My Husband Upgrades to a New Digital Camera

A little while ago, my husband started looking into buying a new digital camera for photographing our cars. Until then, he’d been using a Nikon D5200 with two lenses: a 50mm prime and a 10–20mm wide-angle zoom. The D5200 takes perfectly good pictures, but he wasn’t entirely happy with its ability to capture fine detail or its autofocus performance. He’d often say, “The Boxster’s rear end doesn’t look this bulky in real life,” or, “I want a camera that captures what I’m actually seeing.”

The D5200 was also getting on in years, so he wanted to upgrade the camera body as well as the lenses. After doing plenty of research, he settled on Sony’s α7 III.

Here’s how he narrowed down his choice:

① If he was going to upgrade, he wanted a full-frame camera—not APS-C.
This article explains the difference between APS-C and full-frame cameras.→ Beginner’s Guide to Digital SLR Cameras: Full-Frame and APS-C Formats
② He felt that the mirror in a DSLR had little purpose in the digital age, so he focused on mirrorless cameras.
③ He was already familiar with the performance and handling of his Sony RX100M3 compact camera, so he looked at Sony products.
④ He didn’t need a particularly high megapixel count, but autofocus performance mattered—so he chose the α7 III.
⑤ For a lens, he chose the SONY SEL24105G FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS.
(It covers the focal lengths he often uses for car photography, and its constant F4 aperture promised a pleasing, natural background blur. It also looked versatile enough to take on trips as an all-in-one lens.)

That lens, however, was incredibly popular. It had been sold out ever since its release the previous fall, and after searching everywhere, he finally managed to find one on Mercari, Japan’s popular peer-to-peer marketplace. I had no idea it was that hard to get! ( ﾟдﾟ )…!!

Sony’s α7 III Mirrorless Camera

At last, the Sony α7 III arrived at our home the other day. It looks just like the camera in the photo below, and its body is much more compact than my DSLR. Still, for something so compact, it felt surprisingly substantial in my hands.

*Source: Kakaku.com Magazine, “Sony α7 III Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera: First Impressions from a Hands-On Shoot!”

The body is so much more compact than his old DSLR! But the lens is big, so the whole setup feels weighty when you pick it up. The other day, he spent about an hour explaining the camera body and lenses to me. I thought I understood—but when I sat down to write this, all that knowledge had vanished into the ether… (-_-) I guess anything mechanical just isn’t my strong suit. (Or maybe someone would say it’s not that I’m bad with technical stuff—I’m just not interested…)

According to Kakaku.com, the body alone costs around ¥210,000 at the low end, and the lens is about ¥150,000. That’s roughly ¥350,000 all in! ((；ﾟДﾟ))…

Comparing Photos: Nikon D5200 vs. Sony α7 III

“Even with a great camera, surely the one you already have takes good enough pictures. Can the difference really be that big?” That’s what I thought—but honestly, this camera is impressive. It locks focus in an instant, shoots bursts quickly, and makes even casual snapshots of tables and chairs look beautiful. The background blur is striking, too.

So we decided to compare photos of our Boxster that my husband took with his old camera against shots taken with the α7 III. (The shooting angles and weather weren’t exactly the same, though…) First up:

① Front Three-Quarter View (From a Little Farther Away)

First, a shot from the D5200. It looks perfectly good to me.

And here’s the shot from the α7 III.

The camera snaps into focus on the car, and there’s no odd distortion. On to the next one.

② Rear Three-Quarter View

First, the D5200 shot.

Next, the α7 III shot.

It really does look beautiful. (Although the weather was completely different, haha.) Next up:

③ Front Three-Quarter View (Closer Up)

First, the D5200.

And now, the α7 III.

The α7 III really makes the Boxster look even better.

And finally:

④ The Rear Half

First, the D5200.

Next, the α7 III.

Even allowing for the differences in scale and angle, the α7 III really does take beautiful pictures.

It Takes Beautiful Photos of the Kids, Too

By the way, it takes gorgeous photos of the kids, too.

My husband said, “I should’ve bought a good one from the start.” The Panamera Turbo is so capable that even a novice driver can enjoy it in all kinds of conditions. He feels it’s much the same with cameras: even if you’re a beginner, investing in a good camera can help you take great photos regardless of your skill level.

As for photos of the Panamera, my husband recently went to take some on Royu Driveway, but the weather wasn’t great. We’ll have to try again on a sunny weekend.

Here are the camera body and lens we bought:

ソニー SONY ズームレンズ FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS Eマウント35mmフルサイズ対応 SEL24105G

created by Rinker

ソニー(SONY)

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