A photographer's log for a one day visit to Yosemite National Park

Before we begin, let me say that you should try your best to spend at least a couple days in Yosemite National Park in California. And not because is so large that you need a lot of time to visit all the best places, but because one of the highlights of this park are the amazing sunsets and sunrises. So if you don't arrive before sunrise, or leave after sunset, you are missing the best light that can paint those gorgeous mountains.

Tunnel View - 6:27AM - Be prepared to wake up very early. Is worth every second.

A bit of history

Back in the early 80s, my friend Carlos and I shared the love for photography, especially Landscape. And he owned several books from Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell, two of the main artists creating the most breathtaking views of the National Parks, especially in California.

Ansel took a more “traditional” approach, using black and white and a view camera. He used to shoot from the roof his car.

Ansel Adams in Yosemite National Park - Photo courtesy of The Ansel Adams Gallery, Yosemite National Park.

His images are amazing and his technique was a combination of capture and lab work that no photographer I know have ever mastered. He even invented his own exposure technique, the famous Zone System, still used today.

In the next image, I tried to humbly mimic the Ansel Adams look.

Galen Rowell, more recent than Adams, and far more intrepid, lived pretty close to the park, on a town reachable via the Tioga Roda, the same that takes you to Tuolumne Meadows. He used to shoot Yosemite quite frequently, along with many other parks and places all around the world. Sadly died way too early, killed with his wife on a plane crash.

He was a master of Alpenglow, which is the warm orange color that can be seen on the top of the mountains at early morning or late afternoon. It was coined in reference of the Swiss Alps. So when I saw the scene in the next picture, I got tears in my eyes and though: “Oh my God… My first alpenglow”.

Early light over Cathedral Rock from Sentinel Bridge

Galen Rowel also mastered layering in Landscape Photography, and this image reminded me of that with Merced River on the foreground, the trees in the middle, and El Capitan in all its glory as the Background.

El Capitan from Merced River Creek

“You’ll drive a lot, so get a companion, ideally one that can drive”
— Pro Tip

The Plan

If anyone asks me one single bit of advise of visiting Yosemite is: Take your time. I didn't follow my own advice and I rushed through everything. I should have stopped, get out of the car, and spend a good amount of time setting up my tripod (which I didn't use), so I could come back with the best photos possible, but I was afraid the I wouldn't have enough time. And let me tell you, unless you want to hike every trail in the valley, you'll have enough time for the basics. So, keep it slow.

The initial plan was:

  1. Friday: LA to Motel 6 in Fresno

  2. Saturday Motel 6 to Tunnel View

  3. Yosemite Village

  4. Lower Yosemite Falls

  5. El Capitan Viewpoint

  6. Tuolumne Meadows (Quick stops at Olmsted Point and Tenaka Lake)

  7. Back to the Valley and last stop at Glaciar Point

  8. Back to Fresno

  9. Sunday: Back to LA

Timing wise I feared I would have not enough time to see everything, but at the end I decided to do the plan as originally laid out. That caused that I rushed through places I should have stayed and take time to enjoy the place and take as many photos as possible. Instead I shot everything very fast, and ended up having lots of spare time.

I drove over 900 miles, in 3 days. That is a LOT. I spent 22 hours behind the wheel, and I felt it every single day of the following week. Fortunately the car I rented was quite comfortable, a 2025 KIA Sportage with all the goodies, including cruise control and automatic high beam lights, which were quite useful driving up to Yosemite Valley in total darkness.

Friday September 5th 2025: Left Long Beach at 2:00 PM. Traffic leaving LA was brutal. Put some gas in Gorman and continued non-stop to Fresno

Gorman, California

Arriving to Fresno

Arrived at Fresno at around 7:00 PM (5 hours driving time). Went to Whole Foods to get groceries, dinner for Friday and Breakfast and Lunch for Saturday. There are not many options to eat in Yosemite, so bringing your food is highly recommended, especially if you are going to be venturing away from the village.

I was very excited about Saturday so went to sleep at around 10:30PM.

Saturday September 6th 2025: Woke up at 3:40 AM. Actually had the alarm set for 4AM, calculating to leave around 4:30 which will allow me to arrive at Tunnel View at around 6:30AM, well into the sunrise, but the excitement didn't let me sleep more.

Left the motel at Fresno at 4:10AM.

“Fill up your tank before arriving to Yosemite. There are no gas stations readily available.”
— Pro Tip

Made a stop at the Chukchansi Crossing Fuel Station, highly recommended. Filled up the tank and got a nice warm coffee, which I desperately needed.
The drive up the valley was overall quite good. It was pitch black, but my car had automated high beams, which really helped to keep my hands securely on the wheel. The road is in great shape all the way so it felt very safe.

