Have I picked the right camera?

[Mysterae_]

I'm thinking about getting a Sony A6000. At the moment I use my iphone (the horror!) for pictures due to the convenience and portability, but I want better quality in my images. My old Fuji FinePix is so slow at focusing and saving images that it's been not been used in a long time and will soon be recycled to a relative.

The subjects that I photograph at the moment range from my PC build logs and car restoration blog, and now with a 6 week old baby I foresee lots of pictures of him growing up. With these uses in mind, I want a camera that is smallish, fast focussing, great at close 'product' pictures, won't mind getting a bit dirty (oil, grime and baby sick (j/k)) and is intuitive enough so that the other half won't mind using it yet offer enough advancement to help progress both our picture taking.

With all that in mind and through my research so far, I have ruled out DSLRs mainly due to their size which I think will be unwieldy to use and lug around. Also the noise of the shutter I find irritating weirdly.

I've almost made my mind up on a Sony A6000 with the 16-50mm kit lens, 55-210mm lens and a prime lens of either 30mm F3.5 macro, 35mm F1.8 or 50mm F1.8. That brings the budget to around £700 depending on where I buy it from (HK distributor probably).

Does anybody have any suggestions on alternative mirrorless cameras and lenses, think I've picked the right camera or have any recommended lenses for my particular uses?

 

[Mysterae_]

I'm biased but for me it was a Fuji XT10 with three Xf lenses.

http://improvephotography.com/34938/sony-a6000-vs-fuji-xt10/

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm off to read and watch some reviews . Which lenses do you use?

 

[Mysterae_]

Thanks for the replies, much to think about.

With a kid running around, you need quick AF and good continuous AF, so in that area the Sony A6000 is excellent. Pair it with a quick prime, Sony 35mm springs to mind (OSS will help a bit with moving subjects) and you'll be onto a winner.

That's what I was thinking, and for short video taking too.

A6000 was my choice. 16-50mm, 55-210mm, And now the Sony 50mm 1.8 and Sigma 30mm 2.8

Couple of 64gb cards so the most recent firmware can use XAVC-S video recording and all is good.

I looked at the m4/3 cameras and none really floated my boat. Shame, the lenses are very reasonable. Sony's are a touch expensive.

There is a new version of the A6000 due to land in Spring - apparently it was meant to be around last year, but Sony held it back. Sounds like it could be a insane little camera from the rumours.

Your choice in lenses is the same as mine, seems a good selection. Thanks for the info about memory cards, I was going to look in to them once I'd decided on a camera. I've read the rumours about the successor to the A6000. The A6000 has already had a price drop recently and Sony are giving £50 cashback on it too. Don't think I'll be able to wait but knowing my luck it'll be out just as I buy my camera. I would think it'll be at the A6000's original price too, meaning I'd have to wait to get further lenses.

The A6000 is a great camera and you wont be disappointed. It is small but remember the lenses are the same size as DSLR lenses so the savings aren't that big in reality., if you want to go small I suggest to look at a m43 camera like an Olympus EPL-5 or 7. You get smaller lenses with that smaller sensor.

Interesting that you mentioned Olympus, I watched a youtube vid where the A6000 is pitted against the Olympus E-M5 II and Fujifilm X-T10 (see bottom of this post). The Olympus won overall marginally and dissuaded me from the X-T10 due to it's quirks. I'll be looking in to the Olympus range shortly.

A6100 will be out soon, should drop the price of the 6000. A7000 is due as well.

Yes, as before not sure how long a wait that'll be or it's cost.

I use the Xf 18-55 f2.8, 35mm Xf 1.4 prime and the 50-200. Contemplating the Xf 1.2 50mm but can't justify this really as I don't do enough portrait. I try to manage with the 35mm.
Lenses and Fuji: http://www.fujirumors.com/fuji-fun-...-a7rii-and-why-i-now-love-fujifilm-even-more/

I like Sony too (at least my Rx100 mii)

Thanks for that, I'll read that shortly. Is the X-T10 as quirky as this review makes out?

Thanks for the replies, do let me know if there's anything to think about!

 

[Mysterae_]

lots of info!

Thanks for that, good comparison info for my shortlist .

 

[Mysterae_]

Yes ethan, I watched the training video for the X-T10 (and others) and I realised I'd dismissed it too early. The horizon level will help greatly, as will the quick auto switch for when someone not familiar with it uses it (relatives or when you pass it to someone). Plus the lenses are supposedly cheaper. The non-default (and kinda hidden) High Performance Mode was interesting; I wonder how many reviewers assessed the camera with this off? The video quality was probably it's only let down, but I don't know how much we would use this feature. It's reassuring that Fuji are still updating the firmware, but the camera isn't even a year old yet so you'd hope they would.

The training video for the A6000 didn't dissuade me either, apart from the need to sign up and install (and pay again) for certain functionality that should be standard. The lack of a horizon level could be a pain when out and about. With the A6000's successor being nigh it's difficult to shake the feeling that I'll be missing out on improvements, but it may be out of my reach budget wise and why wait...

 

[Mysterae_]

I've definitely decided on the Sony A6000, now just need to figure out out lenses I should get.

