Professional car photography is not only challenging but also full of dangers, which are definitely unimaginable for ordinary people! To take satisfactory photos in such a difficult environment, photographers need a camera that does twice the result with half the effort to complete the task in the shortest possible time and safely. In the eyes of extreme car photographer Xu Yien, Sony α7R V is such a camera. As for what features of α7R V make him full of praise? This exclusive interview will give you an in-depth understanding.
about | Xu Yien Ian
A well-known professional automotive photographer in the industry. I love traveling and outdoor extreme sports, like to observe various details in daily life, and have the courage to try bold and trendy special shooting techniques, just to take stunning photos.
Currently operating
What made you get into photography? Why focus on car photography?
The reason is that my grandfather left a film camera to me when I was a child. I didn’t know anything at that time, so I was groping around on my own and I didn’t expect to get interested in it. At that time, the fastest way for ordinary people to get into the photography industry was to take wedding photos. So when I was in high school, I decided to work part-time. I worked as a photography assistant in a bridal shop during the day and went back to school at night. I spent three years like this. After graduating from high school, I finally became a full-time photographer. However, after taking wedding photos for a while, I found that I prefer documentary subjects, such as the moment when the bride bids farewell to her parents during the wedding. The emotions of reluctance and touching are very real. I think that moment is great and worth paying attention to. Record.
Later, by chance, I got a job shooting a car event, which is documentary photography like weddings. In addition, I am also interested in playing with cars, so I thought it would be great if I could combine these two interests. . As for taking the road of car photography, it was mainly because a car manufacturer accidentally saw my wedding work on the Internet and thought that the shooting techniques were flexible, so he asked me to try shooting some small projects first. After several happy cooperations, After that, he officially entered the field of automotive photography.
▲ Xu Yien, who started out in the wedding photography industry, has done wedding photography along the way. Because of his shooting techniques, he was appreciated by car manufacturers, and then embarked on the road of professional car photography.
For good car photography, location and viewing angle are very important. Share your personal experience with readers!
For me, the preparatory work for car photography is very important. The time I spend on formulating the shooting plan (including site survey) basically exceeds the time of pressing the shutter. Before every trip, I will carefully understand the car to be photographed, including the make, model, and what special meaning the brand gives to this car… and so on. For example, if a certain brand launches a commemorative edition of a sports car, I will find out why the brand launched the commemorative edition and what is the tone of the car? Any fascinating stories? Then think about which places in Taiwan can fit well with these car-related elements, because when the video works can be highly connected to Taiwan’s local characteristics, consumers can easily resonate and identify with the products presented in the works.
After finding a suitable shooting location, the next thing to think about is how to pose for a static shot? Or do you want to capture photos with a sense of speed? If it’s the former, you have to set the location where the car should be fixed while conducting a site survey? Which direction is better for the front of the car to face? Or what time of day and angle is best for shooting?
If you choose dynamic capture, you must first confirm the suitable location, timing and composition of the shutter on the preset route, and even consider legal issues, etc. After all the shooting is completed, the electrical repair stage begins. It can be said that pressing the shutter button is the easiest part of the entire shooting process.
▲ Xu Yien believes that the work must be highly connected with Taiwan’s local characteristics so that consumers can resonate and identify with the car. (Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM, 34mm, F7.1, 1/80s, ISO 100) (See big picture）
What are the camera requirements for photographing car themes?use α7R V What’s the biggest feeling of shooting?
I think the first requirement is “focus speed”. It can be said that focus speed is the key to everything in car photography. No matter how high the pixels or the powerful lens you have, once the focus speed cannot keep up with the car, it will all be in vain. . For car photography, the most beautiful pictures are often fleeting, so the camera in your hand must be able to enter combat mode immediately. After using α7R V to shoot several cases this time, I think its autofocus The performance is very trustworthy. Furthermore, the advanced subject recognition function brought by the AI processing unit also impressed me deeply, because most of the time when taking pictures of cars, there must be people. After all, cars are driven by people, or they may be at press conferences, event venues, or exhibitions. There will also be car models, singers, brand representatives, etc. around the car, so during the shooting process, you often have to decide immediately whether to focus on the car or the person at the moment.