“Try crossing the Park Ranger booths before 7AM, you won’t pay anything and there is no line waiting. Maybe is not the same all the time, so do your own research.”
— Pro Tip

Tunnel View

I knew that once you cross the tunnel, you'll be greeted with a breathtaking view of the Yosemite Valley with most of the important mountains and granite giants in one single scene. But you are never prepared to see something like this for the first time.

Tunnel View at 6:25 AM

After spending a few minutes here, tearing out of excitement and awe, calling friends and family and sharing the breathtaking view I drove down the valley.

I couldn't avoid stopping from time to time to capture what I was seeing on the roadside, and quite frankly I should have spent much more time in every spot. Starting from a view of El Capitan from the Merced River creen, as seen before when I spoke about Galen Rowell, and this one from the Sentinel Bridge.

Early light over El Capitan from Sentinel Bridge

Yosemite Valley Village

At around 7:15 AM I reached the village, featuring the Visitor's Center, hoping to have more coffee and breakfast. The deli have good prices overall and the coffee is good. Had to wait a few minutes until the rest of the facilities opened at 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM, so having breakfast at that hour was perfect.

“Watch for the roads near the village. Sometimes the main access is restricted, and only through the Hospital you’ll be able to park near the main village area, but if you can’t, park as soon as you see a big building with lots of restrooms. That is the last parking spot, or you’ll have to do a full 15 minute circle to return to the area. I know, it happened to me.”
— Pro Tip

A dream came true

Carlos and I loved to browse Ansel Adams books, marveled at the vistas of Yosemite National Park. When we realized that there was a Gallery in the park we dreamed of one day visiting it. Imagine how I felt when I saw this.

The Ansel Adams Gallery

Inside you can find not only souvenirs, books, postcards, collectibles, and other small items, but on the walls you can see Ansel Adams originals, which are for sale as well. Not your regular wall photograph, that's for sure. I came back with a nice calendar and a hat.

Ansel Adams originals on display

Part of Ansel Adams’ orginal gear

Moving forward

After breakfast the plan was to start moving along the valley but wanted to visit a couple stores and get some souvenirs to bring back home.

“If you are looking to purchase a cap, go to the Visitor’s Center. The least expensive are there. 2nd place the Ansel Adams Gallery, and the most expensive are in the village store.”
— Pro Tip

After a quick stop at the Visitors Center, in which I got a nice book for my wife, I went back to the parking area and started driving away from the village into the main valley. But I had to stop very quickly because of the views.

Lower Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Falls

This is a fairly easy hike, although for me was a bit challenging being in such a bad shape. So this was a place I can easily take pictures from the main trail without going too deep into the falls, and I'll be more than content with the results. There is really not much to see on the lower falls, too many people around, and the upper falls hike is not for the faint of heart. Is a long 1.6 mile hike and a few hundred feet of climb, so not for me. At least not in my current fitness level.

Still, I made it to the lower falls and went back. Not really much to see in the bridge that I haven't seen in any other fall.

“Get in the best shape possible before visiting Yosemite. Your enjoyment level will be directly proportional to your fitness.”
— Pro Tip

El Capitan Viewpoint and Picnic Area

This is one of those places that you don't want to leave. The view to El Capitan on one side of the road, and Cathedral Rock on the other is just overwhelming. My widest lens couldn't keep up with so huge mountains so I had to shoot vertical panoramas and stitch them together. Here are the results.

Cathedral Rock

To have an idea of magnitude, my car is the silver SUV on the lower center-right on the next image. Still it is an exercise in futility trying to picture the magnitude of the mountains unless you are there in person.

El Capitan

“Try to get accommodations as close to the park as possible. There are places like Mariposa and Oakhurst which are about 1-hour away. The idea is to wait for the sunset and still not having to drive too long to your hotel. Well worth it”
— Pro Tip

What next?

Initially I planned to go all the way to Tuolumne Meadows and back, but is a long way. 1.5 hours each way, so roughly a 3-hour trip from the Valley.

But is 11:45AM. So if I skip Tuolumne Meadows, my next stop will be Glaciar Point, and the back to Fresno. So I could be done by 1PM.

I'm not wasting all that time. Let's go to Tuolumne Meadows.

Tioga Road

“Research on visibility and air quality, as summer wildfires can seriously impair your ability to have a good view, or breathe freely. https://www.nationalparkcam.com/yosemite-webcam is a good source.”
— Pro Tip

Wildfires were mostly extinguished, but there was still a lot of smoke in the air. Especially for the areas surrounding Tioga Road. The first stop was Olmsted Point, and the next image has been heavily edited with the dehaze slider in Lightroom. It was almost unusable due to the thick smoke cover.

Olmsted Point

Tenaka Lake was considerably clearer and people were having a very nice time kayaking and swimming on the lake.

Tenaka Lake

Tenaka Lake

Tuolumne Meadows

I made a mistake on my trip to Tuolumne Meadows, but it was really not my fault as my initial plan was to skip it from this trip, so I failed to see that after the spot where I parked to take some vistas of the meadows, there is a visitors center, with a proper parking space, and there is a short and easy trail called Tuolumne Meadows Footbridge. But I never got there. I was more worried about the time it'll take me to drive back, than actually enjoying the place.