Janesy, thanks for your interesting post, certainly made me think. Is the 18-105mm lens that much better than both the 16-50 and 55-210mm lenses? From the reviews I've read and watched the 18-105mm has considerable (although correctable) distortion. The size of the 18-105mm would rule out certain uses when space is an issue (such as under the car). As the cost between getting or not getting the camera with the kit lens is so small, I will get the 16-50mm. This will also appease the other half as it's not big or complicated to use.

The lens short list is:

- 16-50mm (kit lens)
- 55-210mm (kind of kit lens)
- 18-105mm (power zoom)
- 30mm F3.5 (macro)
- 35mm F1.8 (prime)
- 50mm F1.8 (prime)

I don't have the budget for all of them and thinking I might hold off getting a prime lens later once I've figured out what I'd use the most.

As Janesy suggested, the A6000 with 16-50mm kit lens, 18-105mm and 30mm macro lenses just about fits my budget (with a squeeze!) and is an option I'm thinking of.

 

[Mysterae_]

Thanks for the info Janesy.

Nice deal StevenG, can you say where you got this? The price on the 18-105 is especially keen.

 

[Mysterae_]

Cheers Steven, good prices . I'll be giving them a call tomorrow as that 18-105 is "available to order" so I wonder how long they'd take to get it in.

 

[Mysterae_]

I've ordered mine today. I'm in no rush so happy to wait for the price.

Did they say when they'd get yours in? A popular lens it seems, hopefully for good reason!

 

[Mysterae_]

Apparently their Sony deliveries arrive every Monday so would be sent then to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday.

That's exactly what the bloke said to me when I called .

 

[Mysterae_]

I've just received the a6000 from bristolcameras and I suspect the following has happened.

I've ordered body only.
They've ordered Kit lens version from Sony.
Once received they removed the 16-50 lens
Sent me the open box without the lens.

What I now have is an Open box with Sony label cut open and the box is the kit 16-50 version with a lens-less camera inside.

- What do I do now baring in mind to get the cashback the camera needed to be bought before the 31st of January.

I can see why they did that, they'll punt the lens off separately I guess. If you are thinking of sending it back then by the time you get a replacement you'll miss the cashback offer; I can see your issue. Do you really want to send it back, you'll be at a loss due to the return postage?

My camera (with the 16-50 incidentally) should arrive tomorrow, the lenses to follow.

 

[Mysterae_]

I received my A6000 today and oddly the box had already been opened too. Nothing was missing and it works fine, perhaps they check them before sending them out or worse, it's been a demonstration model in the shop (but doesn't show any wear signs of this at all). Not really bothered by it though.

I received the email about the delay to the 18-105 lens as well. A bit gutted that it'll take 3 weeks to get here so I called them up and cancelled my order for it. They were okay about it and understood. So looking for somewhere else to get it from or look for an alternative similar lens.

Anyway, the A6000 is a lovely little camera .

 

[Mysterae_]

I can now answer the question I asked in my original post, which was have I picked the right camera in the Sony a6000? That answer is yes, although I deviated in my choice of lens through recommendations from here and researching loads.

I finalised on a silver a6000 with the 16-50mm kit lens, the 18-105/F4 zoom and the 30/F3.5 macro lens, that should be a good mix for now. I also invested in some fast microSD cards with adaptors (the USB3.0 Lexar adaptor is very handy!).

The image above will hopefully be the last iphone picture I post on the forums .

As sod's law would have it, a few days after getting my a6000 Sony revealed it's successor, the a6300. I wasn't particularly bothered due to the price difference, I wouldn't have been able to get the a6300 and the lenses I wanted within my budget anyway.

I've been playing with the camera and lenses, messing about with the various settings. It's the only way to get used to the a6000 and cameras like it. Here's a random shot of a lamp using the 18-105/F4 power zoom, handheld no less (F4, 1/20sec, ISO-800 and FL-95mm for those interested!).

Many thanks to those who offered suggestions, saved me money (cheers StevenG! ) and help me make my mind up. Looking forward to taking many more pictures of things other than lamps!

 

[Mysterae_]

That bokeh blur is soo smooth, wasn't expecting results like that if i'm honest. Happy I've ended up with the same camera and 18-105.

I'll be adding the 50 1.8 at some point for extra light but I'm focussing more on getting some accesories like straps, battery pack, flash etc first.

Keep us posted with any further images you take

StevenG

I know, isn't it smoooth . It's a very simple image but shows the bokeh and focus really well. I like the way the light bulb cuts in to the front edge of the lampshade and also the subtle colours of inside the shade.

The weather has been too bad to get outside, so just lots of practising inside for now. I'll be looking a 50 f1.8 at some point too, but like you say, other stuff comes first.

Here's an image of my custom made SLI bridge using the 30 F3.5 macro lens in relatively low light and no flash. The SLI bridge is in full frame which I found impossible to do with the 18-105 f4 lens. I could have got even closer with the macro lens, this will be my lens for tight shots of components and the like.

The green of the LEDs in the background are now accurately captured - previously my iphone struggled with that.

 

[Mysterae_]

Do you have an iphone pic for comparison?

I would say have a look in my build log (link in sig) but most of those images (taken with an iphone) have had some element of rework to bring the levels back to reality. It's odd, the iphone can capture the green LEDs perfectly well in daylight, but at night (or low light level at least) it becomes quite inaccurate.

Here's an unaltered iphone image of what I mean: