Just picked up a Sony A6000

jalywol wrote:

BolleDuc wrote:

Hi Guys,

I may have finally lost my mind & demonstrated the utter insanity of the GAS attack!

Ever since unloading my A65 in favour of an all MFT kit, there was always some nagging thing in the back of my mind about the bigger sensor size of the APS-C format being somehow better. When Sony came up with a 24 megapixel variant, along with a promise of good low light performance, I almost couldn't help myself & I started reading the reviews on the A6000. The whopping additional $25 discount for Canada Day at a local big box store had me throw caution to the wind & I splurged $725 (about $820 with taxes) on the Sony, replete with the 16-50mm PZ kit lens.

I've been shooting my feet plonked on the corner of my desk, my flowers outside the front door & I've been trying the occasional shot out the window of a moving car (I do a lot of this with my GX7!) & I'm really not seeing the dramatic differences I expected. Actually I'm really not seeing that much difference at all, to the point where I'm now thinking of returning it.

I'm not a sophisticated pixel peeper but I do like to compare out of camera jpegs at 100%. I'm also aware that there are many reports on the poor optical quality of the 16-50mm PZ but I felt there should have been some decent improvement over my GX7 or my E-PM2 with a kit lens, other than the jpegs just being bigger.

I'm sharing this for fun & for those hapless few who, like me, are soon parted from their hard earned coin! I welcome your mirthful scorn & ridicule, along with your thoughts on what you might do were you to have this beautiful little piece of technology in your hands. And it does feel good in the hand! Should I take it back or maybe what I really need is to test drive is one of those full frame mirrorless babies from Sony!

Paul

I bought an A7 a few weeks ago, and well, yeah, for what I shoot, I do really notice the IQ differences between it and my M43 cameras (GX7, EM1). I was thinking of moving to an all Sony system, and getting the A6000 instead of keeping my GM1 as my small backup camera, so I went and tried one out in the store a few days ago. Well, the long and short of it was, I just wasn't particularly impressed with it. It does have nice, zippy AF, for sure (the A7 is rather a bit pokier in that respect), but it just did nothing for me. The A7, on the other hand, I find quite enjoyable to pick up and use....it's really a different beast.

So....the moral of the story? If I were you, I would probably try the A6000 out with a different lens, or in more demanding lighting to give it a real test....but honestly, the GX7 and the EPM2 are both extremely capable cameras, and it would not surprise me if the results ended up being fairly equivocal. If you are curious about the A7, I would say to try one...but that does get you into a whole 'nother can of peas, as it were, with lenses (and adapted A-mount lenses) to cover your desired focal lengths. For me it is worth it, even though it's a pain in the butt, but not sure it would be for everyone.

-J

I have the A7 and GX7 and to me, M4/3 and FF complement each other.

Personally, I think the A6000 IQ WOULD be better than the GX7 but not by much and the GX7 is a higher level camera in so many ways.

The A6000 is an average level (still great though) camera with a party trick.....its AF.

I think if coming FROM M4/3 to a A6000 many people would NOT notice much difference (and equally if going the other way you would not notice much either)...depends more on what features you want.

Still, while I love the camera, I hate the grip of the GX7....it really bugs me more and more!

While the GX7 has some things I like very much, I don't think of it as a really special camera (to ME the A7 is) and while it has a LOT of useful things, a lot of them are not the greatest....EG, focus peaking is a poor poor imitation to me compared to the A7 (still pretty good) and silent shutter mode, while a great idea and still very useful is a bit limited....video quality is great too but then they limit it to max ISO 3200 and no mic jack! The GX7 has IBIS...again, love it, great feature but again, not the best in the GX7.....lots of things...more than almost any camera but not many done the best.....almost a jack of all trades but master of none (actually master of a couple maybe).

Do love the tilting ability of the EVF and silent/touch shutter though, even with its limitations.

If the coming Panasonic LX8 is as good as I hope, I will maybe get it for coat pocketing sell the GX7, get a cheap second hand smallish m4/3 camera (with a mic jack)...as the two systems DO complement each other for me, and get an A7S for low light and movies (rolling shutter will not be an issue for me, mostly on a tripod) and keep the A7 for normal use.