Four 600mm lenses

So here I was, preparing to lead a photo safari in Africa, when David Kilpatrick, editor of Cameracraft magazine, sent me a message: “I’m going to write an article about several different lenses, including the Sigma 150-600mm EF lens (Canon mount) with converter, and adapting this Canon fit kit to Sony”, he says.  “Good timing”, I said, “I’m going to be testing two 600mm lenses while in Africa.  Why don’t we do a comparison?”

So we started planning.  I arranged for a loan of two additional lenses for testing, making a total of 4 lenses on my side of the pond.  The four lenses were:

     1. The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens (Sony mount) – the 10x range appealed to me for the Africa trip, since it meant I wouldn’t have to change lenses much and risk getting dirt on the sensor.  Price: $1,920 USD.

      2.  The Sony RX10 IV, my favorite travel camera since it has an incredible 24-600mm (35mm equivalent) lens permanently attached to the lightweight body.  It achieves this portability by employing a small, 1”-type sensor.  Price: $1,698.

      3. The Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens, Price: $1,898 

      4. Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens, which costs a mere $12,998 (!) 

Due to a comedy of shipping errors, I wasn't able to use all of the lenses all at once.  

Kenya using the Sigma 60-600mm lens

I'll have a full trip report of last month's Photo Safari in Kenya in February.  Suffice to say everyone had an over-the-top great time, so much so that they want to do it again next year.  That's the mark of a pretty good trip.  I took the Sigma 60-600mm lens, reasoning that with such a wide range I wouldn't have to change lenses out in the field.  Here's a few shots from that lens.  (Click on any picture to view larger and sharper.)

4 giraffes with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background.

Optically, this lens is outstanding.

Lucky shot. :-)

Portrait of a Maasai Warrior.  (See "Wireless Flash Workshop" section below. :-) )

Me holding the Sigma 60-600mm lens

I miss the rains down in Africa.

Much more about this awesome trip in the February blog post.

The Other Lenses

Top: Sony 600mm f/4 GM.  Middle: Sony 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 G  Bottom: Sony RX10 IV

Bokeh comparison at 600mm: Left: 600mm at f/4  Center: 200-600 at f/6.3  Right: RX10 IV at f/6.3

Left: 600mm f/4.  Center: RX10 IV at 600mm  Right: RX10 IV image photoshopped to match the 600mm f/4.
There!  I just saved $11,300.  Now I can send one of my grandkids to college for a week.

Here I am doing my Mark Galer impersonation with the 600mm f4.

I have a lot more to say about these lenses, including how they all handled, which one had me cursing out loud (multiple times per day!) and which one I'll be taking with me next time I go on a safari.  All will be revealed in the next issue of Cameracraft magazine, to which you can subscribe here.  Digital subscriptions are only 15 GBP per year!

In the Pipeline

I'll be starting the book on the Sony A1 II just as soon as mine arrives, and I'm fixin' to have it ready by the end of March.  You can pre-order it at a discount here.

Also coming up next month is an article about my trip to Uganda.  I was there to document what I believe is a Nobel-prize-worthy effort by a Yale professor who has spent the last 20 years identifying a bacterium responsible for neonatal infections causing sepsis and hydrocephalus in the region.  Now he's working on understanding how the babies get infected, and is organizing an army of over 800 medical ambassadors whose job will be part prenatal care and part medical ambassador to the villagers who are skeptical of modern medicine.  It's an amazing story.

And in February there will be a full trip report on the Kenya experience, including shots and impressions from the participants.  Stay tuned!

Wireless Flash Workshop

Just before the Africa trip I conducted my 2nd Wireless Flash Workshop for a local photo club.  And I can't tell you what a positive impact it had on the participants.  I designed it to help people overcome their understandable phobia of this intimidating technique by first providing a lecture and a real-time demonstration, and then had the attendees break up into groups of three and try to duplicate some sample shots I had created.  At first you could hear the frustration as people tried to get their hands around all the variables, but after a short time it "clicked" (no pun intended) and started getting outstanding images!  By the end of the half-day event I could hear people leaving and exclaiming what a worthwhile exercise that was - it got them over the learning curve hump and had inspired them to experiment further with this important technique.

If you know me at all you know just how much I love wireless flash, and if you've seen my wireless flash sample gallery on the FriedmanArchives.com website you understand just how much dramatic impact it can add to your photography.  

And so I'm considering taking this half-day workshop on the road.  It doesn't require a 2-day committment like the Friedman Archives High-Impact Photography Seminars (which people also rave about, BTW), and I can casually conduct some of these on our next road trip back to California.  

So let me know if this would be of interest to you!  Fire off an email to Gary at Friedman Archives dot com and let me know where you live and I'll start planning!

Parting Shot

Back in my NASA days I had applied to MIT for graduate school.  Didn't get in, even though I was able to demonstrate the kind of well-roundedness (i.e., not just just pure science and engineering) that the Media Lab said they were looking for.  (More about that here, which you might find to be an interesting read.)

But based on my volunteer work for the past several years at the MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute, I'm now an affiliate.  Not the same as getting a degree there, but in hindsight I think my life ended up just fine without it.  

Until next time,

Yours Truly, Gary Friedman