Join me on a photo walk of a beautiful Japanese garden that was holding a summer festival. For this outing, I decided to work with some older equipment to see what kind of results I could get.
Check out the full video on YouTube:
This was the second day of the event. It had rained on the first day, so I think that had an effect on this day; there wasn't quite as much going on as I had seen in previous years, but it was still fun to check out! Keep in mind throughout this article that italic text descriptions were generated by Gemini Pro 2.5 and were not specifically based on my video's information.
Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens:
- B&H: https://bhpho.to/45A0wg0
- Amazon: https://amzn.to/4fl7itj
- Moment: https://partner.shopmoment.com/OedrnW
Sony a7S camera:
- KEH: https://shrsl.com/4oing
- B&H: https://bhpho.to/4e79RxJ
- Amazon: https://amzn.to/4e0O22W
- ebay: https://ebay.us/OZ0s32
As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases! Usually anything within 24 hours of the initial visit.
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| A sign for the 2025 Japanese Summer Festival at Anderson Japanese Gardens. |
My Gear for the Day
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| The Sony A7S camera with the Sony FE 24-70mm F/4 OSS lens attached. |
The camera I was using was the Sony A7S. This is a video-focused camera, but it works just fine for photos. However, I did have it set up in a mode that was not perfect for the situation. With the A7S, I was using the Sony FE 24-70mm F/4 OSS lens. I wanted some range with this lens to see how it would work out at the event.
A 'video-focused' camera like the original Sony A7S typically prioritizes features beneficial for videography. This often includes a lower megapixel count (the A7S has 12 megapixels) which results in larger individual pixels. These larger pixels are excellent at gathering light, leading to superior performance in low-light situations and a cleaner image with less digital noise, all of which are highly desirable for video.
Processing and the Importance of Lens Corrections
The photos are in RAW format, which I processed with ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2023 (affiliate link).
Shooting in RAW format means the camera captures all the data from the sensor without compressing it or applying significant in-camera processing. This results in a much larger file size but gives the photographer maximum flexibility in post-processing to adjust exposure, colors, and other details.
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| ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate |
I did enable lens corrections, and it's nice that there was a profile available in this older version of Acdsee. In the related video you can see when I toggle that on and off, there's a pretty noticeable difference. So, it's good to use those when you can. Other than that, I didn't change anything else with the processing.
An Experiment with Program Mode
I was using simple Program mode because I was curious to see how the camera would handle the exposure and shutter speeds. Honestly, it was not great. The camera produced relatively low shutter speeds which can result in motion blur. So a portion of the photos ended up not ideal.
Program mode, often marked as 'P' on a camera's mode dial, is an automated mode where the camera selects both the aperture and the shutter speed for you to achieve a correct exposure. While the photographer can often adjust these suggested settings, the camera makes the initial decision.
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| A scenic view within the garden. |
Looking at the results from Program mode on this camera, it does tend to overexpose in combination with those slower shutter speeds. That was one of the issues the camera was having in Program mode. There is stabilization in the lens, and I honestly can't remember if that was on or not but I assume so.
Camera Control
Use the simple modes and see if they work well for you, but also consider using manual mode, aperture priority, or shutter priority. Try out your camera in various modes to see what you can do to get the best out of it in a given situation.
This camera does not have a touchscreen, but you can definitely adjust the focus point. In this case, I was not doing that, as I had the Focus Area set to Wide, allowing the camera to decide where it would focus. I have adjusted the focus point on previous outings with the camera and it definitely helps, but I was curious to see how well the camera would do in a straight point & shoot combination of settings.
Festival Sights and Photo Highlights
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| A close-up view of a stream surrounded by lush greenery in the garden. |
Even with the challenges, I was able to get some very nice photos. There's a fair amount of detail considering this camera is around 12 megapixels. You can't expect the world from it, but I think you can still get pleasant photos with this combination.
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| A variety of 'lucky cat' figurines and other small items for sale at a booth. |
I think my favorite photos were from a booth with lucky cats and paper crafts. They were very cute subjects.
There was also an Ikebana flower arrangement display. When I went on study abroad, flower arrangement was my favorite subject. So, it was cool to see someone doing Ikebana on-site.
Ikebana is the traditional Japanese art of flower arranging. It is more than simply putting flowers in a container; it is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. It often emphasizes areas of the plant other than its blooms, such as the stem and leaves, and draws emphasis on shape, line, and form.
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| An example of Ikebana flower arrangement on display. |
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| An artist painting purple irises with watercolor. |
There was someone painting and the stage events. I didn't stay for a long amount of time as it was very warm. Even at 70mm with this lens, I wasn't able to get close enough to really get a lot of detail for the events, and I didn't want to get in people's way.
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| A Taiko drumming group performing on an outdoor stage for an audience. |
In addition to things specific to the event, I did walk around the garden a bit and take photos as I usually do. The scenery is as beautiful as ever.
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| A stone lantern statue situated amongst rocks in a pond. |
Final Thoughts
Using this old equipment, I think you can definitely get nice photos out of it, but you need to put some effort in. In this case, using straight Program mode and automatic subject selection autofocus can work, but it's just not going to be super consistent.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this quick little photo outing to a beautiful Japanese garden in my area during a summer event!