Lenses for a6500

Samuel H

Samuel H

Major Contributor
I have my eyes on the a6500: it's probably going to be my next camera. But before buying that I have to decide which lenses to use with it.

I already have a full lens set, but it's vintage: super nice, but no AF, and designed for FF. I also have the sigma 19mm and 30mm f/2.8 DN, which are very good for the price, but not so great in absolute terms, and not fast enough for what I want now. With this next camera, I'd also like to take stills, which means I need AF, and I need f/2 or faster, so I'd have to complement my current set with three new lenses: a super-wide-angle, a standard prime, and a portrait lens.

Except for the ultra-wide angle I think AF won't be needed so much, so I'll probably just stick to my Samyang 12mm f/2.0 NCS, which totally rocks.

For a standard prime, I'm looking at three options:
* Sigma 30mm f/1.4 ($340): the sharpest of the three, but many users say AF is not good
* Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 ($600-$720): sharper than the Sony, but I'm not sure I like the bokeh, and it's more expensive
* Sony 35mm f/1.8 OSS ($450): not as sharp as the others but still good, and bokeh is reasonably nice

For portrait lens, also three options:
* Sony 50mm f/1.8 OSS (APS-C) ($300): too soft
* Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 (FF) ($1000): very sharp, but bokeh doesn't look so great, and it's way more expensive than the others
* Sony 50mm f/1.8 (FF) ($200): soft on the corners on FF but sharp across the image on APS-C, bokeh seems to be surprisingly good for the price

I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have on all this.

Links to what I've been reserching:

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/finally-got-around-touit/
http://www.photozone.de/sony_nex/849-sony35f18nex?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/sony_nex/884-zeiss32f18e (I think they got a bad copy, or did something wrong when testing resolution)
https://matthewdurrphotography.com/2013/07/02/lens-review-zeiss-touit-32mm-f1-8/
https://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Sigma-30mm-f-1.4-DC-DN-C-lens-review-Sony-E-top-ranking-prime
http://www.photozone.de/sony_nex/786-sigma19f28nex?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/sony_nex/787-sigma30f28nex?start=1

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/sony-fe-50mm-f1-8-mtf-and-consistency/
http://www.photozone.de/sonyalphaff/980-sonyfe50f18?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/sony_nex/720-sony50f18nex?start=1
http://www.photozone.de/sonyalphaff/965-zeiss55f18?start=1
 
Samuel H said:
Here the Touit shows much better bokeh than the sony 35mm, so maybe photozone did get a bad copy of the touit
http://3dkraft.de/index.php?option=...son-review&catid=40:camerasandlenses&Itemid=2

I think I may go with that one if I can get it for a good price (it was $600 a month ago, $720 right now; the version for fuji is $500!!)
Click to expand...

The Sony Bokeh looks better to me, esp. at 1.8.
I'd probably choose based on AF capabilities and it seems the Sony destroys the Touit there.
 
Well, now I look at it again and you're right... but I think the problem is I don't like any of the two. And the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 seems to have some AF issues. Any other native E options at this focal length? Or will I have to stick to my Sigma 30mm f/2.8?

Edit Now I'm also looking at the 28mm f/2 FF, and again at the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. The 24mm APS-C looks too expensive for an APS-C lens.

The sigma is the sharpest of the three I had originally in mind, and bokeh seems nice. What keeps me away from it is that lots of people complain about the AF (I read a review of somebody complaining that 50% of his face-detect stills came back focusing on the subject's ears). Then again, lots of people seem very happy with it, and some people complain about things I don't really care that much about (like the lack of OSS: I'm already going for the a6500 because it has IBIS). So one possibility is to get the sigma... at a place where I can give it back if the AF is not good enough *for me*.

The 28mm f/2 FF doesn't seem to be particularly sharp but has good bokeh. Yet: a ton of distortion. I may try this one if I decide I have to return the Sigma. Or maybe not: I already have the sigma 30mm f/2.8, so maybe I'll decide just one stop is not worth the $$$.

Decisions, decisions...

