NEX-7

All posts tagged NEX-7

Site Update: End of 2018 + New Photographer!

Posted by Matthew Durr on January 6, 2019
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Wind-Driven
105mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/400, 2 images stitched

Now that the festivities of Christmas and New Years have wound down once more, many reading this are back to their normal lives. I hope everyone out there had a great time with friends and family the past couple weeks and didn’t do anything too crazy (but hey, I can’t tell you how to celebrate!). Especially with it being a great time for gifts and resolutions, I’m sure many are finding themselves learning a new camera or lens to shoot with. As long as you are mindful of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (G.A.S.), you should be fine. 😉

Oddly, WordPress didn’t put together an end-of-year analysis like it usually does for this site. A few clicks into my analytics still show great numbers despite my decline in post frequency (which, if you’ve been following previous updates, are due to a myriad causes). Over 110,000 views from 71,000 visitors, with the top three countries being U.S.A. (no surprise), the U.K., and Germany (Hallo!). I can’t thank you all enough for still supporting the site through my many life changes. Speaking of those life changes, 2018 definitely had its fair share. I moved from Japan back to the States in Chicago, got married, bought a car, and even managed a promotion at work. Keen readers may know what Mrs. Matthew Durr Photography looks like from a previous post or two, but just in case… Continue Reading

Rokinon 16mm f/2 Review

Posted by Matthew Durr on August 17, 2017
Posted in: Lens/Camera Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I knew it would happen eventually. As I gradually grew out of my telephoto lens bubble I was so happy to stay in for a few years, it came time to look around for a decent wide-angle lens for travel photography, wide street shots, and one-shot landscapes (constantly having to stitch together shots with my 32mm Touit anytime I wanted a wide shot got tedious fast). So, about three years ago I scrounged around for a deal on a used Rokinon 16mm f/2. Although it was APS-c only, 16mm is still decently wide and f/2 is a nice aperture for low-light handheld shots.

Unabashedly a “plastic-fantastic” lens, does the Rokinon 16mm f/2 hold up on the a6500? After three years of shooting, let’s find out! As always, if you are unfamiliar with my lens review style, check this post first! Continue Reading

A Walk Around Minato!

Posted by Matthew Durr on January 22, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Colorful 105mm, ISO 100, T3.2, 1/30

Colorful
105mm, ISO 100, T3.2, 1/30

Another weekend, another couple days to write up a website post! Japan hosts an abundance of sights to see, and if you live anywhere near the world’s largest megacity, that goes doubly-so! In early December, right near the tail-end of Fall in my area of Japan, I took a midday trip to Minato, a small ward connected to Tokyo by Rainbow Bridge (fitting name, given the title photo…). The purpose of the trip was actually to have some fun at Tokyo Joypolis with a friend (think indoor amusement park/arcade galore), but I am very glad I brought my camera gear with me. There turned out to be a lot to see and photograph! Continue Reading

Yokohama Away! Photographs from Shomyoji, Yamashita Park, Chinatown, and more!

Posted by Matthew Durr on January 15, 2017
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments
Ginko Leaves 16mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/400

Ginko Leaves
16mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/400

Ah, I can’t argue with the fact that breaks are nice. Especially around the holidays (if you’re able to avoid the stress!), some well-deserved time off with friends and family can do wonders for the mind and body. My two-week “reset” really helped fix some of my health issues I have been having, notably regarding my sleep. Though it is likely temporary since I am headed back into the same conditions of barracks living like I have lived for the past year, I’m enjoying the respite from exhaustion and sleep deprivation while it lasts.

As such, I am getting out and photographing even in the cold of winter here in Japan, and while I am still working on photographs from late 2016, new sights aren’t going to see themselves around here! Back on the subject of catching up on 2016, this post contains my first adventure into Yokohama, what some consider as the “little brother” to Tokyo. Easier to access, and a bit more spread out than the megacity many around the world already know, Yokohama is a large but manageable Japanese city on its own that holds many attractions for everyone. Best enjoyed with friends, a day trip to Yokohama (this one in the tail-end of November!) is sure to end with some fun and memorable times. Continue Reading

Shinjuku Gyoen in the Fall

Posted by Matthew Durr on December 15, 2016
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments
Scale 16mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/100

Scale
16mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/100

Well, day by day, I’m still editing and posting up what’s left of my previous photo excursions into the late November/early December time of year here in Japan. As the chill of winter starts to set in, the flora all around is slowly dying off, with colors fading and leaves falling to be swept up the next day. Pretty soon, the hum-drum of my least favorite season will take over for a few months, leaving me a bit more time to a) Sleep in more b) Work on some lens/gear reviews and c) Hopefully sleep in again some more! Of course, when the cold does get here to stay, I will make my best effort to get some snow shots, maybe even as far north as Hokkaido’s epic snow villages if I get a 3-day weekend.

