After a few years of mounting frustration with my Canon gear, in the summer of 2019 I decided it was time for a change.  Ever since upgrading to the Canon 5D Mark IV in early 2018, I felt like something was “off”.  I started to question my own technical abilities as a photographer because, all of a sudden, I was struggling with focus more than I’d ever struggled in my career.  My keeper rate was declining and even shooting at f/4 or higher, I was struggling to nail focus consistently.  I was SO frustrated.  On top of the technical issues I was experiencing, I was starting to have really bad wrist pain.  It got so bad during my spring season in 2019 that I couldn’t even hold my toothbrush to brush my teeth after a triple header wedding weekend.  I knew something had to give.

After a particularly tough stretch, I saw a conversation in one of my photography Facebook groups about how much better Sony was with focusing.  I was very much intrigued and started to do my own research on the topic.  The consensus from people who had previously switched from Canon to Sony was that it had been a good decision for them… so I decided to take the leap.  This is a decision I didn’t take lightly.  I’ve been a ride-or-die Canon girl for YEARS.  But after weighing my options and hearing all of the glowing reviews about the new Sony mirrorless system, I had to check it out for myself… and once I actually got my hands on it, I was pretty much instantly sold!

Coming from the Canon 5D Mark IV, I decided to go with the Sony a7riii.  From everything I had read, this would be the best camera for me as a wedding photographer.  While the super large RAW files were an initial concern at 42mp, it was a trade off that I was willing to make for better focus.  After all, storage space and memory cards are relatively cheap these days and I NEED a camera system that is reliable and consistent.  If I can’t trust my equipment to do what it’s supposed to do, then what’s the point?

I bought the Sigma MC-11 adapter so that I could still use my Canon lenses with my new Sony system.  I LOVE my Canon 24-70 f/2.8L II lens, so being able to keep my Canon lenses and still use them with the Sony camera body was a HUGE advantage.  To be honest, the thought of selling all of my Canon lenses and moving to native Sony lenses is daunting.  Sony lenses are expensive and I’ve invested a lot of money into Canon glass already.  The adapter works well and, even after shooting with a native Sony lens for a bit, I didn’t see any difference in the image quality… so I’ll be sticking with the adapter and my Canon lenses, at least for now.

My one and only stumbling block came when I went to photograph my first dark wedding reception using the Sony.  I had bought two Godox v860ii flashes to replace my Canon speedlites, but quickly learned that the AF assist beams on the Godox flashes do not work with Sony mirrorless cameras… and the on-camera AF illuminator on the Sony a7riii won’t work when you’re using an adapter.  BUMMER!!  Luckily, I had my Canon camera bodies with me as a backup and I was able to shoot that first reception with my Mark III and speedlights… but it was definitely more difficult getting used to shooting mirrorless in the dark.

Since I really love the Godox flashes I bought – hello lithium ion batteries + super fast recycle time – I decided to keep practicing and have finally gotten comfortable shooting dark receptions with the Sony system.  I’ve found that shooting with a high ISO and using continuous focusing has worked the best.  When it’s super dark and my camera can’t grab focus well, I mount a small LED video light to my camera and use that to help me focus.  I’m also considering a few video lights on light stands for the future.  I like the look it gives my reception photos!

After using the Sony a7riii for the past few months, these are my thoughts on the switch:

• the colors are AMAZING!!  So crisp + vibrant, which works so well with my style!
• the auto white balance is extremely accurate and makes shooting + editing so easy!
• focus is tack sharp and reliable, although I will admit that there is a definite learning curve coming from a Canon
• the what-you-see-is-what-you-get EVF viewfinder is AMAZING… you don’t really have to take a test shot before adjusting your camera settings because you can literally see what it will look like, exposure-wise, through the eye piece
• being able to see the depth of field in the viewfinder is a game changer!
• it’s a smaller, lighter system and it has definitely taken the stress off of my wrist

There are a few obstacles I found along the way:

• although you can adapt your Canon lenses to the camera, you cannot adapt your speedlights… so be prepared to invest in new lighting.  I went with the Godox v860ii speedlights
• if you are using an adapter or non-Sony flashes, the on-camera AF assist beam will not function… which makes shooting dark receptions more difficult
• native Sony lenses “zoom” in the opposite direction that Canon lenses do… so there’s a definite learning curve there, if you decide to start using Sony glass
• you’ll need larger SD cards since the RAW files on the a7riii are GINORMOUS
• you’ll also need to shoot RAW+JPEG to utilize Photo Mechanic for culling; the native embedded JPEGs are too small to accurately assess sharpness in PM
• when exporting photos from Lightroom, you’ll have to resize them in order to keep the file size under 50MB… otherwise, you’ll have issues uploading them to many online galleries; I’m using JPEGmini upon export and haven’t had any issues since

So far, I believe the investment has been 100% worth it.  I finally have gear that is reliable + consistent… the guessing game is finally over!  Having that peace of mind is such a blessing and allows me to focus on other things during the wedding day, instead of worrying whether my gear is actually focusing the way it should.  It also allows me to create with confidence and serve my clients even better.  It’s official… this former Canon girl is now a Sony girl.  I hope this helps anyone out there considering the switch – and if you have any other feedback or questions, please let me know!

**UPDATE** – I have since switched back to the Canon R5, now that Canon has a viable mirrorless option for wedding photographers.  I made the switch back to a Canon body only because I have so much invested in Canon lenses and the CPS (Canon Professional Services) program for gear cleaning + repair is amazing.  I found it difficult to find places to service my Sony since I didn’t have enough Sony gear to qualify for their professional services.  I also never was able to get my Sony cameras to lock focus during the reception when using a flash – which was really important to me.  That being said, I still LOVE the Sony colors and I know many photographers who swear by Sony.  Someday, I may end up going back… but for now, I’m rocking the Canon R5’s and am really happy with them!