Opinion Poll: Sony A6300 / A6500

[Dustin]

There’s a kit for sale on eBay - used a6500, 32gb San dusk extreme pro, sigma 30mm 1.4, batteries for $1295. Minus the memory card pretty much what I plan to try. Also seller says “batteries will be similar to pic”...sketchy even with a decent 100% rating lol.

[Dustin]

Final update here: I've purchased a used "Excellent Condition" Sony A6500 from Adorama. Saved a couple hundred bucks from new price. Funnily enough, I bought my current camera, a d5300 refurb from Adorama. With a 30 day return policy I'm going to give it a go. Settling on the 35mm 1.8 OSS Sony and a Lens Adapter for my two Nikon Primes. Should be a fun next couple of weeks!

[Mark Romero 2]

Have fun and enjoy.

Gary Friedman might have some free videos up on youtube about the a6300 / a6500. He often explains the "hidden" features of cameras.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gary+friedman+a6300

Maartech has good videos on "video settings" so you might want to check those out as well.

Learn how to set up the Fn menu and the M1 and M2 settings. Without those, you will go crazy.

For 4K video, you need a 64GB card.Don't get a 32GB card (or smaller). It won't work. Forgot to mention that. One of the quirks. Welcome to Sony land...

I use a Sony SDXC U3 10 95MB/s card (that's what it says on it... heck if I know what it means).

If you are ok with manual focus and want to pick up a cheapo minolta lens, look for an LA-EA1 (about $50 used), and then you could put a Minolta AF lens on it and it will read the EXIF data for IBIS on it. Don't confuse Minolta AF lenses with minolta MC or MD lenses, which are older manual focus lenses (nice, but they required different adapters).

The placement of the video record button will drive you crazy. There are little clear rubber buttons that you can buy that will stick on to any of your camera buttons. I don't have a link to them. I keep meaning to buy them and put them on the Fn button and the record button.

If you are going to be using your Nikon manual lenses, then you want to set 1 of your custom buttons to punching it to confirm focus.

As good as the focus peaking is on the a6300 / a6500, I find that punching in is still more accurate for critical focus.

The 35mm f/1.8 OSS is supposed to be a good lens. You will probably get a lot of mileage out of it.

You might be able to rig up a very lightweight dummy battery to use handheld / on a monopod. It should allow you to shoot longer and (theoretically) help reduce the likelihood of overheating since many people claim that the heat from the internal battery accelerates overheating. Pulling the LCD screen away from the body reportedly helps with overheating. I saw one person who had a rig with a small fan on it. He says it works well.

a6500 doesn't have a headphone jack...

Here is something to just tease you a bit:

A lot of people like the AndyCine monitors. I would avoid the IKAN monitor. It is supposed to be nice but it isn't all that much bigger than the LCD on the a6500.

Hope this helps. Despite the quirks, and the naysayers, lots of people use the a6300 / a6500 for videos and they create some really nice stuff.  Check out Brandon Li's stuff. Or just search youtube for "a6500 cinematic" and you will come up with lots of nice stuff.

[IronFilm]

15 hours ago, canonlyme said:

Agree with IronFilms points, but the gh4's 60p is much better than the g85 60 p.

Ah,  good point about the lower bit rate for slow motion. 

 

However a counter argument could be made that slow motion is very light hungry (due to needing a faster shutter speed) and as the newer Panasonic is a bit better in lowlights that the overall difference in many practical scenarios between the G85 and the GH4 slow motion might not be so great after all. 

13 hours ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Haven't tried doing it on a panasonic, but I would ASSUME that it is easier, just because it seems easier to do everything on a panasonic.

True that! For overall Ergonomics of everything it is Panasonic mirrorless wins, but this isn't anything you can easily just see from a spec sheet. 

 

[Dustin]

@Mark Romero 2 Thanks man! I have purchased a two pack of the wasabi batteries with the dual charger so I’ll have three including the kit. Also went ahead and jumped up to a 128gb memory card. Since the camera is at 4-6 day shipping I’m still deciding on what to get lens wise. The camera was $869 so that’s put me quite ahead on my budget. With the accessories I’m only at $968 so I’m gonna pick up a dumb $17 adapter on amazon for the Nikon primes (speedbooster later) and one lens. From here I’ll probably save and maybe get the 18-105 f4 but we’ll see how well I like manual land now that I have some ibis!

[Axel]

The 18-105 would be *the* perfect lens, spec-wise. If it didn't have that kit-lens-look. With OIS and an additional monopod, it's indispensable @105 mm. Also good for gimbal work, because it doesn't protrude. 

