Got back last night from an impromptu trip to Death Valley (just a quick overnighter). The weather did not cooperate all that much, so I'm not expecting many great captures.
A couple of things became abundantly clear to me though:
1. I cannot keep on going on these landscape outings with 5+ lenses and all this gear.
2. I might be better off with zooms.
We hit up the Mesquite Sand Dunes area for sunrise. Which is a photographer's dream location. It involved hiking up 50 foot high sand dunes (loose sand). Which is not AT ALL pleasant when carrying a tripod, a backpack and a shoulder bag, altogether. The fumbling around, while trying not to drop anything in the sand (or set anything down) was brutal. It would have been hard enough hiking around like that without carrying ANYING, let alone with all the gear I had.
Add to that the constant switching of lenses (I'm an all-prime shooter at the moment), and it was a nightmare. I didn't drop anything, but after about 15 minutes, my sensor was pretty dusty looking (visible to the naked eye).
Moreover, all of this took away the enjoyment of photography. I basically found myself at this great location, wishing the ordeal was over after about 20 minutes, because I could not for the life of me relax and focus myself enough to take in the view, or think about composition.
Bottom line:
1. I am considering selling all my primes and going with a 2 zoom option (24-70GM and 70-200/4) + maybe one UWA (15 mm, or 18mm).
2. I still find the Sony experience extremely annoying. It never fails. Right when I'm in the middle of "that moment", I have to find some setting that I don't have mapped anywhere (in this case it was the "disable auto viewfinder") and end up wasting precious time fumbling around trying to dive through the menus.
Look for some big changes coming up in my lineup....Pretty sure I'm done with the current approach.
Sony A7RII and a bunch of lenses.
. Big question for me is $$$. I don't see myself buying another $3k body.