For example, when I am taking a picture of a car, someone happens to walk into the frame behind the car. At this time, no matter how the camera focus system determines, it will be greatly affected, or it may be that the car is clearly being photographed, but the focus point jumps. When it comes to the people behind, if there are too many situations like this, it will cause great trouble to the photographer. In addition to the original people, animals and birds, the AI processing unit of α7R V can also recognize cars (editor’s note: trains, planes and insects), so I can choose the right one for the object I want to photograph. Identify the target, so that the focus frame will be firmly locked on the subject without being interfered by other elements in the picture, allowing the shooting to proceed more smoothly.
▲ Xu Yien emphasized that the most important thing for car photography is the camera’s focusing speed! If the camera has reliable object recognition capabilities, it will definitely bring positive help to shooting. The autofocus performance of α7R V will give him enough confidence. (Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G, F16, 1/50s, ISO 100) (See big picture）
α7R V of AI How else can a processing unit help with photographing cars?
I used α7R V to shoot a BMW new car launch event a while ago. The car dealer invited some artists to perform on that day. The environment at the scene was actually quite harsh for shooting, because in addition to the smoke produced by the cigarette machine from time to time , as well as the interference of artists singing and dancing on stage and Spotlight. Fortunately, with the help of the α7R V’s AI processing unit, the entire shooting process was very smooth. Whether I wanted to focus on a car or an artist, I could do whatever I wanted without being affected by various environmental factors.
Like the photo below, artists and dancers are performing in the front, and the new car announced this time is parked in the back. At this time, I set the identification target to “human” and focused on the artist in the front. No matter what the artist is in the process Moving, even intersecting with dancers from time to time due to movement requirements, the focus of α7R V is firmly locked on the artist from beginning to end. The same thing happened in another photo, except that the subject turned into a car. Before taking the photo, I set the recognition target to “car”. At this time, I can see on the screen that the α7R V automatically recognized the car. , and then the focus frame will automatically lock without being interfered by the “people” in the picture. The stability is really reliable.
▲▼ Xu Yien was full of praise for the performance of the α7R V’s AI processing unit. He said that as long as the target to be identified is set correctly, the focus system of the α7R V will firmly lock on the subject, regardless of the “person” or “person” being photographed. No matter how the car moves, the α7R V will not be disturbed. (Above: Sony α7R V + SEL85F18, F1.8, 1/60s, ISO 50〔See big picture〕; Picture below: Sony α7R V + SEL100400GM, 160mm, F14, 1/60s, ISO 100〔See big picture〕）
In addition, I found that because the α7R V has an AI processing unit, it is more convenient to take dynamic focus photos on the road or track, because after the AI processing unit recognizes the target object, the focus frame will be firmly locked. I think When I was shooting the car, no matter how I moved the camera, re-adjusted the composition, or other cars came into the frame, I didn’t have to worry about out-of-focus or out-of-focus situations. This not only made the process smoother , can also greatly reduce the steps and time during post-production.
▲ Taking dynamic focus photos on the road or track with the α7R V is so easy. The main reason is that after the AI processing unit recognizes the target object, the focus frame will firmly lock it, and the camera can be re-adjusted no matter how it is moved during the process. There is no need to worry about out-of-focus or out-of-focus shots even when other vehicles enter the frame. (Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G, F16, 1/80s, ISO 100) (See big picture）
α7R V of 6,100 How helpful are megapixels for photographing cars?
I think the following are the benefits of high pixels for car photography. First, it is convenient to collect materials so that the image can be used more flexibly, because to achieve a perfect car image work, sometimes it needs to be achieved through post-production and synthesis. For example, the building in the background of the photo below is not originally big enough, resulting in visual distortion. The effect is not very balanced. At this time, I can shoot the material of the building separately, then synthesize it through post-production, and then enlarge the proportion to make the work more perfect. The α7R V has 61 million high pixels, so it can be used when compositing the material. There is greater scaling flexibility.
The second is to make up for the shortcomings of the focal length of the lens. Especially on the track, due to safety considerations, photographers can only shoot at a few fixed positions outside the guardrails. In addition to the very limited viewing angle, the shooting distance is also a big challenge, unless you have an extra-long camera of more than 600mm. Focal length lens, but for the sake of mobility, most car photographers are unlikely to buy that kind of lens. At most, it is a 100-400mm zoom lens. At this time, the advantage of α7R V’s high pixels becomes apparent! Because the pixels are up to 61 million, it provides much more cropping flexibility than other cameras. If combined with the APS-C mode, it can meet almost all long-distance shooting needs of automotive photography.
