Mud Lake in winter

I went for a short walk at Mud Lake today located in the west of Ottawa.  Have not been there in quite a while.  I took my Sony RX100 Mark VII with me.  Spent about 45 minutes just walking the groomed trails there.

Yesterday I bought myself the Sony A7R II camera body with just one battery.  When I get paid next week, I will be buying the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens along with the battery grip and two additional batteries.  

I want to enjoy my time with the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I'm not going to sell it.   I believe it's a fantastic little camera.  My photography is evolving.  This summer I want to do a lot more camping on the weekends and I want to do a lot more exploring.  I figured a high megapixel, full frame camera is what I need to accomplish my goals.

This summer I will be travelling a lot more on weekends.  I want to discover the areas farther around Ottawa before we move out west.  

The above photos were actually edited on my Windows 10 laptop using Affinity Photo 1.8.  I actually love Affinity Photo.  I cannot stand Photoshop.  Photoshop is bloated software.  I refuse to pay a monthly subscription to Adobe.  Just no Adobe.  Affinity Photo is about $50 and you actually own the software.  And you get the updates too.

Why the Sony RX100 Mark VII is the best camera (for me)

As a stock photographer, I carry my camera with me everywhere.  It’s either in my coat, jeans or shorts pocket when I’m out and about.  it’s just the perfect camera for me.  Some may say it’s just an overpriced point and shoot that’s a bit better than a phone camera.  I actually beg to differ.  Just because it’s got a one inch sensor with an attached 24-200MM lens, doesn’t mean it’s not a professional camera.  It is a professional camera because it’s with me every minute of the day.  I was going to buy the Sony A7RII with the 24-240MM lens.  But that combination would cost me about $4000.  And that combination would not be with me all the time just because of the size.  I carry the Sony RX100 Mark VII with me everywhere along with my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.

I can do all sorts of photography with the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I can do portraiture, street, landscape and wildlife photography.  I can shoot during the day and at night as seen with the above photograph of the fireworks.  This was a 3.2” photograph at f9 and ISO 100.  No noise.  No shake since I had the camera on a tripod shooting with an intervalometer.  I can attach all the adapters I need to.  It is essentially the perfect camera for me.

It’s not the camera

Still in a conundrum.  Luckily I have until March 2020 to make a final decision.  Now I’m leaning towards just shooting with the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the VII.  I realize the Sony A7RII has more than twice the amount of megapixels which means higher resolution photos and 4K footage.  But I mainly shoot for micro stock agencies and I’ve gotten excellent photos and 4K footage with the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I am trying to convince myself to just shoot with those cameras instead of the Sony A7RII.  I could edit the A7RII photos on my 2018 iPad Pro.  It does have enough horse power to colour grade and edit the images unlike my early 2013 MacBook Pro or my Windows 10 laptop which has 2 SSD hard drives and 32GB of RAM.  I want to be as minimalist as I can.  I don’t want to carry around large amounts of equipment.  

There are photographers with YouTube channels who shoot on Sony a6400 bodies with pretty much kit lenses.  I think I can do well with just the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the VII.  I should really save my money for a better drone than the DJI Spark.  I want to go out west and do more drone photography in the mountains.  

I think I’m just going to keep saving my photography money and finally make a decision in March 2020.  I am kind of hoping that Sony comes out with the next Sony RX100 Mark VIII which has more resolution and better battery life.  I should have about $2000US saved, if not more by March 2020 to make a good decision.

Tonight after work, I’m going out to do some more photography.  I want to go to Nepean Point and get an HDR shot of the Ottawa landscape.  It’s a sunny day right now and there are white fluffy clouds in the sky.  I hope to get some good light tonight to get a spectacular image of the Ottawa landscape.  If I do get a good image tonight I will show you here tonight.  

