Camera gear and Suffering from G.A.S

G.A.S stands for Gear Acquisition Syndrome and is suffered by many hobbyists, particularly Photographers.

The syndrome refers to an obsessive desire to constantly buy new gear, as someone suffering from this condition firmly  believes that new gear will significantly improve their photography even if they already have perfectly adequate gear.

The first stage of dealing with such a condition is admitting it.

Tree Canopy viewed from One Tree Hill, Taken on the Lumix G85 and 100-300 II

I suffer from G.A.S.

Yet I do feel my progression in camera gear so far has been justified but from here on out, any direct upgrades to what I have would absolutely be G.A.S talking. But then again we always find ways to justify why we need that upgrade, but at least now I make sure I agonize over every potential purchase decision as I’m at the point where the gear is starting to cost some serious money!

So I’m going to tell my story so far of the last 6-7 months that may help people understand this condition and the thought processes involved, so that Wives and Husbands can be supportive of their loved ones who may suffer from this syndrome.

I started Photography last year and selected M43 (micro four thirds) as the platform of which I wrote about here. M43 is fantastic and in hindsight I may have been perfectly happy with it had I bought top level lenses for it. At the time though, dropping $1000 NZD on a Lumix G85 with kit lens seemed like a huge expense and the thought of spending 4 figures on just a lens seemed wildly absurd. Oh how quickly things can escalate!

I then picked up a Sony RX10 III bridge camera for some casual birding. The versatility and range was additive and the image quality from such a camera was better than my M43 gear with comparative reach, but being a rather chunky camera with a fixed lens it was lacking the versality of portability - it could not shrink in size and weight by using a small lens like you can with an interchangeable lens camera. Thus I spent a while considering what new system to move to. Both the RX10 and most M43 cameras are only around 20MP and combined with sensors producing noisy images above 3200 ISO I was really only happy with images taken in good light, outdoors and well framed, as cropping quickly loses detail and amplifies noise.

Muriwai Beach Gannet Colony taken on the Sony RX10 III

A brief fling with Fujifilm

I knew I wanted smaller and more discrete, a bigger sensor but also the latest tech in terms of Autofocus.

Then Fuji released the XM-5 and I was instantly drawn to it like a moth to a flame. It was small, a brand new model, it had the latest tech, it was good looking and I surmised that with the film sims I wouldn’t have to spend hours editing RAW files. All in all a good package on paper. It came with the cheap (but fantastic optically) 15-45PZ kit lens, and I also added the 27mm F2.8 pancake lens which matched perfectly to make it a compact every day carry, especially as 40mm is my favourite focal length for a general use prime lens.

I sold it within a week. No EVF was my biggest issue. I thought I could live without it, but on a bright day, not a chance, and with the small battery maxing the screen brightness is not ideal. The Autofocus was actually terrible, with so many shots where it would confirm focus on a still subject only to discover later that my subject is out of focus! The lack of IBIS I felt was also a problem, as without an EVF your hold is never going to be as stable, and even shooting wide open at F2.8 on a prime meant higher shutter speeds resulting in higher ISO and noisy files under anything but great light.

I did not feel like APS-C was really any better than M43 in terms of performance. The sensor isn’t that much larger afterall. Naturally I started looking at Full frame, and given how much I hated Fuji’s autofocus I decided it had to be the brand with the most reliable AF in the business - Sony. In the run up to Xmas there were some pretty good deals going around, and I dropped a whopping (to me) $4300 on a Sony A7III and Sony 24-105 F4. It was actually a very good deal, as Sony were offering $500 cashback, and the shop gave a free backpack which I sold for $100, and compared to current prices, means I saved around $700. 

Nyala at Auckland Zoo, taken on the Sony A7III and 24-105 f/4

Full frame, another Fuji fling and back again…

The A7III was excellent and balanced well with the superb all-round 24-105 F4 lens. The build quality of the whole package was like entering a new world and it finally felt like I had a serious and capable tool in my hands. Full frame really did feel like a game changer; Every image looked clean and crisp, with more in focus too without trying particularly hard. 

What I wasn’t happy with was the weight. Body and lens together were a dense lump and not the most inconspicuous thing either, clearly looking like ‘the guy with the big camera’ The A7III is a relatively compact body as far as Full frame goes, but as I quickly discovered, good full frame glass is not small, light, or cheap.  This combo weighs 1.3kg and for comparison the Lumix G85 with 12-60 weighs just 715g!

So when the Fuji X-T50 came up for an unbelievable price in the boxing day sales I thought I should give Fuji another chance. Afterall, the X-T50 fixed my 2 main complaints with the X-M5 in that it has Ibis and an EVF. It was a very fun camera to use and I had no complaints with the Autofocus. The gimmick of the film sims and the film dial wore off in a about a week though. I used it with both the kit zoom (15-45PZ) and the Tamron 28-300. Alas, as soon as I took the Sony back out of the drawer it blew the Fuji away in every aspect. I sold it shortly after and luckily lost almost nothing. Back to the drawing board and another bout of G.A.S.

One day as I was browsing the Sony website (as G.A.S sufferers may often do) I stumbled across the A7C II. At $2800 with $200 cash back (for comparison its current RRP is $3245). This finally seemed to be the one, the promised land. It is small, discrete, relatively recent, higher resolution, Sony’s new revamped menus and the first generation of bodies where Sony had sorted out their colours. Perfection.

Camera Body wise, this is where I have stayed. I love this thing and I finally feel like I’m not wanting for anything else. 

The Cameras I have been through in the last year.

