EntropySink
Entertainment & Artistry => Photography/Video/Movies & TV => Topic started by: hans on September 29, 2015, 04:34:42 PM
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I'm thinking about upgrading my camera. I have an older Canon and I think it might be time to get something newer.
I've been pondering the Sony A5100 and A6000 and think I'm leaning towards the A6000 now that the firmware recently got upgraded.
Anyone use either of these? The 6K seems to sound like a reasonable bang for buck camera.
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You should just get the a7S II. Mmmmm.
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hahahahahaha.
I did watch some reviews and thought hey I should get one until I looked at the price...
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I'm sure this is a stupid response to your question, but unless you're doing pro/semi-pro photography, I'd just get a nicer phone. My wife's iPhone 6 takes better pictures than our Canon Rebel XS.
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But then you are one of those people
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Benny if that is really true then there is likely an issue with the Canon or user inexperience. That is like saying the FiT can outperform a Challenger. Might be smaller, get better mileage, but in the hands of somebody who knows how to drive a powerful vehicle the comparison falls flat. Using a camera of that quality and better takes a plenty of experience with a mighty fine payoff. Not dissing the modern cell phone cameras, but that is not, IMO, a fair statement based purely on the capability of those two hardware platforms.
I also tend to have better luck with my cell phone over my T5i, that said I KNOW what the Canon can do in more skilled hands than my own and the cell phone cam pales in comparison. I hope to remedy that sometime soon though. I would like to take a class for this purpose. Now to find one around here.......
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Trust me. I've tried with this Canon. I've read photography stuff all over the web. It over exposes anything that isn't perfectly lit and outdoors. Most outdoor pics are great with it. But it's fuckin useless inside. I've tried all kinds of diffusers and other tricks to make it better but it's pointless. Plus you have to haul the goddamn thing all over the place. It's just... hassle.
My wife's phone, on the other hand, takes great pictures in almost any lighting, it's always handy, and the exposure is almost always perfect. So again, I think my point stands. Unless you're doing more than taking family pictures, a DSLR these days is throwing money down the drain.
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The thing I still like about a DSLR is that the battery lasts a LOT longer than the phone. I can shoot for days on one battery charge.
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So I splurged and got the a6000. After playing with it in the store for a bit and at home I think I'm really going to like this camera. It didn't take me very long to figure out the controls and it had some nice features on it. I got it with the kit lens (16-50) which seems to do reasonably well and match the more point and shoot feel of the camera. I also picked up a couple other lenses to try out (after lots of research), a prime and a slightly larger range zoom (of "better" quality), so we'll see if I wasted money. I'm calling it a bit of a belated birthday present to myself.
I'm pretty happy so far with the sample shots I've been getting without really even trying to figure out the lenses yet. Here's a sample from some supplies for my wedding this weekend. I finally got a picture with "bokeh" and now actually know what that word means. As a side effect of all my research I've actually learned a little bit about photography.
Anyways,
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I'm still trying to figure out f-stops and shutter speeds and such (basically learn photography) but I'm very pleased so far with this camera. I think it'll be a good one to grow with.
Here's one of my pup with the sel28f20 lens. I really like it as a general prime lens, it works out to about a 42mm with the crop factor which is a nice split between 35mm and 50mm which I've read are pretty common these days. I figured it was a good choice (slightly spendy) in case I decide to ever go full-frame.
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Maggie really doesn't like to be photographed but she was a good sport last night with me annoying her while I played around with the camera.
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:)
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I was also thinking about a new camera since my rebel does not shoot video, and the a6000 was on my short list....well, I don't need to think about it anymore, I won a nice a6000 kit at the conference I was at!! Kit has the standard and 210 lens. Also a nice tripod. Looking forward to playing with it over the weekend.
Share any tips on what you've learned thus far.
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wow, nice door prize! especially since you blew off a day of the conference :)
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I'm still trying to figure it out, but turn off WiFi unless you're going to use it, the battery life on these is not impressive. I set a few of the custom buttons too. One for manual zoom and one to switch AF/MF. I also disabled the auto focus on the top button and did the back button autofocus, the AEL button. You can watch a couple of the Gary Fong videos on youtube and learn quite a bit too. I think it's a great little camera. I bought a few lenses for it too so once you decide to upgrade and figure out what focal length you like let me know and I can tell you more about the ones I have.
