Author: The Overrated Photographer

I am a forty something year old Melbourne based photographer covering a broad range of genre’s from sports to portraits and travel. My introduction into photography started with doing some kitesurfing photos, but with the arrival of my first daughter, my focus shifted to family and the vast majority of my photos are either family or street. I still try to get extreme sports when I am not kitesurfing myself. My current non-personal photography work is confined to charity and not-for-profit engagements where I am engaged in photography for a number charity events to give back to the community and help support fund raising for these organisations. These include the homeless and cancer events. I do not currently do any paid commercial work as I run a successful non-photography business and this allows me to explore my personal creativity with photography.
ReviewsLeave a comment

Sigma 35mm f/1.2 First Impressions

The Overrated Photographer

With the recent release of the Sigma 35mm f1.2 and having one in my hands, I thought I would put together my initial thoughts.

First off, let’s just be open about it… it’s big. If for some obscure reason you were expecting something small, the f/1.2 makes this a big piece of glass. It’s a big honking piece of steel and in some countries, this might be classified as a weapon. To put it into perspective, it’s close in size and weight to the 135mm ART. Continue reading “Sigma 35mm f/1.2 First Impressions”

ArticlesLeave a comment

Dunning Kruger effect and photography

The Overrated Photographer

After yet another post from someone vastly overestimating their abilities, I thought it was time to remind people of the Dunning Kruger effect and it’s impact on photography. The post in question came from someone who was complaining about the performance of the Tamron 28-75mm and The Sigma Art 24mm and indicating how they needed to get the 24mm G Master and a 16-35mm G Master. Continue reading “Dunning Kruger effect and photography”

Articles, News7 Comments

Where is the small / medium raw, Sony?

The Overrated Photographer

The A7Riv has been released and on paper, the specs look amazing. but there is one glaring shortfall I am utterly confused as to why Sony missed, particularly with a camera with this megapixel count.

Small / medium raw

There will be usual Sony apologists who try to defend the decision, but the reality is the A7Riv would be a better camera if they included it and including small / medium raw wouldn’t impact the users who don’t use it. Continue reading “Where is the small / medium raw, Sony?”

Articles4 Comments

Sony hurting the industry with innovation?

The Overrated Photographer

For those who missed it, Petapixel posted a rediculous opinion piece that Sony was hurting the industry by innovating and cycling their cameras too quickly. If you haven’t read it, here it is:

Is Sony’s Pace of Innovation Actually Hurting the Photo Industry?

The gist of the article is that by moving so quickly, the rest of the industry is being left behind and somehow thats Sony’s fault. Continue reading “Sony hurting the industry with innovation?”

Articles, InstructionalsLeave a comment

Choosing between Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 & 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6

The Overrated Photographer

To kick things off, let me say there are no winners or losers. This is like a competition between toddlers at pre-school where everyone gets a prize. This isn’t a direct technical comparison between the two and it isn’t about proving you should buy one in particular. This is about guidance on how I made the choice between the two. Continue reading “Choosing between Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 & 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6”

Reviews2 Comments

Wandrd Prvke 21 Review

The Overrated Photographer

Wandirit…wanderierier…wanduriddd…yeah, that’s what it looks like. Apparently it’s said Wandered Provoke but for some obscure reason, the designers forgot to add vowels to their bag, maybe letters cost money. I assume it’s an artistic novelty but it does make it a little hard to recommend the bag to a mate when his spell check keeps screwing up the name. Continue reading “Wandrd Prvke 21 Review”

Articles1 Comment

The importance of using good displays

The Overrated Photographer

I saw a thread in one of the Sony groups where people were posting their desktops. It was the usual mix of machines, Windows and OSX, desktops and laptops, nothing out of the norm for photographers except for one little discrepancy. What struck me as odd was the focus on power over quality.

You may think I am talking about Mac vs PC but hopefully the title was a giveaway. When it comes to post processing photos, one of the most important considerations is the display because ultimately you are editing colour and to edit colour, you have to know that colour is accurate. The irony is that people select their cameras because of the relatively minor differences in colour, they complain that some lenses offer differences in colour, and they complain that the white balances of a camera has a big impact. Continue reading “The importance of using good displays”

Articles9 Comments

Sony Fanboys, the worst kind?

The Overrated Photographer

I previous wrote about the Sony fanboys being the worst, this is a follow on rant. Understand, as a Sony user, this is the one thing that frustrates me, and there isn’t that much to complain about with Sony. As time goes on, I can’t help feeling Sony has become the BMW of camera companies, attracting the worst kinds of owners, the kinds of owners the rest of us Sony users don’t want to be associated with. In the case of BMW (at least in Australia), it was the kinds of drivers that are selfish, opinionated, arrogant, never use their indicators, think that speed limits don’t apply to them, and think they can park in the handicapped zone because they can afford a decent car. It’s the crossover of a select few where having a little money turns them into an immediate douchebag. 90% of BMW drivers seem perfectly capable of buying a BMW and behaving like normal human being but the 10% are scraped from the bottom of the gene pool. Continue reading “Sony Fanboys, the worst kind?”