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.  😇

Fireworks with the Sony RX100 Mark VII

Used some Sony software to edit these shots of the fireworks I took on August 21, 2019 with the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I've uploaded them to all my portfolios such as Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  Hopefully they'll be approved soon and will be available for sale.  It was windy that night so all the fireworks were being blown to our left.  It added to the perspective for sure.

Tall Boats Festival in Brockville, Ontario with the Sony RX100 Mark VI

The girlfriend, her niece and the niece’s son and I went down to see the Tall Ships in Brockville, Ontario today just for the day.  I took my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me.  I didn’t take the Sony RX100 Mark VII with me because Apple has not upgraded the RAW portion of iOS yet so don’t have access to the RAW files through iOS 12 yet.  Probably will be there with iPadOS which should come out in the next three weeks.

Shot this photo at f9, ISO100 at roughly 1/100th of a second.  Edited in Pixelmator Pro on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive and 12.9” screen.  Just a fantastic combination for me.  Photos are sharp and colour accurate which is all I ask for.  Cropped this photo a bit considering there was a lot of the St. Lawerence Seaway underneath the boat.  It was a good time.

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.

I finally did it

Afte Sony lifted its embargo on the Sony RX100 Mark VII sales in Canada, I was actually the first in Ottawa to get the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  At least at the Henry’s location on Bank Street.  I traded in my Sony a7ii full frame DSLR along with the f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens, the Sony battery grip and my Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder.  I bought the necessary Sony grip for it since the Sony RX100 Mark VII is very smooth to hold onto.  The grip is very necessary.  I still want to get the Lensmate filter adapter along with the three filters.  I already bought an external mic for $28 for it.  The external mic is very compact which is very good.  Makes the whole setup compact.  This weekend I have to look for my mic bracket that I bought last year before we moved.  I think it got lost somewhere in the move.  The bracket was about $20.  I found one for $6.95 on Amazon.  I might buy two of those.  One for my Sony RX100 and one for my Canon Vixia HF R800.  I’ll have to find them again on Amazon.

I am so glad I got the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  It’s the perfect camera for me.  Shoots 20.1 megapixel still and also shoots 4K/30fps.  I wish it shot 4K/60fps but 30fps is just fine.  For my wildlife footage, I’ll more than likely be using the Canon Vixia HF R800.  If and when we decide to go on trip to Europe, I’ll just bring my Joby tripod and the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  Shoot 4K footage with that setup.  I already have a good tripod that I’ve have for about a dozen or so years.  It has worked out well for me.  I can’t wait to take the Sony RX100 Mark VII on its first photography run.  I am just so excited to go out with it and test it out.

I haven’t been to Parc Omega in about 2 months or so just because of the oppressive heat that we’ve had.  I’m pretty sure the animals would be hiding in the forest.  I’ll probably start going again in late September or October when the temperature cools down a bit and the leafs start changing colours.  We’ll have to go to Algonquin Park again as well.  Tomorrow night, the Casino Sound of Lights occurs again.   So we’ll be going.  We’ll have to go to the Parliament buildings at night as well to catch the light show which is displayed on Centre Block.  I haven’t seen that in over three years now.

This past long weekend

Spent Saturday at Sandbanks Provincial Park and got pretty sun burnt.  Sunday was spent recovering from the excessive sunburn.  I only took my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me.  I can hide it pretty much anywhere.  And I can take pictures like this in seconds:

Monday was spent in Watertown in upstate New York.  The mall was pretty empty since it was a Monday.  I honestly love editing the Sony RX100 Mark VI shots on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  Simple software like Pixelmator Pro and Darkroom can edit pretty much any photo quickly and efficiently.  Love my life.  :) 

I am definitely getting the Sony RX100 Mark VII

I am definitely purchasing the Sony RX100 Mark VII when it comes out.  I keep using just the Sony RX100 Mark VI for all of photography and footage.  I want the Sony RX100 Mark VII for the audio jack and the better focusing software and hardware.  The only downside of this excellent little camera is the battery life now but I already have multiple batteries for the RX100 series so that should not be any issue.

