Since my review of the Sony SLT-A77 hit the screens of many Digital Photography School visitors it’s obvious the company has pressed the right buttons for people wanting to lift their photo game.

Now we have ‘son of’ … a model similar in many respects, at a lower price, but with many of the A77′s remarkable features. The review camera was supplied with the kit lens, a Sony f3.5/18-55mm.

The heart of the camera is the Translucent Mirror, marked by the model ID: SLT stands for Single-Lens Translucent.

Unlike a reflex mirror in ‘normal’ DSLRs that flips up and down to alternate between viewing and shooting, a translucent mirror is fixed in the light path to give an interrupted — and continuously live — view of the subject. One of a number of …

If this is the way it’s going, I’m all for it: smaller, interchangeable lens cameras, with decently-sized sensors and sophisticated image processing internals.

Panasonic and Sony seem to be waging the war with their Micro Four Thirds models and this is another missile hurled at (IMHO) the oversize DSLRS, with or without flipping mirrors!

The GF3 leads the bunch in size — or lack of it! No question!

Claimed to be the world’s smallest and lightest system camera, it’s approximately 16.7% smaller and 16.2% lighter compared with the GF2 at just 325 grams (including 14mm lens, card and battery), built into a polycarbonate/aluminium body. The review lens supplied was the superb f2.5/14mm.

The GF3 is indeed a joy to handle, hold and stow. External

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This is a big gun in a small package. Considering the sensor has been ported from the A65 and A77 you would expect a fairly zinging performance and you’re not wrong!

The interchangeable lens, magnesium alloy bodied NEX-7 would also seem to gain from the absence of a partially-silvered mirror in the light path. However, as with all NEX cameras and most lenses, the smallish body is outweighed by the lens, so — with f3.5/18-55mm review lens attached — pocketable it wasn’t!

The 24.3 megapixel image capture produces a maximum 6000×4000 pixel image, so big prints? You betcha!

Video capture is right up there too, with Full HD 1920×1080 on tap. When shooting a video such matters as AF, manual focus and auto exposure are very smoothly in play; but you can’t shoot …

My history of cameras and backpacks goes back a couple of decades to my first year out of high school. It was then that I fell in love with hiking and camping outdoors and the obvious choice to bring along a camera to capture some of that beauty on film. In the following years I always struggled with the desire to bring along camera gear (sometimes with many lenses, tripod, flash, etc…) and camping gear. It always seemed to be one or the other as no bag could carry them both well. I had  camera bag I’d sometimes strap onto the outside of my overnight pack and sometimes carry inside. It was never an ideal situation.

Fast forward to last summer. I was hiking in the hills outside of Boulder, …

I’ve got a little secret… I’m pretty rubbish at ‘off camera flash’ but you know the best thing, it’s easy to suck at something and not worry so much if you have the desire to learn how to get better.

Flash Lighting and Accessories by GoDox from Elemental

With digital photography, it’s pretty easy to try and try and try again, because there’s no developing time, there’s no film cost, there’s no fixer to spill! There’s simply no excuse for you to continue to suck at off camera flash… what? you can’t practice because a Canon Speedlite 580EX II is WAY TOOOOO EXPENSIVE? Fair call, they’re not cheap! They are really good, but you’re right, they’re not cheap… So, I have a very functional, robust alternative for you… It costs £80 (or £50 if you don’t ever want to plug in …