For Sale!!!!!!

Just got back from shooting another night of fireworks at the Casino Sound of Light, the Italy edition.  This time I only took my Sony RX100 Mark VI, Sony Remote and a little Joby tripod.  I didn’t want to carry around a big DSLR camera, lens and tripod.  I was a bit hesitant shooting fireworks with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I’ve not shot fireworks with this camera before.  To say the least, I am not disappointed whatsoever.  Focus was spot on in manual mode.  Colours look just awesome.  No noise whatsoever.  I shot at 2.5 seconds, f9 and ISO 100.  I am truly happy with this little camera that fits right into your jean pocket.  I have no need for a DSLR whatsoever.  I will be selling the Sony a7ii body with the lens and battery grip and I’ll be getting rid of the Canon Vixia HF G40 as well I think.  I just have to wait for the Sony RX100 Mark VII to come out at some point this month.  I’ll only be shooting with the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the VII and editing all my photos on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” with the 512GB hard drive.  Once iPadOS comes out next month, I will no long need a desktop or laptop computer.  I’ll be able to do everything on the Apple iPad Pro.  I can’t wait.  I am so excited.  Photography makes feel happy to be alive.

Some fireworks photography and maybe some autoracing

All shot with the Sony a7ii and Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens.  Auto racing shots were taken at the Calabogie Speed Way and the fireworks were taken at the Casino Sound of Lights shot from the Museum of History in Hull, Quebec.

Apple iPadOS

I really, really, really need iPadOS to come out ASAP.  The current version of iOS absolutely sucks as an operating system.  I have a hub attached to my 2018 Apple iPad Pro and attached to the hub I have a Seagate 4TB hard drive.  The current versions of iOS does not provide access to the Seagate external drive.  The Yeti Blue Mic works like a charm.  The SD and Micro SD card slots work flawlessly.  I just need the better file system so I can copy my photos and videos directly to the external hard drive and then I can import the photos into Darkroom and use them directly with Affinity Photo.  I just wish Audacity would port their software for audio editing.  Apple should port Final Cut Pro X or a dumbed down version of the software for the iPad.  Not as dumb as iMovie but something for editing video clips.  I hope I can use the current FTP software I have on the iPad Pro to upload stuff to my Shutterstock, Pond5 and Videoblocks ports.  Mouse support and dark mode are going to be welcome additions as well.

I also can’t wait till the Sony RX100 Mark VII comes out in about a week or two.  I am saving up money like crazy to buy the little pocket camera.  I have about $550 saved so far.  Hopefully I’ll make a few large sales on Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks in the next few weeks so I can cash out the earnings to buy the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  After I buy the Sony RX100 Mark VII, the next big purchase will be an upgraded drone.  A drone that can shoot in RAW and that takes 4K videos.  The DJI Spark I currently have is ok but it only shoots in the JPEG format and it only shoots 1080p video which is actually pretty good.  But it seems I’m selling more and more 4K videos recently.  Thankfully the Sony RX100 Mark VI and the VII shoot 4K footage which is amazing.

More lunch time photography

More lunch time photography from today.  Yup.  Yoga Wednesday on the hill.  Or Parliament Hill as the locals call it.  Weather was humid and cloudy.  Thankfully it rained about half an hour later after this photo was taken.  This was taken again with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I am currently saving my photography money to buy the Sony RX100 Mark VII.  I’m going to give the Sony RX100 Mark VI to my girlfriend once I buy the Mark VII.  I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos about the Sony RX100 Mark VII and it looks like it’ll be THE perfect camera for me.  It’s the perfect camera for my travel needs.  It’s a pocket sized power camera.

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.  :) 

More pics shot with the Sony RX100 Mark VI

I know a few photographers who would bock at using a point and shoot camera.   Apparently it’s not professional enough.  Can’t control any of the settings on the camera.  That is nothing but snobbery and purely uneducated B.S.  You can control your ISO, f stop and zoom.  The camera has internal stability to take care of camera shake at 200MM.  Yeah it’s not an interchangeable lens camera but it’s not meant to be.  The Sony RX100 Mark VI and VII both come with a 24-200MM lens which is great for wide landscape and up close and personal.  If you need to get closer to a subject, use your feet.  If you want a more panoramic shot, take 2-3 shots and stitch them together in Affinity Photo.  Don’t make excuses for your photography.  Work with the equipment you have.  Adapt and change.  Photography is not static.  Shoot out of your comfort zone.  A few years back, I would not even shoot video because I thought I just wanted to be a photographer.  One day at Parc Omega, I shot a video, edited it and uploaded it to Shutterstock.  It sold within a week for $120US.   That is when I started shooting footage as well.  Money.  Money.  Money.  

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.

