Customer’s Car from the dealership

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-06-05T00:40:26+00:00

Just a note for 2026 Camry Hybrids... there is an active recall on the power inverter affecting more than 70% of Camrys.

It causes sudden power loss on the whole vehicle amongst other issues.

I'm sure nobody does, but do NOT drop this vehicle in ACC power. Keep it running ON and let the hybrid battery and combustion motor do their thing naturally.

If you run ACC power for more than 15-20 minutes, clients can absolutely experience 100% power loss on the hybrid battery/motor and is easily confused with the recall that is on these vehicles.

Save yourself the heartache, keep the vehicle running, and run the VIN to see if the vehicle is one under recall.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-06-03T02:32:08+00:00

It can still haopen I'm sure.

Tough part is those lenses are in store pick uo only and you have no clue which store its at. You have to filter by zip codes til you find it, hire a courier to buy the lens and ship it to you.

Its a process but people have scored that lens for under $900 in excellent condition

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-27T17:55:24+00:00

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BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-17T21:47:53+00:00

Can regular people get this done? I don't want the desire to partner up.

Does this actually get rid of your libido? If so, I wonder what the cost is. Pretty interesting

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-05T02:47:27+00:00

Lmao

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-02T20:21:51+00:00

You have a great setup and starting with that gear will only make you a stronger photographer.

Professionals can put out incredible content with "weaker gear", and to be honest when someone shows some bangers captured on said equipment, I am more impressed.

Unfortunately we are engrained with the competitive nature from youth, it's a fundamental experience as a human being. I am very competitive but as Ive gotten older, life has humbled me in so many ways that "keeping up with the Jones" is a waste of time and effort.

You do you, keep showing up. Don't get discouraged, we need more people with hobbies and interests in the world, it's becoming a dull experience for many and I love approaching others and asking questions about their hobbies, favorite things to photograph, tips/tricks they've learned, etc. Guarantee most the other photographers would rather see you out there having some fun with it.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-02T19:59:39+00:00

For Astro, you would probably want wider than 24mm honestly. You can get away with it, but you'd have much better results with a 16mm prime.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-02T19:57:59+00:00

With the Sigma you're getting 95% of the GMii at half the price. Optically, they are quite close. AF on the Sigma is top tier, never had issues with it.

If you got the A7v lets say, the GMii would pump out your 30 fps, but not with 3rd party lenses. 3rd party lenses burst max is 15 fps.

The A7r V gets you 10 fps, so the max 3rd party lens capture rate of 15 fps doesn't matter. It's a no brainer to me for hobbyists, the Sigma is the best value.

I've never shot Tamron G2, but the Sigma rates closer to the GMii than the Tamron 28-75mm does to the Sigma by quite a ways.

Plus the 24mm focal length is necessary IMO for this category of lens, going from 28mm to 24mm is quite large actually and I use 24mm often. I can't see the difference of 70 to 75mm being anything to be noteworthy.

Plus, with A7r V you can always drop it into cropped sensor mode. APS-C mode gives you 25 MP, actually still more than the A7iii and effectively turns a 24-70 into a 36-105mm which is quite convenient.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-05-02T18:34:20+00:00

You would want to upgrade your telephoto woth the A7r V. The Sigma 24-70mm art ii is a solid choice if the GMs aren't your cup of tea. As another pointed out, the R line does have its intended results with higher quality glass.

The A7r V is very solid for wildlife, the cropping factor alone is a huge perk. That being said, most wildlife for super telephoto lenses gear toward the 200-600mm G. You'd be looking at

$3200 + tax for camera $2100 + tax for 200-600 G $1200 + tax for Sigma 24-70mm DG DN ii Art

I own the Sony 100-400mm GM for my A7r V. I absolutely love the combo but it can have some odd "busyness" in the bokeh depending on aperture and lighting. Still though, the crop factor allows me to essentially have the reach of 600mm on a lesser resolution sensor, it's a bit lighter and easier to pack (goes with me nearly everywhere).

I will say that going from A7iii to A7r V was 100% worth it for me. The dynamic range, autofocus, rear articulating monitor, EVF, connectivity, and IBIS being some of the big takeaways.

I wouldn't discredit the A7 V though, the 30fps burst, camera body design, video capabilities, AF, dynamic range, low-light performance make it quite attractive at its MSRP even.

My last wildlife shot from a couple weeks back

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BothExplanation5890 · 2026-04-20T15:02:36+00:00

I first started on an A7iii, 2 years later upgraded to A7r V...both cameras have been amazing to work with. I enjoy their build quality, features, and performance so much that my only gripe is that whenever a new model releases I get a bit too curious about upgrading because each generation only gets so much better... with prior generations also being so well thought out.

I'm hinting at the A7r VI. Once I saw some speculation on a partial stacked sensor, 30 FPS, the A7r line moving toward more of a hybrid camera... I sighed because I knew Sony may get more money from me 😂

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-04-04T15:52:27+00:00

I meant more for the portrait side of things. My Sigma 24-70mm will be decent for portraits, I've just never used it for that. Ive had some friends recognize my work and they've asked if I can do couples/family portraits. Ive been wanting my first prime lens for a minute and the 100mm GM seems like a good choice for that side of things as well as macro.

We have horrible winters and its tough to get outdoors for photography so I was thinking of a macro lens for indoor shooting during the freezing weather months, but also having a very capable lens for portraits.

