Sony A6000 Owners Thread

[Nemesismaster]

Just got into the a6000 + 30mm f1. 4 combo. Am I too late into the game?

 

[ccloh]

Just got into the a6000 + 30mm f1. 4 combo. Am I too late into the game?

the sigma 30mm f/1.4 ?? that one is even better than sony 35mm f/1.8 at wider aperture and it is even cheaper. the only downside is there isn't any OSS meaning when either video shooting or low light/night photography, this will lose out a bit to Sony 35mm f/1.8

don't think there is ever a term called "late into the game" in photography. the A6000 unless you want to shoot 4K video still provide good photo shoot quality despite being a 5 yrs old model. those lens in the market now still keeping the A6000 being useful.

 

[Nemesismaster]

the sigma 30mm f/1.4 ?? that one is even better than sony 35mm f/1.8 at wider aperture and it is even cheaper. the only downside is there isn't any OSS meaning when either video shooting or low light/night photography, this will lose out a bit to Sony 35mm f/1.8

don't think there is ever a term called "late into the game" in photography. the A6000 unless you want to shoot 4K video still provide good photo shoot quality despite being a 5 yrs old model. those lens in the market now still keeping the A6000 being useful.

Good to hear that this camera demand is still strong. Yeah sigma 1.4 no stabilisation but so far I get good amount of light and with the big aperture pics are still great.

 

[chiaRH]

Good to hear that this camera demand is still strong. Yeah sigma 1.4 no stabilisation but so far I get good amount of light and with the big aperture pics are still great.

you can always stabilize with a gimbal if your situation demands it

but no hardware can give you 'more aperture' than your lens is able to provide at its max limit.

 

[harky]

No cheap deal. Even 2ND hand also ex

 

[hazard89]

Just bought a used a6000 (9k shutter count) + SELP1650 for $400, the seller was also nice to throw in a 16gb memory card and a dry box and a camera bag. Also bought a Sony 55-210 for $150. Hope this will help some folks to pitch a price when negotiating on a used a6000.

After using it on 2 weekends I noticed that the battery life is not fantastic at all, so I will have to buy some spares.

Can anyone also comment on the general sharpness quality of the kit 16-50? Somehow I noticed that the 55-210 produces much more sharper IQ as compared to the kit.

 

[ccloh]

Just bought a used a6000 (9k shutter count) + SELP1650 for $400, the seller was also nice to throw in a 16gb memory card and a dry box and a camera bag. Also bought a Sony 55-210 for $150. Hope this will help some folks to pitch a price when negotiating on a used a6000.

After using it on 2 weekends I noticed that the battery life is not fantastic at all, so I will have to buy some spares.

Can anyone also comment on the general sharpness quality of the kit 16-50? Somehow I noticed that the 55-210 produces much more sharper IQ as compared to the kit.

it is no secret that the Sony NP-FW50 has short battery life. in addition to that you are using the SELP1650 lens which further suck up the battery life due to power zoom feature. you might want to use the focus ring to adjust the zoom rather than using the power zoom slider perhaps help a bit to reduce the battery consumption. i bought a RAVpower dual charger (can get from online site lazada, qoo10, shopee, etc for $50+ and with discount from vouchers can get it below $50. last month 9.9 lazada sold it for $49.95). this dual charger comes with 2 3rd party NP-FW50 batteries and somehow this 3rd party battery seem to have longer battery life than the official Sony NP-FW50. another method you could use is to buy the Meike battery grip for A6300 which can house 2 batteries so that you have longer batteries life for shooting.

the SELP1650 lens is not the best but it did have its plus point. in general Sony lens is pretty sharp at the center but not all lens are sharp at the corner. even if you manage to find a Sony lens that is sharp at the corner, it might not happen at its maximum Aperture too. i did some research on the SELP1650, the sweet spot is f/5.6 to f/8 (quite consistent from DxoMark result). something like from 16mm to 35mm, f/5.6 is the best (the corner doesn't look obviously soft unless you crop 100%). from 35mm to 50mm focal length, f/6.3 to f/8 is probably the best Aperture setting.

the SEL55210 doesn't overlap the SELP1650 in term of focal length so it is quite difficult to conclude the sharpness by comparing both. if i remembered correctly the test result from DxoMark, the sweet spot is between f/5.6 to f/8 at the focal length from 55mm to 100mm (somewhere around there).

the Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS (the kit lens for Sony A7 full frame), which can be used on Sony A6000 is better than SELP1650 in term of sharpness. you might be able to find people selling off cheap as they got it as part of the kit lens.

if you want something that cover a larger focal length range and still provide a better IQ than SELP1650 and SEL55210, the more expensive one SELP18105 f/4 OSS (very heavy and drain battery due to power zoom) or SEL18135 f/3.5-6.3 OSS should be the one you could look at. the SEL18135 f/3.5-6.3 OSS is actually part of the A6400 kit lens (upgraded version as the default still SELP1650) so you might find people selling off as 2nd hand and can get it cheaper.

however, since you already have the SELP1650 and SEL55210, unless you sell those away else just have use them at their sweet spot and it will be fine. shooting RAW also help as you can "touch-up" in the post-processing with software like lightroom, capture one, darktable, etc to make it more "perfect". i use capture one 12, the free version and by just applying the default automatic settings on the RAW image, most of the time can get good quality.

 

[Nemesismaster]

How abt 16-70mm Sony? Heard that its good?

 

[ccloh]

How abt 16-70mm Sony? Heard that its good?

this one is the Vario-Tessar T* E class, quality wise definitely better than the normal E/FE lens. there is also another class the G class of lens (SEL18105 f/4 G) which is also better quality than the normal E/FE. having say that, price wise definitely more expensive. for a brand new price, the SELP1650, SEL55210, SEL18135 all below $1000. SEL18105 price also dropped below $1000 despite belong to the G class as it is considered an "old" lens having in the market for quite sometime already.

actually, what type of lens to get very much depend what type of photography you want to shoot. there is no point getting a SEL55210 if you don't mostly use focal length in the 150mm to 210mm range. similarly if you don't shoot landscape very often, the ultra-wide lens (less than 25mm focal length) will be under utilized also. most of the time, focal length between 25mm to 150mm is more than useful like going for vacation, street photo and portraits.

 

[yusoffb01]

Just bought a used a6000 (9k shutter count) + SELP1650 for $400, the seller was also nice to throw in a 16gb memory card and a dry box and a camera bag. Also bought a Sony 55-210 for $150. Hope this will help some folks to pitch a price when negotiating on a used a6000.

After using it on 2 weekends I noticed that the battery life is not fantastic at all, so I will have to buy some spares.

Can anyone also comment on the general sharpness quality of the kit 16-50? Somehow I noticed that the 55-210 produces much more sharper IQ as compared to the kit.

it has been 400 for the past 2 years

 

[harky]

Haha.. Some can even sell at the price of brand new one..

it has been 400 for the past 2 years

 

[ccloh]

Haha.. Some can even sell at the price of brand new one..

is the base value already. optical equipment especially lens unlike electronics gadget has a relative stable base value. for those who sell $400 are those who bought years ago at a much higher price.

for camera unless a new technology emerges else it will stay at its base value. should a new technology emerges and result them in redundant, manufacture will kill off the production line. that is why A6000 has been staying in the $400+ price level for past years. even with the latest A6100 releases, the price still remain stable.

for optical lens, the depreciation is even slower. like the SELP18105G f/4, it was launched in 2013 can't remember what was the launch price then but it has stayed around USD598 for past few years already and this lens still stand out on its own in that range of focal length after all these years.

 

[harky]

Haha ya but also must see how the person take care..

is the base value already. optical equipment especially lens unlike electronics gadget has a relative stable base value. for those who sell $400 are those who bought years ago at a much higher price.

for camera unless a new technology emerges else it will stay at its base value. should a new technology emerges and result them in redundant, manufacture will kill off the production line. that is why A6000 has been staying in the $400+ price level for past years. even with the latest A6100 releases, the price still remain stable.

for optical lens, the depreciation is even slower. like the SELP18105G f/4, it was launched in 2013 can't remember what was the launch price then but it has stayed around USD598 for past few years already and this lens still stand out on its own in that range of focal length after all these years.

