Sony 200-600mm Landscape Photography Video

Trying some landscape photography with the Sony 200-600mm lens on a Sony A7iii, yes, landscape photography with a Sony 200-600mm lens. Really.

Unfortunately, stupid ideas are no stranger to my brain, they’re always there. Sometimes talking about camera setups, sometimes about jaffa cake-eating competitions, and sometimes about whether or not a cherry Bakewell sandwich would be better with peanut butter or Nutella. Today though, it was a little less sensible than my cherry bakewell signature dish, but perhaps more tasteful. It was whether or not I could use a Sony 200-600mm lens for landscape photography.

It’s a great lens, I’ve talked about it quite a few times before, but mostly about how useless I find it. I just don’t have a need for it. I don’t shoot sport with it, I don’t shoot wildlife, I’m not a birder, and I definitely don’t have room in my life for a £1500 paperweight. So, having given it a shot at some street photography in the past, and some botched attempts at taking it into the mountains, I thought I’d get out and attempt some landscape photography.

My location of choice was the Clent Hills, my local stomping ground. The wind was up, with 20-30 knot gusts bringing across scattered clouds and sunny intervals. Tricky conditions for taking photographs with a mini-telescope.

Birmingham city centre with a Sony 200-600mm lens

The first shot I captured, rather predictably, was something on the skyline. In this case, Birmingham City centre, getting on for 12 miles away across the West Midlands. I was in a lovely secluded spot, out of the wind, and shot this at over 400mm, I love the way it compresses the foreground and background. That countryside is miles away from Birmingham, a good 6 miles, and the ridge in the background is up near Kingsbury, a good 10 miles behind the city centre itself. Brilliant. Those birds were an added bonus, I caught them at just the right time. I promise you I’m not a birder.

It then got a bit tricky, as I wandered up into the summit gusts and struggled to keep this big beast of a lens stable. The wind really does catch the length of the Sony 200-600mm. Even with the stabilisation on, which is excellent BTW, but a bit like when flying a Cessna, you’ll struggle in a strong crosswind. I wound the ISO up to 1600, went for a 1/2000th shutter speed, and took this shot of the Wychbury Monument, I think those settings are the best way of combating strong winds.

The Wychbury Monument, Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?

The compression is bonkers, I love it. The Wychbury monument is a good couple of miles away here, and those houses in the background are many more on top of that. Fantastic.

But Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm….?

I then knocked off this little shot of a bench. How exciting! It was taken at 600mm with the lens wide open at f6.3, to give you an example of the bokeh that is possible with the Sony 200-600mm. It’s pretty cool bokeh, those fields in the distance are many miles away though, so you’ll have to pick your shots carefully to take advantage of it.

Brierley Hill Flats - Sony 200-600mm Lens

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more exciting, I found this lovely shot of some tower blocks. This is Brierley Hill flats, an area I know well, from a long long way away. No idea what the tower is in the background, let me know if you know, I’d love to work out the distance.

Wait, there’s more. Inspired by the stunningly aesthetic shot of the flats, which is probably the pinnacle of my landscape photography career, I then decided to shoot them again. This time, with one of the Fourstones on the summit of the Clent Hills as the foreground, a bit of a relationship shot, showing one of the stones as it looks out over the town many miles in the distance. It is not possible without a huge zoom, so it was great to use the Sony 200-600mm for this, my favourite shot of the day. Love it. The compression here is subtle, but superb. I’d hope that anyone who has wandered the summit of the Clent Hills would appreciate it. It’s great to have them in the same image.

Clent Hills summit and Brierley Hill flats

I then shot a folly, and in the video, talked about how a folly is something that rich people used to spend their money on, before Ferraris existed. That’s the official definition. Honestly.

Today though, I’m changing it…