The problems with iOS 12

iOS 12 is very problematic.  No real file support, no mouse support and no real browser.  I do a lot of photo and footage editing.  I mean a lot.  I need a real file system.  I need mouse support.  The Apple Pencil is fine but a real mouse is better.  I honestly cannot wait for the iPadOS to be release in September.  A real file system.  Mouse support.  File sharing.  Better file management.  Until iPadOS comes out, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro is just a media consumption device that can edit photos and videos just fine.  It's just uploading multiple files via web browser or FTP is just cumbersome.  Till iPadOS comes out, I will need to be using my Windows 10 laptop to edit and upload photos and videos.  It is very unfortunate. 

Trip to Montreal

The girlfriend, her sister and I went to Montreal just for the day.  I haven’t been to Old Montreal since I was a kid.  I haven’t been to Mount Royal in about 13 years.  Girlfriend and her sister have never been.  It was nice for them to see it.

I only took my Sony RX100 Mark VI to take pictures and footage along with my little Joby tripod that I can pretty much set up anywhere and take steady footage with the camera.  I did shoot footage in 4K video.  Typically I would shoot 4K footage if I’m not going to there again for a long time.

I’m editing my photos on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I honestly cannot wait for iPadOS to come out.  The only thing that’s bothering with the current iteration of iOS 12 is that it is very lacking in features like importing files and footage from an SD card.  I also wish that Audacity would make their software available for the iPad Pro.  I think it’s the best free audio editing software out there.  I have my Blue Yeti Mic attached to my iPad Pro right now thru a hub.  I have my earphones attached and the provided Apple USB-C power cable to power the iPad Pro.

I can’t wait for the iPadOS to come out in September of this year.  I can then replace all my other computing devices.  I can just use my iPhone and iPad Pro to do all my computing needs.   If I’m travelling anywhere for a long period of time, I can just take the 2018 Apple iPad Pro, my Sony RX100 VI and my Canon Vixia HF R800 camcorder.  All would fit into one shoulder bag with all the necessary batteries, cords etc and I’d be happy.

HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Hub — for iPad Pro 2018

So the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C Hub — for iPad Pro 2018 came in today. It’s a pretty snazzy little device.  I wish it just had another USB-C type connector so you can hook up two USB-A devices like a hard drive and Blue Yeti microphone.  Now to make the 2018 Apple iPad Pro an almost perfect device, I need for the iPadOS to come out.  I cannot wait for September when the operating system comes out.  I am missing external hard drive support so I can import my photos and videos to an external hard drive via the HyperDrive 6 in 1 USB-C hub.  I guess one USB-A port is ok.  I don’t think I’ll have my hard drive attached to the iPad on a constant basis.  I want to start podcasting with the iPad Pro and the Blue Yeti Mic.  I have the silver Blue Yeti Mic that I’ve had for years.  I think it goes well with the iPad Pro.

I got the HyperDrive 6-in-1 USB-C hub for the 2018 Apple iPad Pro today.  I rearranged my desk today and put the Canon printer on the ground.  I can connect to it wirelessly whenever I need to print or scan something.  I am amazed by this 12.9” iPad.  It is so fast.  And the new OS is supposed to be even faster.  I think once every 3-4 years I will buy a new iPad.  Once iPadOS comes out and we get mouse support, external drive support and dark mode, I will be very happy.  I will have no need for a Mac, Windows or a Linux based computer or laptop.

I just wish there were two pieces of software that will be ported to the iPad.  Final Cut Pro X and Audacity Audio Editor.  Audacity is already available for Windows, Mac and Linux.  I wish they would port it over to the iPad.  I can stick with LumaFusion for video editing.  It seems feature rich enough for what I do with video.

So in summary, I wish September was here tomorrow and iPadOS was being released today.  Now I wonder if I can do all my photography and shoot video with just my Apple iPhone 8 Plus and edit everything thru the cloud?  

I have decided

I started a new job this week that pays really well.  I mean really well.  Enough that I can save my photography money and put away some money into my TFSA account.  I'm making enough money to pay off my credit card debt and save some money.  

July 2019 has been off to a good start so far.  In the first 7 days, I've sold roughly $200US of photos and footage.  The drone I want is roughly $2030 before tax.  So I'm looking at about $2333.00 with tax for the drone.  Hopefully, if sales are going the way they are now, I'll have the money in about six months.  So, by my estimates, I think I'll have a new drone in December.  And if things go well as well, I'll have my credit card debt paid off by then so I can buy the Sony a7R III body.  I want to do my landscape, wildlife photography on a more serious basis so I need a higher resolution camera body.  If anyone at Sony reads this, I switched to Sony last year from Canon.  The technology in a Sony camera is so much better than in a Canon camera.

I love the high megapixel count on the full frame sensor in the Sony a7R III.  I also love Affinity Photo on my 2018 iPad Pro.  Once iPadOS comes out in September I am ditching my Windows and Mac laptops and sticking with the iPad Pro.