Sony’s Artisans of Imagery program has gained a heavy hitter: National Geographic photographer, North Face-sponsored climber, award-winning documentary filmmaker, landscape painter, and extreme adventurer Renan Ozturk. Best known for his films Meru and Sherpa, Ozturk is a force of nature when it comes to photographing and filming, well, nature.
It makes perfect sense that Sony would pick Ozturk up as an artisan. About a year ago, he detailed his experience climbing Hkakabo Razi on a National Geographic expedition in an interview with Digital Trends. The experience was so grueling that the crew had to cut its supplies — including food and camera gear — in half. Twice. Even so, weather conditions prevented them from reaching the top. But as far as Ozturk dared go, his Sony A7S went with him.
The same can’t be said for the rest of his gear. The crew started out with a vast assortment of professional level gear at the disposal, including a Red Dragon cinema camera, camera cranes, and some small drones — all of which ended up being cut. The full-frame A7S was the only camera to make it to the journey’s end, thanks to its compact and lightweight nature. Ozturk continues to shoot primarily with Sony mirrorless cameras, namely the A7S II and A7R II.
But his love for Sony cameras began prior to Hkakabo Razi. He started with an RX100 — the game-changing, advanced point-and-shoot now in its fifth generation — and moved to full-frame mirrorless when Sony came out with A7 some three years ago, according to a blog post on Sony’s Alpha Universe.
“With the A7R II, I have everything at my fingertips. I’ve got high-res, publishable raw stills, full frame, and the huge dynamic range,” Ozturk said. “I can shoot high-end, beautiful still photographs and 4K video in this tiny package that’s smaller than anything else out there. There’s nothing that compares to it.”
Ozturk’s work can be seen on his website. For more on the Artisans of Imagery program, visit Sony’s Alpha Universe.