What's improved is that the more I look into all this, the more I see myself with an a6500 :)
 
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(with the a6000 selling for $400 this week, it's very tempting to get that one and the 50mm f/1.8 FF as a cheap stopgap solution to my photography needs, and keep shooting video on the RX100 IV, as I wait for the next generation of Sonys to come out, with either 4k 60fps or increased DR that fills the slog3 bucket) (I would miss eye AF and IBIS, but I'd have $1k more on the bank)
 
That combo - the A6000 and the 50mm f/1.8 - is currently my backup option (only to be used if all else fails).

The A6000 is actually a really nice HD camera.
 
I like the a6000 a lot. Really a nice camera for both video and stills and the price is great. Some retailers are selling it for under $400. Wow! The big issue I have with it is the skin softening it adds when face detection is on in video mode. Unlike in stills mode you cant turn it off and it looks horrible. Why Sony didn't fix this in a firmware update is lame. Face detection actually works fairly well too.
 
NorBro said:
That combo - the A6000 and the 50mm f/1.8 - is currently my backup option (only to be used if all else fails).

The A6000 is actually a really nice HD camera.
Click to expand...

I LOVE my A6000 on the card and out to my Ninja! Though I am waiting for a 6500, I am so damn tempted to buy another 6000 for $400.00 used.
 
Erik Naso said:
The big issue I have with it is the skin softening it adds when face detection is on in video mode.
Click to expand...

I have to check that out because I actually always have the face detection on when I do use it. I haven't noticed my footage looking soft, but haven't really examined it thoroughly as the clips weren't really important. I also shoot at -3 on everything in neutral...not sure if that makes any difference.

BrianMurphy said:
I LOVE my A6000 on the card and out to my Ninja! Though I am waiting for a 6500, I am so damn tempted to buy another 6000 for $400.00 used.
Click to expand...

They are $398 brand new right now, so you can probably get one for even less if someone is willing to adjust their used price to accommodate the price change.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...lce6000_b_alpha_a6000_mirrorless_digital.html
 
It's a done deal now: I bought the a6000 and the FE 50mm f/1.8. I will use this mainly for stills, together with my Samyang 12mm f/2.0 NCS and Sigma 19mm f/2.8 and 30mm f/2.8.
For video I'll keep using my RX100 IV, which gives me 80% of what I'd get from an a6500, that extra 20% mainly being the option to go for shallow DoF, which I don't do very often anyway (I will be able to do shallow DoF with the a6000 if needed).
I wanted to go for the a6500 to have just one tool that is great at everything I need to do, but those 30-35mm fast primes didn't convince me at all, so I guess I'll keep waiting for whatever comes next, and dreaming about a FF monster with Batis 18mm f/2.8, Sony 35mm f/2.8, and Sony 85mm f/1.8 GM.
 
NorBro said:
I have to check that out because I actually always have the face detection on when I do use it. I haven't noticed my footage looking soft, but haven't really examined it thoroughly as the clips weren't really important. I also shoot at -3 on everything in neutral...not sure if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...

It only adds the skin softening effect when face detection kicks in. Such a dumb feature. Makes skin look like plastic. Do this test. Shoot yourself tight with face detect on and the box goes around your face. Cover one eye. The effect turns off. Every time the Face Detection square appears the effect kicks in.
 
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brian/norbro/erik-

does the a6000 overheat shooting 24p/1920 as do other sony cameras in the a6xxx series?

brian-

when you record to an external recoder, does the ninja 8bit 422 footage offer that much more in the edit suite?

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions
 
It didn't overheat for me, but I most likely have less experience with it than the other two gentlemen. I only used it a few times.

P.S. Rob, I saw your other post over on BMCuser...my friend is selling an URSA for an AMAZING price...PM me if interested.
 
Samuel H said:
(with the a6000 selling for $400 this week, it's very tempting to get that one and the 50mm f/1.8 FF as a cheap stopgap solution to my photography needs, and keep shooting video on the RX100 IV, as I wait for the next generation of Sonys to come out, with either 4k 60fps or increased DR that fills the slog3 bucket) (I would miss eye AF and IBIS, but I'd have $1k more on the bank)
Click to expand...

