Has the White House photographer ditched DSLR in favor of Sony’s mirrorless a7R II?
Oct 8, 2015
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Many oohs and ahhs were heard when Sony announced the a7R II, and it turns out that one of the camera’s new users is none other than the Chief Official White House photographer Pete Souza.
The EXIF data belonging to the latest photo uploaded to the official White House Flickr account, one of President Obama on the phone with Cuban President Raul Castro, was taken just under three weeks ago and shows Souza’s got a new camera.
Along with the mirrorless a7R II, Souza used a Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA lens.
So is September 2015 to be remembered as the time the White House left DSLRs behind and switched to mirrorless?
The first photo in the White House Flickr account was taken on January 20, 2009 and seems to have been uploaded on April 27, 2009. However, as PetaPixel point out, the first EXIF information seems to appear only in a photo from May 1, 2009.
From that point on Souza has been using a Canon 5D Mark II to photograph POTUS, until July 2012 when he upgraded to a Canon 5D Mark III.
At this point we do not know if the move to Sony, and more importantly mirrorless, is permanent or if Souza was just testing a friend’s camera or potential purchase.
I have contacted Souza so we will wait for his reply, or the next photo posted on Flickr, to see if the director of the White House Photography Office and presidential photographer has determined mirrorless is better than DSLR.
While many may be making the move to mirrorless, JP Danko shared with us why he isn’t ditching his DSLR for a Sony a7R II.
[The White House via PetaPixel | Lead Image: Pete Souza/White House]
Liron Samuels
Liron Samuels is a wildlife and commercial photographer based in Israel. When he isn’t waking up at 4am to take photos of nature, he stays awake until 4am taking photos of the night skies or time lapses. You can see more of his work on his website or follow him on Facebook.
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8 responses to “Has the White House photographer ditched DSLR in favor of Sony’s mirrorless a7R II?”
oh… the shock. This really upset my breakfast. I’m sure I can’t sleep tonight. Can anyone please tell me which cameras Kim and Kanye use? .. When did diyphotography turn into photogossip.net?
About the time they started lifting content from Petapixel.
Yea, this is what the via annotation is for.
Udi, I like DIY as a source of truly DIY information, but when all the sites start copying content, it’s too easy to just skip it. I understand running a blog is not my forte, and it is yours, but annotating that you’re posting content from another site hardly brings me back. DIY content does. Just a reader’s comment. Take it for what it’s worth. Thanks.
Can I have a DIY softbox article please? Please?
Even if Darth Vader’s personal photographer was using a a7rII … As long as I don’t see any well coloured pictures taken with a Sony I don’t care …
does it even matter? or is sony paying for this kind of articles ?
The AR7 II is quiet and has in-body image stabilization. Those are useful features for the kind of photography Souza does. Before digital, Leicas were preferred for that kind of photography.