TRAVEL CAMERA GEAR: Apple iPhone 14 Pro, DJI Avata, Osmo Pocket, GoPro 7 Black, Sigma 16mm, 30mm, Sony NEX-6, A6000, A6700, 11mm, 70-350mm, Tamron 17-70mm

TRAVEL CAMERA GEAR = calculated compromises between image quality verses size and weight.

CAMERAS - 4K60P: DJI Avata (12MP), DJI Osmo Pocket (12MP), Apple iPhone 14 Pro (12 & 48MP), GoPro Hero 7 Black (12MP)
LENSES: Sony 11mm F1.8, Sigma 16mm F1.4, Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 VC, Sigma 30mm F1.4, Sony 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 OSS
CAMERAS - MILC: Sony NEX-6 (16MP), A6000 (24MP), A6700 (26MP) 4K120P
SOFTWARE: Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Camera RAW, Photoshop, Topaz DeNoise AI

CAMERA LENS PAIRINGS	NEX-6 (345g)	A6000 (344g)	A6700 (493g)	MESSENGER BAG	WEIGHT
MOST VERSATILE	11mm F1.8 (181g)	17-70mm F2.8 (525g)	70-350mm F4.5-6.3 (625g)	BAG (316g)	2,761g, 6.1lbs (3 CAMERAS + 3 LENSES + BAG)
LOW LIGHT	11mm F1.8 (181g)	16mm F1.4 (405g)	30mm F1.4 (265g)	BAG (316g)	2,281g, 5.0lbs (3 CAMERAS + 3 LENSES + BAG)
WILDLIFE			70-350mm F4.5-6.3 (625g)		1,118g, 2.5lbs (1 CAMERA + 1 LENS)
ONE LENS SOLUTION			17-70mm F2.8 (525g)		1,018g, 2.2lbs (1 CAMERA + 1 LENS)

FIELD OF VIEW

Lens Field of View

Carefully chosen, this lightweight kit covers from fisheye to 350mm (525mm FF equivalent) telephoto with focal ranges evenly spaced. FYI: Lens Correction off, Sony 11mm actually covers 10mm FOV with strong Barrel Distortion. Ultra-wide rectilinear lenses greatly stretch the outer image circle, the actual mm differences are far less when FOVs are accurately plotted.

Library of Congress

Shooting RAW under good lighting, the GoPro produces excellent ultra-wide results. This is substantially wider than Sony 10-18mm and 11mm.

Carlsbad Caverns

Under extreme low-light conditions, our APS-C cameras produce photos indistinguishable from Full-Frame with the help of F1.4, F1.8 primes, Adobe Camera Raw, and Topaz DeNoise AI.

Tarsier

We always bring a telephoto zoom on our trips to capture precious wildlife encounters like this rare wild Tarsier. Sony 70-350mm is the most compact, lightweight, and affordable way to obtain 105-525mm Full-Frame equivalent focal range for the E-mount APS-C cameras.

Allen's Hummingbird Male

For wildlife photography, using an APS-C sensor = using a 1.5X teleconverter without losing any stop. 26MP APS-C sensor = 61.5MP FF sensor in Crop Mode.

