New Tree at Zilker Park. Austin, Texas
Sony Nex 7 with Sony 50mm 1.8
Barton Springs Pool. Austin, Texas
Sony Nex 7 with Sony 50mm 1.8
The Barton Springs Pool Spillway.
Sony Nex 7 with Sony 50mm 1.8
The Barton Springs Pool Spillway.
Sony Nex 7 with Sony 50mm 1.8
The Barton Springs Pool Spillway.
Sony Nex 7 with Sony 50mm 1.8
The Barton Springs Pool Spillway.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 30mm 2.8
Whole Foods Watermelons. Austin, Texas
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 30mm 2.8
A Lobby Bar at the W Hotel. Austin, Texas
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 30mm 2.8
An Olympus Photographer at Caffe Medici. Austin, Texas
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 30mm 2.8
Austin Park Rangers Cut Down a Rope Swing on Independence Day.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 30mm 2.8
"Take the steps up to the utility pole and then....."
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 30mm 2.8
Zilker Park. Across from Downtown Austin, Texas.
The modern accompaniment to any mass gathering...really bad food served by carnies.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 19mm 2.8
Zilker Park. Across from Downtown Austin, Texas.
The modern accompaniment to any mass gathering...really bad food served by carnies.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 19mm 2.8
Faux Texana as imagined by new people from out of town....
Zilker Park. Across from Downtown Austin, Texas.
The modern accompaniment to any mass gathering...really bad food served by carnies.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 19mm 2.8
Zilker Park. Across from Downtown Austin, Texas.
The modern accompaniment to any mass gathering...really bad food served by carnies.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 19mm 2.8
Downtown Austin as seen from the manmade hill on the south side of the river.
Sony Nex 7 with Sigma 19mm 2.8
Fourth of July is a dog holiday.
Sony Nex 7 and 50mm 1.8
Earlier in the week I thought about selling off my Nex 7's and my Nex 6 and all the lenses. I had my head down in projects that required stills and videos for most of June and the Sony a99 is such a naturally good camera for that kind of work. I've come to like the Rokinon lenses (fast 35 and 85mms) very much and it's very useful to have both a headphone jack and control over audio levels for external microphones right on the camera. In my quest to simplify I was trying to minimize my inventory, figuring that I'd use less brainpower switching between multiple menu systems and keeping all the lenses straight.
Almost as a test of my practicality versus my well documented and somewhat irrational equipment nostalgia I packed a small camera bag with two of the Nex 7 bodies and three lenses. The lenses consisted of the two, cheap Sigma lenses (the 30mm and 19mm) as well as the tried and true, 50mm 1.8 OSS. One stabilized and the twins just hanging out there on the end of the camera, going traditional.
As I walked around and shot I remembered that these have to be among the most fun cameras I've ever shot. They are ultimately stealthy and unprovocative and they weigh next to nothing. The controls, once mastered, are fluid and extremely logical (referring to the tri-navi set up) and once I'd been through the menus a few hundred times I made my peace with them as well.
My intention was to take a medium distance walk because our masters swim team ground through an intense workout from 7:30 am till 9:00 am covering around 5,000 yards (for those who keep track in a different way that's around 200 fast 25 yard lengths strung together...). For the masters swimmers among you here's what our main set (after warm-up) looked like:
800 swim freestyle = hard pace
4x100 swim freestyle (descend by 100's on a fast interval, my lane tries to hold 1:40)
600 swim freestyle = hard pace
6x100 swim freestyle (descend and shorten intervals by 5 seconds)
400 swim freestyle = pick up pace
8x100 swim freestyle (hold above freestyle pace...)
200 swim fast
2x100 swim with shortest interval (basically touch and go). Sprint the last 100.
When we left the pool most of us were well hammered. Sore and exhausted.
So I waited a bit and drank a bunch of water and headed out for my walk around one in the afternoon. I parked at the club pool with the intention of walking to Zilker Park and back which is less than three miles, roundtrip. But I became so beguiled by the great feel of the Nex 7's in my hands that I photographed at the Springs and then kept going. Over to Whole Foods (where I paused to taste a nice Cabernet Sauvignon) and then off to Congress Ave. to grab a cappuccino at Caffe Medici and then over to IH 35. Usually I return via the same path but this being a holiday I decided to amble across the river and come through the south side of the park instead. At some point the heat started to get to me and I stopped into a restaurant to get a very large iced tea to go. That sustained me on my journey back through the park and up the gruesome series of hills to the club pool in Rollingwood. When I got back to my car around 6:15 pm I estimated that I had walked about eight miles and shot about 450 frames.
The Nex 7's performed very well and I've renounced any intention of moving them along. If anything I'll flesh out the selection of lenses a bit and try to press the system into service more often. If I can operate them with ease after a brutal workout and a tromp in 100 degree heat for an afternoon just think what I might be able to do with them in rare moments of pure rationality...
I loved the image quality I got in Jpeg. The recent improvements in firmware make this camera a moving target for evaluation. It just gets better and better.
Aah, Kirk. We seem to be on an invisible thought link. I too listed my 7 (and sold the 6 before that) in a recent Alpha buying spree. However, every time a potential buyer pops up I find a futile excuse to turn him down. Truth it, the NEX 7 is one of the best and most enjoyable camera I've ever shot (and I've literally shots dozens of models, from all makers, there are more DSLRs and mirrorless released to this day that I've owned, than those I haven't). The 7 is a true joy machine and I'm having a really hard time parting with mine. AND, only in the firm intention of funding a good part of its successor when it gets released this fall. Once one has set the TriNavi to their liking, the camera feels made in Heaven, and the files are godlike as well. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
DeleteKirk, The NEX6 feels like heaven to me (but only after I added the Jim Buchanan grip) and the ergonomics, haptics, etc are now awesome. I love handling this camera even though the only e-mount lens I have is the 16-50. I pick it up more frequently than my OMD, even though (IMO) the spec sheet on the OMD is much higher. It goes to show you (I mean goes to show me) how "chemistry" and "feel" of one camera can trump the higher specs of another camera. And that's even with the OMD's sexy primes which I also have.
ReplyDeletePeter
The 50 has been such a pleasant surprise for me on that camera. I bought it because it was a great price and am consistently impressed with it. It is a total steal for the NEX.
ReplyDeleteI believe we only swam 4600 yds before Chris told us our time was up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I want to go on a walk with you sometime!
I'll have to defer to Amy on the distance. It involves numbers and she's the engineer. Walks are always available on Sunday afternooons. It's a long standing tradition. Count yourself in.
Delete