Just as politicians are judged for their policies, so photographers are often judged for their equipment. So it's interesting factoid that Joe Biden's official photographer is a Sony shooter.
Unlike Pete Souza, who served as photographer for both the Obama and Regan administrations and shot using a pair of Canon EOS 5D (opens in new tab) bodies, Biden's photographer Adam Schultz uses a trio of Sony A9 II (opens in new tab) cameras.
• Read more: 5 questions with Pete Souza (opens in new tab)
Both the 5D and A9 II are among the best cameras for professionals (opens in new tab), though the increasing adoption of Sony's mirrorless cameras among the press has been quite pronounced over the past few years.
Indeed, back in July, the Associated Press announced a major collaboration with Sony that sees its journalists exclusively using Sony bodies and lenses for news gathering going forward.
Obviously the best Sony cameras (opens in new tab), being exclusively mirrorless, have inherent advantages over their DSLR counterparts – namely, for a photographer who spends his life shadowing a politician in delicate diplomatic situations, the ability to shoot completely silently.
Also interesting is Schultz' choice of lenses. While we know that Souza shot using just two bodies and three primes (opens in new tab) – a 35mm, 50mm and 135mm – while shooting Obama's presidency, Biden's photographer uses three bodies and four lenses, three of which are zooms.
"I have three Sony A9 II bodies, about twelve batteries, and four lenses," Schultz said in an interview with DP Review (opens in new tab). "The Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM (opens in new tab), the FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS, which is mostly a backup, then the FE 85mm F1.4 GM, which is a great lens, and the FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS."
So Obama's photographer was a Canon shooter who used primes, while Biden's photographer is a Sony shooter who mainly uses zooms. None of which has any bearing anybody's politics, of course, but it's interesting food for thought!
Read more:
Sony A9 II review (opens in new tab)
The best Sony camera: from full-frame Alphas to compact Cyber-shots (opens in new tab)
The best Sony lenses (opens in new tab): top lenses for Sony mirrorless cameras
