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Soon to be Dad - Photo Clueless

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chimy

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Hi All - thank you for the help. I'm about to become a father and looking to buy a good camera to capture all the little guy does. So mostly indoor portrait/pics and a bunch of video - but I'd like to use it on vacations and such in the future too. I've watched a bunch of videos online and have decided the a6300 is the camera for me... i think. Problem is i have no idea what lenses to get - as I am clueless when it comes to photography (hoping to learn).
  • Should I get the camera with the 16-50mm lens or just the body?
  • Better off with the 50mm or 35mm prime lens of indoor baby pics?
  • or would 16-70mm meet all my needs in one???
Hoping to get by with no more than 2 lenses to start... please help :)
 
Hello,

Popular opinion would be to get the kit lens and learn how to use the camera first but I'd say go for either the Zeiss 24 f/1.8 (expensive) or the SEL35F18 and get a flash for indoor shots. I would avoid flash with a new born though but that's just me. Another option is the 28mm f/2, which is for full frame but will work just as well for a6300.

Kind regards,
 
Marky12 said:
Hello,

Popular opinion would be to get the kit lens and learn how to use the camera first but I'd say go for either the Zeiss 24 f/1.8 (expensive) or the SEL35F18 and get a flash for indoor shots. I would avoid flash with a new born though but that's just me. Another option is the 28mm f/2, which is for full frame but will work just as well for a6300.

Kind regards,
Click to expand...
 
chimy said:
Hi All - thank you for the help. I'm about to become a father and looking to buy a good camera to capture all the little guy does. So mostly indoor portrait/pics and a bunch of video - but I'd like to use it on vacations and such in the future too. I've watched a bunch of videos online and have decided the a6300 is the camera for me... i think. Problem is i have no idea what lenses to get - as I am clueless when it comes to photography (hoping to learn).
  • Should I get the camera with the 16-50mm lens or just the body?
  • Better off with the 50mm or 35mm prime lens of indoor baby pics?
  • or would 16-70mm meet all my needs in one???
Hoping to get by with no more than 2 lenses to start... please help :)
Click to expand...
Definately get the a6300 with kit lens, that is a no brainer, just learn to bounce the flash for indoor shooting with it from 16-25mm indoors. It will allow you to learn how to use your camera and take pictures on future vacations for not too much money.

Then, get the Sigma 30 f1.4 for those very low light pictures you will need for baby shots indoors, with or without using a flash. You should then have a 2 lens system that should pretty much give you all you need for the pictures you want/need for at least the first year or so. The 50mm would be a bit too long for most indoor pictures, and the 16-70 will be too slow.

--
Life is short, make the best of it while you can!
http://grob.smugmug.com/
 
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I think people are forgetting how small babies are when they suggest that the 50mm is too long. I use an 85mm on full frame quite a bit for my grandchildren when they are small. The 50mm on an e mount works nicely as well.

I would definitely get the kit, it's a no-brainer for money. But I'd also get a fast prime for indoor shots in lower light. A baby sleeping on his mom or you can make a great shot you'll treasure. And I prefer a prime that is pretty sharp wide open or near wide open for such shots, like the 50mm f/1.8 or the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. Frankly, the 16-70, in my opinion, isn't sharp enough at wide apertures (and f/4 is too slow an aperture anyway) for those ambient light shots, and neither is the 24mm f/1.8 Zeiss. If you were a friend asking my advice, I'd say get the kit and the 50mm now, and add a wider prime in a year or two.

--
G
 
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You didn't specify budget. But personally, I would stick to prime lenses, because you'll be talking a lot of shots indoors with a newborn. Plus prime lenses ultimately have better image quality. The 24/1.8, 28/2 FE, Touit 32, 35/1.8, 50/1.8, 55/1.8 FE are all options to consider, in addition to the various Sigma lenses.

Personally if you've got the budget I would go for the 24/1.8 and the 55/1.8 FE as they'll give you amazing image quality. I used those, along with the Touit 32, for my daughter's first couple of years.
 
I think (as a dad for almost seventeen years and a semi-serious hobbyist photographer for fourteen years):

* The A6300 is a great choice. However, unless cost doesn't matter and/or you really want the absolute best video quality, the A6000 would be 85% as good for 55% of the price ($548 versus $998 for the body--but see the next point).

* Definitely spend the extra $150 to get the E 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens. If nothing else, it will give you a very compact, versatile zoom lens for when you want to reduce the bulk and/or weight you're carrying--definitely an issue when also bringing a baby along!

