Short background as to why I’m leaving the Fuji system and going for Sony mirrorless fullframe.
Ok, let’s face it. I’m a gadget-o-holic 🙂 I like tech stuff, I really do! But that’s not the only reason I’m switching (again).
While I love the usability of the Fuji system (yes I hate menus, and Sony’s are a mess). The XT1 always felt as an extension of yourself in the process of making photographs. Every dial and knob made it needless to ever dive into the menus on a shot. However what broke the deal for me was IQ. The Fuji doesn’t have bad IQ at all, it just wasn’t working for me. When shooting long exposures and/or cropping the images had a tendency to become noisy and a lite to crisp/over sharpened. I was thinking of going for the xt-2 and I would have if it wasn’t so darned pricey!
At the time of the switch I managed to trade in my complete Fuji set (and put a little money in-between) for a Sony fullframe mirrorless with a Sony Zeiss 16-35 lens and a 70-200 4.0 G.
The body was later upgraded for a Sony A7rII and the 70-200 was replaced with the new 100-400 GM, I also added the lovely Sone FE 55 1.8 to the setup.
Why did I do this you might wonder? Well Once a year i travel 300miles (Swedish) to northern Norway for hiking and photography and although this new gear is heavy I know I’ll be returning with the best possible IQ (that I can afford) which is love. The Sony is absolutely mind-blowing in terms of image quality, I can zoom in 100% on a shoot taken with a wide-angle and all the details are perfectly sharp.
I can use it as an asp-c because of the high megapixel count and just switch it back to full frame when shooting wide.
While this new kit is quite heavy (for a mirrorless) that’s sort of self inflicted due to the quality optics I’m using, I can go light by just bringing the FE 1.8 for example.
As for the menus, once I’ve customized all the buttons on the A7RII the only time I’m using the menus are when formatting a memory card so it doesn’t really bother me.
If it’s not clear by now, I absolutely love this setup, the IQ and dynamic range is awesome and with the addition of new lenses I’ve grown to love what Sony is doing with this system. You can even charge the A7rII over night in the tent using a standard USB power pack. For landscape work I personally think you cant go better then the A7rII and some good glass, sure you could switch to medium format (I’ve been thinking about it) but then you’ll have to sell your car to finance it.
Pros:
- Image quality / results
- Image quality / results
- Image quality / results
Cons:
- Weight (not really if going for quality)
- Price