Category Archives: Equipment

Equipment, Ideas

“DSLR Killer!” — Maybe and Maybe Not

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Sony, a company that has made innovative inroads in the camera market in the past few years, just announced its new Sony A9, yet another innovative product that continues the impressive progress of  mirrorless cameras. Some describe it as a “DSLR Killer.” I’m not so sure.  Some thoughts follow.

(Sit back. This isn’t going to be a short post! Hint: It isn’t anti-a9, though it isn’t exactly pro-a9 either.)

Sony a9
Sony A9 Digital Camera

First, some personal background and perspectives. I use both mirrorless and DSLR camera systems — a Canon system based around the 5DsR and a Fujifilm system based around the XPro2. I use both for serious photography. Either may be my first choice, depending upon my subject and other conditions, and each excels at some things and is less capable at others. All of this is my way of saying that I’m not “pro-DSLR” or “pro-mirrorless,” and that I’m fairly brand-agnostic. (My first digital cameras back in the pre-2000 “stone age” period were mirrorless!) There are a lot of great cameras coming from by a range of manufacturers today and choosing one brand over another makes little difference to one’s photography.

Fujifilm X-Pro2
Fujifilm X-Pro2

I’m convinced at this point that mirrorless cameras have the potential to become the predominant serious cameras eventually, and that they are already serious tools that can be the best choice in some situations. Their pluses, both current and potential, include the following: Continue reading “DSLR Killer!” — Maybe and Maybe Not →

Commentary, Equipment, Reader Questions, Technique

A Few (More) Thoughts on Back-Country Photography

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I recently was asked a few questions about backpacking photography, mostly related to equipment, so I thought I’d post something to augment an existing article on this website: My Backpacking Photography Equipment. (You’ll probably want to take a look at that one, too!)

Backpackers, Near MIlestone Basin
Backpackers, Near MIlestone Basin

Scott emailed recently to ask several questions, and I’ll consider some of them here. His first question has to do with gear, as in  “how much” to take. He suggests that it is hard to find a balance between high enough quality imagining, sufficient equipment to cover possibly opportunities, and carrying the stuff! Once you start carrying the stuff on your back, fundamental compromises among conflicting demands are necessary.

He carries the following gear: Continue reading A Few (More) Thoughts on Back-Country Photography →

Equipment, Reader Questions, Technique

Reader Questions — March 10, 2017

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Photographers write to me with questions, and I always try to reply. In many cases I prefer to reply here on the website so that others who may have the same questions can see the answers, too. Today I’m going through a backlog of questions on a variety of topics: neutral density filters, photographing in Utah, the Canon 5DsR, use of photographs by non-profits.

Pete writes: Dan enjoy your website! Question:Have the Mark III – May get the 5DSR – Has anyone used the 5DSR with Neutral Density Filters 6,10,15 etc.. and what have been the times -lengths – and outcomes? Any noise issues? Other problems noted?

Thanks for writing, Pete. I use a 10-stop neutral density (ND) filter sometimes and I use the 5DsR… but so far I haven’t used the two together! That said, I can’t think of any problems that would be specific to the use of these filters on the 5DsR. I do have experience using the 5DsR with much longer exposure times for night photography, and it works quite well for that.

For those who don’t know, the very dark 5-10 stop and more ND filters can be used to extend the exposure time in daylight conditions. Depending on the filter and your aperture choice you could get 30 second or long exposures. Their use presents a few challenges: Continue reading Reader Questions — March 10, 2017 →

Equipment

Comparing 33 x 44mm “miniMF” and 24 x 36mm Full Frame Sensors

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Comparing Full Frame and miniMF Sensors
Comparing full frame 24mm x 36mm and Fujifilm mini-MF 33.8mm x 43.8mm sensors

Starting a few years ago with cameras like the Pentax 645d and then 645z and continuing with new cameras from Hasselblad and Fujifilm, systems using  the “miniMF” 33mm x 44mm sensors have become more readily available and less expensive.

In preparation for writing something about the merits of the two types of systems I created this image that holds quite a bit of technical comparison data based on pixel counts (e.g. — “megapixels”), sensor size, and ways of comparing them.

For now I won’t try to analyze this too much, except to say that comparisons between the two formats are more complicated than you might think and they are somewhat subjective — it matters how you plan to use them. For example, do you prefer to use the 3:2 aspect ratio of full frame,  or the 4:3 ratio of miniMF, or will you adapt to whichever you are using? This chart shows you how that affects your comparisons.

NOTE: The graphic is a first attempt at including a lot of information in a single chart. It has some problems, especially with the numbers representing crop factor. I’ll update the image to correct the errors before long, and at that point I’ll use it in a more substantive post about comparing the formats.

© Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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