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.

I used to have a lot of respect for you, Janet.  Just goes to show, you never really know people like you think you do. . . this is going to take a LOT of vodka to get past this let down.