I get asked a lot about my switch from DSLR to my mirrorless Sony a7r II camera and how that it has worked for an architectural photography. It has been a move that I don’t regret and has not been as painful as I thought it would have been. Let’s start with why I made the change in the first place.
Number one: The dynamic range of the Sony a7r II is incredible, it has been so good that I find I don’t do HDR photography for my architectural images nearly as much. When processing images in Adobe Lightroom I find that I can increase the amount of Shadow adjustment without the shadows noise or pixilation.
Number Two: Sony is listening to their photographers as to what is needed and actually doing it. I was a Canon shooter and left because I felt that all Canon was interested in was video and not the pro photographers. Sony has been in the pro market five short years and has shown more innovation than I have seen from Canon the past ten years.
Number Three: I can use my Canon tilt/shift lenses on the Sony and they work great with the Metabones Adaptor. Sony is still working on their lenses and they have made some great strides with the G Master series, some of the best lenses out, but there are still some gaps that they are going to have to fill.
Number Four: Capture One software has worked great tethering my Sony a7r II to the computer and controlling the camera, as an added bonus it will connect with your smartphone or tablet and let you see and control your camera from your smart device. No need to go out and buy a CamRanger, just an app for your tablet.
Number Five: Sony was one of the first to include Wi-Fi in the camera, which is great for social media and they also have apps that can installed to enhance your camera with different functions.
Number Six: Weight! This was not a big part of why I changed to mirorless, but it is a consideration as I also photograph landscapes and it has lightened the load I have to carry.
Number Seven: 42 megapixels, do I need to say more? This camera has a large sensor and still keeps the noise down. I was disappointed with Canon’s 50mp camera and the amount of noise at the higher ISO. When I taught a workshop and one of the attendees showed me his images from light painting the night before I knew right then I was changing camera system, as the image was not usable at all.
The switch from Canon to Sony has been an easy and I have been thrilled with images that my Sony a7r II produced. It has been such a great change that my brother, a commercial photographer in Michigan has taken my advice and is switching along with a very prominent food photographer I can’t name at the moment. If you are looking for a new camera or camera system I would suggest looking at Sony for a great camera.
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