2 hours ago, Dustin said:

Settling on the 35mm 1.8 OSS Sony and a Lens Adapter for my two Nikon Primes. Should be a fun next couple of weeks!

Good starting point. I have the Sigma 16mm f1.4 only since a month or so now. Never would want to go any wider (24mm FF equivalent), that's nailing down this side of the spectrum.

1 hour ago, Dustin said:

... but we’ll see how well I like manual land now that I have some ibis!

Manual focussing is perfectly possible with EVF (and not so much with shitty display), but it definitely is more precise and more fun with an external monitor. Just practise and see how good you are. May I suggest a "rig"?

See attachment. Made of these parts, all Amazon:

Didn't find this on Amazon.com. On Amazon.de it's called Nicna universal bracket and costs €8,99.

The Arri-rosette and the grip both are Smallrig products (the brand name fits, since I want to "reduce to the maximum"). That particular grip is also not available internationally, it seems, but imo you don't need all those mounting points, and the Camvate grip is 10 bucks cheaper anyway.

 

That cable is USB to microUSB. Like I wrote, I feed the camera with an external powerbank on my belt the whole day, and then it's still charged. The little cut-out on the "base plate" is for the cable of a dummy battery. 

 

[Dustin]

Yeah idk what I’m going to do for a “kit lens” lol. Might pick up a kit lens on the cheap for that wide 18mm.

[Mark Romero 2]

2 hours ago, Dustin said:

Yeah idk what I’m going to do for a “kit lens” lol. Might pick up a kit lens on the cheap for that wide 18mm.

Well... there is a cheap 19mm Sigma f/2.8 (don't know how good the AF is in video mode though), and there is a 20mm and a 16mm f/2.8 sony lenses that are inexpensive. I don't know if the Sony lenses are much better than the kit lens though.

The sigma 19mm f/2.8 should be pretty sharp if it is anything at all like the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 and the sigma 60mm f/2.8, which are some of the sharpest budget lenses around for Sony e Mount.

8 hours ago, Dustin said:

@Mark Romero 2 Thanks man! I have purchased a two pack of the wasabi batteries with the dual charger so I’ll have three including the kit. Also went ahead and jumped up to a 128gb memory card. Since the camera is at 4-6 day shipping I’m still deciding on what to get lens wise. The camera was $869 so that’s put me quite ahead on my budget. With the accessories I’m only at $968 so I’m gonna pick up a dumb $17 adapter on amazon for the Nikon primes (speedbooster later) and one lens. From here I’ll probably save and maybe get the 18-105 f4 but we’ll see how well I like manual land now that I have some ibis!

Which Nikon prime lenses do you own???

[Dustin]

@Mark Romero 2 I currently own 2 e series primes- the 28mm 2.8 and a 50mm 1.8. On my Nikon fe2 I absolutely love the 28 and prior to the tamron 17-50 it was my main prime for a year. I wanted to try a speedbooster but that will have to wait as my funds are now tapped out  Currently bidding on a 35mm 1.8 as an all arounder.

I also own an Olympus Zuiko 50mm 1.8 I have on an Olympus om2n body at the moment. Lovely lens

[canonlyme]

@Dustin I would advise you to directly go for a lens turbo speedbooster, if you want to save the cost for a dumb adapter. 

Glad you found sth. you like

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Well... there is a cheap 19mm Sigma f/2.8 (don't know how good the AF is in video mode though),

I have this lens and its AF performance is slightly better than the other small Sigma primes that I have for the A6500 (the 30mm f1.4 and the 60mm f2.8).

Having said that, when I was testing it in the kitchen it decided to activate the face detect when it spotted the deep fat fryer.

But thats the modern non judgemental way I suppose.

[Dustin]

@canonlyme I will def give it a shot as soon as I have the funds. I am loving though, the thought that I’m not tied into nikons eco system any longer. 

With my 9-5 ever busy I don’t have as much time to shoot as I used to so I’m thinking this should be a solid setup for my needs

[noone]

9 hours ago, Dustin said:

Yeah idk what I’m going to do for a “kit lens” lol. Might pick up a kit lens on the cheap for that wide 18mm.

I would just get the 16-50 OSS kit lens rather than the 18-55 (Sony has two).       Should be able to find one cheap.      It has its detractors but there are plenty that like it too.     You can always sell it for around what you pay if you don't like it.

[IronFilm]

15 hours ago, canonlyme said:

@Dustin I would advise you to directly go for a lens turbo speedbooster, if you want to save the cost for a dumb adapter. 

