Hi Guys,
I bought a Sony a6000 in the recent ebay sale. It is a fantastic camera.
I was wondering what sort of lens and accessories do you guys own?
It would be great if you can list your:
1) Lens list
2) SD Card
3) Tripod
4) Bag
5) Battery and others
Cheers
It's the lens that makes the photograph, not the body. A good lens you'll keep a lot longer than a body and it will hold it's value.
Problem with that A7 is full frame. Buying a full frame lense now for the A6000 makes it rather heavy and you wouldn't really be utilizing it properly.
That's a good kit but swiggity swag is right, of all the research that I have done, the peers have always stressed on getting good lens than a body. Bodies will move on as technology advances but you will always be able to use good lens with some adapter or the other.
Actually, it's your skills that makes a good photo. I think the 16-50mm is fine. It's a very light lens and performs very well at f/5.6. It's got horrible distortions but this can be corrected in postprocessing.
Heya, I have one too, I love it! :D Recommended to a friend also, he loves it too.
Mine came with the 16-55mm and 55-210mm telefoto. I want to pick up the 50mm portrait lens and perhaps the pancake, but I stupidly didn't buy them wheen they were $199..
Bag: Some kinda Loweprobag. Split main compartment, so it fits both lenses and the camera and is STILL smaller than DSLR carry bag.
Accessories: Wired remote switch and wireless remote. You need one of these to take BULB pics.
Stands etc: Cheap $30 tripod, does the job. Pocket tripod, gorilla arm style.
64GB Samsung Evo microSD, with a 32 as spare.
Stock battery for now, just the one. This thing holds charge for ages. Cheap 3rd party batteries are 1/3-1/2 of the shots, my friend says.
Even I'm thinking of getting the wireless remote, that will come in handy and helps reduce button shake.
How is Samsung Evo's speed? Do you find any lags?
I was thinking if I should get a Sandisk Extreme for better speeds.
I just use 2 sec self-timer to reduce button shake on sub-30s exposures. Wifi remote only $29 though, so cheap, and will be used eventually for star photography etc.
I don't know how to tell if it's the camera processing or writing, but long exposure shots take a while to save to card. Normal photography has no problems.
long exposure takes a while to expose… for obvious reasons. It won't make any difference to how long it takes to save to the card. You're not going to be hitting buffer limits whilst doing long exposures.
@Thrawn: Then I think the EVO is fine? I've never had any lockups or saving taking longer than the reviews I've read (which used the best microSD available), and burst shot is as advertised.
MicroSD EVO feels a tad slow for me during bursts on my A7. I prefer to use my Samsung Pro SDXC for that, double the write speed. Testing on my NEX-5N, it made no difference. I think it lacks the UHS-I support for higher speed cards.
A6000 do support UHS-I though, so should take advantage of faster cards. There's a new firmware out for A6000 that supports XAVC-S 50 Mbit video. But it requires a minimum of 64GB SDXC cards formatted in exFAT, so keep that in mind as well.
you can sync the camera to the phone using the playmemeories app and see what the camera sees, adjust the settings and take the pic
the sony a6000 caps out at 64mbps from memory, so there's no point getting the high speed sd cards. But get a 64GB to take advantage of the new AVCHD video mode
Im using a 64GB Samsung Evo
No BULB mode on the app.
I found a good site which compares most sd cards on the a6000.
http://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/sony-a6000/sd-card-comparis…
Unfortunately the 64GB Samsung Evo is not there but the 32GB could have done a bit better.
I've had the a6000 for about 12-18 months now and love it!
Lenses - 16-50mm (not a fan), 55-210 (it's OK at certain zoom intervals, I find 135-170 to be good), 35 1.8 (this lens is my favourite lens of all time, love it). I also have a Sigma 19 and 60 on the way. I tried the sigma 35 when considering the sony 35, and although I found the sigma sharper edge to edge, I preferred the looks and feel and OSS of the sony.
It's a pity our dollar has dropped so much. Some of the Sony lenses are getting expensive now.
Bag - I have a small Sony bag which holds the camera and the zoom lense and a spare battery. It's really easy for any sort of travel.
SD - I use a 128GB PNY elite card. It seems to work really well. Haven't had any issues with speed, etc.
Batter - I have 1 spare genuine battery. Having just 2 batteries has never been a problem.
Overall, I love the a6000 camera. I've tried all sorts of DSLR and mirrorless cameras over the years, and the a6000 has trumped them all for me. 90% of the time I have the 35 1.8 on it too. It's a great travel, family, general purpose lens and camera combo.
Even I'm planning on getting the 35f18, once I save up some money.
Right now the 50f18 is available on ebay for $317.90 and $100 voucher back.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sony-SEL50F18-50mm-E-mount-Black-…
Hope the dollar corrects itself soon, might get some good deals.
Yes that's the one.
I had the 50f18 and really liked it. It was really sharp in the centre, had really nice contrast and took some nice portraights. But I always found the focal lenght a bit too tight, especially on the crop frame. After I bought the 35f18 I ended up not really using the 50 so I sold it (stupidly for about $190). Anyway, I was lucky and got my 35f18 for about $360. The sigma is great value and performs very simliarly to the Sony 35f18.
I also hope the dollar corrects itself, but I don't think it will…
Thanks for that. Will wait for a good deal on the 35f18, or hope an used one pops up in good condition.
I have a NEX5 (1st gen), so all my gear is a little outdated (and cheap), but uses the same gear as the a6000:
SEL30M35 - 30mm Macro [Clear focus @ 100mm]
SEL1855 - 18mm-55mm [Mostly used lens as it's flexible]
SEL55210 - 55mm-210mm [Usually have this lens close by to get that extra zoom]
SEL16F28 - 16mm [rarely used, might pick up a fish-eye lens to go with the 16mm one day, but unlikely to use it!]
