I was reading through some of my earliest photography articles on this very blog – some of the oldest ones go back to 2004 – and one of the articles I stumbled across was ‘how to choose a compact camera’. In it, I’m making a bold claim: “Choose Canon, Nikon, or Olympus, and you can’t really go wrong. If I were you, I’d stay away from Sony, however”. My argument – made about seven years ago, mind you – is as follows: ‘Would you rather go with a camera manufacturer who’s turned to electronics, or an electronics manufacturer who’s having a go at creating cameras’?
Well, let me be the first to announce that I’m currently eating those words, with a nice side-helping of humble pie.
One of the best portraits I think I’ve taken this year… Taken with my A7, at a live gig.
You see, exactly a year ago today, I took delivery of my Sony A7, and a Sony/Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens. At first, I was worried. Then, I was elated. And then… I sold all my Canon photography gear. The true fact is that the Sony A7 is one of the best cameras I’ve ever used – for my particular uses. Yes, there’s better cameras for sports, concert, and fashion work… but I rarely shoot any of those. Instead, I’m a frequent traveller, and unless I have a light camera that’s capable of taking awesome photographs, I’m in for a disappointment.
In my Travel Photography book, I’m excited about the Canon 550D (the newest entry-level Canon at the time) and Canon’s 50mm f/1.4. In fact, in that book, I think I’m making a compelling case for travel photographers shooting with that very combo. If I were writing the book today, I’d have recommended my current setup. The A7 has a full-frame sensor – which doesn’t matter nearly as much as you’d think. It also is incredibly good in low light – which does matter – and once you get used to its quirks, it’s a fantastic travel camera all-rounder, that is capable of delivering photos that are more than good enough to publish in a book.
With proper lighting, the A7 and 55mm f/1.8 combo creates ludicrously crisp images. I’m a little bit in love.
Anyway, I’m getting off topic. My point is this: Seven years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of recommending any Sony camera to anyone. Today, they have created my main, go-to camera for pretty much everything (including video!). Think about that for a second: If that much can change in seven years… What is going to happen in the next seven years?
It’s an exciting time to be a photographer, that’s for damn sure.
This article was originally posted at The amazing turn-around of Sony cameras , on Photocritic.
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