LENS SHARPNESS

Lens Sharpness Test

TEST IMAGE LINKS	NORMAL VIEWING PHOTOS ON 27" IMAC 5K (5120 X 2880 = 14.7MP)	PIXEL PEEPING @ 100%
Sony 11mm F1.8 (16.5mm F2.7) 11mm	@ F1.8-F8: very sharp center, sharp corners Lens Correction off, FOV covers 10mm with strong Barrel Distortion Lens Correction on, FOV narrows to 11mm BRIGHTEST & SHARPEST ULTRA-WIDE APS-C LENS	@ F1.8: sharp center, a little corner softness @ F4: very sharp center, sharp corners
Sigma 16mm F1.4 (24mm F2.1) 16mm	@ F1.4-F2: razor sharp center, tiny corner softness @ F2.8: sharp corners RAZOR SHARP F1.4 WIDE-ANGLE LENS	@ F1.4: sharp center, a little corner softness @ F4: very sharp center, sharp corners
Tamron 17-70mm F2.8 VC (25.5-105mm F4.2) 17mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm One Lens Solution	17-50mm F2.8-F8: prime sharpness center & corners 70mm F2.8: sharp center, good corners 70mm F4-F5.6: very sharp center, good corners 70mm F8: sharp corners RAZOR SHARP F2.8 STANDARD ZOOM WITH IMAGE STABILIZER	17mm F2.8-F8: as sharp as Sigma 16mm F2.8-F8 35mm F2.8-F8: as sharp as Sigma 30mm F2.8-F8 50mm F2.8: sharp center good corners, F4: very sharp 70mm F2.8: good center, soft corners 70mm F4-F5.6: sharp center, soft corners 70mm F8: very sharp center & sharp corners
Sigma 30mm F1.4 (45mm F2.1) 30mm	@ F1.4-F2: razor sharp center, tiny corner softness @ F2.8: sharp corners RAZOR SHARP F1.4 STANDARD / PORTRAIT LENS	@ F1.4 sharp center, a little corner softness @ F2.8: very sharp center, sharp corners
Sony 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 OSS (105-525mm F6.8-9.5) 70mm, 100mm, 135mm, 200mm, 350mm	70-350mm wide open: very sharp center & corners VERY SHARP TELEPHOTO ZOOM WITH IMAGE STABILIZER	70-350mm wide open: sharp center, good corners 70-350mm: stop down for minor improvements in the center 70-350mm: stop down corners soften a little Multiple tests, same results, maybe just this copy
Click on the focal-length links in the left column above to see the center and corner sharpness at different f-stops.

CAMERA BAG

LOWEPRO EXCHANGE MESSENGER BAG can carry 3 lenses on 3 cameras.

APS-C VS FF

FULL FRAME = 150% COST, 214% WEIGHT, 216% SIZE FOR A 500MM-EQUIVALENT SETUP WITH AI AUTOFOCUS
APS-C	$2,396	1,118g, 2lbs 7oz	Sony A6700 AI AF $1,398 (493g)	Sony 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 OSS (105-525mm equivalent) $998 (625g) (ø77mm L142mm)
FULL FRAME	$3,597	2,394g, 5lbs 4oz	Sony A7C2 AI AF $2,198 (514g)	Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 VC $1,399 (1,880g) (ø93mm L210mm)
IMAGE QUALITY differences are not noticeable as the latest AI softwares can easily eliminate the 1-stop IQ gap between FF and APS-C.
SIZE & WEIGHT differences are very noticeable, carrying more than TWICE THE SIZE & WEIGHT!

UNDERWATER

We have always brought along at least one waterproof camera on our trips for kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, and white-water rafting.

GoPro Hero 7 Black is currently our main underwater camera due to its ultra-wide field of view, excellent image quality, small size, light weight, and photo RAW. Backscatter Flip Dive Filter enhances GoPro Underwater White Balance between 6 to 15m (20-50ft) depth and the +15 MacroMate Mini Lens delivers good macro image quality in the center ⅔ of the frame. Therefore, I compose the macro shot to trim out the outer ⅓ of the soft corners.

4K 60P UHD

We only record in 4K 60p because these video frames are also sharp 8MP photos. Similar to this whale-shark experience, we are not always able to capture photos and videos at the same time during many once-in-a-lifetime moments.

4K60P 8MP VIDEO FRAMES

60P VS. 30P VS. 24P

Video Motion Blur

60p is noticeably smoother and sharper than 24p and 30p due to the lack of motion blur, especially when viewing panning shots of fast-moving subjects like children running around the playground.

Shooting 24p or 30p, 1/60sec and slower shutter speeds must be used to introduce motion blur to lessen, not eliminate, the choppy appearance. Shooting with slow shutter speeds under bright sunlight, ND filters are required to control depth of field and to prevent sensor dusts from showing up prominently from F8 on up.

Since 60fps videos will turn out smooth even with shutter set above 1/120sec, Aperture Priority can be used to control depth of field under bright sunlight without an absolute need for ND filters.