Thinking of picking up Sony a6000

Soldato
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Hi all,

I'm looking at replacing my Nikon d5100 with a Sony a6000.

There's a few reasons. 1. I do a little bit of streaming and am looking to make a few videos which the Nikon is not ideal for. I've pretty much stopped taking my Nikon out on days out because with the camera and lenses it's just too cumbersome. the a6000 can more or less fit in my pocket.

Now, my absolute favourite lens for my nikon is my Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G (I mostly take pictures of people). Is there a semi affordable lens that I could get for the Sony that is equivalent? I was looking at the 50mm which I know will not be the same focal range but would be hoping for similar results.

My last question is - is the a6000 still a good buy? I know it's pretty old now but if I also want to pick up a portrait lens I wouldn't want to spend too much more unless it made a massive difference. Any suggestions welcome!

Thanks all!
 
Soldato
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I bought one a couple of months ago from Wex, cost me £265 in excellent condition. Up till now I've only used it for macro and the image quality is very good. The AF is not that bad , on the Sony 90mm macro lens and the Samyang 35mm f2.8 its snappy enough to be usable, I haven't tested it yet on the 200-600 :D. That's all the lenses I have that have AF.
For video I don't think it does 4k.
 
Soldato
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I have an a6000 with the 50mm OSS, coming from a Canon 60D. The ergonomics and battery life aren't great but the auto focus and size made it worth it for me.

The 50mm is sharp wide open and doesn't really miss a beat, I love it. I used this setup to record my wife read books to her class. The footage looks good at 1080p but there's no mic input.

If I had a bit more cash the a6100 or a6400 is a significant improvement in low light and autofocus, and the 56mm 1.4 sigma looks a beauty. In fact I'd have the sigma "trio" in a heartbeat if I could.
 
Soldato
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Like Pants suggests I'd also see if you can stretch to the 6100 it'll be far better tech than the 6000 model. Plus the 6100 has a mic jack for ease of recording good audio.

I'd only get the A6000 if you find it at a bargain price, during Christmas and new year it was just under £350 with the with 16-50mm lens, this is brand new from likes of Amazon and other larger retailers.
 
Soldato
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I've not used the lens myself but from the mixed reviews online it is an average quality lens, not poor but not the sharpest. You could start with this and build on it later. Again, as Pants has already mentioned the Sigma 1.4 trio are some top notch lenses.
 
Soldato
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Although in saying that, I have been really struggling with overexposed sky. I seem to have a choice, properly exposed sky or properly exposed subject (I know things a trickier at the moment with cloudy skies). I'm not sure I remember having the same issue with my old camera.
 
Soldato
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Although in saying that, I have been really struggling with overexposed sky. I seem to have a choice, properly exposed sky or properly exposed subject (I know things a trickier at the moment with cloudy skies). I'm not sure I remember having the same issue with my old camera.
How have you set the metering?
Don't worry about learning the menus, it only takes a few years to learn Sony menus....:D
 
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