You’d think that after four plus decades of photography, I’d have learned enough to be crisply decisive about gear choices. You’d be wrong. Couldn’t be all my fault, though, could it? Nope. It’s the industry. After a hundred years of scientific advances to improve optics in camera lenses, they’re going backwards—purposely making optically inferior lenses…

After doing a bit of studying the a6700’s menus, I tweaked a couple of settings and headed into the field yesterday afternoon and again this morning. The shot below is a crop of a shot taken this morning from about 12-14 meters away. I ballparked focus on something nearby, pointed at my dragonfly friend, a…

When Sony introduced their 61mp sensor on the a7rIV a few years ago, I grabbed one right off the bat, mostly for the extra relative reach on full frame. Seeing a very unappealing noise signature in feather details, it didn’t take me long to offload it. When Sigma used the same sensor on the f…

While I have long been an avid proponent of the simple control layout on most of Leica’s cameras, there’s also an upside to having a few extra buttons/dials that can be used for different functions at different times, customized, and either linked to or unlinked from other functions. I never had the problems with Sony…

With the a6700 having escaped my wrath for the better part of a month so far, it seemed like a good time to augment it with a full-frame partner. Happy with the form factor but not wanting to add a FF version of the same sensor, an a7c II ended up being the choice. Ergonomics…

If Sony had continued the NEX name for their APS-C camera line, the a6700 would be the NEX-14. Having joined the party with the NEX-C3 back in 2011, I’d discovered R glass by the time the NEX-7 rolled around and ended up taking around 50,000 shots with that camera paired with the 180mm APO-Elmarit and…

. . . in no particular order . . . In my first night shots with the a6700, it appeared to be cleaner at ISO 3200 than the CL and SL2. I have yet to try it beyond that. One of the more aesthetically disturbing characteristics of Sony’s previous APS-C cameras was how it rendered…

A couple of tiny avian friends gave me the chance to try the a6700’s claimed “AI” autofocus, specifically with bird eye detection. Having used earlier iterations of bird eye detection on the a7IV, R5, and R7, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. The Canon bodies were quick to detect the critter’s eye in the open,…

Heading out with the SL2 and a few lenses yesterday, I was almost sure I’d be put off by the weight after carrying around the lightweight stuff for a couple of weeks. But once I was outside, weight never entered my mind. What did enter my mind several times, though, was the difference in how…

With an R to E adapter in hand, I had a chance to test the venerable 180mm APO-Elmarit-R and APO-Extender-R 2X directly against the E 70-350mm G lens. On moderately fine details, shooting both at f/8, I could see no difference in either edge acuity or color. And with the G lens less than half…