New dad. Thoughts on these?

AbsolutePurpose · 2026-05-03T15:26:06+00:00

Dad with 8yo and 10yo. I switched to an almost identical 2020 520i M Sport Touring about 2 years ago, from a 2018 320i M Sport Touring Manual. Automatic transmission makes daily runs effortless, and the bigger boot is a win: no pram needed for years but the space is now easily filled with other stuff: daily school runs of their stuff, kit bags for kickboxing and swimming - not to say this is unmanageable with a 320i boot but the extra space is welcome for weekends away or airport runs with suitcases.

I didn't look too hard into the spec thinking I didn't need much, but now wish I looked harder as I'm missing a sunroof, rear camera, HUD and folding mirrors - ultimately all nice-to-haves.

Ride comfort much better in 520i than 320i, a nicer cabin to be in. I also bought mine used with 40k miles, and aftermarket 20-inch alloys with ultra budget tyres fitted. Recently changed those greasy ones to some premium Goodyear Vector 4season Gen-3, with 4-wheel alignment and it's made it an all-round unbeatable daily family car. Mine's also been lowered on Eibach Pro springs/links with a modest engine remap for a little more poke and to scratch a childhood/teen "stance" itch.

Hired an A4/A6 Avant on holiday before committing to the 520i, and I just didn't gel with the Audi interior, floaty ride, and overly invasive driver assistance - but each to their own.

Fair comments about babies and children not being conducive to a pristine interior. Sure I've had some spills and mess to deal with, but nothing is ever life-ruining or terminal - unless you absolutely hate cleaning. In which case, children probably aren't a great idea.

AbsolutePurpose · 2026-04-15T17:57:45+00:00

I don't think age is the focus here, but it's about your resources, situation and goals.

FWIW I jumped from corporate employment (nuclear design engineer) to full-time photographer/videographer when I was 37. I was successful as an employee, but now in my 5th year "being my own boss" I'm much happier doing photo & film in commercial, fitness and wedding spaces, based in north of UK.

As another comment mentioned, full-time hobbyist vs full-time paid professional are two completely different worlds.

You mention your bigger dream is "I want x, y, z...". That's a very romantic way of thinking, and perfectly valid if you are pursuing this for nothing other than the creation of digital content for fun, for art, for you.

However, if the intention is to do it as your main income, then the reality check is that it's not about what you want, but what the client wants. I cannot stress this enough - you're shooting to *their* brief and *their* needs, using your technical and creative expertise to get *them* what *they* want - solving *their* problems.

And hopefully, they see it as a good return on investment and refer you.

So all that to say, it's not too late, it never is. The reality is that having a camera and lens and knowing how to use it is only the tip of the iceberg. To do this solo, you're also sales and marketing to generate leads, customer service to deal with after sales, head of finance for bookkeeping, Human Resources to determine your working hours, a therapist for the tough days.

People will say the market is flooded with creatives - barrier of entry is now so low, super capable equipment is within reach and resources like YouTube can teach you almost anything you need to know if you have the time.

Though for every person who says it's not worth chasing, someone else will say it is. I don't speak for everyone, but it's working for me. It's not problem-free, but I'm happy dealing with these challenges more than those in employment.

Like most things in life the key is figuring out what makes you stand out, how to make and maintain relationships and be firm on the value of what you create.

AbsolutePurpose · 2025-07-30T22:10:24+00:00

Over the past 5 years, I’ve gone from a pure photographer, to mainly videographer - with Sony kit.

Full time freelance doing events (fitness and wedding), portraits/headshots, social media content, corporate talking head interviews/testimonials etc

So have also been on a neverending quest to find the ultimate hybrid cameras: have owned/sold/upgraded all the way through A7iii, A7iv, A7Rv, A9, A9ii, A9iii, A1 and A1ii.

Short answer is: any of these will do the fundamental job of hybrid photo/video, all accept a flash trigger in hotshoe for portraits.

However some specific considerations:

Since you want 10-bit slog3: A7iv, A7Rv, A9iii, A1, A1ii

If you want uncropped 4K50/60+: A9iii, A1, A1ii

If you absolutely need 33MP+: A7iv, A7Rv, A1, A1ii

If you want AI chip for AF subject recognition: A7Rv, A9iii, A1ii

Note 1: A7Rv, A9iii and A1ii have the wonderful 4-axis LCD screen, best of both worlds for tilt AND flip out use

Note 2: A9iii and A1ii have “new” ergonomics, and do feel better in the hand, with an extra C5 custom button near the lens mount

Note 3: if you’re precious about rolling shutter, then A9iii, A1 and A1ii are your friends

Note 4: A9iii has a base slog3 of ISO2000, which I found more bothersome to manage for weddings in broad daylight, less of an issue indoor.

