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A6000 advice (or alternatives)

Moakesy

Moakesy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 1, 2013
576
1,209
UK
Not for me, but for a good friend.....

Got a friend who used to shoot 35mm many years ago, but has not really done much photography since those days.

He used to use love his Fujica ST605N apparently (whatever one of those were?) but his current camera is a Samsung Galaxy, the camera not the phone. It is limited in it's performance, and he wants to get back into photography as more of a hobby, but does not want a full DSLR anymore.

He is currently looking at the Sony A6000, there is a body only he is bidding for on eBay, but has no idea about which lens to go for. I see the kit lens is the 16-50mm, but I have no idea if it's any good....

I questioned him on his needs, and they can be summarised as:

Q: Type of shots?
A: Portrait first, maybe a bit of landscape, not really any sport

Q: What's more important...Quality or price?
A: If using the 'Good/Better/Best' measure, it would be ‘Better', doest have to be ‘Best’?

Q: One do it all lens, or a couple lenses?
A: Probably just one to get started, then maybe adding more later

Q: Budget?
A: Around £500 (remembering he is happy to buy second hand off eBay)


Can anyone offer any decent real world advice. Obviously the Google searches have been done and the A6000 seems a decent choice do you think? The new A6300 coming out will be outside of his price range.

Thanks
 
I wouldn't buy the a6000 now.
I'd scrimp and save for the a6300 instead, any way I could...!
 
Fishrrman said:
I'd scrimp and save for the a6300 instead, any way I could...!
Click to expand...

For what reasons?

Although he could afford it, it's not really within the budget he's thinking of spending. It's roughly twice the price.....and he isn't really interested in video, 4K or otherwise. What is the pull of the A6300, apart from it being the latest model (which, if I'm honest, is normally a good reason for me to get a new toy!!
 
I agree, stick out for a good deal on the A6000. They will be available at discount soon.

The 16-50 isnt awesome on the A6000 but it is likely adequate to begin with. Then I would say he can look for better when he finds his chi again.

Personally, I think the FE 55mm is awesome on it but that is just me
 
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I have an a6000, about a year old now. While I am anticipating the a6300, I have yet to outgrow my 6000. Like your friend, I had years of experience with film, including darkroom, but decades ago.I bought the kit with 2 lenses. I like to do landscape photography, and use the 16-50 almost exclusively. I like this set up because it is small and compact - I've taken it backpacking a couple of times. IMHO, there are too many subjectivity sliders in play when trying to decide what to buy, and the technology has changed things a bit, too. For example, f4 lenses aren't so terrible (as in amount of light) as the distant past, because I can dial up 1600 ISO to offset that. There are probably more opinions that this is better/worse for some/others. For me, I looked at what else I could get, what I would use it for, and future of the platform so future lens purchases would be supported. For the price, I am very satisfied. Note that I purchased a kit with two lenses for something like $750 at Costco, about a year ago. Deals may come along once the a6300 starts shipping.
 
I am not interested in 4K. But the a6300 has a kickass AF capability and the screen can refresh fast enough so that 8fps looks like a real time OVF. If I were shooting sports, wildlife or other moving objects, I would save for the a6300 and meanwhile invest in serious glass. Camera bodies come and go (~3-5 years). The serious investment is glass, glass, glass.
 
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CmdrLaForge said:
I own the A6000 and have the 16-50. Not a very good lens but very small and light. I bought the camera specifically because I wanted small and light and always with me. I have decent Canon L lenses on which I spend my money...

But for your friend I can recommend this lens:
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SELP18105G-Standard-Zoom-Objektiv-E-Mount-geeignet/dp/B00F5X17KY/ref=pd_sim_421_10?ie=UTF8&dpID=418HwH-z5rL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR141,160_&refRID=0VD2G5AJHQ64X5CD8Q3C
Click to expand...

Now that looks just the job......a step up in quality from the standard kit lens.

cheers for that!
 
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Moakesy said:
Now that looks just the job......a step up in quality from the standard kit lens.

cheers for that!
Click to expand...

Yes I am thinking about getting one for myself. The lens is quite a bit bigger then the standard zoom but has a much better reach. Also it's a Sony G lens which is their premium lens line. Basically it's a great always on travel lens.
 
