Lenses for a6500

[Luis De La Cerda]

Am I crazy or is the 85mm GM's manual focus completely repeatable for video? I have a lot of lenses and this one I just bought seems to be the only one that always focuses on the same spot at a given ring rotation regardless of turning speed (as long as you don't turn past infinity or closesest focus distance)

 

[Samuel H]

Maybe that's what this "linear" means (it could also be the type of motor, linear or ring)

"A linear SSM system and internal focus mechanism provides quick, quiet, and precise autofocus performance and also contributes to more natural, intuitive manual focus control."

 

[BobbyMurcerFan]

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.

I am definitely talking about video with the AF on all of the lenses I mentioned.

 

[Samuel H]

Good, then it would be no problem for this ("this" being a plan I may never put into practice). Thanks!

 

[raf702]

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

No overheating for my A6000. I did 3 back to back, 20-25 minute recordings. With about 5-mins or so of break in between. And the camera only got warm, but I did use a dummy battery to wall adapter. Which probably makes a difference in lesser heat.

 

[Erik Naso]

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.

Agreed. The a6000 uses the hotshot for audio input. I have the Sony UWP system and the hot shoe model. Works great. The UWP has a headphone jack and the recording level is controlled by on the wireless. You can also use the Sony XLR K2M Adapter with shotgun holder and two XLR inputs. All this cost more than the camera does now but will work on the whole Alpha line of cameras with the hot shoe.

 

[jdv]

Eric -

Any idea id the 6300/6500 also add skin softening with fact detect on? Thanks for any input.....

 

[ph2003]

Any idea id the 6300/6500 also add skin softening with fact detect on? Thanks for any input.....

I am also seeking answer for this before I pull the trigger on 6500

 

[Erik Naso]

Sony fixed it. I have the a7rii and it doesn't do the skin softening in face detection AF. The a6300 and I'm sure the a6500 will work fine without the issue.

 

[jdv]

Thank you Sir!

 

[Samuel H]

Quick update:

So, I got the a6000, and I had to test it with all my lenses (or at least the ones I was considering using with the a6000), to see what's good and what's not. Sharpness tests. Bokeh tests.

Summary: pretty happy with my choices. Right now I have:
* Samyang 12mm f/2.0 NCS: no AF, but it's super sharp and super wide, and awesome all around. I didn't test it because it doesn't make sense to test such a wide lens on a small chart.
* Sigma 19mm f/2.8: I wish it was a bit wider (16mm), and a bit sharper in the corners, but it's a very decent wide angle lens, small and cheap, and with AF (the a6000 is going to be my main stills body, so I want decent AF if possible).
* Sigma 30mm f/2.8: online reviews say it's not that great, but my copy is pretty good, I'll definitely hold on to it. Sharp in the corner and in the edges, even whide open. Bokeh could be better but it's not bad at all.
* Sony 50mm f/1.8 FE: very sharp (as expected) and bokeh, again, "could be better but it's not bad at all". I only wish AF was faster, but appart from that it's super nice.
That's a $900 lens set that covers 95% of my photography needs, delivering sharp images with reasonably good bokeh. All tiny and light, and with wide aperture (ok the 19 and 30 are not that fast but it's not a huge problem as long as I have the 50mm f/1.8).

Scroll down on the sharpness test to see a comparisoon of this lens set on the a6000 vs my father's set of primes on his 5D2. I was very surprised to see that my setup is sharper across the board, at 60% the price for the lenses and don't-even-know-how-to-compute-it for the body (a third?). And much smaller and lighter. Impressive to say the least.