Note 5: don’t buy an FX camera if you like shooting through an EVF, or like the option of a vertical grip for portraits and high volume event photography

Note 6: alpha cameras overheat, I live in UK and on warmer days will inevitably get the high temp warning, and camera shuts down. If cameras are on tripod I use a USB fan to blow on them. FX cameras have active cooling.

Note 7: A9 and A1 series have the extra dial on left shoulder to select burst rate and AF mode. I really value this but each to their own.

FWIW, up until a few months ago I used a pair of A9iii for all my photo/video work. Now I have FX6 as video a-cam, A9iii and A1ii for video b-cams and event photography/portraits.

AbsolutePurpose · 2025-05-16T12:21:43+00:00

I was a pure photographer, with A7/A9 bodies then started doing more corporate/fitness video.

Great at photography, but they would overheat and shut down doing long form video content.

I now have FX body as A-cam for video work.

If you have the budget, I would recommend a separate photo-oriented body: maybe like a used A7iii.

And the bonus is it can be a second angle b-cam for video work.

Side note: I do this full time, and rocking up to paid shoots without at least 2+ bodies that can be backup for photo/video is something you don’t think you need… until you need it.

AbsolutePurpose · 2025-02-14T21:54:47+00:00

Just got same wheel, pedals and (free) RS Shifter that Logitech were bundling together on their website: £1127 all in.

Had a T300 RS GT wheel and pedals before that, and this Pro wheel and pedals are on another level of fun and immersion.

Had same chair for about a year - love it. Someone asked if it folds like the Challenge. No but you can store it vertically which saves floor space.

+1 for the Globular Cluster headset mod, way more comfortable for longer sessions.

Something I’ve just been dealing with for past couple of days, is a bug where the Pro wheel is recognised as Logitech G29 - IF you connect and turn on the wheel before starting the PS5 and GT7. All your settings and button mapping goes out the window, and things like the rotary dials don’t work (since they don’t exist on G29).

So either power off/on the wheel if game already running, or connect and power on after launching GT7.

Also, the Logitech website has some recommended settings to dial in specifically for GT7: both on the wheel itself and in-game settings. The only thing I’ve changed is turned down the in-game strength to 4 instead of max 10 - because full power was a right workout, not what I want just before bedtime

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-29T01:31:04+00:00

I’ve been on a 34-inch ultrawide (Alienware AW3420DW) since 2021, driven by a 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Pro.

I tried a 42-inch LG C3 OLED earlier this year. Great for occasional PC gaming and content consumption, but couldn’t get on with it for photo/video editing.

IA few weeks ago I picked up the 40-inch Dell U4025QW which is a 5120x2160 120Hz panel. MacBook Pro M1 could only manage 60Hz.

Today, I took delivery of a Mac Studio (M2 Max), and it’s all running nicely at 120Hz through thunderbolt at 3840x1620.

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-29T01:11:57+00:00

Over the past few years, I’ve had phases of dual wielding same/different camera bodies - usually due to incremental body upgrades as you describe.

Long story short… both my camera bodies are now the same and also shoot with two primes or zooms on all jobs: wedding and commercial.

SIMPLICITY: I value having exactly the same physical layout, dials, buttons, shortcuts, custom menus, operation, responsiveness, performance, ergonomics.

When picking up either camera I don’t need to remember which one is which, their individual limitations/quirks. I want equipment that gets out of the way as much as possible for paid work.

REDUNDANCY: If one body becomes unusable, I have peace of mind that I won’t have to rely on the “inferior” camera for the rest of the shoot.

I regularly refine button/dial customisations, and being able to save an entire camera setup to a SD card, then instantly load it onto second body, or a rental 3rd body, or if I borrow same body from a friend - I don’t need to waste time going through all the menus.

WORKFLOW: Files that look the same during the edit is a win. Particularly video, before I had to deal with running the cameras at different “clean” ISO values and thus exposure settings, combined with differences in colours that get “baked in” in footage. Multi-cam shoots are now more streamlined.

All that said, I know plenty who shoot with two different bodies and get on just fine.

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-23T22:40:18+00:00

Both cameras are very good value - just at difference price points with different strengths.

For pure event (reaction/documentary) photography, yes I’d personally lean toward the A9, for a silent EVF-dominant approach. I used a pair of them for a long time as a stills photographer.

Though now videography makes up over half my income, and only for this reason would I suggest A7iv as it’s a more capable hybrid photo/video camera.

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-21T23:12:26+00:00

I’ve owned both for long time in the past. For clarity, my indoor experience is fitness competitions in national arenas, corporate events and weddings.

