makeUturn

I have had the a6000 for about 15 months and it is capable of capturing some beautiful images. I have the kit 18-55mm zoom and have added the 50mm/f1.8, the 20mm/f2.8 fixed lenses and the 55-100 zoom. I do have one word of caution in using the camera. Being a mirror less type, the sensor has no cover and is exposed to the elements when the lens is removed. Be very careful about keeping the sensor cleaned. If it becomes dirty enough that the built in sensor cleaning or blowing air from a puff type blower does not clean it, it is best to have it cleaned by some trained professional if you are not experienced in cleaning sensors.

lgts

Thanks for the tip!
Which lenses do you find yourself using mostly? I am thinking of the kit 18-55 and the 50mm/1.8
Do you think those be enough to start with?

makeUturn

The type lens you will find most useful will be partly determined by the type of photographs you primarily take. I mostly shoot landscape and nature photos and I find the 18-55mm lens to be adequate for that purpose and I use it around 85 percent of the time. The 50mm lens obviously offers better low light performance, but it also produces sharper images and the bokeh is much nicer. The one complaint I have about it is that it is a very large sized lens. I use it mostly for portraits and low light indoor shots. For small indoor spaces, the 20mm works well. I happened across one open box and one no box special at Best Buy and wound up purchasing both for less than I could have purchased either one. Other than the kit lens, the other lens I use the most is the 55-210mm lens for long distance landscape shots. It gets rather soft on the longer zooms, but a little added detail in a photo editing program helps that. My suggestion is for you to start with the kit lens and use it for awhile while you learn more about the camera and what extra lenses you would find most useful.

Another nice feature of the a6000 is the quality of the internal processing. I shoot JPEG+RAW and find that the internally processed JPEG image is just as good and often better than the RAW images that I process. This is especially true of the detail and noise correction on high ISO shots. The processing is so finely tuned to the performance of the sensor that it often looks better than any RAW processing programs that I have used. The one disadvantage of shooting both JPEG+RAW is that many of the settings in the camera are not available in that mode.

WilcoRoger

Full setup:

Nikon D90 with 16-85mm all-purpose zoom + a few fast primes: Tokina 10-16mm (OK, nearly a prime) Nikon 35mm, Nikon 50mm and Tokina 100mm + Hoya 1,4x + SB-700 (also have a Nikon 10,5mm fisheye, but the Tokina 116 mostly replaced it)

Light setup:

Fuji XQ-1

Medium setup:

The Fuji + the Nikon as above, sans the 35mm, the 50mm and the SB700

Shooting RAW on both. I've found that the jpegs never reach that level

lgts

Thank you so much for the help! I will indeed start with the kit. Any particular RAW file processing software you like using?

makeUturn

Sony has a free RAW processing program for download that will render an image almost exactly like the jpeg rendered by the camera. It does have some tweaks to alter the image if you do not like the default processing. I have played with several RAW processing programs and wound up purchasing DxO optics, mainly because it was easier for me to learn to use. On many photos, the jpeg from the camera or RAW processed by the Sony program is fine with maybe just a bit of alterations in a photo editing program. In cases where I need a lot of enhancement or special effects, I will use the RAW image and process with DxO optics.

Back to the lens choices, use the kit lens for awhile and note how often you use the wider and longer zoom lengths. If you use the wide more, perhaps the 20mm might be a better choice. If you use the longer zoom more, perhaps the 50mm. The 50mm might be more magnification than you think it is.

JVPhoto

I use, the classes I teach uses and I recommend people to get Lightroom for RAW processing for that combined with the organizing/cataloguing aspects of the program as well.

WilcoRoger

I've found that DXO and Lightroom complement each other very well.

ssullivan

Seconded. I couldn't live without Lightroom at this point.

Charles21

It really depends on what you want to get out of your photos. If you are looking for snapshots that represent what you saw and did and of yourself/companions, then a point-shoot pocket sized camera is more than adequate. Easy to carry and store; easy to get a quick shot. Good quality for generic images. My wife uses one and gets some great shots but her "range" is limited compared to my DSLR.

rybolt

I'm retired from 36 years in the photo industry. My wife and I are long time Nikon users but switched to the Fuji X system a few years ago. I still have the nikon and Leica cameras as well as a few medium format film cameras and lenses but the Fuji X cameras and lenses along with a Sony RX1 are our travel choices. The quality and the weight make them a joy to use.
For Post processing I use Lightroom more than any other program. I did beta tests on the first version and it took me several years to come to grips with it instead of Photoshop. Now I rarely use Photoshop.

lgts

Thanks again! Order placed! Kit lens to start with and we'll how it goes! I will send you my first nice pic, you deserve it!!

makeUturn

Thanks! I think we all will be interested in seeing some of your photos. I see your location is listed as Europe. In about three weeks, my a6000 will be traveling with me and my wife through Switzerland for two weeks. I am hoping for some nice photos from that trip.

wco81

I'm really looking forward to see what Sony offers for the rumored a7000.

I've been taking a lot of panos with my iPhone but I would assume Sony would do a better job.

But it might be too much to take along with my full-frame DSLR, which I'm going to continue to use.

m.photog

Nikon D4 if I have room for it otherwise D700 minus the vertical grip. But I am starting to get a bit nostalgic and would like to take my Nikon F2AS next time.