Just picked up a Sony A6000

Big Ga wrote:

jalywol wrote:

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).

Hi Janet.

I'm sure that (up until now at least, LOL) many people here have respected your opinions. There are bound to be a number who would be interested in the details of how you are really noticing the difference in IQ when using the larger sensor of the A7. Care to share?

Regards

G.

Well, it comes down to the one weakness of M43 (remember, this is TO ME, and it is not necessarily anything that anyone else would have an issue with), and that is its ability to render very fine tonal, color, and shadow gradations. M43 sensors are remarkable, and not only that, both Oly and Panasonic have managed to extract remarkable amounts of information from them. M43 cameras are highly tuned and technologically sophisticated devices that have been tweaked super carefully to get the absolute most they can from the current sensor technology on the market. And, you know what? They are very, very good.

However...in complex macro and floral work, there is the last little bit of tonality, dimensionality, and gradation that I kept feeling like I was just not able to extract from the image files with my M43 cameras. I had absolutely no desire to move to an APS-C camera, as, while in the best of circumstances they can be a little bit better in these areas, the differences are just not enough to warrant a change, for me. However, the temptation of trying a FF camera was there....

Unfortunately, there was no way on this green earth that I would carry around a FF DSLR. I can't even get my hand around the grip of the smallest ones, so that was right out, and I didn't even seriously consider looking at one until Sony popped up with the A7.

I didn't buy the A7 when it first came out, as I have all of these wonderful M43 lenses at this point, and the lens options for it were poor. I went with the EM1 instead. Now, I think the EM1 is a fabulous camera. However, after six months with it, I was not enjoying using it. I guess I have too much Panasonic menu system hard wired into my brain at this point, and even after customizing the Oly the way I wanted it, I just could not get it to be second nature to use. I also don't care for the choices Oly makes in their fundamental image processing, which tend to give you more impressive looking DR but at the cost of very fine detail and color information. (That's been my particular bug with Oly stuff since my first M43 camera...Panasonic loses some ultimate DR in its image handling algorithms, but keeps some pixel level color and detail information just a bit better, IMO). (There are a few reviewers who have commented on this, too, so I know I am not the only one who has noticed it).

In any case, after buying a GX7 to use, figuring that would solve my problems (and it certainly solved my UI issues), I realized that both the EM1 and GX7 were so close in overall performance in terms of IQ, that to really get any appreciable gains in the areas I was looking for, I would have to try a larger sensored camera.

So, I bought an A7. Ergonomically, I am quite comfortable with it. Its user interface is somewhere between Oly and Panasonic in terms of functionality, so I'm finding it relatively easy to wade through, and I have been able to set the camera up to be quite comfortable to use for me. It feels good in hand, the EVF is very good (nothing is quite as spectacular as the EVF in the EM1, but the one in the A7 is quite good...better than the one in the EM5, and much better than any of the Panasonic EVFs).

It's not without its quirks. The A7 is a first gen camera, and there are things that are truly stupid about it, as one would expect. AF is fine in daylight, pokey in darker situations. What lenses are available are very expensive, and the choices are limited. As a system, it has a ways to go, for sure. HOWEVER. In terms of brute image information in the files, it is staggeringly good.

When I first got the camera, I had some purple pansies blooming in my front beds which I thought would be a good test of the capabilities of both cameras. These are particularly difficult to get right, as they have a very velvety appearance and many, many subtle shades of purple which give the flowers a soft and dimensional appearance in real life. I used the PL45mm macro on the M43, and I think both the vintage Nikon 55mm macro and the 24-70mm Sony lens with extension tubes on the A7, so the quality of lenses used was comparable on both. The M43 results were good, but that ultimate velvet depth to the flower was somewhat lacking. In the A7 images, the shading and very fine tonal gradations were able to quite successfully capture the dimensionality of the flower very well, and I did not have to do any work at all to extract that detail/dimensionality from the files; it was simply THERE.

I don't have these files to post, they were for my evaluation only, so they are dreadfully composed and not anything I would put up anywhere. However, they were sufficient to give me an idea of the capabilities of the A7 as they applied to what I shoot. I would NEVER say that this test was appropriate for anyone other than me and for what I was looking for specifically by going to the larger sensor.

FF is a bit of a mixed bag in many ways. I am starting from the bottom again, so I am having to relearn all of the idiosyncracies of the DOF differences between the cameras. Some of them are good, as I am enjoying playing with subject isolation quite a bit, and some are not so good, as I have to relearn all of the hyperfocal information when I am trying to do landscape work, for instance. I have been able to pick up a few longer Minolta lenses that will AF with an adapter (which works quite well, actually) for reasonable prices, so that's a bonus at least, until Sony gets its act together and gets some more native lenses out for this thing (if they manage to...). As with any new bit of gear, it takes a while to figure out optimal settings for what you do, and I am still in the process of that. The good news is that when I get things right, I am quite pleased with the output of the camera. There is just a remarkable amount of information in the files and it makes them really a pleasure to work with. I do miss all of the wonderful lenses I have for the M43, though, but time (and money, of course) should take care of that....

I hope this ramble has answered your question

-J