Not Just Birds

The impetus for me selling my Nikon D7200 was a lens that I rarely attached to it.

During our trip to Costa Rica, in January, I felt strain on my left shoulder (which has osteoarthritis and tendinosis) as I lifted a 3.14 kg camera to my face, 2.3 kilos of which was a 200–500mm lens. DW and I have become somewhat of birders over the past few years and our camera gear expanded to meet the demands of capturing feathered subjects from a respectful distance.

If you follow this blog, you've heard me go on about this issue at length.

I sold my D7200, five lenses, plus my old Minolta X-700 to go towards my replacement, which is a Sony α6700. I have a kit 16–50mm lens and added a 70–350mm f/4.5–6.3 lens for birding (and other subjects that require me to zoom in). And over the past couple of weeks, I've shared images of the birds that I've photographed with my new gear.

But my photography with the α6700 is not all about birds.

When I sold the lenses with my D7200, I got rid of a wide range of abilities. I told myself that if I was going to get a new camera, it would have to meet the need of what I do with photography.

Going into the purchase of the α6700, I still had my Nikon D750 and three lenses. I was going to keep a wide-angle lens for the times I shot interiors. I did a gig for a real-estate friend, where I shot the unit she was selling. I've shot some photos for people who had places for rent through Airbnb, and if I was going to do more work, I'd need to hang onto that lens.

If I don't use it for a year, I'll sell it, too.

I kept my 50mm f/1.8 lens, which I'll use for portraits. I've done some headshots and it's a good all-round lens.

And I've kept my 24–70mm f/2.8 lens because it's great for so many things. I use it with my photography club, both in the studio and outside, and if I ever think I'd sell it, it would be because I've decided to sell all of my Nikon gear (of which I still have tons).

I have no plans to sell my D750 but who knows?

It's still early days with my Sony α6700 and I'm just becoming comfortable with it, but so far, I'm loving it. It feels right in my hands and it is so light, especially compared to the old setup that I had for capturing birds.

But this camera isn't just about the birds.

With the telephoto lens, which gives me an equivalent focal length of 525mm, it replaces two of my old Nikon telephoto lenses; one, that I often used to capture closeups of flowers.

We had daffodils bloom in our front yard a couple of weeks ago, and they won't be around for much longer. I've admired them but never found the time to take a camera out and capture them. We also have tulips that are in our backyard and are yet to open up.

So, last week, I took the time and shot both groups of flowers. For the tulips, I used the kit 16–50mm lens with the α6700; for the daffodils, I switched to the 70–350mm lens. I used the aperture-priority mode and opened the irises as wide as they could go at 50mm and 350mm.

What do you think?

Over the weekend, I attended another photography meetup with my club, at the Experimental Farm. I brought both my D750 with the 24–70mm lens and the α6700 with the 70–350mm lens, and compared the experience and results with each of them.

I'll share some of the images for Wordless Wednesday and my thoughts on using both cameras in my Photo Friday post. Stay tuned.