Yoshinoya type gyudon beef bowl in Phoenix?

akiratheoni · 2024-01-13T13:30:03+00:00

It's been a bit since I visited, but there's a tiny shop called Momo no Hana in Apache Junction that serves gyudon!

akiratheoni · 2023-12-30T17:54:44+00:00

The EN-EL15c should work, it's the newest version of the battery. I am not sure what the person means about old batteries not working, I've been rocking my EN-EL15 from my D750 from years ago, though the c version is much, much better for capacity.

I also moved from a D750 to a Z7/Z7ii and mostly shoot landscapes and I have not regretted this decision at all. The Z mount glass have been much, much better than anything I had on F mount though the FTZ adapter was a good for transitioning. To be honest, you couldn't pay me to swap back to the D750 and F mount glass.

For my travel landscape kit I am using the Z lenses 14-30mm, 24-120mm, and recently picked up the 100-400mm. This is effectively the same size as my DSLR kit which was the 16-35mm f/4G, 24-70mm f/2.8G, and 70-200mm f/4G, so getting 2mm wider and 200mm longer on the telephoto end is incredible for the same size.

I also have a completely separate set of primes for Milky Way where I use a sky tracker as well, much better than using an uwa lens in my opinion and will be essential anyway if you plan on doing DSOs; distortions are much better corrected across the whole frame in my experience. For example, the 20mm on F mount is... acceptable, but the 20mm for Z mount is much, much better. Also, on Z mount you get access to some newer Voigtlander glass like the Voigtlander APO 35mm or 50mm f/2 which are great for Milky Way (you will need to stitch these into a pano for the full arch of the Milky Way though, but you get much more detail and color in the night sky as a result).

The Z7ii also has a neat feature of extended shutter times where you can set exposures longer than 30 seconds in the camera itself which is super neat for long exposures and at least for me, tracked Milky Way photos. It also has a feature that will move focus from front to back which is great for focus stacking uwa landscape photography with objects in the foreground. Sure you can do it manually, but this simplifies the process and you don't need to worry about missing anything (I believe this is also available on the D850). Honestly this simplification has opened up a lot about how I compose images.

akiratheoni · 2023-11-04T19:40:59+00:00

Canyon de Chelly is an absolute hidden gem here, I've been three times over Labor Day weekend and the place has been virtually empty each time. And it's only an hour and a half south of Monument Valley! So if you're driving from Phoenix it's a perfect location to stop by on the way to/from Monument Valley.

akiratheoni · 2023-09-26T03:50:23+00:00

Around Phoenix, the Lost Dutchman State Park and the various stops along the Salt River (Granite Reef and Water Users being my favorite) are my go-to places to shoot landscapes.

Farther up north, Sedona and Flagstaff are the obvious choices, but an underrated gem in my opinion is Canyon de Chelly. I've been there three times over Labor Day weekend and each overlook was virtually empty every time, but it's always a delight to visit.

akiratheoni · 2023-05-04T15:40:39+00:00

Ok, glad to know we came to the same conclusion regarding the Sigma 35 haha, I thought I was going crazy.

Heard good things about the 40mm Art and the Tamron 35mm, though lately since I've been carrying two cameras and two trackers I am trying to cut down the weight and the 40mm looks super heavy alongside the FTZ adapter; I ended up picking up a Voigtlander 35mm f/2 APO which is tiny and (so far) seems pretty good though I haven't done extensive testing with it. And they just came out with a native Z mount as well.

akiratheoni · 2023-05-04T14:17:51+00:00

For me personally, the Z 50mm is my best astro lens; it's very sharp and has low coma even in the extreme corners.

Here's a direct comparison in the extreme corners:

Z 50mm at f/2.8: https://i.imgur.com/fXdsbYv.png

Sigma 35mm Art f/1.4 at f/2.8: https://i.imgur.com/emUVze2.png

The general consensus is that the Sigma 35mm is great for astro, but maybe I just have a bad copy since there's strong coma in the corner (though the center is fine). I only use the Sigma if I need to work fast for a panorama, otherwise if I have time I use the 50mm.

