A77 vs Antarctica - The winner is...

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Hi Dyxumers,

It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I had such an awesome experience with the A77 in a recent trip to Antarctica that I wanted to share a few experiences and photos.  You can see the high res album at my website:

http://www.ericlew.com/

As you can probably guess from my first sentence, the A77 performed well beyond my dreams under the wettest, coldest, and most inhospitable conditions in which I have ever shot.  

My kit consisted of the a77+16-50mm DT+70+400G+Tokina 11-16.  98% of my photos were from the 16-50 and 70-400, which I found to be a phenomenal combo.  By the end of the trip I stopped bringing out the 11-16 at all (not to say that it's not a fantastic lens).  I also had the NEX7+LEAE2 and a full set of nex lenses as backup.  

In addition to big waves, we faced rain, snow, and heavy wind:

At first I was fairly protective of the camera, using ziplock bags and other impromptu means to keep it away from water, but by the end of the trip I was completely comfortable using it in light rain.  

At the end of the trip, I kept the a77+16-50 (both weather sealed) uncovered for over 8 hours!  Probably not the smartest idea, but it made it through, though with a few issues.  I kept getting condensation in the viewfinder, which made framing difficult. Also the mount started to get loose causing the lens contacts to disconnect from the camera periodically while zooming.  At hour 8, the camera started erroneously detecting the aperture preview button being pressed.  That's when I finally decided to put it away :).  

I need to run to dinner, but more to come!  I hope this is useful/informative for others!  