Three days in Mexico City (aka CDMX, Ciudad de México) and three days in San Miguel de Allende (aka SMA) for a wedding served as testing grounds for my new Sony a7C and my itty bitty lenses. Meanwhile, Katie and I scoured the place for tacos.

Thoughts on My New Camera

The Sony a7C is essentially a full-frame mirrorless camera system crammed into a tiny cropped-sensor chassis. The size was its primary appeal. Paired with the miniature kit 28-60mm f/4-5.6, its weight (509+167g = 676g) it’s lighter than my old Canon 24-105mm lens alone (795g). It’s so small I can zip it up inside my jacket or toss it into a bag without worrying about dedicated space or damage from its own weight.

The tradeoff (lenses always have tradeoffs) is that the dinky 28-60mm it’s just not a very good lens. The paltry zoom range pales in comparison to the 24-105mm I’m accustomed to. f/5.6 at 60mm is a really small aperture with bad bokeh. The pincushion distortion is atrocious at wide angles. The clarity just isn’t tack sharp. Honestly, this is the first lens I’ve owned that isn’t consumer top-of-the-line and it bothers me. I’m strongly considering buying another zoom lens for more demanding settings.

Other complaints: The digital viewfinder tucked into the far corner forces me to use my left eye, and it’s been a challenge to align. The proximity detector is triggered easily by my dangling neck strap. On the other hand, the 2020 internal processing, featuring intelligent eye-tracking focus, outstrips the 6D’s 2012 internals. The exposure compensation wheel is nice compared to that dumb system on the 6D.

Switching to a Sony 35mm f/1.8 brings me back to my roots: the good ol’ Canon 35mm f/1.4. Thanks to better high ISO performance, I don’t miss the last two aperture stops.

Tacos

Tacos de Cabeza served head tacos on the street, where we accidentally tried “sesos,” or pork brain. “Cachete” is cheek, which I’d had in Santa Barbara before. Asking for food and just being immediately given it was disorienting at first; this is when we learned that we as diners needed to track down the employee who collects money after eating.

30 minutes later, at a huge machine of street tacos at Taquería Miranda, I again blindly ordered “costilla” which turned out to be short rib. It came as an entire steak on two tortillas because they couldn’t fit it on one. Al pastor, too. With its extensive buffet of fix-ins, this was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences.

We stood in line for Tacos “Orinoco” (a region, I think) where we had “chicharron” tacos, or fried pork rinds. Al pastor, too. At the chain Pescadito we had fried fish tacos, which were disappointing, but also a chile relleno stuffed with minced marlin and topped with fried shrimp. Even our nicer meals turned out to be tacos. Entremar, the more casual outpost of Contramar, served us a butterflied deboned grilled whole fish dressed in two different sauces, but with the fix-ins to essentially turn them into tacos.

Other Food

Our very first stop was Panadería Rosetta, a popular and excellent bakery and cafe with a delectable guava danish. We also tried a “concha,” a sweet crusted simple bread, but with matcha.

We had lots of tamales: a mole-covered one at Tamales Madre, a sweet milky one at La Rifa, an almond pear tamale at El Molino, and a red chicken tamale while eating on the counter of a street cart in SMA.

One of the more enjoyable meals was a simple carnitas sandwich with salsa and pickled onions and peppers. We stumbled upon it after walking for hours up and down to the botanical garden in SMA, being hawked out of a bare-bones stall where the guy just handed us huge hunks of pork to sample.

The best meal we had was at Azul. They feature a wonderful, complex black mole with turkey. Katie enjoyed their extensive mezcal cart.

We tried a few hyper-regional mezcals/related spirits. For instance, instead of the espadín agave variety from which most of imported mezcal is made, we tried one made from the lamparillo agave variety found only in a specific mountainous region. We tried sotol, which is technically not mezcal but very similar. At the wedding in SMA, they had a mix of young tequila, aged tequila, and many different types of mezcal.

We tried pre-colonial fermented hot chocolate at La Rifa, gourmet coffee of the Pink Geisha variety at Lavanda (SMA), and a hot guava milk breakfast drink at the SMA street tamale cart. I know it sounds bizarre, but trust me it was refreshing post-run.

Museums

In CDMX, we visited a bunch of museums:

• Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Anthropology Museum) – a immense, jaw-dropping museum displaying the extensive history of pre-modern Mesoamerican societies. See feature picture. Can’t miss.
• Castillo de Chapultepec (Castle of Grasshopper Hill) – a glitzy colonial castle atop a grand hill. Impressive Spanish and French architecture.
• Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) – a grand marble palace in center city, but the highlight was the stained glass/iron fire curtain on stage which raises silently.
• Casa Azul (Blue House, Frida Kahlo Museum) – the converted museum home one of the most iconic artists. We learned so much about her complicated medical issues and relationship with Diego Rivera.
• Museo Nacional de Arte (National Museum of Art) – it was fine.

Not a museum, but we embarked on a guided tour of Teotihuacan, an ancient city so old that the Aztecs used to tour the ruins. Abandoned in 550 AD, it was about 1000 years old to the last Aztecs, far older than the Aztecs are to us now!

San Miguel de Allende

It’s a somewhat artsy, touristy destination. Someone described as the Disneyland version of Mexico. A sweet place to visit, supremely picturesque. Some highlights were a stunning pink cathedral off the central square, brightly colored facades around cobbled streets, a handcrafted arts market, and a hillside arid botanical garden El Charco del Ingenio.

Wedding

Congratulations to Ali and Alec on a beautiful wedding! Katie and I were proud to be part of the festivities. I happened to take at least a vertical photo each of the three nights, but mostly I stowed my camera.

Outside of photography, Katie and I continue to recover physically. Some phone shots, courtesy of friends: