Dust In The Wind

SONY ILCE-7R (35mm, f/10, 1/800 sec, ISO100)

On “our” beach again. We visited this place on our first trip to the South West of the USA and keep returning.

It’s Carpinteria a small town close to Santa Barbara. We prefer it over Santa Barbara because of its laid back character. We just returned from the heat of the desert so we looked a little out of place with our pullovers. It was nice and warm but for us it was approximately 20 degrees Celsius less compared to the last couple of days.

SONY ILCE-7R (35mm, f/10, 1/320 sec, ISO100)
SONY ILCE-7R (35mm, f/10, 1/400 sec, ISO100)
SONY ILCE-7R (27mm, f/10, 1/500 sec, ISO100)
SONY ILCE-7R (21mm, f/10, 1/320 sec, ISO100)
SONY ILCE-7R (24mm, f/10, 1/125 sec, ISO100)

Back in 2015 I shot with way too many cameras. It was the year before the switch to Fuji. So on this beach walk I took the Sony A7R plus the Canon 4/16-35 IS L and the Canon 6D with the 2.8/70-200 II IS L. The smaller camera around my neck the bigger on my shoulder. Yes it is a lot of gear but I even today I would most likely use two cameras and no bag. The advantage: no need to change the lens which is always a bad idea when you on the beach. There is just too much wind and sand or dust in it will get into your camera and on your sensor if you are not super careful. It’s better to either use a wide range travel zoom or to bring two cameras.

Today it would be the Fuji X-H1 with the XF 16-55/2.8 WR and the X-Pro3 with the XF 50-140/2.8 WR. I think the results would be indistinguishable except for the one wide open shot with the 2.8/70/200.

The handling would for sure be much simpler. The Sony with the Canon lens was a manual focus setup and of course the files from the Canon and the Sony looked completely different which meant more PP than I like to do. The Sony like the Nikon is more yellowish while the Canon is more neutral warm with stronger reds.

Canon EOS 6D (200mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec, ISO100)
Canon EOS 6D (200mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO250)
Canon EOS 6D (75mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO100)

But regarding the Canon 2.8/70-200 II IS L I have a solution. The excellent Fuji XF 90/2 WR. It doesn’t have the flexibility of the big zoom from Canon but background separation is close and Bokeh is excellent. I’m still not sure if I will bring it to the next trip. More likely I will bring two cameras, my three zoom lenses: 10-24, 16-55 and 50-140 plus 1.4TC and the 14/2.8, 23/2 and 35/1.4. The zooms during the day and the primes in the evening and in cities where I prefer a small shoulder bag.

When I look at those beach shots I also need to think of the Sony NEX5. This was my smallest camera I ever used during vacation. I remember how liberating that was but at the end I love photography too much and so I have to carry a little more than just a super small mirrorless camera with pan cake and kit lens.

Canon EOS 6D (175mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO100)
SONY ILCE-7R (35mm, f/10, 1/800 sec, ISO100)
SONY ILCE-7R (35mm, f/10, 1/100 sec, ISO100)

The last shot here I took with the Sony A6000 plus the Sony 18-200 lens. I very small and versatile setup but strangely I much preferred the body of the NEX5 which was much smaller and had no viewfinder. Because of that I used to shoot it like a medium format camera, just like the Sony A7R during this vacation, from the hip with the thumb pressing the shutter button. I think I really would love to have such a camera again. Super small but with an APS-C sensor and a compact standard zoom. Something like a Fuji X-E4 but without the viewfinder. But I don’t hold my breath.

Today the Canon M6 mkII comes closest to what I would like but I don’t need the selfie screen. Maybe I would not even need a lens mount. Give me an integrated small but mechanical zoom lens like a 14-35/4 and I would be happy. But I guess this is a very specific and special request and it’s not going to happen. But one can hope.

SONY ILCE-6000 (32mm, f/5, 1/60 sec, ISO250)