* The Sony E 16-70mm lens is really not that much more versatile than the kit lens. The long end of 70mm is more useful than 50mm, but not radically so. It is only one stop 'faster' (letting in more light) at the long ('zoomed-in') end, and is actually 'slower' at the wide end. It certainly does not appear to be anywhere near good enough and/or enough better than the kit lens to justify its price ($998). But if cost doesn't matter, sure, buy it in addition to the kit lens (it is significantly bigger).

* I would want a lens for lower light levels and/or more blurred backgrounds than either zoom can give you. I agree with another poster that babies are small and a longer lens is better. The Sony E 50mm f/1.8 OSS would be a great choice at $298. But if you really want a more 'normal' lens, then the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS for $448 would also be a good choice.

* You may feel like you're clueless, but don't be afraid to experiment. And take a ton of shots during the first year--babies change so fast, and by taking a ton, as they say even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while. If you take 100 pictures and get 3 real keepers, be happy, you have 3 keepers of your infant son.
 
chimy said:
Hi All - thank you for the help. I'm about to become a father and looking to buy a good camera to capture all the little guy does. So mostly indoor portrait/pics and a bunch of video - but I'd like to use it on vacations and such in the future too. I've watched a bunch of videos online and have decided the a6300 is the camera for me... i think.
Click to expand...
Get the 16-50 as it's really good VFM. Nice range , plenty good enough image quality and works well with the camera body being so compact. You'll then get a feel for a preferred focal length and can think about better IQ and faster primes if that becomes your thing.

Which may sound surprising when I tell you I sold my 16-50 as I wanted something faster so I bought the Sigma 30mm 1.4 which is also a very nice lens. The downside to the 16-50 is using it in low light. I really don't like going high on ISO and much prefer the Sigma for that. It is also bitingly sharp.

Get the 16-50 and move on when you're ready. You might never do...
 
araudan said:
I would go with the kit lens initially since it really doesn't add much to the purchase price. From there you will get an idea of what you may need or want. With all the gear you will be carrying for the baby, small and light camera gear is a blessing. At least it would have been for me.
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I'll be the odd one out and say don't waste your time with the kit lens. Why would you spend that much money on A6300 body and waste all that potential with the kit lens? It just doesn't make sense.

E mount lenses aren't even that big or heavy even if you get other bigger lenses.

Far better to spend that money on other lenses IMO.

If you can find a good used copy, I would go with 16-70mm f4 as your zoom lens and pick up a fast prime for low light situation. Zeiss 24mm f1.8 is a useful FL but once again only if you can buy a good used copy. Otherwise, I would stick with the Sony primes (35mm or 50mm depending on your preference, I find 50mm has limited use indoors due to the FL).
 
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I would also look at the RX10, secondhand version 1 as budget solution, or version 3, as universal solutions and great for filming,too.
 
I'll take your word for photo clueless although you are looking at a 6300 which suggests not totally clueless.

Get at least one of the Sony 35mm or 55mm 1.8 lenses. These collect light and give sharp, good shots. This is a huge advantage when mom doesn't want bright, flashy things in her eyes that makes her forget things ;-). I'm assuming you'll get a zoom lens as well with the camera.

Look at baby shots on the net so that you can find some style you'd like to imitate. There will be average "took a shot" looks and then there are "aw s**t" shots. The latter are usually set up which you may want to do some time but will obviously take more time and planning. Start with an idea of what you want to see. Some people have INCREDIBLE shots with a lot of effort put into them.

Get some software that lets you adjust the photo. A common one is Adobe Elements (photos) and Premiere (movies) package. Version 14 is something like $129 bucks now and well worth it. Expect a little learning curve but learn to crop shots (take a little piece of a bigger picture), level pictures, work with noise (little dots that muddy the picture) etc.

Most of all, enjoy the journey. Congratulations on your family.

Grant.
 
Congrats !

When my baby was two months old I got the a6000+kit+sel50f18.

It was great, I love the shots I got and I loved that this combo wasn't so big.

