The Pros Are Switching, and Here’s Why
When it comes to full frame digital cameras, Nikon and Canon have long ruled the photography world. They were (and still are) the trusted names for thousands of beginner, semi-professional, and professional photographers alike. But the past few years have brought in a new competitor: Sony.
Known as one of the elite electronics producers in the world, Sony has established itself as a major player in the realm of TVs, computers, gaming consoles, and more. Since the release of their vaunted full frame mirrorless camera, the Sony A7, the company has forced competitors to pay attention.
With the new iterations of the Sony Alpha series coming out in recent months (A7RII, A7SII, A7II), the list of professionals switching to Sony is growing. So who are these photographers that have made the jump from Canon/Nikon to Sony?
Trey Ratcliff
With stellar reviews from the likes of JJ Abrams, Hans Zimmer, and many others, Trey Ratcliff has wowed the internet with his photography for years. After working with Nikon DSLRs for a lot of his career, he made the jump to Sony – and is very happy he did. Now, he uses the Sony A7RII, which he simply describes as “AWESOME”. Aside from the functionality, he loves it because it “has all the power of the giant DSLR systems at a fraction of the price and size”. Trey also uses a Sony A6000 and a Sony RX100IV as backups, and he’s fully immersed himself in the Sony lineup.
Jason Lanier
In what turned out to be a 24+ minute video, photographer Jason Lanier extensively explains why he made the switch. Jason shot with Nikon for a long, long time, and loved it a lot. He initially decided to buy a Sony A6000 so he could travel to far off places without the fear of theft. Simply put, Jason loves the camera. The sensor placement, the size and weight, the image quality, and more.
David Mclain
This Sony Ambassador has been a fan of company for a while, especially after a long career as a National Geographic photographer and filmmaker. David Mclain says that, after using a standard Optical Viewfinder for over 25 years, Sony’s EVF has “allowed [him] to shoot in extreme low light and actually see what [he] was shooting”.
Will Chao
Will Chao is an Australian professional wedding photographer, now shooting with the Sony A7II. For him, the change was pretty seamless and quite welcome, considering the A7II is “everything [his] trusty Canon 5D Mark III is not”. Particularly, Will mentions the EVF, focus speed, and great ISO performance, even in extremely low light. Even using manual focus Canon L glass, the focus peaking helps him perfect his scenes and truly understand what’s in focus and what’s not.