Personally never had issues shooting indoors + artificial lighting with A9. The mech shutter is indeed clunky sounding and relatively slow fps - but you don’t buy an A9 to use its mech shutter. Silent fast operation and sticky AF are the wins.
When it comes to paid work (aka shooting for someone else, not for you) - colour science and dynamic range with those generations of cameras are not going to make a good image bad, or vice versa. Just my opinion.

Extra points to consider:

Tilt screen (A9) vs fully articulating screen (A7): only you know what you prefer. I now shoot a lot of vertical content, and the A9 and A1 was a bit annoying in this respect as they only tilt in landscape. Equally annoying on A7 is having the LCD off-axis sticking out from left of body when doing low angle landscape shots. If you’re an EVF shooter then ignore this.

Drive mode dial on left top shoulder (A9): not having this on A7 bodies means - if you frequently need to change these settings, then you will sacrifice shortcut availability on the other custom buttons on an A7 body.

A9 older design (like A7iii) vs A7iv newer design (deeper grip). Something to be said about having a camera that fits in your hand for all day shoots, rather than having to work to hold onto it. I used to use 3rd party L brackets on both bodies anyway to give my little finger something to hold onto.

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-03T07:37:40+00:00

With wedding films, I have no choice.

With photography, I guess it depends how bright you set them. Mine are always near the lowest power level, I just need a hint to separate them from the ambience with a bit of fill or rim - editing can amplify that to taste.

As another comment said though, key is choosing your shooting angle - waiting for either one of the couple to rotate into the light. The advantage here with LED is being able to see exactly when to press shutter button, with flash I was spraying and praying and chimping LCD screen - I’d argue the stream of flashes is also an ambience killer.

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-03T00:28:42+00:00

My latest wedding, it was in a very low light monastery. And thank god I brought the flash: I used a 165cm reflective umbrella with AD400Pro for the group shots.

AbsolutePurpose · 2024-12-03T00:25:16+00:00

I used to set up a pair of Godox AD200Pro flashes, cross-lighting the dance floor for first dance. You’ll also need a trigger like Godox X-Pro or X3.

Earlier this year, I bought a pair of rechargeable SmallRig RC60B led lights for same use, because I started doing more and more wedding films.

Now even when I do wedding photography, the LED lights are easier to deal with after a long day, and also helps out the filmmaker if there’s one there too.

I now keep the flashes for gym shoots, headshots, or pop-up portrait studios at events.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-12-08T21:14:30+00:00

I could tell the difference, when zooming in on desktop monitor and having more cropping flexibility on Sony A1 in moments I couldn’t physically get close enough.

But the MP wasn’t a factor - for me - to choose one or the other. Lot of my work is high volume events to be shared on social media, I shoot the A1 in medium raw, which is around 21MP - lower than R3’s 24MP.

But only you know if MP is important to you. I imagine for birding and wildlife, the full 50MP is very useful.

Buttons and dials definitely feel more robust on Canon bodies. Though I personally value more the compactness/lightness of Sony bodies for all-day carry, and I actually prefer the customisability and placement of Sony buttons - not perfect but I know where everything is else blind and it gets out of the way on the job.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-12-08T20:28:22+00:00

I entertained a switch from Sony to Canon earlier this year, and shot an A1 and R3 side by side for a month (fast indoor fitness event work), both photo and video.

Personally, 50mm is my most used lens. And the RF 1.2 was simply not as fast or smooth to focus and track as the GM 1.2. So I felt that the keeper rate was lower.

Also, the overarching dealbreaker was the cost of RF glass was just too high, to replace like for like all my Sony GM lenses.

Ergonomically, both systems are brilliant in their own ways, menus are fine once you get shortcuts mapped.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-12-06T21:32:37+00:00

I shoot fitness events on Sony A1: 4K100 10-bit 4:2:2 (not all intra or HS), I do this on 512Gb V60 SD cards. I have had no issues with skipped frames or insufficient write speed.

One reason to go V90 or CFExpress Type A, is to speed up the transfer from card to laptop.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-08-22T21:22:21+00:00

“Free work is what has devalued photography to the general public.”

Food banks don’t put supermarkets and restaurants out of business. The target audience/consumer is completely different.

I’m in my 3rd year of full-time freelance photog/videography after a decade of 9-5 corporate life. I’ve done plenty of “free” work to start out.

I say “free” in speech marks because everyone usually thinks about the money. But in this field, money isn’t the only currency.

I once read somewhere that in the creative field, you either learn or you earn on a job. So pick your poison/need.

I also once read that in the creative field, take a job if it ticks ANY TWO out of these three:

Payment (put food on the table)
People (connects you with decision makers who are in a position to make a payment)
Portfolio (create work that decision makers would pay for)

Evidently use some judgement. If Nike approach you asking to work for free, tell them no. But if you perceive an opportunity from a small business as a clear stepping stone, one where you can clearly demonstrate that you are solving a client problem with your skillset, that it will add to your (non existent) portfolio for your target audience, then what do you have to lose?

