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.
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Backup backup backup

The Overrated Photographer

We all get reminded about backups regularly, and many seem to forget until the problem occurs so I thought it was a timely reminder to do backups, and not just one, many where possible.

I had my primary hard drive fail on Friday evening. It’s a solid state and like anything, they aren’t immune to failing. It’s a 2015 model so it would be going on about 3.5 years old, just outside of warranty. I’m not going to question whether it should be covered, 3 years warranty is about the usual you’d expect these days so having a hard drive fail on 3.5 years isn’t something I can blame on the manufacturer. Sometimes these things last 10 years, sometimes not. Continue reading “Backup backup backup”

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TTL vs manual – stop telling people to buy manual strobes!

The Overrated Photographer

It’s strange how technology moves on and people still revert to old advice. I’ve seen it occur through many types of technology.

It occured with DSLR’s, the naysayers proudly proclaiming that digital would never be good enough long after DSLR’s became pro ready. Ask for advice on whether to get a DSLR and they would still be spouting their film isn’t dead mantra, how. shooting DSLR made you lazy, and any other excuse they could come up with. Continue reading “TTL vs manual – stop telling people to buy manual strobes!”

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Sony vs Fujifilm Part 8 – Sony could do with some AF customisation

The Overrated Photographer

Whilst I believe that Sony has the upper hand with autofocus, I would still like to see some of the autofocus customisation options from Fujifilm offered on Sony. There are some aspects Fujifilm also gets wrong on the autofocus side so this isn’t to say Fujifilm is better, more that there are lessons to be learnt for both parties.

What kind of options are we talking about? Continue reading “Sony vs Fujifilm Part 8 – Sony could do with some AF customisation”

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Sony vs Fujifilm Part 7 – Fix your ISO numbers, Fujfilm

The Overrated Photographer

I know what the immediate responses from the Fujifilm fans will be, there were 3 or 4 excuses on why Fujifilm isn’t mis-stating their ISO: different ISO standards used, shadow values in raw files not being read… the list goes on. I’ve seen them, don’t really care.

You can call it what you want, but when almost every other brand is reading their ISO differently, you have to ask yourself why Fujifilm is doing things differently AND why they continue doing it despite having it pointed out in so many articles, blogs etc. Is it using other standards or falsely elevating their ISO just to make themselves look better. Currently it looks like the latter. Continue reading “Sony vs Fujifilm Part 7 – Fix your ISO numbers, Fujfilm”

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Sony vs Fujifilm Part 5 – Fujifilm can learn how to engineer a camera from Sony

The Overrated Photographer

Engineering may seem like a broad term, so I’ll be more specific when it comes to what I expect out of Fujifilm. It relates largely to what they say they can fit in their bodies:

When you compare the X-T3 to the A7iii and A7Riii they are similar body sizes, the X-T3 is larger in some areas, the A7 is larger in others, but overall, the dimensions are pretty similar. The fact that Sony has managed to fit a full frame sensor, IBIS and a battery that has twice the capacity in a camera the same size as the X-T3 is a massive achievement from Sony, and one that Fujifilm can learn from. The X-T3 should have IBIS and it should have a bigger battery. If Sony can do it and do it with a full frame camera, there is no reason why Fujifilm can’t do it with an APS-C body. Continue reading “Sony vs Fujifilm Part 5 – Fujifilm can learn how to engineer a camera from Sony”

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Sony vs Fujifilm Part 4 – Sony needs to fix the sub-standard menu system

The Overrated Photographer

For those who have never used a Sony camera, the feature set is amazing but it has a menu system that feels like it was designed by a 18yr old crack addict after mixing LSD and Heroine and 72 hours of sleep deprivation. That’s what I would assume occured, as it seems to follow a pattern that not even a military cryptographer could resolve.

To make matters worse, Sony has made the obscure decision to make the navigation path down, across, down, across, in a way that still has you confused no matter how you get used to it. There are options shifted all over the place, flash settings in more than one place. Continue reading “Sony vs Fujifilm Part 4 – Sony needs to fix the sub-standard menu system”

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Sony vs Fujifilm Part 3 – Fujifilm needs to improve their stock hoods

The Overrated Photographer

There is one thing that many Fujifilm users agree on when it comes to things that Fujifilm get horribly wrong, and that is the stock hoods. You can buy the more expensive metal square hoods for an additional $100, but why should you have to with a lens that cost $1000. Worse yet, in some cases there are no alternative options like the XF50-140mm. Continue reading “Sony vs Fujifilm Part 3 – Fujifilm needs to improve their stock hoods”

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Tamron Australia and Manfrotto Australia continue to support disqualified photographer

The Overrated Photographer

Hey Tamron Australia and Manfrotto Australia. Great products, I have some from both of you and I really like them. I love my Tamron 28-75 and my Manfrotto Tripod but very soon I won’t, because they won’t be part of my gear selection. My Tamron will be replaced by a Sony 24-70 and the Manfrotto will be replaced by something else, probably not a Gitzo because it’s the same company. Continue reading “Tamron Australia and Manfrotto Australia continue to support disqualified photographer”