When we went travelling I took only the kit lens, it was great - very comfortable to carry, and took lovely shots with nice colors and sharpness. You might want to get another battery though (:

Just make sure you practice, I see some missed shots due to bad settings I had, but I was a complete beginner.. I still got so many good ones thought (:

When she grew up (let's say.. 10-11 months) and started moving around very fast it started to be a bit tight indoors, so I got the Sigma 30 f1.4. Sometimes it hunts or is slower to focus compared to the kit lens or the 50mm so it can miss the focus when I use it wide open, so I was initially disappointed but when it gets the shot it is has beautiful colors bokeh and sharpness. I also got the zeiss 24 that everybody loves but I didn't understand what was all the fuss about. It feels like it is not wide enough to get cool angles, and not narrow enough to get the nice portraits I get with the sigma 30, so I will probably sell it one day (but maybe it is good for 2 kids in the frame, I don't know yet !)

Best of wishes for the newborn and the family !
 
Well, 24mm is basically an equivalent to 35mm on full frame and is close in perspective to what our eyes see and hence perfect for a general purpose prime.

I had the Sigma 30mm but sold it after getting the Zeiss 24mm. Being able to only use phase detect AF in the center of the frame was slightly annoying, but what I couldn't stand was the bokeh, which wasn't great. Being able to shoot wide open with these primes is pointless if the bokeh you are getting is ugly.
 
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WOW - thank you all so much!

Based on your advise, I'll be pulling the trigger shortly on the a6300 w/ kit lens and plan to add the 50mm 1.8 for infant shots... maybe add a 30 or 35mm when he starts getting mobile :)

Again thank you all... now time to transition from researching what camera/lens I need to how the he!! do I take good baby pics :)
 
Well I'm going to disagree with almost everyone here. they all want you to buy large aperture primes and from your post you have no experience. Shooting in low light with a thin DOF with expensive lenses is going to be a steep learning curve. Photography is about light and babies are not always cooperative and you'll want to make the best of what's there without having to set up every shot or shoot 2000 pictures to get one really good keeper.

My recommendation is Buy the camera, kit lens and a system compatible flash that can do wireless. Then get Gary Friedmans book on the camera and his "wireless flash e-book" and you will never be stuck without getting the shots you want. Chasing light with larger and larger apertures and higher and higher ISO sensitivity is just going to be an exercise in frustration at this point for only a few good shots.

Once you're competent with these tools then you'll know for sure what next components to buy without having to ask here, Your style will already be established and you'll know where you want to explore next.
 
And make sure you use your camera phone if you do not have the big camera with you.

It is always with you, to capture that special moment - and that is what counts most.
 
The 16-50 will be fine for quite a while. Just start with that.

My wife said something funny to me the other day. She was recalling how beautiful our babies were back then. How they looked like the most beautiful things in the whole world to her. Now the kids are 11 and 13. And she says, "you know, babies really aren't all that pretty. In fact they kind of look like little space alien monkeys. "

No matter. Your wife likely will feel the baby is beautiful in the same way and all the pictures you take will make her happy.

But the same goes for all considerations about not perfect photos, grainy from high ISO, a little motion blur. Your main audience is your wife and she will love most every picture you take. You don't need to be worried about having the perfect camera equipment.

Just plan ahead to print some out. My wife feels like photos only on the computer are lacking somehow. She wants that archival photo album feel of having the prints. In fact she is having me go print some out now off our old computer.
 
Glenn said:
Well I'm going to disagree with almost everyone here. they all want you to buy large aperture primes and from your post you have no experience. Shooting in low light with a thin DOF with expensive lenses is going to be a steep learning curve. Photography is about light and babies are not always cooperative and you'll want to make the best of what's there without having to set up every shot or shoot 2000 pictures to get one really good keeper.

My recommendation is Buy the camera, kit lens and a system compatible flash that can do wireless. Then get Gary Friedmans book on the camera and his "wireless flash e-book" and you will never be stuck without getting the shots you want. Chasing light with larger and larger apertures and higher and higher ISO sensitivity is just going to be an exercise in frustration at this point for only a few good shots.

Once you're competent with these tools then you'll know for sure what next components to buy without having to ask here, Your style will already be established and you'll know where you want to explore next.
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First of all, congrats!! Second, I think your choices sre perfect. I am one of those 'super' pros and shoot everything from babies to lots of models in NYC with that 50mm and people are blown away all the time by my quality. It focused really smooth for video as well and has the image stabilization. Have fun and please come back and post the photos you get.

Attached are some photos of my 9yrld daugher with the 50mm. These are just low res versions, but I think you get the idea.



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--
Jonathan Pease
•••••••••••••••••••
Be Unforgettable
 
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