I simply saw a “Tuolumne Meadows” sign, and stopped at the first road side parking spot I could find.

I took a few images, but the weather was very smoky, so it was really hard to have a clear view.

Tuolumne Meadows with heavy fog

Tuolumne Meadows after applying dehazing filter

I saw no solution but to apply Ansel Adams Black and White style editing and try to bring some details back. I hope you like my version of Tuolumne Meadows.

Tuolumne Meadows Ansel Adams style

Driving back to the valley

After 1 hour and 30 minutes, I turned back to Yosemite Valley. Next stop was Glaciar Point, but I was going to pass through Tunnel View again, so it was logical to stop and see how it looks in early afternoon light.

“If you need to go to a restroom before visiting Glacier Point, is a good idea to do it in the valley as the restroom facilities in Glacier Point are less than ideal, and since is so crowded, you can find it pretty uncomfortable, so better safe than sorry.”
— Pro Tip

Tunnel View at early afternoon

So, I made a pretty good time. I went to Tuolumne Meadows and back in less than 3 hours, but is time to our last spot and head back to my motel to have some well earned dinner, a couple of glasses of wine, and edit some of the photos so I can share with the family.

Glacier Point

I don't know if the left side of Half Dome is a Glacier, but it certainly looks like one, and I feel that is the reason why it got its name. The granite giant was once a full dome, but due to icing and maybe a seismic event it cracked and the left side fell down. This is just what I heard what could have happened and why it has such a unique shape.

Half Dome from Glaciar Point

There is s hiking trail that takes you to the other side of the Glacier Point view and you can look down at the Yosemite Valley. Is a pretty cool view, although not as massive as Glacier Point.

Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point

Good Bye Yosemite National Park

With tears in my eyes, literally, I said good bye to Yosemite National Park. Until the next time.

It was an overwhelming experience. A dream that came true 40 years later, and one that I will revisit as soon as I'm able, next time being in a much slower pace and more focused on photography rather than visiting all the places as fast as I can.

Glacier Point Panorama - Yosemite National Park, California.

My Switch Story - Settling on flexibility.

Last early September I was able to take a short trip to Yosemite. 22 hours behind the wheel and 900 miles driven got me to enjoy one of what I consider the Landscape Photographer's Dream locations.

Tunnel View, 6:27AM on September 6th

My experience enjoying and photographing the world over the years have reached an impasse. Before and after Yosemite. I kind of felt the same, but with a different subject, when I first visited Europe in 2019, but Yosemite made me realize how amazing is God's creation. I bet there are other places that can make one feel the same, but this is my first close experience with a National Park, especially once I've longed to visit from back in my younger age.

But this article is about my 3rd phase of switching gear. Lenses this time only, my A7R V is here for the long run.

So, after Yosemite, and researching using Lightroom's Metadata tool, I realized that after I got the Sony FE 20-70mm f/4G I have shot with it 1,320 photos. Out of those, 1,012 were shot in a focal length of 28mm or longer, and only 308 were shot at shorter focal lenght. And out of those 302, half were shot at 20mm and the rest spread across 21 and 27mm.

What this means is that I don't usually shoot too wide. And when I do, I try to go as wide as I can that, but even 20mm is not enough.

In Yosemite, you'll see that the bulk of my wider shots were taken with the Tamron 50-300mm at 50mm in vertical panorama, later stitched in Lightroom. I preferred this to handling the heavy distortion of the 20mm focal length. And while it can be corrected in post processing, is still sometimes not wide enough and if you correct too much, end up clipping important parts of the image.

Streamlining the Kit

My first Tamron lens was a 90-300 that I bought in Adorama back in 1991 on my wedding trip. It was quite cheap, I didn't had today's budget, and as a result, it was very bad in both construction and image quality. But I couldn't afford anything better. Those were film days, and in the same trip I bought a Nikon 6006 with the Nikkor 35-135mm, my first AF with the screwdriver drive. Remember those? Super noisy and slow as a snail.

So, after the Lightroom investigation I decided to pull the plug and invest on a lens I've been eyeing for quite a while, thinking why I didn't see it in the beginning. Is the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6. It has extremely well reviews from many photographers, especially for landscape and travel. As I mentioned recently in a DPReview post, super zooms are not what they used to be. Years ago thinking on a super-zoom was like wasting money on a lens that was too slow and too soft to be of any value. This is no longer the case, especially with this lens. Tamron has really gone a long way in quality. Maybe one of the reasons is that the higher stock owner is Sony.

I then thought that I'll use this lens for traveling whenever I need the extra reach, and the 20-70mm when I need something wider. After a few weeks I realized that I favored the 28-200 in every respect because of the extra reach and wasn't grabbing the 20-70mm anymore.

