I recently was asked this question via e-mail and thought it would be a good question to answer on the Blog.

Q.

Hi Jaon, I took an Adult Ed class from you this Spring and would like a recommendation on a camera. My canon eos 6D is just to big to haul on a long trip - do you have a suggestion for a small digital in the $400 range?
Thanks, Kathy

In the compact camera area there are some cameras that stand out from the crowd as exceptional. I've recently switched all my Canon camera gear to Sony due to the incredible quality and value of their camera's and currently the Sony Alpha a5000 is extremely high on my list. With it's high Megapixel count and interchangeable lenses it is a perfect travel camera if you need to travel light, I would add a telephoto lens to the kit though to give you a truly incredible kit but that will raise the price an additional $350. This doubles the price for the kit, but you then have a full replacement to your heavy DSLR without giving up quality.

If you want to lighten your camera bag but still come home with quality images from your vacation that match your DSLR I'd go with the A5000 even given the basic lens it comes with only a 16-50 I'd take this over a "super zoom" compact camera due to the APS-C sized sensor that you can always crop later.

I hope this helps in your camera search.

I've never been totally loyal to a camera brand, I've had my favorites through the years but I've always chosen what tools suit my needs best. For the last 3-4 months I've been researching the new mirror less system cameras by Sony. Though I no longer shoot weddings I've always wished my gear was smaller and lighter, hauling 3-4 cases of 2.8 glass and camera bodies and lighting from job to job has sent me to the chiropractor MANY times and caused many sore and weary days close to the bottle of Advil. But I've always wanted to have the best quality image files and great performance out of my cameras too so I believed that the only way to get what I wanted was to haul a ton of gear. My first big gear switch was when I traded from Contax to Canon (back in the film days) after the terrible low light performance of the AX series of cameras. And now I'm looking at selling every Canon item I have to trade up to the Sony Alpha 7 Mark 2. I imagine you are wondering why would I do such a crazy thing so let me explain.

1.      With the high ISO capability of the Sony I no longer NEED 2.8 glass for low light performance. The native sensitivity of the Sony goes up to 24,600 while the 5D Mark 3 Canon has an expansion of ISO sensitivity. Native vs. Expanded is similar to the difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. The Native ISO of the Sony is WAY better in Quality.

2.      Smaller camera bodies and lenses. I’m just tired to carrying heavy gear. I love to hike but hiking with my 5D Mark2 and just 2 lenses and a flash take up 80% of my backpack and weighs 8 to 10 pounds. Because of this I end up leaving them at home and bringing my Nikon Coolpix 7700. And though I love this camera I do sacrifice quality since it has a small sensor and don’t end up printing any “art” images from this camera due to the lack of quality.

3.      I miss my Zeiss glass. Maybe I’m just being sentimental about the “golden era of film” but I learned my profession on Rolliflex, Contax, and Hasselblad gear. And I always loved my Zeiss lenses both for their quality, durability and subtle tones and incredible sharpness. It hurt badly when I sold my prime Zeiss 85mm & 50mm 1.4 and the 18mm, 24mm 2.8 and 35-70 lenses I owned but to switch to Canon I had to. But with the Sony I can once again bring the Zeiss into my camera bags.

4.      My needs are different and the technology of the Sony is WAY ahead of the curve. Quality, Speed, innovation and price are huge. I hate the idea of having to spend 4000 to 7000 on a single camera body. I can buy 2 Sonys for the price of 1 Canon and with technology that moves so fast paying for that Canon camera body cuts SEVERLY into my bottom line since I have moved from full time photog to part time while my daughters are in school. The AF systems on the Sony are so quick and agile, and being able to easily connect your camera via a free app on my phone and control and upload photos on the fly are amazing. Heck the little a6000 is $549. 24mp and focuses and shoots at 11 frames per second and has much better subject tracking performance. The Canon D1X is $6,000 18mp and 12 frames per second and focuses SLOWER than the Sony…. If that doesn’t wake you up I don’t know what will.

So I’m making the switch to Sony. Just for chuckles Here is the gear I’m giving up and what I’m getting

2-Canon 5Dmark2’s with battery grips

15mm Sigma fisheye

16-35 2.8 L Canon

28-70 2.8 L Canon

70-200 2.8 L IS Canon

85 1.2 L Canon

300 2.8 L IS Canon

1.4x extender Canon

2x extender Canon

580EX 2’s Canon

What I’m going to buy

Sony A7 Mark2

Sony A6000

Sony 28-70 3.5-5.6 kit lens (for a spare or travel)

Sony 55-210 kit lens (for a spare or travel)

Zeiss 16-35 f4 ZA OSS

Zeiss 24-70 f4 ZA OSS

Sony FE 70-200 f4 G OSS

(Still looking at which flash to add at the moment)

So that is where I’m at for the moment and I’ll keep you posted on my sale, purchase and learning a new camera system. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Jason Lee 

I wanted to create a blog post/discussion for the students that have taken my classes through Placer School for adults. Sign up and post your questions and I'll answer them here.

Jason Lee