A new year, a new camera and a few new ideas to play around with. I was lucky to get make up artist Alexis Williams and model Anouschka for this beauty project. As usual I had my D800E set up and ready just in case
more after the break

however, I never touched it.
The opening shot was taken with the Sony 18-105mm f4 OSS lens in crop mode, shot wide open. The reason for using this lens was video, our priority that day. The lens performed flawlessly, OSS works as it should and it is already tack sharp wide open, however, this lens suffers from extreme pincushion distortion and won’t be suitable for the fs series, a real bummer. As for the A7, I prefer to wait for the full frame Zeiss FE 24-70mm f4 OSS and I ended up shooting mostly with the Nikkor E 100mm and the Nikkor E 75-150mm.
Below two shots for size comparison of this relatively large lens against the RX10. Note the 18-105mm f4 OSS is as big as the Zeiss 24-200mm f.28 fully extended. More on the RX10 in the next post.

Most of the shots (which I can’t post yet) have been shot with the fantastic Nikkor E 100mm f2.8 lens wide open. I just love using old vintage lenses with the A7. My confidence to focus grew during the shoot to a point that I only used the magnifier during the most critical situations.

Another fun thing to try – which would be a bit awkward with a DSLR – is lensing. A technique mainly used by video shooters who like to create a vintage/film burn look. Works just a well for stills, attach the lens adapter, attach the lens, focus to approximate distance, detach the the lens and move it forward/backwards with a slight tilt to find focus and “control” flare, control might be too strong of a word, influence – would be more accurate. Fun to play around, make sure your client knows you can’t retouch or reverse this process later in post
Love shooting with the A7, love the raw files, esp when monster files aren’t needed.
Models love shutter sounds, a cue to change poses, the A7 didn’t disappoint. I tried a few shots with the RX10 and Anouschka was confused, even after I turned on the beep/electric shutter sound, it was barely audible while the music was on.

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