I want to pair the Sony RX100 Mark VII with my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 12.9” screen and 512GB hard drive.  Once Apple iPadOS comes out next month, I will definitely not need a physical computer, either a tower or laptop.  Having USB-C on the iPad Pro, I’ve already purchased a hub with another USB-C port, 2 USB-A ports and this hub can charge the iPad Pro as well.  It’ll be the one dongle life.  I can pack everything into a slim laptop bag I got last year.  I can carry my Sony camera, Apple iPad Pro and the Canon Vixia HF R800 and I won’t have to worry about the weight of all the equipment while travelling.

As for what’s going to be connected to my 2018 Apple iPad Pro will be a 4TB hard drive and my Blue Yeti Mic.  I have the Apple AirPods v2 connected via Bluetooth.  I can connect wired AirPods to the the Blue Yeti Mic to monitor the volume for when I start the podcasts.  I think this will be the best setup a mobile photographer/videographer/podcasted can have.  

I just wish Apple would release Final Cut Pro X for the Apple iPad and Audacity would release their software for recording audio.  That would be an excellent setup.

This weekend is the August long weekend here in Ontario, so we are heading down to Sandbanks Provincial Park which is located between Kingston and Belleville, Ontario.  I’ll be taking the Sony RX100 Mark VI and my DJI Spark.  I’m not planning to do a whole lot of pro photography but I am planning to do some.  The girlfriend and I decided to sleep in the rear of the vehicle.  I bought an air mattress along with some sleeping bags.  It’ll be the first time we sleep in the 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport AWD.  We’ll be staying at the Flying J truck stop in Napanee, ON.  Access to bathrooms and close to restaurants for that early morning breakfast.  Then off to the beaches of Sandbanks P.P. 

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.  

At the Speedway with the Sony RX100 Mark VI

It was another hot Saturday today.  It was 32 degrees Celsius or 89 degrees Fahrenheit not including the humidity.  With the humidity it was about 40 degrees Celsius and 104 Fahrenheit.  So basically hot.  

The girlfriend and I actually slept in till about 9am this morning.  I was exhausted personally.  Late breakfast and we decided to go to the west of Ottawa just for a drive.  We went thru Fitzroy Harbour, Pakenham and we ended up in Calabogie.  I’ve never been to the Calabogie Speedway before.  I’ve heated of it but I’ve never been there before.  I took only my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me since it’s so easy to carry, it being a really nice point and shoot camera that shoots copious amounts of photographs and does 4K video.  I only shot photos today since it was so hot today.  

I honestly don’t know how these guys and girls ride these bikes wearing those suits in this heat.  I was sweating there just doing photography in the shade.  I am just waiting for the Sony RX100 Mark VII to come out in a few weeks so I can purchase it.  It is supposed to shoot 96 RAW files in a second.  The Sony RX100 Mark VII would be perfect for sports photography such as this.  I’m using it with a 128GB SD card and I have a feeling I could spend the whole day shooting bike racing such as this and fill a few cards easily.  I’d also kill a few batteries.  I think the only problem the Sony RX100 Mark VII is going to be the battery issue.  The whole RX100 series line of cameras has had this issue where it just eats batteries for breakfast.  If Sony could just make the batteries a bit better, you’d have the perfect camera.  The Sony RX100 Mark VII is 99.5% there to being the perfect little point and shoot camera.  Sony, just fix the battery issue and add more megapixels to the sensor.  If this shot 30+ megapixels instead of the 20MP and batteries didn’t drain as fast as they do, it’d be a great camera.  Personally I’ve emptied 2 batteries over a day of shooting and filling up a 128GB SD card just once in the past 4 years owning a Sony RX100 series of cameras and I do some serious shooting with it.

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.

Sony RX100 Mark VI - The perfect pocket camera

I've had the Sony RX100 Mark VI for a couple of weeks now.  And it's been the perfect little pocket camera packing a 24-200MM lens.  No more need for any DSLR camera.  You have one that fits in the palm of your hand.

