It's definitely not cheap...but if you're willing to make the investment, go for it.

I sold all of my Canon gear, went on hiatus for about a year, and found myself back in the mirrorless realm with my Sony A7. Don't see myself going back anytime soon. But finding it pretty darn expensive.

 

You looking at new or used gear?

 

I would look at used if the savings were right and the gear was mint. Where does one buy used gear? I did a little searching last night about those zoom lenses. Looks like you can buy that Canon F/4 IS for $970 refurb through Canon. I would rather buy a new one for $1150 I think..

 

I hear used 6D bodies are pretty affordable these days. You can just use your lenses in crop mode for now, maybe later look into tilt shift lenses. I highly recommend them for architectural photography

 

Unfortunately for canon, there's no crop mode. Can't use EF-S lenses with an EF mount.

Only EF lenses with EF-S mount.

6D is definitely come down a lot in price thou. I've seen them for 850 used

 

Oh, my bad..

 

Used Sony A7 have come down a lot in price too. Under 1k.

Get that and with a fotodiox adapter and use the A7 in crop mode with your existing glass.

 

I have used fredmiranda.com and many years ago photography-on-the.net to buy and sell used gear. Just buy from established members.

But buying new vs used and prices...

Example...Nikon gives five year warranties with their lens...so if a used lens is close to new price...I'd go with new.

 

Or a new one for $1100. Of course I see there's an A7II and an A7R that are much more $$.

Would that be a big step up from my t5i? The reviews are better for the t5i than the A7, but I know that sure isn't apples to apples.

 

I don't know how a t5i would review better than an A7.

Full frame sensor. Much better low light and dynamic range.
117 phase detect autofocus points vs 9 on the canon

I would say it's a big step up.

 

What's the difference between the A7 and A6000? I see the A7 looks more like a mini DSLR where the 6000 looks (more) like a P&S.

Ken, is the A6000 your main body?

 

a6000 = APS-C (1.5x crop), a7 = Full Frame

I own both a6000 and a couple FF bodies. I reach for whatever fits the needs but leaning towards the FF bodies more these days

 

I remember asking you about the A7 the day before I bought it. I nearly cried when I received it. So beautiful.

 

I've seen pictures of A7 wearing Canon flashes. Will my 600EX mount right up? And what would a body like that feel like in hand with the 10-22 and flash mounted? My canon body still feels pretty balanced but I know the A7 is a bit smaller.

 

very nice - my answer would have been more like Jeff's direction if I had known you were doing this at this level.

 

Received my MeFoto A0350Q0T Aluuminum Backpacker Travel Tripod today in Titanium color

 

the Pentax FF

 

In theory it should work, as long as the camera has the 2 pins in the hotshoe it should fire. But you won't have the features such as TTL. As forth the balance, the lens is a Lil bit lighter than the A7, it should be stable. But in the end, you wouldn't know unless you actually mount it.

 

Any chance of getting a quick review? A travel tripod is exactly what I need (and would make a good xmas gift from family).

 

I got a replacement bulb for my 430EX. I need an adapter/mount so I can attach it to a tripod. Any suggestions for those parts? I want to be able to incorporate an umbrella into the mix. This will be lighting in addition to my camera mounted 600EX, or maybe I will run the 430 on camera and 600 on the tripod depending on the situation..

 

do you have this stand doohicky that comes with the flash? it's got a tripod mount on the bottom.

 

You evil genius. I'm certain I do, from both flashes..

 

Impact Umbrella Bracket 3117 B&H Photo Video

 

that is nice too

 

That looks like a good one.

I'm thinking the umbrella will help for when I have to bounce my flash towards a red wall or any other troublesome color, that tends to cast the whole room that color. Does that sound right? This secondary light source is going to be all new to me.

 

Ok, so what was the name of that controller that had the link removed?

 

Have to ask Beezle, I can't remember..

 

Pulse

 

Thanks!

 

I am no lighting expert, but if you hit a red wall with light from ANY source it is going to cast a red color onto anything it reflects upon. Doesn't matter if you bounce, shoot through an umbrella, etc... You could gel the light source to compensate, or tone down the red channel in post, or simply set a custom white balance in camera prior to the final shot. The last may be the simplest solution, just get ahold of a 18% grey card, make a test shot and set the WB accordingly. Remember to set it back to normal when done with the difficult shot, though.

Others with more experience may have better suggestions.

 

99% of the time I'm bouncing the flash behind me, usually at a 45* angle up to the ceiling/wall. This may not be the way umbrellas work but I thought you could bounce into a white umbrella which would reflect the light back at my scene, so I would be bouncing into white instead of the dreaded "red wall".

 

Yes you can bounce into a reflective type umbrella.

 

Sure, your active light source will be directing white light toward the room and the red wall. As soon as your white light hits the red wall, you will get red reflected light, no?

I might be completely off here, just seems more a matter of physics than photography.

 

The "red wall" in front of me isn't the problem though. It's the wall I'm bouncing off of that casts the whole scene with said color.

 

hmmm well as long as the umbrella is black and not leaking any light behind it, you should technically be fine regardless of the wall color. But you really gotta try it out in person to make a final analysis. It should work, in theory.

Are you going to be doing multiple shots with the umbrella at various locations to get even lighting? That would be a cool looking shot, I mean envisioning it in my head.

 

I would like to learn how to stitch or layer together shots in PS for more challenging rooms/scenarios. Like in a room with high ceilings and tall windows, to obtain a proper exposure of the interior and the view. I've gotten better about making it work by using available light to my advantage (golden hour or dusk), boosting up my on camera flash and using LR. The secondary light source should allow me to create more even light, and more light in general, which will allow me to use faster shutter speeds and have less blown out windows, and less -100 highlight adjustments.

 

It's not too difficult to do, all you do is place the umbrella to light up a specific area of the shot, take the shot, and repeat for the other areas, then go into Photoshop and put all those images into one as layers, and then selectively erase parts (or via other methods) to show the highlights mixed with the original light. Try it out some time when you have the time and energy. Warning I've heard once you go that route it's very difficult to not do it that way.

 

Here are some challenging scenarios for me. These first 2 are from a couple years ago. High ceilings, red walls, kind of a nightmare to light this room and not end up blowing the windows out. In this shot I'm not bouncing against red.

2922 Flagstone 6 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

In this one I am bouncing against red wall and white ceiling. You can see some of the white paint has a pink hue, and that's after I toned that way down in LR.

2922 Flagstone 11 by Matt Garner, on Flickr



These are from this year. I like to think I'm a bit better now.. Dark colors, dark wood, dark funiture = kind of a muddy monotone. This really looked like crap before LR.

IMG_8700 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

Using my flash & LR to pull this off as best as possible. This is where I think the second light will help a lot.

IMG_8710 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

Muddy. Hard to light this dark room and not blow the window out..

IMG_8735 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

Nightmare colors and darkness

IMG_8739 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

More nightmare colors.

IMG_8764 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

IMG_8766 by Matt Garner, on Flickr

 

This is all hand held, camera mounted flash. I want to continue to improve and have the skills to take on a challenging room and a million dollar house (which I have figured out how to fumble through for the most part). But for the bulk of what I do it needs to go down quick. If it's a 2000 sq. ft. home for $500,000, I need to be able to shoot the thing in 30 minutes..

 

If you're looking to do quick work, I would advise against that whole layers thing haha - you can easily spend 1-2 hours on ONE image if you are doing layers.

If you are looking for throughput and efficiency I would not advise on layers. That would be more for like one or two signature shots that you want to nail down fine tune and tweak.

Umbrella might be able to help you in certain spots but again for quick work that's gonna be something you'll have to fine tune.