Another new camera- Sony a6000

[Walter White]

So I have been eyeing the mirrorless cameras from Sony for the last couple couple months. This seem to be the direction that cameras are going and Sony is leading the technology.

I couldn't help myself I had to have one. I decided on the a6000 because it is the perfect travel camera that I can literally take everywhere with me. Is super small and light weight and is capable of incredible things for a camera this size . I takes interchangeable E-mount lenses and while the kit lenses that came with it are not crazy fantastic they did deliver way higher quality images than I every imagined. They are no joke! Being E-mount this camera can also hook up to some seriously nice glass. The skies the limit with this little camera body.

It will shoot 11 fps and is dubbed for having the fastest auto focus system of any camera EVER! It has 179 phase detection auto focus points. Both of my high end Canons only have 30 combined. In addition it has a 24.3MP APS-C crop sensor that pretty much beats all other APS-C cameras in ever category. That includes Canons 7D MII APS-C which costs $1400 just for the body.In fact you can almost do a direct comparison between the a6000 and 7D. This little camera is so cool. It does so much its just mind boggling because its the size of a standard point and shoot and will literately hook straight up to a $24,000 Ziess 15-30mm!

You can get the camera body the two kit lenses (16-5mm and 55-210mm) a 32GB high speed SD card, and two batteries for $700. If Anyone is in the market for a new Camera in the $550-$700 range this is the one to get!

Here is the Holiday kit they are selling right now. Sorry for the Crappy Cell phone pics lol!

For Size Comparisons to my Canon Cameras.

These are Some Images I got this with Both the Sony with the 16-50mm Kit Lense ($550 Combo) and a Canon 6D Full Frame with a 16-35mm L series Lense ($2600 Combo). The 6D pictures are better but that is only because of the lens on the Canon but you tell me if see a $2000 dollar difference in these images?



First the Canon 6D

 

[Walter White]

And now the Sony a6000

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

Wow Kris those are pretty crazy, I can't believe the Sony body is roughly the size of a simple point and shoot. That's just insane. Have fun with the new toy!

 

[Tripple T]

Pretty rad. Wish I knew, well, anything about photography

 

[Reefman1981]

I was REALLY wondering how these cameras would fair. They look very nice and almost make me regret the purchase of my T5i kit a year ago. I have been very interested in the Samsung, mirrorless models and agree that Sony is looking GREAT!

 

[Walter White]

I was REALLY wondering how these cameras would fair. They look very nice and almost make me regret the purchase of my T5i kit a year ago. I have been very interested in the Samsung, mirrorless models and agree that Sony is looking GREAT!

yeah I really need to either get a good quality native E-mount lense for this sony or get the adapter so I can use my canon EF-mount lenses to really get a feel for how good this camera is. There are several professional photographers on you tube that use the a6000 for action shots and just an all around backup so that should say something for it.

The down side about using a Canon or Nikon adapter on the a6000 is that the auto focus just really sucks. Which I guess only really maters if your in a situation that needs AF. From what I understand the Sony a7 Mk II and a7R Mk II will perform with canon and Nikon lenses as well or almost as well as their native counter parts because of much newer firmware. Off course now you are talking way more money. I think the a6000 body only is around $350. Pretty awesome price for a camera that can take canon and Nikon as well even if you have to manual focus.

I will say that the digital view finder takes some getting used to but the advantages are huge. For example when you look through the view finder you see the subject exactly how the picture will be captured once the shutter is released. So before you even take the picture you get the preview and know if you are over exposed, under exposed, etc. The manual focus assist is awesome! The peaking and zebra features are awesome! Oh and did I meantion you get an articulating screen and a pop flash that you can direct up or at the ceiling to bounce the flash? Again for the money I'm not sure this camera can be beat.

if I had it all to do over again I would have just got the a6000 and A7ii with an adapter for the canon lenses I want. I think Sony is going to put a hurtin on Canon and Nikon and either force them to drop their crazy prices or at least step up thier game in the DSLR world.

 

[Walter White]

On a side note almost all the pics above are 3 stop bracketed HDR, merged then processed for crazy sky effects so this is a really bad comparison example. I didnt set out to do a direct comparison I was just reall impressed with how the Sony did on my first outing with it and thought I'd share sinse at least a couple people have mentioned being in the market for a new camera.

i shot some tank pics with it last night that people will no doubt be more interested in but haven't processed them yet. I can already tell though that in this area the kit lenses that come with the camera will fall short.

