Our most recent “photo date” included a trip to Berry Point, followed by an hour or so at Drumbeg Park. That outing is documented here.
Autofocus and confidence:
It took me close to a week to overcome the initial challenges with the A7R’s buttons and dials. For at least a few days, I was unable to use autofocus, and was wondering if it existed (or if it was working) on the new-to-me Sony Alpha. Finally, after doing a proper job of setting the AEL button to “toggle” between AF and MF, I found that I could easily turn-on autofocus. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could not only use autofocus, but also that it works very well. I haven’t yet pixel-peeked to the point where I’ve confirmed that focus was always perfect, but I believe I got at least an 80% success rate in bird photographs at Berry Point with the 70-200mm f/4 Sony lens.
Battery power:
Having read tales of troubles with quick-draining batteries, I purchased two spares. With the trip to Berry Point in the cold (a bit below zero), I was sure I’d need to change batteries at least once or twice. That was not the case: I took about 250 shots at Berry Point and Drumbeg Park, on a single battery, That battery was getting low (down to about 15%) by the end of my photo-ramble, but it still served me well.
Memory card:
I also purchased a couple of memory cards. As a “statistical photographer” (similar to the million monkeys typing at a million typewriters for a million years, who will at some point produce an exact duplicate of Joyce’s Ulysses), I take a lot of photographs. The one (64GB) card in my A7R was only a fraction full, even though the 36 megapixel sensor produces large raw files. BUT: IT WAS DISCONCERTING AT ONE POINT LATER IN THE DAY (AFTER I GOT HOME) TO TAKE A FEW MORE TEST SHOTS, WITHOUT KNOWING THERE WAS NO MEMORY CARD IN THE CAMERA. Yes, there was a little flashing notice in the EVF telling me there was no card in the camera, but I was brought back to the comfort of the D3S, which could be set to refuse to take photos at all if no card was in it.
Speaking of comfort:
I was able to wander around the beach today, with an extremely good camera (the Sony A7R, of course) and a powerful lens (the 70-200mm Sony f/4) attached to a wrist strap! I had tried a variety of wrist straps, neck straps, shoulder straps, belts and other contraptions with my Nikon D3S, but I was never completely comfortable with the weight of the camera or its lenses. Now, I can scramble over rocks and driftwood with less worry about tripping, and I can occasionally put my hands in my pockets for protection from the cold without having to deal with the camera. The strap, by the way, is a PacSafe strap that attaches to the ring at the right side (from the photographer’s point of view) of the camera. It cost me about $30 at a luggage store at Woodgrove mall, and I think it was a great deal. According to the PacSafe advertising people, the strap can withstand a samurai sword or a small neutron bomb, but its real benefit to me is its durability for everyday use. And, thanks to the relatively small weight of the camera and lens, I don’t have to worry about losing feeling in my hand when the camera is hanging loose.
Sensor cleaning:
I had learned to deal with having to clean the sensor on my D3S. Today, I realized that I’d have to exercise similar care for my A7R. After doing the necessary googling, I found web pages that warned me against using the sensor fluid (the Eclipse brand) I had been using on the D3S; I also found web pages that told me I could use that type of sensor fluid. Thankfully, none of the “Sony sensor cleaning web pages” had warnings against Giottos Rocker Air blowers: I gave the Sony’s sensor a good blow-job (am I allowed to say that on a blog?), and it was fine. In the process, I also learned the Lightroom technique for checking for dust spots (“D” to get to Develop module; “Q” to show the spot removal tool; “T” to show the toolbar at the bottom; click on the “Visualize Spots” check-box, and then slide the slider to spot the spots).
Learning more and more:
I couldn’t develop a relationship with the A7R, without learning more and more about the A7R. Two great sources have been:
- Brian Smith’s Sony A7/A7R - from Snapshots to Great Shots book (which Bob Wyche kindly loaned to me); and
- Gary Friedman’s The Complete Guide to Sony’s Alpha 7 and 7r (an eBook that I’m still reading on my iPad)
Where I am now:
The initial technical struggles are behind me. There will be plenty more, as there’s plenty more to learn. Now, though, I can get out and enjoy my photography again. Today’s trip to Berry Point and Drumbeg Park is a good example of my return to enjoying the process of photography.