366 Project Month Six - Back to Sony

Back to Sony

On Wednesday June 1, I put away the little Panasonic GM5 I had been using exclusively in May, and brought out the Sony RX1RII. I was expecting a little period of adjustment to deal with the different controls, but what really blew me away was the moment I put the viewfinder of the RX1RII up to my eye.

It was like a whole new world, so bright and revealing so much more detail. As much as I love the GM5 for what it can do for the size, the viewfinder really isn’t up to par with what else is available.

The picture I took that night I had also recently taken with the GM5. I had decided not to publish the GM5 picture, as I wanted to try again with a camera with a wider dynamic range.

Using the Sony over the Panasonic, I was able to pull more detail from both the highlights and shadows. However, unless you’re comparing both images side by side, or printing out large, there probably isn’t the difference you’d want to see considering the difference in cost of these two cameras.

Even entry level cameras are capable of capturing amazing images, and I feel you really are spending on diminishing returns to go the high-end camera market.

Japan

In June, I also made a trip to Japan, and really only took the Sony RX1RII with me. I did also take the GM5 with me, but largely as a backup.

Larger size possible with Instagram, but still a lot of detail missing compared to the full size image.

As in March, I found the RX1RII an excellent holiday camera. There were times I wished I could zoom in, but generally on holiday it’s good to have a relatively wide lens that can capture more of the environment. Even when doing portraits of my friends there, the Sony performed beautifully.

Pictured: not a portrait.

Your favourites may not coincide with crowd favourites

I know I have said this before, but often the images you like won’t necessarily get the best response from your audience.

When I as in a rush to go pack my bags and get ready to go to the airport, I quickly went out and took the above photo. I consider it more of a quick snapshot, using bokeh as a crutch to simplify the background, but the response was quite positive.

Meanwhile, I really loved the look of this photo from a Japanese castle, but it didn’t get much response on Instagram. Maybe it just reminded me of a Bleach Hollow mask.

You can read about my experiences from other months here.

If you want to follow along in my journey, you can see how my 366 project is progressing on Instagram: @andrew366