This now creates redundancy and quite a big overlap with the 50-300, so the logical option is to replace it with the 50-400mm.

The 35mm f/2.8 is a nice and compact lens, and a good way of restricting when doing street photography, which I do like once or twice a year as much, so it basically gets very little use. The 28mm side of the 28-200 is also 2.8, so I rather carry that and have the advantage of the extra reach.

The Big Gun

So, I sold the 20-70mm, the 35mm and the 50-300mm and bought a Tamron 50-400mm. Is a big and heavy fellow, I'm eating my words when I switched from Canon APS-C to Micro 4/3s back in 2012 saying that I was tired of carrying a Tokina 400mm prime around which weighted like a fire engine. Although this time I have a 61MP Full Frame sensor to render those beautiful millimeters, so I'm quite happy.

For now :)

What's next

One thing is for sure, one can't stay put in photography. You'll always looking for the next piece of gear, and while I'd want to settle with this kit, I know me and I'll keep looking for something else to get it better and more flexible. I'm now missing on the wide side. And I wasn't settling on the 20mm. If I'm going wide, I want really wide, so I'm currently searching for either a 16mm prime or a 16-35, 16-30, 17-28 or a similar range. A 14-24 sounds great but I don't think I'll ever want to go that wide. Besides, most of them don't accept filters, so right now the Tamron 16-30mm is looking like the right option. Although the Tamron is quite new, and the price is as high as the 50-400mm, which I find a bit too much for a lens that won't get much use.

There is a new kid on the block

One of the advantages of the Sony FE mount, and contrary to what it was when it was first introduced, is the amazing amount of manufacturers building lenses for it. Viltrox is one of the newer ones and come with a pretty aggressive design strategy with lenses that defy physics and economics. One of them is the 13mm f/4 with the size of a tiny prime, and the price of a nifty fifty. At less that $200 one can only ask how they did it?

So, in reality, I feel that only because of the dirt cheap price is worth to own it. Might not be idea for Astro and I'm sure it'll have some compromises, but all indicates that Viltrox is revolutionizing the market.

We'll see what comes next.

My Switch Story - Mark II (Or Mark V, really)

The Force of Habit

Back in 2006 I purchased one of the best lenses I ever owned, the mighty white and red line “L” glass Canon 70-200 f/4 L. The micro contrast, sharpness and sublime out of focus rendering was out of this world. But 200mm was quite limiting. Not enough reach, and 70mm wasn't wide enough either, so I mostly kept using the kit of that time for most of the shots.

Fast forward to micro 4/3 days, and I did the same. 12-40mm (24-80mm equivalent) and 35-100, so another 70-200mm in Full Frame terms. Soon I realized that, while the 35-100 rendered beautifully, the reach was not there, so I bought a 45-200mm (90-400mm) which did delivered what I was looking for. At least to certain extent.

Trips twice over the same stone

There is a Spanish saying that says “The man is the only animal who trips twice over the same stone"… well I did it three times.

When I moved to Sony Alpha, my cerebral muscle memory came into action immediately, and started looking for the same focal range. Fortunately instead of going to the same standard zoom of 24-70mm, I found out about the 20-70mm f/4, which was actually the lens that made me decide to make the switch, but to accompany it what did I chose? Well, obviously another 70-200 f/4, also white and beautiful. But this time I wasn't going to be left with not enough range, so paired it with a 1.4 X teleconverter, and I thought to myself: “I can have from 70mm up to 420mm if I count the TC plus APS-C mode", which is kind of silly if you think about it. APS-C mode is simply cropping the Full Frame image, which I can do in post, and in fact is recommended to do it and not waste the rest of the frame.

When I realized that the 70-200mm wasn't enough reach, and the TC was living attached to it all the time, I thought: “What am I doing? I'm sitting over a good amount of money that I can use for something else, and get a replacement that can serve me, cost less than half, and still provide the quality and reach I'm looking for”.

That was not a thought coming out of nowhere, I did my due diligence and researched about the Tamron line of super zooms. The first one that called my attention was the 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3, but that is a big and heavy gun. Then a friend from DPReview.com suggested the 50-300mm f/4.5-6.3 instead, and checking the size at camerasize.com I realized that it was quite smaller, almost half the weight, and also half the price. “That's the one", I thought.

So after careful consideration, and asking for advice on the forum I decided to sell both the Sony 70-200mm and 1.4X teleconverter, then added the rest of my micro 4/3s gear, which I foolishly though I wanted to hold on to it “just in case", which never was going to be. The whole package gave me enough purchasing power to get the Tamron 50-300mm and the rest of the money was used to upgrade my camera body to the one I've been looking for since I got the A7R IV.

An almost perfect machine

The Sony A7R IV is no incapable camera. Is an amazing tool with an impressive performance and image quality. Although it shows its age when it comes to speed, responsiveness and the use of more modern technologies. Years ahead of anything I've used before for sure, but not there yet with the current affairs in the latest and greatest.

