“Budapest is one of those cities that we have always wanted to visit,” says travel vlogger Giorgio. He and his partner Martina create the ‘in Viaggio col Tubo’ channel on YouTube. “We visit a place for a weekend, a week, or sometimes longer and create the travel guide videos,” says Giorgio about the channel. “We want to show our experience and give advice and tips so that other travellers can make the same trip, or a similar one,” adds Martina.
The difference between ‘in Viaggio col Tubo’ and other travel vlog channels is the quality of the footage. Martina and Giorgio pride themselves on the cinematic quality of their stills and videos, with everything being shot on the Sony Alpha 7 IV.
“We use the Alpha 7 IV for 99% of the shots because it’s a great camera. We love it. We also use the Sony Alpha 7C as a second camera, usually to shoot some behind-the-scenes footage of what we are creating,” explains Giorgio.
The travel duo teamed their Sony Alpha 7 IV for their weekend in Budapest with the FE PZ 16-35mm f/4 G lens. “It’s a great lens for what we do. As a couple, we are almost always both in a shot together, speaking to the camera. For those shots, we need a super-wide-angle lens, which the 16mm focal length provides,” says Giorgio.
“Previously, we have used the Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS lens, but the new 16-35mm f/4 G lens is much lighter and much more compact,” explains Martina. The couple also praised the image quality of the new lens. “It is sharper than the previous version, especially at the edges when shooting 16mm. I’m impressed with the sharpness and the details the lens is able to capture with such ease,” adds Giorgio.
The new lens has consequently become the ‘go-to’ lens for the ‘in Viaggio col Tubo’ channel, with the focal length of the zoom being ideal for the couple’s content. “It’s a very versatile lens. We can go through an entire day and use the 16-35mm to shoot everything in a city. We can even shoot wide shots and then zoom in to 35mm and shoot those more intimate details,” says Martina.
“We nearly always shoot handheld and for photos, we may occasionally use a tripod, but rarely for videos,” continues Giorgio. “The Alpha 7 IV is already well established with the in-camera Steadyshot, and then there is the Active Steadyshot for video – it’s really steady. And, as the new lens has internal zoom, this is making a big difference to us on the odd occasion when we are use a stabilizer,” he adds. “This means that we can adjust the zoom without adjusting the camera and lens balance on the stabiliser. It makes it much faster for us to get the shots we need.”
One of the key features of the lens is the fact it is a PZ – Power Zoom lens – which allows the lens to be zoomed very smoothly via the electronic motors. “In Budapest, I had the chance to experiment with the Power Zoom feature, and I love it! It creates dynamic footage that looks cool,” says Giorgio.
As the final video shows, the Alpha 7 IV and 16-35mm combination worked perfectly for Giorgio and Martina in Budapest. Features, such as the autofocus, allowed the travel vloggers to get the shots whenever needed.
”My favourite location we shot in was Halászbástya, also known as Fisherman’s Bastion. We went there at sunrise; it was such a beautiful location to explore and shoot in. There were a few shots where I was walking, and Giorgio was filming me, and the camera would effortlessly focus on my eye or my face and then as I was turning, it would still know it was me and continue to track,” recalls Martina.
The Alpha 7 IV is a great camera for autofocus, particularly when coupled the Sony lens,” continues Giorgio. “There is another shot in the video where I followed Martina as she walked to a window. I followed and then panned slowly to shoot the view from the window. The autofocus naturally switched focus smoothly - it performed almost as your eye would do.”
With the Budapest video, now uploaded on the ‘in Viaggio col Tubo’ YouTube channel, Giorgio and Martina are planning their next adventures, and the FE PZ 16-35mm f/4 G lens will be going with them. “We think the 16-35mm and Alpha 7 IV are a perfect pair, and we wouldn’t change it for any other lens. It gets the job done and is hands down our go-to lens for our projects.”