Glad you found sth. you like

A dumb adapter costs next to nothing and is sometimes very useful to own as well so i highly recommend buying one as well. 

[Axel]

18 hours ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

Well... there is a cheap 19mm Sigma f/2.8 (don't know how good the AF is in video mode though)

...

The sigma 19mm f/2.8 should be pretty sharp if it is anything at all like the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 and the sigma 60mm f/2.8, which are some of the sharpest budget lenses around for Sony e Mount.

I'm going to sell the Sigma 19mm. Sharpness and overall look is top notch, really on par with Sigma 18-35 Art (at least @f5.6), and that means a lot! But it has two and a half shortcomings:

1. Bad manual focus ring (fly-by-wire, slippery)

2. Very fast, completely quiet AF, but, and that's the main problem, it breaths or hunts: background permanently and annoyingly focusses and defocusses, no matter the aperture, no matter the AF setting. Does so not all the time, but you won't notice the behavior on the display. 

2½. Too short and lightweight to balance properly on Zhiyun Crane V1 without additional base plate.

[canonlyme]

7 hours ago, IronFilm said:

A dumb adapter costs next to nothing and is sometimes very useful to own as well so i highly recommend buying one as well. 

Sure, it's just that if you know you are going for a speedbooster anyway, you can save the 7 bucks for a dumb one, or at least buy one that doesn't hurt the lens threat. But you are right I guess with something like the sigma 18-35, some people here have the opinion a dumb adapter on m43 gives it an even better zoom range. I'm looking into that at the moment too since I have the 18-35, gx80 and no adapter yet.

6 hours ago, Axel said:

I'm going to sell the Sigma 19mm. Sharpness and overall look is top notch, really on par with Sigma 18-35 Art (at least @f5.6), and that means a lot! But it has two and a half shortcomings:

[...]

2½. Too short and lightweight to balance properly on Zhiyun Crane V1 without additional base plate.

Hey man, I think it is funny you take that as a downside, because lightweight could actually be nice for you. 

Have you thought about just swapping your zhiyun crane v1 with the zhiyun crane m, primarily intended for smartphones??
I read some people were using that one for gh5's and even sony's as it is much cheaper than the normal variant (i guess v2) and it can work fine until 800g or sth. like that. Just an idea and sth. I am looking into at the moment too.

Cheers

[Dustin]

Body arrives Tuesday, new 128gb memory card, wasabi battery pack and dummy lens adapter arrives tomorrow and hopefully new lens I’m bidding on, the Sony 35mm 1.8 OSS will arrive this week. 

Has anyone else purchased used cameras from Adorama? Like I said my last was a refurb and basically brand new, this camera is rated in excellent condition. Just curious. Really just figured if anything it was worth it to buy from a physical store with an actual return policy that way I wouldn’t be stuck trying to flip it if I got a bad copy.

[newfoundmass]

Never purchased a used CAMERA from Adorama, but I've purchased used lenses, mics, etc. from them (and B&H) and have never had a problem. They're a great company, from my experiences, and often have nice little deals. 

I will say I'm partial to B&H as when I purchased a used lav mic from them and received it, I had to add padding to the battery door because the door wasn't pushing the battery down hard enough to power on the mic. While not a HUGE deal, since it worked still, I figured I'd return it and just buy a new/different one. They told me to keep it, refunded my money, and I bought a new one, giving me two of the same mics which was great because I intended to buy a second lav mic anyway once I'd found a decent one! 

[webrunner5]

4 hours ago, Dustin said:

Body arrives Tuesday, new 128gb memory card, wasabi battery pack and dummy lens adapter arrives tomorrow and hopefully new lens I’m bidding on, the Sony 35mm 1.8 OSS will arrive this week. 

Has anyone else purchased used cameras from Adorama? Like I said my last was a refurb and basically brand new, this camera is rated in excellent condition. Just curious. Really just figured if anything it was worth it to buy from a physical store with an actual return policy that way I wouldn’t be stuck trying to flip it if I got a bad copy.

I have bought several used cameras from Adorama and all of them were in better condition than described. Some as much as 5000 dollars used. And a lot of lenses, on and on. They have hands down the best prices and selection on used Video gear. And all of them have arrived quickly, other than if you order on a weekend. Same deal with B&H on weekends. Both are really good company's to buy from.

[Dustin]

@webrunner5 @newfoundmass Good deal! Yup bought plenty both just never bought a used camera only a refurb. I’m sure it will be in great condition and honestly for the price I paid, a scratch here or there is fine with me!