Chris Schmid - Camera and kit for wildlife photography
Reading Time: 4 minutes - August 26, 2020 - Sony interview with Chris Schmid
When you only have a few seconds to take a picture, the camera needs to be perfectly set up and ready to go. Wildlife photographer Chris Schmid shares insights into the equipment he takes with him on his adventures for his incredible wildlife shots.
This blog post was provided by Sony. Chris Schmid is a Sony Europe Imaging Ambassador. Find out more about his work here: Chris Schmid. We look forward to your feedback on this post! Just send us an e-mail to content@fotokoch.ee
Chris SchmidLess is more
Chris is lucky enough to own a Sony Alpha 9 and a pair of Sony Alpha 7R III cameras, but only chooses a single lens for each camera to fulfill a very specific purpose. "About 75% of my shots are taken on the Sony Alpha 9 with the FE 400mm f/2.8 GM lens, sometimes in combination with the 1.4x teleconverter. I use my Alpha 7R III cameras with the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM and FE 24-105mm f/4 G lenses. That's all I need, and I don't have any other lenses with me."
There are two reasons why Chris doesn't carry a large number of fixed focal length lenses. Firstly, he doesn't want to burden himself with unnecessarily heavy luggage, and secondly, he deliberately opts for a minimalist selection of lenses. He explains: "Many photographers have tons of lenses with them. But a large selection can make it difficult to decide on a model. You may waste unnecessary time choosing or changing lenses and miss out on the best shots."
Chris SchmidFlexibility counts
Flexibility is important. Although Chris uses the 400mm f/2.8 lens, he doesn't use tripods or monopods. Instead, he uses the camera's SteadyShot function so that he can hold the camera in his hand. This keeps him mobile and allows him to take his animal pictures close to the ground. Although Chris prefers to shoot with the electronic viewfinder, the display, which folds out to the rear, can also be helpful for capturing an image from a slightly different perspective when shooting very close to the ground.
Having full control of the camera settings
Although Chris likes to rely on functions such as the fast autofocus tracking of the Sony Alpha 9, he wants to have complete control over the exposure and therefore uses the manual exposure mode. Chris explains: "I usually work in full manual exposure mode because I already have the image in my head before I even look through the viewfinder." Chris then adjusts the exposure according to his preferences. He believes that working in this way helps you enormously because you always know exactly what you want to achieve.
Chris SchmidGetting the best results with the electronic viewfinder
By setting up the picture style to be as close to what he wants as possible, Chris is able to clearly visualize the image through the Alpha 9 and Alpha 7R III 's electronic viewfinder. He explains: "I try to get the exposure and image as close to what I want as possible. But I tend to prioritize bright areas, knowing that I can underexpose the image to get a particularly striking sky and then adjust the shadows when editing the raw image. Both the Alpha 9 and the Alpha 7R III have sensors that give me the dynamic range I need."
Chris Schmid
Chris Schmid
