Justification

Sure, it's full-frame. But is that enough?

Ever since I bought my Sony α6700, last April, I've been favouring it over my Nikon D750. I haven't used my Nikon since the Monday after I picked up the α6700, when I attended a model photo shoot.

The Nikon was my prime camera, though I also used the Sony to see how easy it was to use, and it was very easy, considering I was just getting used to it.

Of course, there are other differences between the cameras: the Nikon is bigger and heavier; the focusing speed and accuracy is unmatched on the Sony; the lens that I have for the Nikon is superior quality and lets more light in; the Sony, with its kit lens, has a slight advantage of focal range as the Nikon lens but the whole camera fits in a jacket pocket.

I can't get over how much smaller the Sony is to my Nikon. But does size matter?

Because I've been picking up the α6700 as my go-to camera, I've started wondering if I needed to keep the D750. So I decided I'd start comparing the two: not by comparing specifications but by seeing which takes the better picture.

I figured I'd shoot both cameras in identical situations at the same settings—or as close to the same as I could get. I attached my 24–70mm f/2.8 lens to the Nikon; to the Sony, I used the kit 16–50mm f/3.5–5.6 lens. I placed both cameras in aperture-priority mode, where I set the aperture to f/6.3, and set the ISO to 200.

I let the cameras sort out the shutter speed, though I noticed that both were mostly shooting at the same speed for each shot. Because the Sony α6700 has a crop sensor, the focal length, compared to the full-framed Nikon D750, was 24–75mm.

Just a bit more reach than the Nikon.

On the weekend, we visited our friend who has a farm near Plantagenet. He was having a birthday celebration and he wanted to show the work he had done on his property since we last visited.

I love the farmhouse, barn, and other outbuildings, so I thought it was a perfect time to photograph outdoors in daylight. Here are the shots I took: can you tell which camera took which image?

My friend had beautiful lilies growing in the gardens around his farmhouse. Because they were in direct sunlight and had such vibrant colours, I thought I'd see how each camera captured these saturated flowers.

In post-processing, I imported all of the images into Photomator. I applied the exact same edits to each set of photos: not all photos had the same edits applied but if I added more contrast and vibrancy to a barn photo that was shot with the Nikon, I applied the same edits to the same barn shot, captured with the Sony.

What do you think? Can you tell the difference? Which images do you prefer?

Over the next few weeks, I'll take some night shots, fireworks, portraits, and more, snapping with each camera. (I guess, for fireworks shots, I won't have identical shots but the cameras will have the same setup.)

If, when I'm done this experiment, I find that the photos I capture with the α6700 are just as good as those taken with the D750, I'll sell my Nikon camera and remaining gear, and I'll get a better wide-angle zoom lens for the Sony.

If I find a marked difference, where the D750 outperforms the α6700, I'll keep it. I'll use the Sony for when I'm bird-nerding and when I need something small, such as when I travel. I'll use the Nikon when quality matters.

But I'll really need to justify having both cameras. The difference between the photos must blow me away.

Stay tuned.