 

[ccloh]

Haha ya but also must see how the person take care..

if that person is a professional photographer, making a living out of it there is no reason not to take proper care of their equipment, probably they will everyday clean up the camera and lens before going to bed

for those taking photography as a hobby will surely know that this is an "expensive" hobby. the cost is not just the camera and lens only, it involves accessories (lens hood if not come with it, filter, cleaning kits, bag, memory cards, batteries, etc) and not to mention a must for a dry cabinet. thus, they are very discipline to do a good maintenance on the equipment.

in general for those who take photography seriously will put in effort to take care of it.

if you notice those majority sellers on clubsnap selling off their cameras and lenses usually keep those in very good condition. so for people who is on tight budget could consider buying from them

 

[Takechan]

How abt 16-70mm Sony? Heard that its good?

I'm just a casual who doesn't shoot often but the 16-70mm was my staple for a few years for vacations. High versatility and sharpness without being too bulky for a zoom lens.

 

[Zink00]

What is this “sharpness” u all mean?

 

[Rondoo]

Hi all, I would like to get a mirrorless camera and Sony a6000 is one of my consideration along with fuji x-a7. Which of them is good for an entry level beginner?

 

[ccloh]

What is this “sharpness” u all mean?

basically refer to the contrast, is the edges between 2 different surfaces eg building & sky, face line & surrounding, etc clearly defined. usually if you crop the image 100% if it is sharp, you can still clearly see the contrast. crop 200% still see that meaning very good already. crop it 400% you probably see the softness already which is quite normal. also if the lens is really top grade, the sharpness is not just at the center but also at the corner and should be able to cover a wider range of Aperture and different focal length (if it is a zoom lens).

try to see the sharpness in RAW and not post-process JPEG done by the camera.

 

[MoneyHoney]

Just bought a used a6000 (9k shutter count) + SELP1650 for $400, the seller was also nice to throw in a 16gb memory card and a dry box and a camera bag. Also bought a Sony 55-210 for $150. Hope this will help some folks to pitch a price when negotiating on a used a6000.

After using it on 2 weekends I noticed that the battery life is not fantastic at all, so I will have to buy some spares.

Can anyone also comment on the general sharpness quality of the kit 16-50? Somehow I noticed that the 55-210 produces much more sharper IQ as compared to the kit.

get urself a sigma 16mm or 30mm or 50mm f1.4 dc dn... (depending on how zoomed in you want)

this 1 is really no horse run...best range of lens for Sony APSC


i have a Sigma 16mm and SELP18105G.... ditched the kit lens a long time ago...

 

[ccloh]

get urself a sigma 16mm or 30mm or 50mm f1.4 dc dn... (depending on how zoomed in you want)

this 1 is really no horse run...best range of lens for Sony APSC


i have a Sigma 16mm and SELP18105G.... ditched the kit lens a long time ago...

found that most of the time probably need to have 2 or 3 lenses at most.
anything more look like overspent already.

a zoom lens for versatile, too bad there isn't 3rd party zoom lens for Sony APS-C so have to stick with Sony lenses. quite a couple of choices here and depend what type of focal length range one need. the zoom lens which covered the mostly used range are SELP1650, SELP18105, SEL18135, SEL1670, SEL18200. the rest like SEL1018, SEL55210 are more for shooting at very specific purpose, SEL1018 for landscape, SEL55210 for sports or bird watching. of course one can use the FE zoom lens, the IQ is not bad but price is always on the high. the only budget friendly probably is the kit lens that comes with the A7, SEL2870 f/3.5-5.6 OSS

a prime lens at the focal length mostly used, typically between 25mm to 50mm, with a wide aperture in the range of f/1.4 to f/2.8. this should provide you with a lens good for low light, night photography and bokeh.

another prime lens to make it 3 if one is into this area of photography, a lens at a higher focal length of at least 50mm for portraits or macro. some might use the zoom lens for this purpose but the quality is different from prime lens and also can't get the wider aperture a prime lens offered.

for the prime lens some of the 3rd party are really good like the sigma 16, 30, 58 f/1.4 and even the sigma 19, 30, 60 f/2.8 also not a bad choice. their IQ not loosing out to Sony prime lens and much cheaper too.

i have the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 dc dn. it just so good even better than the Sony 35mm f/1.8 that almost 99% i'm using it. i have the SEL18135, it was a lucky buy as i was looking for a good zoom lens and someone putting up for sale $300 off the official selling price after just buying it for 3 months. so i get it on the cheap with 1.3 months warranty from Sony still active.