I don't like being in front of a camera

I really don't like being in front of the camera lens.  I really don't.  I'm very self conscious.  I don't like the sound of my voice, let alone how I look.  I'm 43 years old.  I should not be this self conscious.  Especially in 2019.  I'm not a high school teenager anymore.  I went out today to do a video blog today for YouTube.  Unfortunately the little mic I bought off Amazon was the wrong one so no audio at all.  First world problems.  Ordered the correct one when I got home.  Should be here tomorrow.  Thanks free Amazon Prime.  😇

Another night with the Sony RX100 lines of cameras

The above shot was taken with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  We were waiting for the finale of the fireworks show across the river on the Gatineau side.  We got there early at 5:30pm to stake out a spot since it was a Saturday in late August.  IT was a warm Saturday night.  We were sitting right on the river with no one in between us and the river but a protective fence.  This was shot at f9, 0.6 seconds at ISO 100.  The camera was on a tripod with an Intervalometerator hooked up to the camera.  I wanted to bring the Sony RX100 Mark VII but Apple hasn’t released the supporting software for the 2018 Apple iPad Pro yet.  So I was stuck with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.

I just a few settings in Pixelmator Pro.  A little colour correction and the name of the hotel on the left of the photo was erased because of copyright.  Can’t upload trademarked names or images. 

I am now much closer to Apple iPadOS coming out next month.  I’ll be so glad when we’ll have a decent file system, the ability to connect external hard drives and we’ll finally have mouse support.  I hope we’ll be able to select multiple files at once.

On a side note, the girlfriend and I are pretty much done with Ottawa as far s getting decent jobs.  Neither of us are bilingual so getting a good job in Ottawa is unrealistic.  We’ve decided to move out west.  I was out there for 4 months and I loved it.  I loved the mountains, the fresh air, the open fields that go on forever.

An update on the Sony RX100 Mark VII

I honestly don’t use my Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder anymore.  I think I’ve used it twice this year.  I hardly use my Sony a7ii with the battery grip and the Sony f3.5-6.4 24-240MM lens.  Whenever I go out shooting, I use the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I don’t do any astrophotography anymore.  I hardly go to Parc Omega anymore because I think the park has been pretty much ruined for photographers.  It’s also pricey at $35CAD per person, per visit.  I still go once in a blue moon.  I’ve gone I think twice or three times these past few months.  The weather has been horrible this spring and summer.  We went directly from a cold winter to the warmest summer on record.  All the animals would hide in the forest.  I honestly like going in the fall and winter anyways because the animals are more active.

The Sony RX100 Mark VI and the Sony RX100 VII have the same f2.8-4.5 24-200MM lens which is actually fantastic for a point and shoot pocket camera.  I can use it for wildlife and landscape photography.  They both have pretty much the same 20.1 megapixel sensor.  Depending on edits, I can get 18-33 megabytes files out of each RAW file.  They both shoot fantastic 4K videos and the Sony RX100 Mark VII can shoot up to an hour of 4K footage before the battery dies on it.  That’s according to reviewers on YouTube.  The Sony RX100 Mark VII finally comes with a mic jack so that you can attach a microphone to it.  I don’t use the camera for vlogging because I don’t do vlogs at all.  I just shoot 5 second to 60 seconds video clips and publish them to my portfolios on Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks which are all available on the home page of this blog.

Yes the Sony a7ii and theCanon Vixia HF G40 are more professional equipment.  But if they’re sitting here unused, they are costing me money.  I do a lot of travelling and a lot of walking.  Especially downtown or local walking trails where I look for animals to photograph and take videos of.  Carrying around huge camera bodies and lenses.  I’d rather carry around the Sony RX100 VI or the VII in my hand or in my pocket.  I like the anonymity of the Sony RX100 line of cameras.  I’ll probably switch back and forth on this over the coming weeks but in all likelyhood, I will trade in the pro gear for the Sony RX100 VII when it come out in a few weeks.