 

[SkyShark]

Refurb units currently on amazon for $590 (Sony Alpha a6000 Digital Camera Wi-Fi w/ 18-55mm 55-210mm Zoom Lens Bundle (Certified Refurbished))
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Digital-...0fa628cd68c2f51a9a37d0137b7c55001089&rawdata=[r|http%3A%2F%2Flifehacker.com%2F[t|link[p|1749253697[a|B01097XD0W[au|5727177402741770316

 

[Reefman1981]

On a side note almost all the pics above are 3 stop bracketed HDR, merged then processed for crazy sky effects so this is a really bad comparison example. I didnt set out to do a direct comparison I was just reall impressed with how the Sony did on my first outing with it and thought I'd share sinse at least a couple people have mentioned being in the market for a new camera.

i shot some tank pics with it last night that people will no doubt be more interested in but haven't processed them yet. I can already tell though that in this area the kit lenses that come with the camera will fall short.

Awesome, and great review of the Sony camera! You have no idea of how badly I've been wondering about these new mirrorless cameras and their results. Its very appealing knowing that you can swap out lenses too, to say the least. Losing the AF isn't too big of deal for me, just saving the $ on not having to buy another piece of overpriced glass is a win.
I am looking forward to more. I can't wait to see the macro, aquarium shots, but I know I'll be in tears knowing I got in in the DSLR game late. I should have waited another year to drop a grand on a camera, but I'm a Samsung man (Sony has not been good to me in past years) and they just weren't ready to make me say yes over my Canon.
You're definitely right, Canon and Nikon are going to feel the wrath of the mirrorless models soon, if they already aren't. We may have a changing of control in the industry soon.

 

[Walter White]

Awesome, and great review of the Sony camera! You have no idea of how badly I've been wondering about these new mirrorless cameras and their results. Its very appealing knowing that you can swap out lenses too, to say the least. Losing the AF isn't too big of deal for me, just saving the $ on not having to buy another piece of overpriced glass is a win.
I am looking forward to more. I can't wait to see the macro, aquarium shots, but I know I'll be in tears knowing I got in in the DSLR game late. I should have waited another year to drop a grand on a camera, but I'm a Samsung man (Sony has not been good to me in past years) and they just weren't ready to make me say yes over my Canon.
You're definitely right, Canon and Nikon are going to feel the wrath of the mirrorless models soon, if they already aren't. We may have a changing of control in the industry soon. 

So I was dying to know how well the Sony would do with my Canon L series lenses so I went out and got the cheapest E-EF mount adapter out there made by Photdiox. I paid about $100 for it at Mikes Camera because I wanted it today but it looks like you can get them for about $70 on line.

The build quality is very good and the AF does work! However as I mentioned before it is slow and has a tendency to search a lot before it finds focus so you wont be shooting an action with with non native lenses but the AF does work well enough that it would still be really great for landscapes, architecture and portraits. Macro it dosnt matter because MF is better for that anyway.

Here is the Sony set up with the Canon 100mm 2.8L macro and a Yongnuo ring flash. Of course the Ring flash is made for Canon so it will only fire in Manual and I have no sync or TTL functions so that would be a bit of a pain but other than that the lens performs as well as the canon body with this camera.

It's really kind of comical mounting a nice larger sized lens to this thing. The camera is so small your practically just holding the lens.

This is the little bone from a turbo snail. Its about the size of a dime maybe a tad smaller. I lose absulutly nothing in the image qaulity using the Fotodiox adapter. What a great concept to be able to pic ANY lens you want be it Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Ziess, whatever.

here is ISO100, f8 For maximum sharpness.

no crop

major crop

here is ISO100, f22 for maxim depth of field.

 

[Walter White]

Oh one major advantage I did find using the Sony over the Canon body is that with peaking turned on I can easily use the live view screen for taking macro shots and still be sure I am perfectly focused. On the Canon body I will only use the view finder because its just to difficult to know if you are perfectly focused on those really tight shots using the live screen unless you use the live screen zoom and then the problem is you lose all sight of your composition. So this makes getting tough to reach macro shots really nice with the articulating screen.

However you do lose Image stabilization of the lens but thats not really a big deal for macro IMO anyway as Most macro type camera shake is forward and back not up down left and right which Canon IS cant help.

Now if you jump to one of the Sony bodies that has 5 axis stabilization you are all set! Even better than a Canon IS lens on a Canon body.

 

[Walter White]

Here are a few fish and tank pics taken with 16-50mm kit lens that come with the camera.

Not too bad! Not nearly as sharp of quality as a prime lens and there is noticeable chromatic aberration at the edges but I think this lens is only $65 so for the money Id say it does a pretty decent job.

 

[Walter White]

ooops forgot one

 

[Reefman1981]

The future is bright with this new technology! Just think, this is just the beginning of "mirrorless" technology and what's next. Great tank shots, even without the ideal prime lens.

 

[Balz3352]

Wow. Awesome pics makes me really want a camera.... And my big tank set up so I can have those fish!!