16GB SD Class 10 [Sufficient with the NEX5, but would get a 32/64 nowadays]
SLIK F143 [basic tripod, but does its job]
Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW Camera Bag [Great bag, recommend having a look at Lowepro gear!]
Genuine Spare battery a must.
I have a wireless remote as well, used it for a photobooth - worked well. Cheap aftermarket ebay one.
I was thinking about getting the a7ii during the last cash back, but didn't bite the bullet as the NEX5 still does the job.
It's hard to chose the right lens as there are many needed for different situations. The best thing to do would be to isolate the type of photographs you will be taking most often. Outdoors / Indoors / Portrait / Scenery / Animals, Nature
When i got my a6000, I started with the SEL20F28 as it is a great all round and very pocketable
I soon after got the SEL50F18 for indoor portrait shots and great bokeh
I've borrowed a friends SEL35F18 and it is more "usable" than the 50mm, but I feel like the 50mm gets much better portrait shots, you just have to move around more to fit the subjects in
I Then got the SEL55210 for outdoors, nature, sports shots as i needed a variable zoom lens for these
The above got me great shots through most situations, but is an extreme hassle swapping the fixed lenses. Especially when I didn't need the SEL20F28 & SEL50F18's wide aperture for outdoor shots.
So I recently purchased a SEL18200 to give me a wider zoom range for all my outdoor needs. And will keep the 20mm and 50mm for indoor, low light shots as they have a wider aperture.
I'm putting my 55-210 up for sale now and will think about whether I need to keep the 20mm once I use the 18-200 more.
1) Lenses:
* SEL35F18
* SEL1018
* SEL55210
* SEL16F28
* SEL1855
* Canon FD to E mount adapter
The wide angle is currently my favorite. If you are doing landscapes you need this lens. The 35 is to replace my Canon FDn 35F2. The 55-210 is not the best but to get that reach with anything else costs so much. The 16 and 18-55 were kit lenses from my Nex-5. Both of them were competent but I don't think they will get much of a work out now. The Canon FD lenses that I have are 24 F2.8, 35 F2, 50 F1.4, 85 F1.8.
2) SD - 64 Samsung Evo MicroSD Class 10 50MB/Sec and a 64 PNY Elite Performance 64GB High Speed SDXC Class 10 90MB/sec
3) Tripod - None
4) Bag - Lowepro Photo Hatchback 22L AW
5) Battery and other items - 3 batteries, BlackRapid CrossShot sling, 2 gradient filters (49mm and 62mm)
sorry not gradient filters but polarizing filters
Wow, nice set of lenses!
That CrossShot sling is pretty interesting, did you get it here in AU or did you order it from the States?
Yeah I have slowly accumulated! I find though that I stick with 35 and 10-18 as my walk around lenses (the 55-210 is also very handy). The other lenses tend to be when I want awesome bokeh (85, 50). Yeah the sling is great! I got it for hiking and so worth it. That particular model's shoulder rubber works very well to keep it from slipping off. I bought it from Teds here.
where did you get the SEL1018 from and how much was it?
It was about a year ago and I got it from DigidDirect after price matching Teds. I got it for around $850ish I think. The price has gone up in both those stores.
Would you recommend the SEL1018 ($900 grey stock) or get the Samyang manual 12mm 2.0 ($370 grey stock)?
@abracadabra: I have not tried the Samyang but I did do a lot of research into both. The Samyang is an interesting lens, it is quite a bit cheaper and apparently very sharp. Along with the fast aperture make it great for things like astrophotography.
What made me choose the SEL1018 was the fact it was a zoom. Very wide angle lenses can make it difficult to frame a scene properly without resorting to cropping the photo later. Since the SEL1018 also has OSS it seemed the most versatile of the two. So I really think it depends on the style of photography you want to do. If you are travelling or hiking then I think the SEL1018 will make your life easier. If you intend to shoot at lowlight, stars, or in situations where you can spend some time setting up, or just want to lightly invest into a wide angle then the Samyang might be a better fit.
SEL1018
+ OSS
+ Zoom range
+ Sharp from 5.6
+ Auto focus
+ Light
- Expensive
- F4 is average sharpness
- Not very fast
Samyang 12mm 2.0
+ cheap
+ fast
+ small
+ sharp
- Fixed focal
- Manual focus
- No OSS
@abracadabra:
I actually own both as they are very different lenses. For events I would use the SEL1018 (and its a pretty good lens, even indoors with fair to good light), but would prefer to use the Samyang for night photography.
Thanks Goonos and pinchies! In that case i will get the SEL1018 then, such a pity that it is just F4. Will look out for a good price for the SEL1018
It is a pity, but the OSS helps to offset that. You wouldnt get OSS in a 2.8 lens, and its rare you want shallow depth of field in a wide lens. But still a pity.
Awesome camera. Love the rapid shot and night low light capability. Just have the two stock lenses. Looking to get the 35f18 on special. The remote app on the phone is fantastic.
1) Lens - stock 16 to 50 mm. I've decided instead of spending money on a lens I'd rather save my money towards the equivalent of an A7 in a few years
2) SD - 64gb Samsung class 10 card. Holds many thousands of images. Fit all of my USA trip photos and I was there for 6.5 . Although now to take advantage of Google photos unlimited storage for now I've been shooting at 12MP instead of 24.
3) Tripod - Sirui T-025X Carbon Fibre Tripod + C-10 Ball head which has been great as it's light for a full fledged tripod. Was 259 bucks for me
4) Bag - crumpler pleasure dome small which fits the camera perfectly but won't hold additional lenses
5) Battery and - crumpler noose wrist strap, a cleaning kit from Amazon and some various cheap filters from ebay I haven't tried out