And I'm not one who likes to jump to a new piece of gear the moment is released, mainly because I like other people to test it before, and secondly because prices are generally higher upon release. But the A7R V, the next upgrade, and latest model of the A7R line, is different. It's been out since late 2022, so already has 3 years of real world testing, used by most of the top photographers that I follow, and it also hasn't lost most of its price from release, meaning that still holds a great value.

Reaching out for it was not an easy task. Thanks to the gear I sold and the lower price of the Tamron, I was able to get it, but I had to use my photography savings. Thankfully once I sold the A7R IV, I replenished some of the savings.

This camera is MASSIVE. And I strongly suggest you to get the Gary Friedman A7R V guide, either the printed book or PDF. I went with the PDF version as it also includes a Kindle version for the same price, so I can read it in my computer, tablet, or kindle, which is quite convenient. I suggest a tablet or computer, as it has a lot of color photos and uses the same color coding of the menus to differentiate separate sections. You can find it in https://www.friedmanarchives.com/a7rv (Not affiliate or sponsored)

So what the A7R V has that the IV doesn't? This is my own personal list of things I have found so far:

Mark IV vs Mark V

  • Dials and buttons feel softer and more responsive.

  • Especially the exposure compensation dial to the point that I can move it with my thumb like the regular rear dial. On the A7R IV it was kind of hard to move with precision, either couldn’t move it, or once I exerted enough force, it’ll jump several clicks which was quite frustrating.

  • The main dial is way simpler, just PASM, 3 custom and Auto. Photo, Movie and S&Q are in the inner mode dial that changes the camera behavior completely.

  • Focus bracketing is the one single feature worth upgrading. At least for me.

  • So is the screen, which not only folds and flips around, but is much crisper. It also allows to be completely folded against the body, protecting it for traveling.

  • The movie record button is now a custom button. It shows as Movie button in settings, but you can assign anything to it.

  • The Exposure Compensation dial is now a 4th dial. It has no markings, and it shows like L rear dial and R rear dial in the settings.

  • The menu is so much easier and faster to navigate. It has the same 3 levels of segregation, but instead of being sequential, is now spread across the screen so you can preview each option and sub-option. Difficult to explain than to show. Trust me, once you experience it, don’t want to go back.

  • The touchscreen is now usable for everything, including navigating the menu.

  • The EVF is in another level completely. Is so high resolution (9.4MP) that I can zoom out the image for those who wear glasses and see the full screen.

  • I'm using CFExpress cards, which means no wait for buffer to clear. It simply finishes saving a long burst in a couple of seconds. Especially faster when transferring files to the computer.

  • The SD/CFE cover has now a slider lock, and once you slide it, it is easier to open. It won’t open accidentally, and to me, it is a better design over the A7R IV. More than once, struggling to get the camera out of my cramped sling, I ended up opening the card cover. This is not happening with this new design.

  • The camera is ready to shoot after turning it on in less than a second. The A7R IV took easily 2-3 seconds, which can easily mean missing a critical shot. I used to leave it on in case I needed to shoot fast, but not with the A7R V. It just springs back to life ready to roll.

  • In general, the camera is faster and snappier in every respect.

  • AI AF is sorcery. I believe there is more advance AF system in existence right now.

  • IBIS feels like I’m back to my m43 days.

  • Closing the shutter when changing lenses is a very nice feature, although it takes into account shutter actuations so you might want to take that into account and maybe enable it when changing lenses only. The My-menu can serve well here.

  • I do panos very frequently, especially since I prefer that to switching to a wider lens. I’m also using focus bracketing quite extensively as well, and it has become a real annoyance identifying when a bracket ends and the next starts. Especially when shooting one after the other. Switching the drive mode to single frame to take a frame of the floor is an unneeded inconvenience, having to turn it back to continue focus bracketing. Now I assigned C3 to “Marker frame”. It creates a simple blank frame with a big grey arrow. No shutter actuation.

  • Photos can be geotagged automatically when paired to my smartphone. It also updates date and time if the time zones changes.

  • Bulb timer for up to 999 seconds.

My Switch Story

Why I switched from Panasonic Lumix micro 4/3s to Sony Alpha Full Frame mirrorless.

Phone or Camera

In March 2025 I shot my Granddaughter's first birthday entirely on my iPhone. The image quality is nearly identical to my m43 system in good light, and it was a full blown daylight (got a nice tan in the process). I could even shoot RAW and get DNGs to edit in Lightroom if I want. Of course there is no match when you need more reach, or shoot in lower light, but for a regular daytime photo shoot, there was no point in lugging around a camera body and multiple lenses, for almost no image quality gain.