Choosing Lenses

Lenses on the other hand are a different matter entirely. Most people only need 1 camera body to do anything and everything, but the same cannot be said for lenses, and they are not all made equally either. If you find a lens for what seems a very reasonable price with either a very fast aperature or a wide zoom range there will definately be a rather large compromise. Take the Sony FE 50mm F1.8 for instance, at under $500 for a fast first-party nifty fifty it seems like a great deal, however it’s an old lens with a cheap build quality, average image quality with bad chromatic abherration and the autofocus is slow and noisy. 

The size and weight of the full frame glass is still a sticking issue for me. The 24-105 is well known for being heavy for what it is at 663g, and although supremely versatile, if you want proper wide angle and a medium tele you still need more glass, so I sold the 24-105 and started planning on what combination of lenses I want, aiming for a 2 lens kit for most uses. 

Up until this point i’ve always been adverse to third party lenses, just in a snobby way. Why buy a knock off when I can buy the real thing? Well with Full Frame glass an equivalent Sony lens costs considerably more (sometimes double) than a third party lens of the same class, but the performance difference could be only 10%. Good third party glass isn’t cheap either, but cheap in comparison to First party glass.

Now in as much the same way I like first party lenses, I like my lens ‘kits’ to be uniform - no mismatches of brands. Weird I know. To sort out my G.A.S I decided not to take half measures, I wanted quality and FAST glass, that way the only potential upgrade is Sony lenses, and for double the cost for a marginal upgrade, I cannot see myself ever thinking it’s necessary (or sane). The Tamron lenses I have settled on are both recent, both with super fast AF motors, weather sealed, Fast F2.8 apertures for helping keep shutter speeds up or ISO down, and both known for exceptional Image quality across the board. Bonus that the filter threads are the same to make it easier for someone like me who doesn’t use filters much therefore I need just 1 variable ND and 1 CPL filter in my bag.

Tamron 20-40 F2.8 mounted on the Sony A7C II

Tamron 20-40 F2.8 ($1199 NZD)

I underestimated how much I would love this lens. I decided not to go with a standard zoom as fast 24-70s are rather large, and the slightly smaller 28-70 options just aren’t wide enough at 28mm meaning you still need to carry something wide. The 20-40 seemed perfect and it is. 40mm is my favourite focal length if I could only ever have 1 prime lens, and to get 24/28/35 as well at a fast F2.8 is great. Then there’s that 20mm short end. It is so much more fun composing shots with 20mm for wide angle than 24mm, and I’m looking forward to using 20mm more as good wide angle compositions can be challenging, but also spectacular when you get them right. 

Bonus points for this lens that in is retracted position it starts at 40mm and as you ‘zoom out’ it actually goes wider. Given that 40mm will be used the most this is amazing, as opposed to it starting at 20mm and having to zoom out for most shots.

Tamron 70-180 F2.8 G2 mounted on the Sony A7C II

Tamron 70-180 F2.8 G2 ($2340 NZD)

What lens to match with the 20-40 was difficult choice. A standard zoom (like the 28-75 G2) wasn’t on the cards due to so much overlap and not a whole lot more useful as an everyday carry, and larger than the 20-40 too. The new Tamron 50-300 seemed a logical choice, as starting at 50mm on the wide end and going all the way out to 300mm with good image quality throughout - what’s not to like? Well I didn’t like it. It did not seem to match the 20-40 for me in terms of quality even in great light.

I did a very unscientific test of the Tamron 50-300 vs the Sony RX10 of a TV aerial on a neighbour’s roof. The small 1 inch sensor at 600mm F4 vs the full frame sensor at 300mm F6.3 cropped for the same field of view - the image quality was identical. I would expect a higher resolution and  larger sensor to beat a tiny 1 inch sensor even heavily cropped and at lower resolution, but perhaps I was mistaken? So back it went to the shop, and the Tamron 70-180 F2.8 G2 was ordered and just collected this last weekend.

What can I say but WOW. Being able to shoot at nearly 200mm wide open at F2.8 with immaculate image quality is a game changer. However it does feel like a lump on the A7C II, and although 70-180mm is perfectly serviceable in terms of going out with 1 lens on occasions, my tolerance of lugging this around will be tested for sure. Handholding for shots is relatively uncomfortable, especially using the offset EVF on the A7C II. 

As a side note, I also picked up the new Viltrox 28mm F4.5 (pictured below) just for the novelty purposes of having such a cheap ($200 NZD) and compact lens on full frame. I find 28mm awkward, wide but not wide enough, and it’s close focusing distance is poor so you can only really shoot wide. Performance is average at best, but look at the size of it compared to the Tamron 20-40 (compact for a full frame zoom), it’s barely larger than a lens cap! I likely won’t keep it as I haven’t found any desire to actually leave the house with it. 

Viltrox 28mm F4.5 ‘Chip’ pictured centre

Am I satisfied?

So there we have it, my G.A.S journey to date and the thought processes behind it. It’s certainly not the end though I’m sure such is the nature of G.A.S. I’m pretty happy with the my kit in terms of image quality, and it is all up to me now to produce good photos - can’t blame the gear now that’s for certain!

The only niggle is portability of full frame telephoto’s. Anything beyond a standard zoom such as a 24-70 gets big and heavy really fast, and I do admit I’ve been longingly looking at M43 gear again for the portability. For instance the equivalent of my Sony A7CII with 70-180 weighs nearly 1400g, whereas an OM-5 with 35-100 F2.8 is just over half that! I’m very tempted to pickup an OM-5 with a pro lens just to see how it is, and whether the image quality is good enough to warrant the downsize. And there you have a perfect of example of how G.A.S. works…

What I actually need to do, and what most of us need to do, is to get out there and take more photos and get better with the gear we have!