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Oh and I setup a Flickr account finally so you can peruse some of my Maggie pictures and view the lens info etc.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hansandsina
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So I am liking this camera more and more! TGM did you check out the apps available for it? I just got star trails, time lapse, and angle shift. Sure you can do a lot of this yourself with expensive equipment and time consuming post production, this just makes it hella easier! I also want to pick up the stop motion one so the kids and I can make lego movies! yea!
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I haven't done any apps yet but have thought about the time lapse one. I didn't know about the stop motion, that'd be cool. It really is pretty amazing value for the money. For a general lens, I'm really liking my SEL28f20, it has a nice field of view for general purpose shots and is pretty quick for low light and bokeh. The one I usually have on it is the 16-70 F4 Zeiss though. It wide enough and has enough zoom for most stuff and feels good on the body. The only downside is it's not as great in low light, but Sony generally seem to be on an F4 kick for these things.
I've been thinking about getting the Rokinon 21mm F1.4 lens that recently got released but I think I've spent enough on lenses for now. I did get an adapter and rock my dad's old Minolta rokkor 50mm. It's a great lens with the camera and has a nice feel to the pictures, perhaps just a bit of haze or blur or something but very pleasing.
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I haven't done any apps yet but have thought about the time lapse one. I didn't know about the stop motion, that'd be cool. It really is pretty amazing value for the money. For a general lens, I'm really liking my SEL28f20, it has a nice field of view for general purpose shots and is pretty quick for low light and bokeh. The one I usually have on it is the 16-70 F4 Zeiss though. It wide enough and has enough zoom for most stuff and feels good on the body. The only downside is it's not as great in low light, but Sony generally seem to be on an F4 kick for these things.
I've been thinking about getting the Rokinon 21mm F1.4 lens that recently got released but I think I've spent enough on lenses for now. I did get an adapter and rock my dad's old Minolta rokkor 50mm. It's a great lens with the camera and has a nice feel to the pictures, perhaps just a bit of haze or blur or something but very pleasing.
I think I will stick with the kit lenses for the time being and learn to use those first before upgrading. Did you get any filters for the stock lenses?
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I only have the 16-50 kit lens but didn't get any filter for it. I don't really use it much now that I have the other lenses. I'll probably keep it though for vacations and such since it's not a bad lens. Generally I'm pretty gentle with my stuff but I did get a couple B+W clear filters (xs-pro w/nano ones) for the other lenses just for protecting them maybe. I have one on my 50mm now but haven't really had a chance to test out if it really makes much of a difference. I'm still a bit of a rookie in this stuff so I don't know what to look for or shoot to try things out. I don't really notice much of a difference.
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my biggest gripe so far: battery life sucks!
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I got some wasabi power replacement batteries that are a bit higher output but ya it chews through batteries pretty quickly.
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I got some wasabi power replacement batteries that are a bit higher output but ya it chews through batteries pretty quickly.
Just ordered those yesterday :)
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hey tgm, here is the star trails app in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho7p6c3NtcQ&feature=youtu.be&t=15m54s
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That's pretty cool.
FYI, I just updated the remote app which is supposed to help increase battery when turned off. We'll see if it makes any difference.
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I ran my camera on "airplane" mode all the time...it helped a little. BTW those wasabi batteries suck.
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I had better luck with them than the stock Sony ones. Maybe about 10-15% more? The camera seems to just be power hungry.
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I had better luck with them than the stock Sony ones. Maybe about 10-15% more? The camera seems to just be power hungry.
I got two wasabi, and tried one so far. Fresh out of the charger, lasted only about half as long. It might have been because of the cold weather (but it wasn't that cold) but I left the camera in the garage and it was at about 60%, was gone for an hour and a half, and the battery was dead when I came back.
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Well early signs point to updating the app as helping with battery life while not in use. In use still drains like 1% per shot but the batteries have held charge better after being updated. I've got a baptism this weekend I'm planning on bringing the camera to so I'll get some more info after that.