The pros of the little pocket camera definitely out way the cons which there aren't many.  The internal ND filter is gone.  No problem.  Still had an external ND filter which I can easily attach to the new Sony RX100 Mark VI.  There is still no mic jack on the camera.  It's actually ok for me as I don't do YouTube videos.  And if I did, I can use my Canon Vixia HF G40.  Since I do not do podcasts or add voice over to any of my footage clips, I really do not need an audio out on the Sony RX100 Mark VI.

Footage wise, the camera is amazing.  Color reproduction is fantastic and the footage is tact sharp from 24mm to 200mm.  Photos are sharp as well and color accurate.  I am so glad the lens goes out to 200mm as well.  No more carrying around heavy lenses such as the Canon L f2.8 70-200MM.  That was such a heavy lens to carry on your back.  Especially when hiking in the mountains.

I can do long exposure photography with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  One downside of the Sony RX100 Mark VI is that it only goes to f11.  Not f22 or higher like most lenses.  But you cannot expect that from such a small camera.  I can carry around my Sony RX10 Mark II with its 24-200MM lens which does go to f16 so I can get the star effect on street lights at night.

I've yet to test the camera for astrophotography.  With it's 1 inch sensor, which is relatively small, I figure it's going to be fairly noisy beyond ISO 1600.  I only do astrophotography in the summers, on weekends which isn't too often. 

Fourth best month ever!!! So far.

The month isn't over yet and I'm having a pretty good month so far on Shutterstock thanks to a few video sales.  One particular one for $104.70 is simply outstanding.  And the month still has just under two weeks left in it.  I know next week will be slow because of Christmas.  I figure I won't make any sales in Europe, North and South America, Australia and basically any Christian nation because everyone will be celebrating with their families.  I hardly sell anything in any Middle Eastern countries or in Asian countries.  Although I sell a few there a few times a month, it's rare that I do.

I want to upgrade a few of the internals in my Asus laptop.  I want to upgrade the hard drives to SSD drives and I want to add 16GB of RAM to get a full 32GB.  I also want to upgrade the operating system to Windows 10 Professional instead of Windows 10 Home.  I got rid of my 2015 Apple iMac and I'm thinking no one will buy the early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro so I might just keep it to run Final Cut Pro X on it.

The next big purchase will be the Apple iPad Pro.  The 512GB version with the 12.9" screen.  I already have the cameras I need.  I bought the Sony RX100 Mark V again.  I'm still wanting to get the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I think I will get that in the new year.

It's been busy

I haven't been out with the cameras in weeks.  I miss it.  I really do miss doing photography and shooting footage.  I think it's time to make a few changes in my personal life.  I have to clean house as they say.  I think a few life changes are in order again.  Work has been busy as I'm training two new guys.  We've been going to the gym 3-5 times a week.  I've got two hernias that I have to take care of.  Went to a clinic to get some ultrasounds done today and actually get some pictures taken of the hernias.

Thankfully it's the weekend in one more day and I get to relax.  Girlfriend has a lunch date with some girlfriends so I get some time alone finally.  So I'll just take the camera out and do some photography on Saturday since I haven't done it in ages.

Sony RX100 Mark II

The Sony RX100 Mark II is a camera I had before last year.  I upgraded it to the Sony RX100 Mark IV.  I went back to the Mark II because I had no need for 4k video and other features of the camera were a bit gimmicky.  The Mark II is just a great little walk around point and shoot.  It has a 20.2 megapixel sensor and shoots raw.  It's also mirrorless which has it's disadvantages such as battery life.  But you can add an adapter to the front of the camera so you can filters and other devices.  I have yet to attach it to my telescopes eyepiece which I'm planning on doing later this summer and this fall to get some shots of the planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.  Also I plan on doing some videos of the moon.  I just wish the weather cooperates on the weekends.