I've just bought the Sony 18-55 (SEL1855), to supplement my Russian manual primes - a little larger than the 16-50mm, but performs much better according to reviews, and they seem to go for far less on eBay (mine was £39 + postage). I haven't got my sticky fingers on it yet so can't confirm quality.
Might be worth looking into if the budget is tight after getting a body.

Quite wish I could afford the 18-105 as above though.

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
The Sony A6000 is without a doubt the best camera I have ever used. It is incredibly versatile and you really don't forfeit any features of a DSLR, in fact I replaced my huge D7000 with it! Although I've had mine about a year now and I hear there's a new version out (A6300?) but the A6000 is still a great buy if you can pick one up cheap now, well, they were cheap in the first place. ;-)

By the way I bought mine body only when I got it, chose the Sony 35mm f/1.8 to go with it, great lens - very sharp.

In terms of your friend, the A6000 does seem like a great buy for him and, as I said, you'll probably be able to get them cheap soon. I'm bias towards primes cause I think they're really great but 35mm becomes a little tight when you add in the crop factor. I've been eyeing the Sony 24mm for a while, but it's £500 so might lay off. Plus my 35mm is very sharp and I rarely struggle with focal length. But your friend might want something a little wider.
 
I just bought into the olympus mirrorless system, (as well as a DSLR) very good cameras the EM5 mk2 is in budget and worth a look,
 
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Been going back and forth on getting the a6000 or the a6300, most of the professionals over at dpreview are saying for video it's the a6300 but if you're going for Photography to save the change as the quality is not significant between the two.
 
I had the a6000 and loved it, loved it so much that I took it back and got the a6300 so that I could record in 4k and take advantage of the 425 AF points. Both are incredible cameras.
 
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I have the a6000 and love it. It's a great size with enough advanced features to yield both excellent control and excellent photos.

As has been mentioned, the next question after the camera is the lens selection. I mainly use an 18-200 lens that delivers fairly well across situations. The kit lens (18-55) takes some great pictures, and you might want to add a good zoom at 55-210. For portraits your friend would likely want a good prime (fixed) lens. Sony makes a couple great ones at 35 and 50, but there are a couple of less expensive options from Sigma that lose a bit of light in aperture but gain some sharpness. If you have the money to spend, Zeiss lenses have a reputation as the best of the lot.

Amazon sometimes has pretty great deals. Even better if you're willing to do used or refurbished.

I saw the a6300 announcement. Looks like a great camera. It's not something I feel like I need to upgrade to yet, but it's compelling as a first choice, I think.

Hope this helps. And totally not a plug, but you can visit my Flickr (and Instagram) to see pictures taken with the camera. My username at both is the same as here (willentrekin).
 
Hi. I'm planning on buying a camera and I've narrowed it down to Sony A6000 and Olympus E-m10. I'm very much a beginner as I've just been taking pictures from my iPhone only. I'm probably not going to buy additional lens, just use as it is until I finally get the hang of using the camera. I still want a camera that's going to be good enough for me as I progress into the world of photography. Lol

Any opinions on which is the best among the two?
 
Hi.

Congrats on starting out on this hobby.

I think either are great options. The A6000 has great auto focus, it has access to sony e-mount lenses and also the option to adapt old lenses to it easily.

The EM-10 has a smaller sensor but has in body image stabilisation.

Both are great value options so it comes down to aesthetics. I personally shoot a Sony so would likely go A6000 to keep in that lens family but the build quality on the Olympus is better IMHO.

What do you shoot as that will have a bearing on which is better...
 
I've had a a6000 for over a year now and it's been the dream camera for me: DSLR quality in a small package.

The 16-50mm kit lens isn't fantastic: it's more of a convenient lens than a quality lens.

If you want good quality lenses on a budget, check out Sigma's offerings. I have the 30mm 2.8 and the 60mm 2.8, both around 150€ and the quality is awesome! The 60mm especially, at f/4, is super sharp.
 
I am just about to buy this camera as a beginners camera. I am wondering whether or not I should go for the A5100 instead and miss out on the viewfinder and the hotshoe...
 
I wouldn't buy ANY camera in the A6000's price range UNLESS it came with a viewfinder…
 
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