In April 2025 I decided it was time to start moving into a system that will provide more flexibility, improved support, research and development, and also widely available for resale. So the Sony Alpha system made a lot of sense. For far too long I've been researching the system, only to get disappointed every time I looked at the price, size, and weight. Until I saw this kit which completely changed my mind.

Equivalent lenses, MFT versions are f:2.8, and Sony Alpha are f:4, but are equivalent in depth of field rendering. Besides, the extra stop is very well handled as the Sony full frame sensor manages noise at high ISOs surprisingly well.

Thoughts of Change

My thought process swarmed around my head, and began looking into different options. Sony clearly won, so started selling most of my old gear, and get the A7R IV plus 3 lenses and a Teleconverter. It can easily cover from 20mm up to 420mm.

I would have gone for the A7R V, although I'm not ready to spend that kind of money on a camera until I start getting paid jobs. Besides the V has exactly the same sensor as the IV, so image quality will be almost the same. It has an improved EVF, AI assited AF and better IBIS, but I think I can survive with the IV for a couple years. By that time, the VI should have been released, and the price of used Mark V should have gone down considerably.

This comparison is more balanced, as the OM Systems lenses are of similar quality, and while the 40-150 will render a 80-300 equivalent field of view at 20 Megapixels, the Sony 70-200 can reach up to 280mm using APS-C mode, and still render a 26 Megapixel file.

The 61 Megapixel sensor provides room for cropping, and still get a usable image. It has an APS-C mode, which I configured to a function button. I just press it and it multiplies the field of view 1.5 times, still getting a 26 Megapixel file, which is more that what any MFT body can provide.

In APS-C mode, my 70-200mm will become a 90-280mm, still f:4, and if I add the 1.4X teleconverter, I can get to up to 420mm at f:5.6.

Did the Kit grew or shrunk?

My fear about Full Frame was the cost, size and weight of the kit. Not so much the camera body, as is similar, and even smaller than flagship micro 4/3s bodies, but the lenses. Specially the longer ones. And while they are indeed bigger, heavier and considerably more expensive than MFT equivalents, you can now find way smaller and lighter lenses. The 20-70mm + 70-200mm combo is a match made in heaven. They even share the same filter size, and constant aperture.

So, my former kit was:

  • G9/G95/GX9

  • 12-35mm f:2.8

  • 8-18mm f:2.8-4

  • 12-60 f:2.8-4 (for single lens travel)

  • 12-60 f:4-5.6 (for light travel)

  • 35-100mm f:2.8

  • 9mm f:1.7

  • 15mm f:1.7

  • 25mm f:1.4

  • 45-200mm f:4-5.6

Basically 6 zooms, 3 primes, and 3 camera bodies. Impossible to carry all on a trip. I had to decide what I “expected” to see while away. Most of the time I missed leaving one of the lenses at home.

This kit covered from 16mm to 400mm at 20 Megapixels.

My new Sony kit is:

  • Sony A7R IV

  • 20-70mm f:4

  • 70-200mm f:4

  • 35mm f:2.8

  • 1.4X TC

That's it. One body, one prime, two zooms and a teleconverter covering from 20mm to 420mm. 4mm shy on the wide end, and 20mm more reach compared with the MFT kit.

Contrary to all my expectations, my kit shrunk. Considerably.

The reality of Depth of Field

I remember on my film days playing with aperture to control Depth of Field, or the distance between the closest and farthest object that is still in focus. With Micro 4/3 I don't remember even considering Aperture, and I kind of forgot about it. In reality since I got my first APS-C camera back in 2005.

After 13 years with MFT, and just a couple of days ago I really understood why I was either:

a) Shooting wide open all the time, avoiding the ISO to go too high or
b) Not stopping down above f/8, for the risk of diffraction

Doing some math I realized that my most cherished lenses, the 12-35mm and 35-100mm, both f/2.8 in reality rendered the Depth of Field of an f/5.6 lens in Full Frame terms.

Not that glamorous anymore, are they?

Eureka moment

AHA!!!

So that's why my shots were so sharp all the time!. My goodness, these lenses are amazing — I though… And they are, but it was not the lens, it was the depth of field. Everything was tack sharp because I could still miss focus, the subject fell within the wide DOF.

Full Frame is nowhere near as forgiving.

But wait!

I'm not ranting against micro 4/3s. Far from it. I've been using the system for well over 13 years, so my issue with aperture and depth of field is completely my fault. I realize that MFT have a huge advantage when you need long reach and wide depth of field. That's the main reason why it is so popular to the wildlife and BIF (Birds in flight) photographers. Since I'm neither, logic dictates I have been using the wrong format. But I'm not complaining. I loved MFT, and still do and hope for the best, but sadly looking at the latest releases I'm not confident that at least Panasonic is still committed to the format. I know OM Systems have no choice, so they will dedicate all their R&D to the wildlife/bif genre. Understandable.

Nikon FE, circa 1977

3:2 a familiar aspect ratio

The final reasoning why Full Frame makes sense to me is that it feels like home.

Way back in September 1977 my brother bought me my first SLR. A Nikon FE. I used Nikon ever since, up to the mighty F100 which I loved with all my heart. Most comfortable camera I have ever owned.

The 3:2 aspect ratio is wider than 4:3, so is less "boxy”. I find myself sometimes cropping 4:3 into 3:2. I find it more aesthetically pleasing than 4:3. Suits better my preferred subject: Landscape. My Granddaughter is close 2nd. But very close.

Jobo UniTank

A Family Tradition

I shot Slide film almost exclusively for almost 30 years. I even owned a darkroom at home, printed and developed reversal film, even did Cybachrome, amazing media.

On later days, our typical weekend was to go out on a Saturday with the family, to an interesting place around the city, or maybe to the beach, with my camera and a couple rolls of slide film. Then Sunday afternoon, after lunch, I turned on the JOBO development tank system to bring it to the right temperature. Cracked open the cartridges in a light proof bag, and fed the film into the reels of a JOBO UniTank. Started the development process: first developer, reversal, color developer, bleach, wash and stabilizer. I still remember the scent of E-6 chemicals.

Kodak Carousel

After drying and cutting the strips of film I mounted them on slide frames. Loaded the slides into a Kodak Carrousel, and at dawn, it was family time to watch the 72 photos I captured over the weekend. We used to live in a country house, with no Cable or Internet, so it was so relaxing and amazingly fulfilling to sit down for a few minutes and enjoy "the catch of the weekend” with the family.

It might be the reason why I miss the 3:2 aspect ratio of the 35mm frame so much.

The Death of a Legacy

In 2002 my F100 died with an Err in the screen, and no way to repair it. So I stopped photography for good. It was my last SLR. In 2005 I got my first DSLR, the first Canon Digital Rebel. Basically the only “affordable” DSLR at that time.

Customizing your Nomatic McKinnon Camera Pack 25L

Is your Nomatic Peter McKinnon Camera Pack 25L the best backpack you have bought to date? It is for me. After going through a plethora of different backpacks, starting from early model Lowe Pros, passing through a few Think Tanks, and all Peak Design bags (and sling bags) they make, I finally found the holy grail in camera backpacks.

Although for an almost perfect backpack, there is still room for improvement. And I'm not talking about design changes, but inexpensive additions that makes it a more whole experience.

1. Magnetic sterum buckle

I love sternum straps. They provide the wrap around feeling to a backpack that makes it feel more secure, but I also like detaching, and if possible clipping them in with only one hand. The edge here is with Peak Design for the best sternum strap system I tried, and is also the simplest, with just a metal hook that wedges between different spots in the shoulder strap. Is also the easier to adjust for height, but that really happens only once or maybe twice in the lifetime of the backpack, unless you share it with someone else.

Then comes the Bellroy magnetic buckles, which are a bit fiddly, and in my opinion don't feel very secure. You also need to pay attention to squeezing the buckle correctly to detach it one handed, but locking it in is still not really a proper one hand operation. The left side of the buckle is a bit on the heavier side, and the strap itself is thin and lightweight, so is difficult to clip it one handed.

Finally, every other sternum strap I have found has the standard buckle that you see in any other backpack. I was hoping Nomatic being so modern and high tech would have come with a fancier system, but I was a surprised, and a tad bit disappointed that it uses a standard buckle. Don't get me wrong, the standard buckles are not bad, they have been used for decades, they are simply… well… boring.

Can be detached one handed, but clipping it in is a two hand operation.

My last backpack before the Nomatic was a Vanguard VEO GO 64M, which was really a good idea, but sadly a bit poorly executed. I sold it very fast, though. The problem is that this bag didn’t come with a sternum strap, so searched Amazon for a solution and found the 8TIMBER Stern Link Quick Release Magnetic Sternum Strap. (Amazon link: https://amzn.to/4cmURv8)

It worked somewhat well for the Vanguard, but since I parted from it, it was left unused. I wasn’t going to give it away for free.

The clear and grey version was on discount, so I got that one instead of the black, and it kind of stands out, so I kind of like it.

One thing that I hated was the weaving clip it uses to attach to standard shoulder straps, so when I decided to use it for my new backpack I was not going to use the ugly and quite harsh webbing strap it came with, so instead modified the Nomatic strap, removed the buckle by cutting the threads without damaging the strap, and sewing it back in with the magnetic buckle. You can see the final results on the right.

This buckle is a breeze to use. Since the Nomatic strap has some heft to it, it mostly remains horizontal, and you only need to bring the main buckle closer and it makes a very reassuring "Click!”, then you know is ready to go. To detach it, simply pull the rubberized zipper pull with the 8TIMBER logo, and both sides come apart easily. If you have sewing abilities, is very easy to do. If not, ask your Grandma and she'll be happy to help you.

