body, 4k video there with that, this does have the three inch tilting touchscreen with it and I will say you know that there's also the a one that's out there that is really hard to get and it's kind of sort of replacing Sony on the as their flagship one. But now we're talking 24 megapixels for the a
nine versus 50. Okay, and you know, setting those higher ISOs might be limited. You know, with that on there. It does have you know, and it's also the price point but let's be honest, you know, the a nine we haven't even talked pricing but that a nine comes in at like $4,490 and a one is $2,000 more back. So you really got to be making your money and really meeting the needs of that to do it but there is some really that's been a hot camera to get in a hot camera that people are talking about.
But I tell you I shot my my Sony my good friend at Sony Jason mentelle he asked me to shoot his wedding and he works at Sony so I'm like well I have to shoot with Sony camera which one would
you recommend? Yeah, he said the AI you know shoot with a knife and I brought the 89 that I brought with the high resolution a seminar to this wedding and it was in a dark restaurant with as you know horrible lighting now I set up some lights around the room to kind of make it work but in that low light scenario that 89 clearly outshine the seminar and I think was using the three at the time but it clearly shined it so that it was I had my dual strap but I was really
only using one side of it you know and yeah, so that low light autofocus really really excels with the a nine and the mark two version of
cool anything else that you would say well give it a shot give a shot to me runners up
you know I'm an icon guy to be honest. And I love the Z six the Z six would also be a great match and I feel that that is actually for me and I do again night photography I think that's the best night photography camera out there. You know you compare that with the ACE with a seven s v seven S has 12 megapixels the A that dizzy six and funny how they're both you know they're funny you know is if numbers
just like bounce around in my head I'm like I have no idea what we're talking about.
But the Z six is double the megapixels 24 megapixels and to me it performs even better at higher ISOs and these are ISOs now with these I'm getting up to easily to 12,800 and even 25,000 you know 600 on those again that's for my needs for night photography you know you might not have that need for you know for for indoors and stuff like that, but I think that's a good one I think so but I do you know not going to is you know when you compare Nikon to Canon and Sony you know because canon Sony
have been so entrenched in the video world and make video cameras and of other things in their portfolio it's like comparing to Hollywood to like independent film channel you know that gun is really the independent film channel they make good stuff Yeah, but they don't have as many resources as as the as the big boys do. And so their lens system isn't as mature yet. You know they're
getting better. It's been a tough year all around but you know, I would I would consider you know that that one has to be in the consideration busy six as well.
Excellent. Well, I'm gonna do my I'm gonna do my homework and and then we'll look into see what's available for me to play with. And I'm just, I'm as excited as excited as could be about this whole project. And I can't wait to reconnect with you afterward and tell you I mean, because, like, as great as all these specs are, and like, I have no doubt that any of these
cameras do the job. It's also like, Well, let me hold it in my hands and see how it feels and what these images look like, when it comes time to edit them. And all that sort of,
yeah, agreed. I mean, gear is like, buying shoes. You know, we got to try it on see what fits you see what fits your eye your hand, you know, and your vision, you know, your heart, your eyes, all that kind of stuff like that. What is it? What is going again, not hold you back, hopefully inspire you, and make it seamless for you to create.
Yes. Well, Gabriel, I am just so grateful that you are willing to take the time to chat with me. I feel like I'm a in some ways, I'm an easy customer. Because I'm like, yeah, I'm sure it'll all work. But then in some ways, I'm a tough customer, because I'm like, I want to know more than just the numbers. I want to know, you know how this is gonna make my life better, how it's gonna make me more money. And so that is, that's what we're gonna find out in the next couple of weeks.
I look forward to hearing about your hearing your feedback and seeing which one resonates more so with you, hopefully, it's not both of them. You have to get two systems because that wouldn't be what
I know. Yep, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to go there. But we will. I'm sure it's gonna be fun to play with. Well, great. Well have a great day and I will be in touch really sounds good. Take care. Okay, bye. Well, that's it for this week's episode of this can't be that hard. I'll be back Same time, same place next week. In the meantime, you can find more information about this episode, along with all the relevant links, notes and downloads at this can't be that
hard.com slash learn. If you like the podcast, be sure to hit the subscribe button. Even better, share the love by leaving a review in iTunes. And as always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.