Yellowstone National Park, Arches National Par, and Canyonlands National Park

Spent three days at Yellowstone National Park checking out all the Geyser Basins, wildlife, and Canyons. It was extremely scenic and there were large herds of Bison everywhere and the appearance of Yellow-Bellied Marmots as well. Great Trip through one of the oldest national parks in the USA.



We spent some days afterwards in the desert driving through Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park as well. The formations and the beauty of the natural canyons was amazing.

Sony A7R IV Specs relased

Sony just release the incredible specs for their A7R IV and its pretty amazing. Here is the rundown:

- 61 mp with 26 mp APS-C mode
- 15 stops of Dynamic Range
- Native ISO of 100 to 32,000
- 567 Phase detect AF points
- Improved dust and Moisture sealing
- 4k video at 30fps with eye-Af
- Dual UHS-II slots

Its all pretty amazing and puts Sony well ahead of the pack.

Rocky Mountains National Park Tour

Its been four years since I've been to Rocky Mountains National Park and this time was just a one day drive through instead of a three day tour of the park. However, we did get some good shots of Elk in the park and one of the big Marmot Lords came out and posed for us. Giant Mountain Rats are cute:

Badlands, Black Hills, and Devil's Tower

This is the second time I'm been through the Badlands/Black Hills/Mount Rushmore area. I first came here 4 years ago but this time it was with my family. Last time I spent much more time here than this but this was a one day trip through the area. I did get a better shot of Mount Rushmore but it was closed so I could not get any closer. Devil's tower was quite a sight to behold, wanted to climb it, but don't have any equipment and the parents where there. There are a lot of Dinosaur Museums in the area.

Wall Drug Shopping

Wall Drug is one of the biggest Tourist traps in the United States. It attracts million of people each year yet is little more than a bunch of gift shops and one(not very good) restaurant. I have stopped there twice and this time walked around the shops and ate the food there, here's how it went:

Nikon Z5 to launch later this year

Nikon's Z5, a lower end Mirrorless Camera from Nikon, is set to release later this year. It should be under $1000 but the real question is, is it APS-C or Full Frame? To me, it makes more sense that it is full-frame because that would put it in direct competition with the Canon EOS RP which I think it could out-compete. If they go the APS-C route, that would put it into competition with Sony's APS-C Models and Olympus's APS-C models which would be much tougher competition.

Sony to introduce new telephoto lenses

Sony is set to introduce two new telephoto lenses. A professional 600mm prime f/4 and a semi-pro 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 lens. The 600mm price will most likely be priced at $12,000+ while the 200-600mm would hopefully be priced around $1500 but more likely at around $2500. Sony is finally solidifying their telephoto collection and hopefully we will soon see more affordable glass because of this.

Olbrich Botanical Gardens Tour

One of my favorite places to visit and photograph in Madison is Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Today I take you inside to both the indoor gardens and the outdoor gardens now that it is finally summer.

Nikon Z6 vs Sony A7III Eye AF test and Sony A7II only $1000 on amazon

There was a Eye AF shootout between the Sony A7III and the Nikon Z6 and the Sony won because it could focus on the eye at a farther distance than the Nikon can. Also, the older Sony A7II is available for only $998(with lens) on amazon.

Nikon's yearly Report Out

Nikon's Quarterly report came out today and it shows more contraction overall in the interchangable lens camera market. Overall sales are down year over year by 18% and DSLR sales are especially lagging at the entry level end due to the rise of cellphone image quality. Sales of full frames like the D850 are strong but sales of the Z6 and Z7 are not quite as strong despite marketing. This is most likely due to the fact that Nikon's mirrorless line does not have that many lenses and is still outclassed by Sony's line overall.