I made that decision last black friday when the A6000 and two Sony lenses as well as case, extra battery and accessory kit went for like $696 at Adorama. B&H has similar pricing on it again this year. I like the A6000. Nice little camera

EDIT: I see Adorama has a similar special going on again now
 
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robfilms said:
brian/norbro/erik-

does the a6000 overheat shooting 24p/1920 as do other sony cameras in the a6xxx series?

brian-

when you record to an external recoder, does the ninja 8bit 422 footage offer that much more in the edit suite?

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk.productions
Click to expand...

I've never had a a6000 even show a high temp warning.
 
I've had the A6000 overheat in 1080 60P. I don't shoot a lot in 24P. It shut down but the clip was still usable and un-corrupted thankfully
 
Samuel H said:
It's a done deal now: I bought the a6000 and the FE 50mm f/1.8. I will use this mainly for stills, together with my Samyang 12mm f/2.0 NCS and Sigma 19mm f/2.8 and 30mm f/2.8.
For video I'll keep using my RX100 IV, which gives me 80% of what I'd get from an a6500, that extra 20% mainly being the option to go for shallow DoF, which I don't do very often anyway (I will be able to do shallow DoF with the a6000 if needed).
I wanted to go for the a6500 to have just one tool that is great at everything I need to do, but those 30-35mm fast primes didn't convince me at all, so I guess I'll keep waiting for whatever comes next, and dreaming about a FF monster with Batis 18mm f/2.8, Sony 35mm f/2.8, and Sony 85mm f/1.8 GM.
Click to expand...

I've got the 6300 with the kit zoom and the 35mm and 50mm 1.8 OSS lenses. They are pretty good and very small. They also AF pretty well. Not ideal, but better than any other lenses I've tested, and frequently usable. I cannot say the same for the Batis 85mm. The AF is very unreliable (and you cannot repeat manual focus moves b/c there is significant play in the servo system). But the WORST AF performer I've tried out is the 85mm 1.4 G Master. The AF was utterly horrible in even moderately low light. So I would thoroughly test the GM before trying to live the dream.

As FF, I don't really get it, maybe b/c I like to shoot long lenses. APS-C lens are significantly smaller, which is really nice at times.
 
Thanks for the cautionary tales. I very much prefer the bokeh of the GM to that of the Batis (link), so that's the one I'd like to have, but yes, if it doesn't AF well then that's a big problem (for manual focus, I already have my vintage Leica set). In any case: are you talking stills or video? (because I'd be using these for stills).

The push to FF is just to get more detail. At 24 Mpix, with good light and good lenses, there's not much of a difference (a6300 vs a7 II). And cramming more mpix into an APS-C can still make it sharper (a7 II vs NX1). But you can have a lot more Mpix on a bigger sensor: a7R II vs NX1. Also, the lenses, while bigger and more expensive, are usually better. The Batis 18mm is crazy sharp, and the 85mm GM has awesome bokeh. I went for the Samyang 12mm f/2.0 NCS and Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 on an a6000 for just 15% of the price, but it's not the same image quality.

So: do I need an a7R II + Batis 18mm + 85mm GM? Definitely not. But: would I like to have them? I think so.
 
Like Erik.
I have not had a high temp warning or shut down on my a6000 and even when using A mount lenses and an LA-EA2 which caused my older NEX7 to shut down in a New York minute . I use the Ninja 2 rather than an outboard audio recorder and when I shoot MOS no Ninja. eat camera. But keep in mind I am in Canada and not the warm climate of the south.
 
Had a chance to play with the A6000 at Thanksgiving. A family friend brought it and I snapped some pix.

I didn't have the opportunity to shoot any motion.

I thought the still images looked pretty good with the Sigma 30mm Art lens.

I do really wish there was a touch focus option.

I also wish there was even a mic in, let alone a headphone jack.

I imagine most folks who use the A6000 for motion use the camera as a B cam or shoot mos.

Frankly, at the $400 price point it is hard not to be interested.

Be well.

Rob
Smalltalk.Productions
 
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