▲ Relying on the 61 million pixels of α7R V to obtain the image materials needed for post-production synthesis can make the work more perfect. (Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM, 24mm, F5, 3.2s, ISO 320) (See big picture）
▲ The 61-megapixel high pixels of the α7R V can make up for the lack of focal length of the lens and make the composition more flexible. (Sony α7R V + SEL100400GM, 187mm, F18, 1/60s, ISO 100) (See big picture）
use α7R V What are the main lenses used for photographing cars? Does the overall performance meet your needs?
I mainly use SEL20F18G, SEL2470GM2, SEL70200GM, SEL85F18 and SEL100400GM lenses. In terms of ratio, SEL2470GM2 and SEL100400GM have the highest attendance rate. My recent shooting spanned indoors, outdoors, on roads and racetracks, including dark, high-contrast, high-speed and other scenes. When paired with the above-mentioned Sony original lenses, the α7R V has excellent performance in terms of focus speed and image quality. The quality of performance is of a very high level and is reassuring.
In particular, the SEL2470GM2 connected to the α7RV not only focuses very quickly, but the picture quality is also quite sharp. What is even more amazing to me is that light sources such as Spotlight are always indispensable at press conferences or events. Past experience has been that when Spotlight is swept over, it affects the camera. It is said that there are rapid and large changes in light and shade. At this time, the focus box often fails to focus. However, with α7RV and SEL2470G2, you don’t have to worry about the stage lights sweeping around, because at this time, the focus frame is still firmly locked on the subject. , it was really easy to shoot the whole scene.
▲ After several actual shootings, Xu Yien found that the SEL2470GM2 coupled with the α7RV not only focuses very fast, but also has very sharp image quality. In the case of dim indoors and interference from Spotlight light sources, the focusing performance of the α7R V paired with the SEL2470GM2 is still sharp. (Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM2, 57mm, F7.1, 1.6s, ISO 100) (See big picture）
▲ This is a 100% crop of the focus point in the above image. You can clearly see that even when shooting in harsh environments, the image quality captured by α7R V with SEL2470GM2 is still quite sharp and excellent.
α7R V What other functions or features can help with car photography?
I must praise the α7R V’s four-axis multi-angle flip screen. This new structural design can be said to be of great help to my shooting. In order to enrich the viewing angle of the picture, I often have to take pictures from different special angles. However, most professional cameras today, even if they are equipped with a flip screen, can only flip up and down. The α7R V combines up and down flips with side flips. With two flip modes, I can not only take pictures from more angles calmly, but also no longer have to take pictures in weird postures. To put it bluntly, it is more ergonomic and makes shooting easier and more comfortable.
▲ The α7RV’s four-axis multi-angle flip screen design makes shooting from special angles easier and more comfortable than ever before. In particular, automotive photography often uses straight-frame low-angle compositions, and the flip structure design of the α7R V screen allows photographers to shoot calmly .
To summarize the use during this period α7R V What’s your experience!
After using it for a while, I like its “autofocus performance” and “four-axis multi-angle flip screen design” the most. As mentioned before, the α7R V has advanced subject recognition functions brought by the AI processing unit. It makes photographing cars easier than before, especially when facing harsh or extreme environments, which highlights the advantages of the AI processing unit; and the four-axis multi-angle flip screen makes special viewing angles friendlier and more convenient. Easy, this kind of combination of up and down flipping and side flipping methods, and even supports straight high and low angle flipping, is undoubtedly even more powerful for me.
No matter how many features are mentioned, I think it is more practical to experience it in person, but believe me, you will definitely fall in love with the beauty of α7R V after trying it.
More uses by Xu Yien α7R V Photographed works
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F1.8、1/2.5s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM，F6.3、4s、ISO 125（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM2，70mm、F2.8、1/3200s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL100400GM，154mm、F11、1/100s、ISO 800（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F5、1/5s、ISO 50（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F4、1s、ISO 200（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F1.8、1/250s、ISO 250（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL85F18，F5.6、1/60s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F5、0.8s、ISO 50（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM2，24mm、F22、1/13s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F16、1/60s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM，45mm、F22、1/60s、ISO 125（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM2，50mm、F2.8、1/25s、ISO 160（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL100400GM，297mm、F14、1/60s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F2.5、1/40s、ISO 320（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F7.1、2s、ISO 50（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F1.8、1/125s、ISO 1000（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM2，45mm、F2.8、1/125s、ISO 100（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL20F18G，F7.1、1s、ISO 200（See big picture）
▲ Sony α7R V + SEL2470GM2，32mm、F3.5、1/15s、ISO 640（See big picture）