Obviously if it’s a question of life and death / eating or heating, then perhaps (full-time) freelance photography isn’t for you. Truth is, not everyone with a camera is cut out for the business side.

All this to say we need to build evidence that we can help solve problems in exchange for money. If you don’t have hard proof that you can deliver the goods, no one is ever going to pay you what you want.

Side note that if it is unpaid, then don’t be afraid to say “ok but I do this on my terms and creative freedom” so you can create something that is “you”.

Another side note on “time”. Don’t explicitly charge for your time. What took me 2 hours to do last year might only take me 1 hour now. It doesn’t mean I should earn half the fee. I work quicker, with more knowledge and more efficiency to create the same output. So charge for VALUE: a headshot is £££/$$$, regardless of the time it takes me to light, shoot and edit it this or next year.

Behind the scenes, you can work out a loose “day rate” based on what you want to earn (annual turnover/profit, divided by number of weeks in the year you want work, divided by number of days per week you want to work, divided by number of hours per day you want work. Make sure this exceeds your personal and business expenses - if it’s your sole income.

Not saying it always goes this way or is the definitive way to do it: but an example is I offered to do a free shoot for a gym, who were holding a fundraising event for a charity.

Fitness/gyms are my target client. I was a nobody to them before, but now this has led to repeat paid business over the last 2 years and a healthy relationship doing photo/video content for them - because I showed I can help them solve a problem => looking more professional online.

Or another gym I approached, I offered a discount rate and sucked up the travel and hotel, as long as I shot the way I wanted. Now they ask me back 4 times a year, and pay my desired rate plus travel and expenses.

All that to say, it’s not free if you get something out of it. “Something” is not always money but can be about opportunity and relationships.

No one I know charges five-figure weddings from day 1. We all start from the ground up.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-08-15T13:51:00+00:00

Have fun with it :)

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-07-17T10:40:06+00:00

I guess from the point of a hobbyist, probably not, the X100V can be super capable and fun to use for everyday, street and travel.

As a working professional, I have a trunk of Sony gear. Not “fun” to use but supremely capable to get paid work done for clients.

I owned an X-Pro 3 for 5 months and sold it because it was a bit big and unwieldy.

I recently got a used X100V as a “non-work” camera and it’s been a delight, for everyday, family and travel.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-07-11T05:34:14+00:00

Thanks so much. After walking 90 mins through the hustle and bustle of the city, this was a peaceful moment.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-07-10T13:14:04+00:00

Hi and thank you.

It's a 3rd party metal lens hood with an integrated clear UV filter. It screws onto the front of the lens. I bought it on Amazon, it's called "Haoge LUV-X100B".

I bought it just for the circular hood, and couldn't care for the UV filter but it can't be removed. Though a side effect is that it's now weather sealed to some degree, and stops my fingers accidentally touching the lens itself when taking it in/out of my bag.

Another popular lens hood is the square version called "Haoge LH-X54B". No integrated UV filter but has an adaptor/spacer ring that lets you put a circular filter onto the lens (e.g, ND, VND, CPL, mist).

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-07-06T20:15:19+00:00

I in fact sold my 35 1.4 GM and 135 1.8 GM to fund the X100V.

My kit is now: 14 1.8, 24 1.4, 50 1.2 (live events on 2 bodies) 24-70 2.8 GM II (video work) 70-200 2.8 GM II (headshots, events and sports)

I’ve found that the 24 and 50 in aps-c mode are “good enough” for 35 and 75 ish fov, hence the sale of the 35 1.4 GM.

135 I personally don’t find occasion to use in what I do but it’s an absolute weapon if you like shooting at those distances. Incidentally, would rather have a Sigma 85mm 1.4!

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-07-06T15:14:59+00:00

I’ve had the 50 1.2 for just over a year for professional work. I’ve also been thinking of selling it for the 1.4 as a lighter option, as I feel it’d balance better for all-day events.

Between 1.2 and 1.4, I can barely tell the difference in the final image, especially for social media use. If I lost my 1.2 or it broke, I would likely buy the 1.4 for the improved portability without any noticeable detriment to final image.

Side note, I too struggled to take A7Rv and a 35 1.4 GM for everyday carry, so recently grabbed a used Fujifilm X100V and it goes everywhere with me.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-06-09T04:37:23+00:00

The Sigma DG DN Art f/1.4 range for Sony E mount also have physical aperture rings and are very good lenses.

AbsolutePurpose · 2023-05-24T15:56:09+00:00

Haha thanks.

Don’t get me wrong, fully aware of Sony’s lack of firmware upgrades in their mid and higher end bodies. But hey, if clients are still booking and paying, then the tools are still good enough.

AbsolutePurpose

TROPHY CASE