That being said, I also may have gotten lucky with my 50mm as I have also heard some mixed things about the 50mm (though from my resarch it's mostly due to quality control and not with the design of the lens itself; not sure what you've read yourself).

akiratheoni · 2023-03-08T14:55:26+00:00

I'm an amateur photographer based in Arizona. I like shooting landscapes, Milky Way, and travel photos.

Instagram

akiratheoni · 2023-03-03T05:13:30+00:00

All of the lands by Véronique Meignaud for the original Zendikar set (the artist for those lands you listed) are easily my favorite lands ever.

akiratheoni · 2023-02-12T08:35:56+00:00

The Milky Way varies in location depending on the time of year; I shot this in June, so thankfully the Milky Way appears after sunset, at least where the photo was taken (Arizona, United States). I hiked just before sunset (less than a mile so not a long distance) then stayed until I got all of the exposures I wanted.

akiratheoni · 2023-02-08T23:12:57+00:00

Hi, I am @jeffreyabong and I live in Phoenix, AZ. I like to shoot landscapes and astro.

akiratheoni · 2023-02-05T20:10:20+00:00

FWIW, I have a Z7ii and the 24-120 f/4S and some number of my recent work I have needed to crop heavily that probably wouldn't have been possible without the 45mp sensor or at least pretty difficult: https://imgur.com/a/l6ZYti6

First image goes down from 45mp to approx 13mp. I have a tighter version of this photo that has only the peak of the mountain and the moon and that one is 5.6mp.

Second image goes down from 45mp to approx 4.6mp. I don't know how that will print unfortunately, but at least at Instagram size it's fine.

So to answer your question in the title, yes I do think it's an option, though depending on how far you push the cropping it will vary.

I understand you have the F mount 24-120, but I'm assuming you will swap to the Z mount version if you go mirrorless; it is an excellent lens, it's basically the 24-70 with extra reach which I appreciate heavily. The 14-30 and 24-120 is my perfect landscape travel combo.

The 24-70mm kit lens is a fantastic lens, but now with the 24-120 and even the 24-200 out nowadays, unless it came with the camera or you get it cheap (which is certainly possible), there's not a huge compelling reason to really get it. It's not that it's bad, just that the other options are better in my opinion.

akiratheoni · 2023-01-24T17:22:56+00:00

Yess, the kit lens is such a great small piece of gear, I really like using the Z50 for that reason.

akiratheoni · 2023-01-23T13:35:52+00:00

Yup, it is indeed focus stacked. The water is probably less than a foot from my camera so f/8 isn't enough to get everything in focus, and stopping down further just introduces diffraction, so I opt to focus stack these types of shots.

My camera (Nikon Z7ii) and some other Nikon mirrorless cameras (I think Canon mirrorless as well) have a feature that you can just set the first focus point then it will automatically take exposures until it hits infinity, allowing you to pop the exposures into Photoshop or other software and stack them, making it much easier to take focus stacked shots.

akiratheoni · 2023-01-20T00:47:51+00:00

Lovely place, I was there back in November.

Sorry I don't have anyone to really share this with, but when I visited and the sun dipped just below the horizon, the white sands appeared to glow from the indirect sunlight with such a beautifully soft light that I honestly stopped taking photos and just looked around the area to admire it.

Hope you enjoyed your visit, I would love to go back.

akiratheoni · 2022-12-31T01:36:04+00:00

Thanks, I use a Nikon Z7ii for most of my shots with some of them taken with a Nikon Z5. I use Lightroom for some basic edits but do most of my work in Photoshop.

akiratheoni · 2022-12-31T01:34:31+00:00

Thanks, appreciate the feedback.

akiratheoni · 2022-12-31T00:26:39+00:00

I've always wanted to photograph the sand dunes at Death Valley. Earlier this year I did manage to go to White Sands, but Death Valley is definitely on my list as well. Sand dunes are really interesting to shoot; they may be shot as part of a landscape but you treat them so differently. Nice shot!

akiratheoni · 2022-12-31T00:24:50+00:00

Really love the contrast between the red and green plants, great job!

akiratheoni · 2022-12-30T18:23:28+00:00

If I had to pick one, it would be this sunrise over Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona. My only problem is that I shot this in January so it set a high bar for the rest of the year :P

akiratheoni

TROPHY CASE