Welcome to the new ACC Photography!

Who says you have to wait until the new year to start over?

It was a long time coming, but the week before Thanksgiving break (and Black Friday), I finally decided it was time to get a new camera. The Nikon D7000 my mom had bought used while I was in high school had been a trusty companion, but lately, its autofocus feature was acting up. And then I couldn't even consistently get it to manually focus.

After trying out Kristina's Sony a6000 at Texas THON's fall pancake night, I was blown away by its low-light capability compared to my camera. We were both shooting on a crop, but man, technology has progressed leaps and bounds since my Nikon was made. That was the moment I decided it was time to think about upgrading -- the summary of the input from my photographer friends (shoutout to Kenji, Aaron, Nathan, Nar, and Christina) came down to this: go mirrorless.

The next step was figuring out exactly which mirrorless camera to invest in. The Sony a7iii was basically the camera of my dreams (so lightweight! also, crop to full frame upgrade!). But even with Black Friday deals, I couldn't justify the price tag on it. Considering my photography purposes (hobby, travel, senior portraits, and the occasional wedding), I reasoned I didn't need a pro-camera (as much as my heart desired one). I could use the extra cash to invest in lenses anyway. I had considered picking up a Nikon F mount to Sony E mount adapter, but I opted to just sell all my old equipment and start fresh. So I bought a used Sony a6300 from Precision Camera, where the woman who helped me convinced me that it was a better choice for a photographer than the Sony a6500 (which would be better for someone who did more videography than I do).

The first lens I bought was a 50mm f/1.8. As someone who primary (previously) shot on a Nikon D7000 + 50mm f/1.4 setup, I was worried that the tiny difference in aperture would disappoint me. But that tiny difference in aperture amounts to a financial difference of hundreds of dollars for these extremely expensive Sony lenses. I had an engagement shoot planned very soon, so I decided to take this out into the field and test it for myself. I enlisted the help of a model (Emily), picked up some flowers from Central Market, watched three Youtube videos about arranging flowers, and picked out a flowy maxi dress she could wear out to Mount Bonnell for a shoot.

The conclusion: this camera was so much more intuitive to use than Nikon, and the photos from the 1.8 were not disappointing! Do I miss my trusty 1.4 though? Yes. So much. But I'm also in love with this new camera.

Model: Emily Wei (@emilyjwei); Location: Mount Bonnell; Shot on: Sony a6300 + 50mm f/1.8

The only qualm I really have with it is the battery life. I rarely had to charge my Nikon. I never brought backup batteries to weddings (probably not a good idea though haha) because it could honestly last three weddings before I'd have to change it. The battery life on the Sony is pretty short in comparison, but it also charges really fast.

The other lens I picked up later on was the 18-105mm f/4 zoom lens. It's been a hot minute since I used a zoom -- the only one I ever owned was the kit lens my Nikon came with. I didn't get the kit lens for the Sony, so I only have 2 lenses right now. I'm pretty happy with how the zoom is performing though. It's definitely a solid landscape lens, although I personally don't like the portraits I've tried to take on it (that's what the prime is for).

Shot on: Sony a6300 + 18-105mm f/4

Besides the camera switch, the other big change around here has been the new logo (designed with the help of Ruth) and website. My old portfolio website I had been using didn't have a ton of features, and I was looking to switch to something more customizable. So here we are, on the new website that includes a blog! I'm hoping to use this new feature to give you guys a little more insight into the behind the scenes of my photoshoots, and even if no one reads these, it's kind of like a time capsule for myself to keep track of my shoots from now on (if I manage to keep it updated hahaha).