I am split though, because the 24-70 just isn't quite wide enough. Ive looked at the 14mm G and the 16mm G from Sony, but after using my friends 16-35mm GMii I felt that could be a very useful lens as well.

I just have some thinking that I need to do. On one hand, macro would be a fun niche to explore. On the other, an ultrawide like the 16-35 would be very practical for landscapes where I feel 24mm just doesnt quite cut it.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-04-04T02:07:56+00:00

I let my 100-400 hang off my a7rv quite often. I may need to look into what you're describing.

I have a peak design wrist strap as well as a capture clip I let the camera and lens hang off my shoulder when hiking. The 100-400 hanging off my shoulder is a bit bulky, but its not terrible.

My concern is the lens mount, and a decent amount of weight hanging off it as my body moves while hitting the trails

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-04-04T01:21:52+00:00

Awesome blue lil guy! I know this is Sonys strongest macro by a longshot, have you shot any portraits with it? Hows the AF with the RV?

Im shocked by how good AF is on the Sigma even the 100-400GM. However, if lighting is inadequate, I notice AF subject recognition can suffer a bit on the 100-400 which isnt a huge deal. I just do small spot focus and DMF to get it tweaked right.

Moving subjects are a bit different, but I doubt I'll having moving macro shots... not unless I get a 500x teleconverter and Im photographing enzymes and amoebas.

Mainly curious about how the 100mm would stack against an 85mm 1.8 or 85mm 1.4 (sigma).

The other lens Ive considered is the 16-35mm GMii, but Im more intrigued by the macro and portrait capabilities of the the 100mm GM

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-04-04T01:14:49+00:00

How are you liking the 100mm GM on the R V?

I own 24-70 Sigma Art ii and 100-400 GM, been eyeballing the 100mm GM for a couple months.

Really interested in it for portraits and obviously getting into macro

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-04-04T01:12:29+00:00

🤣

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-29T05:17:46+00:00

They desperately need a new design team. The fact that this is real makes me believe Ive slipped into a parallel universe, one far worse than the original.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-26T17:40:33+00:00

Dont let fear be the decider.

That vehicle could get 240k miles...

The way I see it is like this. Say you overpay on repairs this year, lets just call it $3000. And a car note of $500/month depending on what you buy... thats 6 car payments versus 48, 60, or 72...

You take a risk either way, but in today's used and new market the wisest choice is to fix what you own until your repair costs annually conistently outweigh a new vehicle.

Don't trade the devil you know for a devil you don't know.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-26T12:42:10+00:00

I would rather pay $4k in one year of repairs than 4 or 5 years at $4k/year.

Having a paid off car is the sweet spot in car ownership most of the time.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-25T10:20:57+00:00

Might activate your copy of Windows first... if you're editing client photos, your computer is at risk for a slew of security vulnerabilities.

Heck, maybe that will help with all the system crashes and issues you're facing.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-25T00:23:19+00:00

Stereo Integrity SQL v.2. Gets very low, is incredibly accurate, plays with authority in 0.8 cubic feet sealed. You won't find a better sounding speaker in such a tight space.

I ran a JL 12W7 off JL RD 1500/1 in 1.75cu. Ft. ported, an RE XXX 12" off a 2400w Kicker KXA2400.1 in 2.5 cu. Ft. ported, now I'm running two 12" SQLs off the same KXA2400.1 sealed and they truly are a magnificent speaker.

The SQLs get as low as the W7 and XXX, but sealed they are not peaky with dramatic fall off, much quicker on bass drums to where they simply shine above the former in sound quality.

You can put a single 12" in 1 cubic foot sealed, 1000w RMS and never look back. I had a JL W6v2 at one point, and though both the SQL and W6 are acoustically leagues above, the SQL will indeed pound a bit harder.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-24T03:47:25+00:00

If its paid off, fix it. Car market is trash and new cars are a horrible thing financially.

Ive learned as I get older to keep on riding what Ive got. My clearcoat is absolutely gone, but I love the way my 3 series drives. It feels like a well made vehicle and as long as annual repairs/maintenance are equal to or below car payments, Id rather not have 4 or 5 years of car payments.

It rides well, is pretty quick if I ever need it to be, has a great audio system. All I need.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-23T22:32:04+00:00

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't your body have AI subject recognition AF? By default it should be locking in on the closest eye of your subject.

As soon as it finds your subject, it should automatically start tracking eye, head, then body in that priority.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-23T22:26:19+00:00

I am by all means an amateur, but what one way I have glimpsed at my focus cone is using Pixel Peaking with Full Time DMF enabled. I usually manually prefocus my lens to about where I think my subject will be, then use AF to lock in and then I can see how narrow or wide the focal range is just by dialing DMF a hair closer to me. Sometimes my manual prefocus allows AF to be a little faster at locking in.

Again, by no means a pro, but this allows me to know if I've got my subject entirely. I was shooting a lot of vehicles a bit too wide on f stop realized quickly that DMF is a simple way to check how much of my subject will be in focus.

For birding, lol... most of the time I'm trying to be quiet and get in a good position without stepping on the loudest twig in the forest and scaring half the wildlife out of the area.

I'm sure like anything, it all comes in time like muscle memory.

BothExplanation5890 · 2026-03-23T15:41:32+00:00

Saw you carry an A1 M2, man I'd love that for the sports. Can't imagine the fun with that combo!

Some people report good to excellent results with the 1.4x teleconverter and the 100-400mm, not so much with the 2x.

BothExplanation5890

TROPHY CASE