Sony RX100 Mark VII

So I have decided to keep pretty much all my equipment except the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  Not that there’s anything wrong with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  It’s a very capable camera.  Physically there is nothing wrong with the camera at all.  No scratches or dents.  The body is as awesome when I bought it a few months back earlier this year.  I am going to go to the camera shop where I bought it because they have a 50% trade in policy towards a new purchase.  So I’ll get about $800 back and I’ll only have to spend another $800 for the Sony RX100 Mark VII body.  I’ll get the usual accessories like the battery grip and the necessary lens adapters so I can attach the necessary filters to the camera.  

I have made several nice sales on Shutterstock this month including a whopping $1.50US for a video today.  But I sold a few photos for over $20 a piece and a few videos for $25+.  I have a big decision to make by 6am tomorrow.  Do I cash out my photography earnings by tomorrow and put it against the purchase of a new Sony RX100 Mark VII or wait another month before buying the camera?  The camera doesn’t come out for a few more weeks so I have time.  And I still love using the Mark VI.  So you know what I’ll be doing.  

The Sony RX100 Mark VII

I have not kept up with new camera body or lens releases in a few months.  My last camera purchase back in March was the Sony a7ii body, grip and lens.  Since then though, I have used the Sony RX100 Mark VI for the majority of my photography since I work in the downtown core of Ottawa and bringing the full frame camera was just not an option.

That is why I was extremely excited when I read this week that the Sony RX100 Mark VII was announced.  The camera will be released in mid August of this year or so.  I have used an iteration of the camera since the Sony RX100 Mark II came out several years back.  I’ve always loved the RX100 line of compact cameras.  Currently I use the Sony RX100 VI as my daily driver since it packs several punches in the pocket sized compact camera.  My favourite new feature in the Sony RX100 Mark VI was the 24-200MM lens equivilant.  I can do without the neutral density filter which was dropped in favour of the f2.8-4.5 24-200MM lens.  I would rather have the reach than a filter which you can purchase as an add on for less than $100 from your local camera store.

The new Sony RX100 Mark VII has fixed a lot of what the users of the series of cameras have been asking for.  Especially the addition of the mic jack and upgraded imaging sensor, this camera I think will replace travel, hobbyist, enthusiast, semi pro photographers DSLR cameras.  For an example, last night my girlfriend and I went to the Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders CFL football game.  Walking into the stadium, I noticed a sign prohibiting DSLR cameras while accepting point and shoot cameras only.  I was not even searched or asked about the camera as it was in my right short pocket.  I basically was shooting still and footage thru out the football game with no issue on just one battery.  We were in the nose bleeds seats and was able to get close up shots of the players and cheer leaders thru out the night.  

I do all my photography semi professionally.  I make a few hundred dollars worth of shooting still and footage with various equipment and I submit everything to a few micro stock agencies.  The 20 megapixel sensor is more than enough as a 5 megapixel sensor is all that is needed.  The RX100 series of cameras has shot 4K since the Mark IV came out.  They had a 5 minute limitation on shooting 4K videos due to over heating.  The Sony RX100 Mark VII fixes this limitation as you can shoot up to a solid hour of 4K shooting non stop.  Since all my clips are between 5 and 60 seconds this was never an issue for me.  The only problem I still see with the RX100 line of cameras is that it takes up to 30 seconds to clear the buffer if you continuously shoot for 5 seconds.  It is understandable that the buffer would fill since the new Sony RX100 Mark VII shoots 90 frames a second.  Now these 90 short are all RAW 20.1 megapixel images.  That is a whole sack of information being taken and written to you SD card.

I am 99.9999998% sure I am going to trade in my Sony a7ii full frame camera with the lens and battery grip along with the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder for the new Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I’ve used the G40 just once or twice this year.  The a7ii has been used maybe a dozen times since I bought it back in March of 2019.  I’ve used the Sony RX100 Mark VI at least 3-4 times a week as I take it everywhere with me.  It’s basically a full on DSLR camera in the palm of your hand.