My Gear

Sony a7c

Switching to Sony from Fujifilm was a difficult decision, and ultimately I switched because I was sure that it would actually make my photos worse. Between Fuji’s amazing colors and a set of really good presets I had found, I realized that I was completely neglecting my colors, despite this they still looked great. This was what ended up pushing me over the edge towards Sony in order to force myself to work on my color grading and editing skills. The a7c is a natural choice due to it compact size and, of course, its full frame sensor. 

Sony Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 

The Zeiss 50mm is a perfect first prime for my developing Sony kit. While It’s far from an ultra-budget beginner friendly lens it makes a great prime for someone like me who is coming from another system were they were already well stocked with a small handful of enthusiast level primes. I also found myself to be a big fan its rendering style and more classic optical formula derived from Zeiss’ long lens manufacturing history. It can also be found for between $500 and $700 if you look for it used, and for the price it sacrifices very little unless you place any worth in a little red GM badge on the side of your lens.

Sony FE 28-60 f/4.0-5.6

The 28-60 or its more common brother, the 24-70 is a staple on any photographer’s shelf, not quite good enough to live in the camera bag, not bad enough to just toss, and not valuable enough to sell. I find myself in that exact boat with this lens, it’s not really worth selling so I keep it as a back up or in the rare case where I might need a zoom and aperture or sharpness are not my number 1 priorities. I plan on replacing this lens with the Sigma 24-70 eventually. That being said its small size actually pairs with the a7c quite well.

Canon AE-1 

A classic From 1976 and one of the most popular film cameras ever made. As anyone who does analog photography our first film cameras are rarely something we picked based on extensive research or because it perfectly fit our criteria, we found it, already had it, or it was a gift from someone who found it and thought of you. It would be the third case with this little camera. The AE-1 is a pretty decent starter camera though and fills my 35mm needs rather well. In addition the Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 pairs well with this midrange body. 

Minolta XG-1 

The XG-1 is the base model Corolla of the Minolta XG line world. It does basically everything that its more expensive siblings can do, it just feels a bit cheaper while its doing them. As with my AE-1 this camera was a gift though I would actually recommend this camera for beginners and experienced digital photographers alike though its lacking things a experienced analog photographer might desire. Unlike most semi-automatic film cameras this camera has an aperture priority mode which will pick the shutter speed for you but leave you in control of the aperture. For faster paced shooting I love this camera, and the 45mm f/2.0 I’ve got it paired with is an incredible piece of vintage glass. 

2021 Macbook Pro 14in M1 Pro

While the choice between the M1 and M2 Macbook Pros was an easy one, the choice between M1 pro and M1 Max, and between 14in and 16in was a little bit more of a challenge. My final choice ended up revolving around avoiding excess, and preserving portability.  I found that the M1 Pro was already overkill for most of my daily task and would handle my occasional heavier tasks just fine.

iPhone 13 mini 

The iPhone 13 was the natural choice due to it’s compact size and camera that was up to par with the 12 pro’s cameras (minus the 2x zoom) from the year prior. Generally I prefer to avoid using phone cameras because I’m less inspired to create quality work using them. That being said having a compact camera which is good enough for most shots is really nice. The mini was also the obvious choice due to my preference toward smaller devices.