Don't fall for the Sony A7 IV Youtube hype!

Sony just released its latest mid-range camera, the A7 IV, and of course seeded the camera to over a dozen of popular Youtubers, most of which are not photographers, but just paid shills. You can skip most of them, because they will not tell you that this update is bogus. Yes, they bumped the resolution up from 24 mpxls to 33 mpxls, but they also raised the price from 2000 USD to 2500 USD. This is a camera in a completely different segment than its predecessor, it's a marketing trick. It also only shoots 5 fps, if you want to shoot RAW (lossless compression), previously it was 10. They added some new video features, but the camera has terrible rolling shutter, and they're fixing it with a silly software tweak, that actually crops in your lens and degrades your quality. On the other hand you have Nikon's Z lenses that virtually have no focus breathing by design. It seems that Sony has hit an innovation wall when it comes to cameras that are not flagships. Unfortunately this camera will sell, because some people are sheep. For an honest review I only recommend DP Review's video, spare yourself everybody else:

 

Real photographer exposes the marketing hype behind the Sony A1

British photographer Allen Blasdell made a brilliant video exposing the recent hype behind Sony's new flagship, and showing why cameras like the Nikon D780 are just as good, if not better in certain experts.

Visiting the Taipei International Photography & Media Equipment Exhibition 2020

The Taipei International Photography & Media Equipment Exhibition 2020 is taking place these days in Taipei. I visited on the 2nd day in the morning, so that I could avoid crowds, but that wasn't a too successful effort. I reached there around 11 and it was already quite busy, since it was a Saturday morning. I stayed until after lunch and it got really crowded, and the vendors had more activities at their booths, such as models posing with gear and hosts interviewing photographers. While Taiwan just celebrated 200 days without a local coronavirus infection, I still did not want to take any chances, so I left early. Let me share my impressions of particular brands and how the show looked like in general.