Anyone Shooting With Sony A6xxx Mirorless cameras?

[rpcrowe]

I am a left eyed shooter and as such, my nose tends to get jammed against the LCD of my Sony A6500. If I don't jam my nose close against the LCD, light tends to leak in from the sides of the viewfinder when I use the OEM Sony eyecup...

I switched the standard Sony A6500 eyecup to the JJC ES-6500 eyecup which is available on eBay for around $10 USD.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JJC-ES-A650...LTS~:rk:2:pf:0

Shooting with the JJC eyecup is a lot more comfortable for me and I can see the eye level viewfinder much better, especially in bright sunlight (when I need the eye level viewfinder the most).

I can also select the focus point using the touch LCD better than when I shoot with the OEM eyecup.

I think it would also work for a right eyed shooter and I can twist the eyecup when I want to shoot verticals.

There is also a model which will fit the A6000 and A6300...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JJC-Large-S...LTX0:rk:3:pf:0

BTW: I have not had problems tilting the LCD with the JJC eyecup attached.

[DickyOZ]

Hi Richard,
I'm another left eye shooter. I have been looking at the A6*** range and the new A6400. The only one that would suit me would be the A6500; it is the only one that is weather sealed and the IS is also a big plus. The only stumbling block is finding a reasonably priced weather sealed lens to be used mostly for landscape.

I would welcome your opinion of the camera and any suggestions you have for lenses. It also needs to be capable of working at low temperatures (-12C and below).

Regards,
Dicky.

[george013]

I wonder what left handed shooters do.

I thought the a6300 was also weather sealed.

George

[DickyOZ]

I wonder what left handed shooters do.

I thought the a6300 was also weather sealed.

George

You're right the A6300 is environmentally sealed - I missed that.

PS. I'm left handed but shoot right handed. It was just too hard to reach the shutter button left handed.

[katto]

Sony camera quality is best......

[rpcrowe]

IMO, one thing that Sony is lacking is a good quality and small size zoom lens in the area of 16/18mm to 50/55mm that has a constant f/2.8 or better aperture. The Sony version is genormous while the much touted Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom is, IMO, simply a full frame DSLR lens that has been modified for mirrorless use.

I have been shooting with Canon crop sensor DSLR cameras for years with a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS Canon EFS lens and a 70-200mm f.4L IS on a pair Canon DSLR bodies. I have carried these cameras all over the world and there has never been a venue that I was not prepared to shoot in with these two lenses: macro photography and much wildlife are the exceptions. I decided to try Sony crop sensor cameras because of the lighter weight. However most of the decent quality zoom lenses available for the Sony mirrorless cameras are so large that they defeat my purpose in shooting Sony.

There are some primes for Sony crop sensor mirrorless that are really nice. The 50mm f/1.8 OSS is a pretty decent lens and is supposed to have slightly better IQ than the full frame FE 50mm f/1.8 OSS. Never having used the full frame 50mm lens, I don't know about this but, I do know that the 50mm OSS lens is quite sharp and has excellent IQ as well as great focusing capability...

Sigma has brought out a line of crop sensor lenses with Sony E-Mounts... I use the Sigma 30mm f.1.4 DC DN as my standard lens. The 16mm f/1.4 Sigma is a great lens but, I consider it a bit large for the A6500. Instead, I shoot with the 19mm f/2.8 Sigma.

The one full frame Sony lens that I absolutely love, especially for portraits, is the relatively new Sony 85mm f/1.8! It is light and small enough to balance well on the A6500.

Speaking about the A6500. The IBIS on that camera is wonderful because I can use any lens and get the advantage of stabilization. I was quite excited when I began reading the stats of the Sony A6400 until I learned that it does not include IBIS.
This prevented me for selecting the A6400 as my second camera. That is a shame because shooting primarily with prime lenses, a small form factor camera like the A6400 would be a great second body - the price is right and the new AF system is right in line with what I want in a second body. But, I am not sure if it actually lives up to the Sony hype.

However, I have a hunch that the A6400 is a stopgap measure to compete with Nikon and Canon offerings. I am waiting for the A6700/A7000 which rumors have is coming out sometime in the foreseeable future.

I wish that there was a lightweight and reasonably small telephoto lens for the A6500 with an f/2.8 aperture. I have an old Canon 135mm f/2.8 SF lens which is the size, weight, focal length and f/stop that would complete my general purpose kit. I use it with an MC-11 adapter and the AF is chancy at best but, I really like the focal length and the light weight and small size.

[Manfred M]

Sony camera quality is best......

You had better not talk to a couple of Sony shooters I know quite well. Their Sony cameras seem go back to Sony for repair work much more frequently than cameras from other manufacturers. They love their performance, but based on the number of cracked screens and other mechanical issues, I would suggest that people who are not extremely gentle with their gear might want to look elsewhere.

[rpcrowe]

I am pretty gentle with my gear. In fact, I stopped using the Black Rapid strap because I consider it a great way to smash a camera. In my use, the camera tends to swing around quite a bit if I am hurrying around a bit. Additionally, using a Black Rapid strap with a small camera and a hotshoe flash is another roadmap to beak either the camera of the flash.

One thing that I wish is that there was a Sony or Godox equivalent to the Canon 270EXii. This little flash rides so close to the camera that torque from the weight of the flash doesn't place any strain on the hotshoe connection. I use it in bounce mode with a Joe Demb FlipIt diffuser which provides decent fill light at an extremely light weight.

After much research, I settled on the Godox tt350S to use with my Sony A6500. It's "O.K." but I certainly would never carry this flash on my A6500 hotshoe swinging around on a Black Rapid strap. Instead of a Black Rapid, I use a Peak Design strap on my A6500...

[Tri Danimal]

I would suggest that people who are not extremely gentle with their gear might want to look elsewhere.

I take my A7iii with me backpacking, rock climbing, snowshoeing, and on other adventures. The camera gets packed in my back with metal and cloth bits and bobs for these adventrues. I have taken a number of spills with my setup and have had zero issues with mine. The last spill I had was about an 8foot fall while rock climbing whan a foot hold broke off, no issues.

[Manfred M]

I take my A7iii with me backpacking, rock climbing, snowshoeing, and on other adventures. The camera gets packed in my back with metal and cloth bits and bobs for these adventrues. I have taken a number of spills with my setup and have had zero issues with mine. The last spill I had was about an 8foot fall while rock climbing whan a foot hold broke off, no issues.

Either you have been extremely lucky or they have been rather unlucky. The equipment damage they got (screen broken, electronic viewfinder failed and problems with some of the switches / buttons) were doing the types of things you listed while they were traveling.

[george013]

Either you have been extremely lucky or they have been rather unlucky. The equipment damage they got (screen broken, electronic viewfinder failed and problems with some of the switches / buttons) were doing the types of things you listed while they were traveling.

My daughter just bought a a6300 so I'm curious. I didn't find anything on the internet that confirms your statement.

George

[Tri Danimal]

Either you have been extremely lucky or they have been rather unlucky.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

[rpcrowe]

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Which reminds me of a paraphrased quote from Napolean Bonaparte, regarding one of his generals who was described as being very good... "Yes but, is he lucky?"