Is not always possible to use only one hand to attach it, mostly depends on how busy you are, and how full the backpack is, but most of the time is a one hand operation

2. Cable Management System

The reason why I came with this idea is simple. I dropped a few cables on the top zipper, and moving around they started bulging and I didn't like that. So I though there should be a better way.

Welcome to the Cocoon Grid-It system. Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3IFouuj

I found it in Amazon, and bought the smaller size I could find, but the initial idea was to slip it inside one of the pockets. It barely fits inside, but trying to use anything weaved into it I need to pull it out, and that is not very practical. So it occurred to me to put it outside, but where?

What if I glue a strip of velcro to the back of the Grid-It (BTW, Cocoon guys? Please do it from the factory. It won't change the thickness much, but it'll be so much worth it. BTW, please forgive me for my very lousy glue job. But it'll be hidden anyway, so I wasn't too careful.

Then the logical spot was the “Loft”. There is plenty of furry material in the back side to fit it there. And if I close the loft, it'll slide down. And initially it worked, but when I put a 2nd camera cube, the Grid-It gets completely unusable, unless I remove the cube. Not elegant or practical at all.

Then I thought: when the backpack is open, there is a space above the two zippers that is simply, well, unused. Don't you think they should have done something in it? Sadly it doesn't have the same furry material than the rest of the inside of the bag, so you can't really attach anything with velcro there, but… can you?

Let's do the same. But I don't want to glue long strips of velcro to my new bag with hot clue, just a few little squares that can be easily removed is needed. NOMATIC, please. Put the same furry stuff up there in the next version, yes?

Version 1, not a very good hot glue job.

Version 2, better glue job, but not very simmetric.

And there you go, the final product. Since for this Blog I removed and reattached the Grip-It a couple times, the Velcro spots started tearing out, but if I leave them alone, it should hold for a while.

In the future I might consider sewing the velcro, just to make it neater, maybe get brown ones so is more "stealthy", but so far is working.

3. Red Zipper pulls

One complaint from some of the reviewers is that all zipper pulls are black, and when they are together in the top of the bag can get a bit confusing to figure out which is which. I try to keep the main bag pulls on the down and left position, and the Loft pulls in the top right.

So, heat shrinking tubes to the rescue. You can find here (https://amzn.to/3IHStSf) the specific tubes I used, which have an internal adhesive, much like the originals that came with the bag.

Initially I thought about using a size big enough to cover the whole pull, without removing the factory black tubing, but it looked too thick and bulky, so I clipped the black ones with a fine scissor (Victorinox Swiss Army knife scissors are great for this), and adhered the red ones.

I know, buying 190 pieces of tubing to only use one is kind of too much, but I really love heat shrinking tubing. Looked like magic when I saw it the first time when I was like 12 years old. So I use it for everything electrical, and also mod zipper pulls for my other bags.

4. Peak Design’s Floating Pockets

That’s the name the people from Peak Design gave to this little gadgets. I really never used them on my older PD Travel Backpack. They are designed to be used inside their camera cubes. I sold that backpack years ago, although kept the pockets in a box just in case one day I might find some use to them. I know that I had two of them, but just found one. I searched the PD website and they are no longer available for purchase. Searched amazon, nothing. Finally found them in B&H: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1449658-REG/peak_design_bcc_pk_1_floating_pocket_for_camera.html

They are pretty cheap at less that $5, so bought two of them and they are in the mail as we speak. This bag is amazing for this kind of Velcro thingies, as it has furry surfaces all over the place. Except above the two zippered pockets. NOMATIC, please…

5. Attachments Galore

I got this pack of assorted attachments for Molle straps from Amazon: https://amzn.to/4afMVdq. There are dozens of attachments, and I have really not found any use for most of them, but there are a few that really helps to the practicality of this bag.

I'm pretty sure you'll have much better ideas than me on what to do with them. I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

The bungy cord attachments are great for holding a tripod, an umbrella, a Roost laptop stand in its bag or even a foldable light modifier in a pinch. The Nomatic straps (which I also got) are supposed to be used for this but just attached them to the front of the bag. I have other plans for them.

There is also a very neat bottle holder that I use with my Nomatic 8L sling on my daily walk. It bangs around a bit when I walk, so I’m trying different attachment points.

Right now is in one of the front Molle straps.

And finally I attached a couple of C clips to the front, weaved into the Nomatic straps, where I can attach my gym bag and go completely hands free when walking in and out of my office every day. I look like Sam from The Lord of the Rings, but I don't care. Love the comfort.

And that is it. Five ways you can customize your already awesome Peter McKinnon 25L Pack without breaking the bank. The bag itself already broke it :D

Feria Internacional de La Chorrera

This weekend we took a stroll around the local farmer's fair. I could only stay for a few minutes as the heat and humidity was building up, and I can only tolerate such weather for so long, but it was a good photo opportunity. Next time we should go either earlier in the morning, or much later in the afternoon.