I take pictures and videos of my kids in the house and at events.
I want the perfect camera where everything is sharp and clear while only using auto. I never really set out to want to learn anything other than point and shoot. But sometimes pictures are too noisy or white balance is bad or just blurry. There never seems to be a camera that provides this just right of everything in auto mode.
I have a65 with sigma 2470 2.8. I am somewhat satisfied but not really. I am intrigued with nex7/6/6000, but I never considered them before due to lack of ibis.
Do I stay where I am or do I try something else?
Thanks in advance!
I don't mean to pile on ... but if you want great pictures, you have to be willing to learn how to take them. An auto mode will -never- be good enough if you're critical about the pictures, because there's no one "right" way to take a photo. Is freezing motion what matters? Getting a lot of things at different distances sharp? Getting a nice background blur? There are tradeoffs made in every photo -- choosing a lot of depth of field in the photo also means losing a lot of light (for instance), and therefore having to slow down the shutter to the point where motion may cause blur. Only you'll know what matters to you for a given situation.
Auto modes already to an impressive job of guessing what settings might be appropriate for an environment, but they can't read your mind.
Not everyone has to be a great photographer, or even a good photographer. It's not a big priority for a lot of people. But if want good photos, you have to learn how to take them. Another camera's auto mode isn't going to be leaps and bounds "better." It might be slightly different in terms of how it applies its AI, but it's still going to miss the mark for you unless you can download your brain into its memory.
(And if you can, that'll be AWESOME. I want that camera.)
It's like anything else -- you decide how much you care about it, but if you care a lot, you've got to be willing to put a lot of work in. If you don't, that's fine, but don't expect amazing results.
You don't have to go whole hog into it right away. You can learn some very basic concepts and radically improve what you're getting WHILE letting the camera do a lot of work.
Lou's Camera Stuff 101:
* Work in shutter priority some of the time, especially when stuff's moving: Generally keep the shutter to 1/focal length or faster (meaning if you've got a 50mm focal length, use 1/50s shutter or faster). You can get away with slower if the lens has stabilization, but it's still a good rule of thumb. Trying to get something moving fast? Make the shutter even faster -- somewhere between 1/500 and 1/4000. Faster's better for freezing motion. The camera will do the rest for you. Faster shutters mean less light. If the camera can't get a bright enough image with the shutter you think you need, it might be time for flash.
* Work in aperture priority mode some of the time, especially when stuff's not moving: Again, the camera can set everything else for you. Small F number = small depth of field. So if you want a cool shot where your subject is in focus but the black is blurred out, keep the F number small. Too small may make it hard to get the whole subject in focus (which can still be nice). Experiment. Most lenses will be sharper "stopped down" (bigger F number) than "wide open" (small F number), even at the focal point. But I don't think your blurriness problem is sharpness in those terms -- it's not getting a good focus or suffering motion blur, so don't worry about that for now. Still, around F5.6 is probably good for most subjects at a reasonable viewing distance to be nice and in focus with some good isolation from the background.
Bonus concept: You'll notice as the F number gets bigger, the shutter speed gets slower (or vice versa) in either mode, all other things being equal. Not happy about that? Hit the ISO control and set something high, but be prepared for some noise in the photo. Don't worry about it too much if you're not doing big prints.
If you get comfortable with those two concepts, you'll have MUCH more control over your photos, without having to dive deep into the world of photography physics, and while still letting the camera do most of the work while you tell it what matters most. A little knowledge can go a long way, and doesn't have to be overwhelming.