But, if my current photos have anything to say about it, that time has not yet come! Right near the peak of Fall color in Tokyo, some friends and I headed on a late afternoon trip to the 143-acre Shinjuku National Garden to catch some late November sights. I did not realize just how impressively the park expands into about a third of the size of New York’s Central Park. As are many things in Japan, however, the park is very space-efficient and contains many smaller vistas and gardens for visitors to enjoy, in addition to vast stretches of open field for picnicking and recreational sports. At the super-reasonable 200¥ admission price, I’ll likely see myself coming back again later next year. All photos below with the NEX-7 and Rokinon 16mm f/2, Zeiss Touit 32mm, and Laowa 105mm T3.2 (the last of which I really, really am trying to find time to review!). Continue Reading

Temple-Hopping in Kamakura: Pt. II

Posted by Matthew Durr on December 10, 2016
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Entrance Crosswalk 16mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125

Entrance Crosswalk
16mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125

I knew I would find myself back in Kamakura sooner or later. In fact, I even mentioned I looked forward to a return visit upon planning another route in my last walkthrough around the historic city. Just as Fall colors entered their season, I decided it was time to give it another shot. As luck would have it, though, I quickly found the day to be mostly overcast and rainy. Granted, this made it easier for getting deeper colors in the foliage (and avoiding those pesky hard shadows), but as many know, I’m a sucker for deep blue skies and fluffy clouds in my images. Continue Reading

Sankeien Garden

Posted by Matthew Durr on December 4, 2016
Posted in: Travel Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Peace 16mm, ISO 100, f/2, 1/100

Peace
16mm, ISO 100, f/2, 1/100

In my first catch-up post (of likely a few to come from November), I went on a mini-tour of the Sankeien Garden located in the southern outskirts of Yokohama in early November. My base’s Liberty Center is experimenting with cheap afternoon/morning tours to local hotspots lately, and I am glad to participate in as many as possible for some easy ways to get more photographs and explore my cozy little corner of Japan. Continue Reading

Site Update: November 2016!

Posted by Matthew Durr on November 30, 2016
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Bayside 105mm, ISO 100, T3.2, 1/500

Bayside
105mm, ISO 100, T3.2, 1/500

Warmth turning into chill, daylight hours quickly disappearing, and leaves gradually dying off in a burst of color. Sounds a lot like late September/October for a good portion of my readers back in the States. But not so in Japan, at least, in my region. November turned out to be the month that finally forced me to begin to bundle up and alter my outing plans to make up for the temperature changes and lack of sunlight. Granted, my health hasn’t exactly improved from my last post, but I was not about to let an entire change of season pass me by. Despite the exhaustion, I managed to enjoy four separate local trips in Kanagawa, from Kamakura on a rainy day to Yokohama well past sunset.

But, it’s not all sunshine and roses, of course. Since I expended so much energy on just taking these trips, I came back to my barracks without enough energy to actually edit and post any of my photographs. So, similar to this past summer, I now have a decent little backlog of photographs to sift through and post in the beginning days of December. In a bizarre twist of luck/misfortune (depending on how you look at it), an ankle sprain I suffered a week ago will do much to confine me inside to edit to my heart’s content.

I will not be able to stay inside for long, however. Adorama charged me for the shipment of my a6500 today, a camera that I am very much looking forward to shooting alongside my NEX-7 (I may have to pick up that BlackRapid Double to comfortably shoot two cameras). In-body image stabilization, a super-deep buffer, and a touchscreen? Oh, sign me right up!

Otherwise in the photography world not too much has happened in November, aside from the expected Black Friday sales. The a6000 continues to be one of the best deals going in mirrorless photography right now, and consistently stays in the top lists of Amazon’s sales. Still no word yet from Sony on a supposed a9000/A9 camera, though the rumor mill is pointing toward some big announcement in the first quarter of 2017. Of course, we’ll just have to wait and see what this camera has to offer. In the meantime, I’ve got to get back to some photo editing! That’s all for this quick update, guys and gals, thanks for dropping by! As always, have a great day!

P.S. The cover photo is one of the only shots I made during a brief business stop back in the States in early November. Shot in the cozy little Jonas Green Park in Annapolis, MD.

Site Update: September 2016!

Posted by Matthew Durr on September 30, 2016
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Flight 105mm, ISO 100, T3.2, 1/125

Flight
105mm, ISO 100, T3.2, 1/125

As many of my online followers and subscribers have probably noticed, I was conspicuously absent for most of the month of September. To make a long story shorter, I have been dealing with some health issues that prevent me from getting the energy needed to go out and make photos. What a shame, too, given that September was the last full month of warm weather here in Japan. As the calendar changes to October, I can already feel the cool Fall breeze setting in. With any luck, though, I’ll beat my current condition and get back to my shutter-happy self sooner rather than later. After all, with Fall comes lovely color changes in the trees, and the temples here in Japan are absolutely surrounded by flora! Continue Reading

Site Update: August 2016!

Posted by Matthew Durr on September 1, 2016
Posted in: Ramblings. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Ready to Party 16mm, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/60

Ready to Party
16mm, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/60

Welcome back to another website update, folks! August marks the last full month of summer, and Japan definitely felt the heat for a lot of the month. I didn’t get to experience the “beach scene” that is apparently super popular here, though I had some personal time a couple weekends to go stand-up paddle-boarding (harder than it looks!) and deep-sea fishing for mahimahi. For the former, I’ve managed to paddle-board over 4 miles without falling off, and the latter, caught hundreds of pounds of fish with a fierce sunburn worn as a battle wound. Continue Reading