[قسم التحرير/الكتاب “اشتروا هذا” هذا العام! ]Now you can work with a single 20-70mm camera lens – the PC watch

Although my main job is writing, the ability to take photos is also very important in my work. Even if it’s impossible to take artistic photos like a professional photographer, you want to be able to take photos that the general public can see. However, I think that sometimes it’s better not to take pictures if they’re really bad, so I rely on machines to make up for my lack of skill.

That’s why in the spring of 2023 I added a new lens to the Sony α7 III, which I’ve been using as my main camera for the past few years. It’s called the “FE 20-70mm F4 G” (SEL2070G). The reason I chose this camera wasn’t because of the image quality, but because it has an angle of view that seems to suit my current work better, and it seems to be lightweight. So, in conclusion, you are absolutely right.

Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G Zoom Lens (SEL2070G)

When it comes to situations where I need to take photos, most of the time I’m photographing things (like the gear I’m reviewing on PC Watch!) or taking portraits during interviews, but I should also take photos of things at events. And indoors/buildings. Although we occasionally cover track racing, photographers are usually responsible for the important driving scenes, so there is no need for so-called ‘long takes’. All you need is a zoom lens that can capture objects at a wide angle when you are in a small room, and allows you to get closer to objects and people.

In this sense, I think the SEL2070G was the better choice. At first I was concerned about the lack of both wide angle and telephoto ends, but in the end that covered almost all of my uses, and 99% of my annual shooting scenes were completed with this one lens. .

Up until then, I had mainly used a 24-240mm zoom lens, but since I bought it, I don’t use it much anymore, and I think I’ve only changed lenses two or three times this year. Presumably, that would be around the World Trial Championship held at Mobility Resort Motegi in May and the Honda Fan Event in December. In the end, I’ve never used a 16-35mm wide angle lens.

“Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS” (left) and “FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS” (right) have noticeably reduced appearance

The 24-240mm was heavy and large, and the minimum shooting distance (0.5-0.8m) was far away and difficult to handle, while the SEL2070G is very lightweight and compact, making it easy to get close to (minimum shooting distance 0.25-0.3m). M).I was grateful. I feel like my mobility has increased by 20% just by doing this. I feel like the image quality or resolution has improved a lot, there are a lot of good things about it. Its downsides might be that it costs nearly 200,000 yen including the filter, and that it’s starting to fuel my desire for a smaller camera body.