Combined Alpha 6000, zeiss primes and best pics thread

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Soeren

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The wife got a bit agitated seeing the Alpha 6000 yesterday. Since then Ive been reading up on reviews, lenses etc. and have become somewhat interested as well.
So who's using said camera with the zeiss primes ( Im thinking 12, 24, 55mm + ?)? How do you carry and then, your best pics, show them......... pleeeease. Gear porn is ok too.
And last, is it true the kit lens is nothing to write home about?
 
You shouldn't write home, just send pictures :rolleyes:

If you restrict yourself to the Zeiss lenses, you're missing the lovely Sony 35/1.8 and 50/1.8. Anyway, I don't have the A6000 (I have the NEX F3) nor a Zeiss lens (but I own the two mentioned), so I can't help you.
 
The Zeiss 12mm is good. Very good flare resistance. My only gripe is that it is not a full frame lens, and cannot cover the entire image circle of the A7 cameras. The Sony 10-18 does cover FF at 13-14mm, so it might be a better alternative.

The Zeiss 24mm is also excellent but a tad expensive for what it is. A used one at ~$600-$700 is a deal I'd jump on, but paying $1k for a 24mm f1.8 no better than the XF 23mm f1.4 is a bit of a hard pill.

I prefer the touit 32mm to the Sony 35mm F1.8. People have bashed this lens for bad bokeh and poor distortion control, but it is contrasty and more than a decent lens wide open.

The Zeiss 55mm is the highest performing autofocus standard lens ever made. Compared to the $4k Otus the only places it shows weakness is extreme corner sharpness and aberration control. It becomes portrait length on the A6000, but if you're planning on a future A7, there's no way you'll go wrong with this lens.
 
Addy101 said:
You shouldn't write home, just send pictures :rolleyes:

If you restrict yourself to the Zeiss lenses, you're missing the lovely Sony 35/1.8 and 50/1.8. Anyway, I don't have the A6000 (I have the NEX F3) nor a Zeiss lens (but I own the two mentioned), so I can't help you.
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That fifty would be interesting so I your comments are more than welcome.
 
YYV_146 said:
The Zeiss 12mm is good. Very good flare resistance. My only gripe is that it is not a full frame lens, and cannot cover the entire image circle of the A7 cameras. The Sony 10-18 does cover FF at 13-14mm, so it might be a better alternative.

The Zeiss 24mm is also excellent but a tad expensive for what it is. A used one at ~$600-$700 is a deal I'd jump on, but paying $1k for a 24mm f1.8 no better than the XF 23mm f1.4 is a bit of a hard pill.

I prefer the touit 32mm to the Sony 35mm F1.8. People have bashed this lens for bad bokeh and poor distortion control, but it is contrasty and more than a decent lens wide open.

The Zeiss 55mm is the highest performing autofocus standard lens ever made. Compared to the $4k Otus the only places it shows weakness is extreme corner sharpness and aberration control. It becomes portrait length on the A6000, but if you're planning on a future A7, there's no way you'll go wrong with this lens.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ill be looking into those. How about adapter alternatives? Metabones and...? Would be fun to play around with some f/1,2 lenses and long, say 135mm, f/2 lenses
 
Soeren said:
Thanks Ill be looking into those. How about adapter alternatives? Metabones and...? Would be fun to play around with some f/1,2 lenses and long, say 135mm, f/2 lenses
Click to expand...

The best is novoflex. Voigtlander is pretty good too. I like those because the mount switch doesn't dig into your right hand. If you're looking at only APS-C use I have a spare Voigtlander v1 adapter lying around - that one has dark corners with some longer lenses on FF, though.

For adapter use virtually any lens will work. You can find a 85mm F1.2 FD and use it as a 130mm lens on the A6000.
 
There are a lot of 50mm manual focus lenses you could use on an E-mount camera, but I got the Sony 50/1.8 next to them and it is much nicer then I expected. I only bought it because I got it for a good price and I was pleasently surprised by it. Proper reviews show the centre is great from f/1.8, the borders from f/2-2.2 and the extreme corners never. This characteristic is no problem for the intended use of this lens. The optical stabilisaton (OSS) is nice to have. Without much ado, these are on the 16mp sensor of my Sony NEX F3:

DSC01072-XL.jpg

Sony NEX F3 | Sony 50/1.8 OSS | f/2.8 | 1/4000s | 200iso

DSC01211-XL.jpg

Sony NEX F3 | Sony 50/1.8 OSS | f/4 | 1/800s | 200iso

DSC01368-XL.jpg

Sony NEX F3 | Sony 50/1.8 OSS | f/2 | 1/80s | 1600iso
 
I also like the Sony 50/1.8 combination on my a6000 although I think the 16-50 kit zoom is better than it is made out to be by some people. This small zoom makes it a perfect camera to carry anywhere and I take is every day, The thing I most like though is how well the camera works with legacy lenses and an inexpensive adapter. This camera is very underrated.

DSC_6129b by Earley Photography, on Flickr

DSC_6275 by Earley Photography, on Flickr

5c4e8d7a-389d-4e88-85ac-0ead13a69625 by Earley Photography, on Flickr
 
This camera is fantastic. On sale now new for $450 body only. Or $598 with kit lens. (Amazon links.) Buy two!!

OK… Off soapbox.

Portraits:
- Sony/Zeiss 55 is fab, just fab
- Sony 50 f/1.8 is not bad at all, and it has OSS. Here's a crummy sample at f/2 to show sharpness and a bit of the bokeh. Full 24MPx image here.

141204-FocusTest-DSC3169-Scr.JPG


Normal:
- Zeiss 32mm Touit is a good image maker, but hasn't yet thrilled me like the Zeiss 55. AF with this lens is not as good as with the Sony or Sony/Zeiss lenses. (Slower, sometimes hunts a bit. Unless/until a firmware update from Zeiss, the A6000's Hybrid AF doesn't play with this lens.)
 
More…

Yes, the camera works well with adapters and MF lenses. Focusing is easy with focus peaking. Metabones SpeedBooster looks very good for wide angle lenses, but it's heavy.
 
After using the a7 mainly for legacy glass (my only fe lens being the 35f2.8), the a7 won me back over where the Nex 5n totally turned me off. When the 448 price showed up during Black Friday, I jumped in myself..

W/ third party lenses like the sigma, the af is slightly slower than the Sony ones. My 35f2.8 FE worked fine on the a6000 along w/ all the native lenses I had for the nex 5n, including the 16-50 pancake zoom.

The af is faster than my a7 when using Sony lenses I own. High iso seems to be about 3200, but ymmv. I only wish it had a second scroll wheel (Nex 7 tri-nav).. There are times when I think the af is faster than the m43 cameras.. But not when the light gets too low, this is where the af on the m43 cameras still are better. In good light, they seem faster to me. I have not had opportunity yet to c if the a6000 focus tracking is as good as others have said.

The Sigma art series for E-mount is going to be the best price performance u are going to get.. Sony currently has a terrible selection in long lenses, past the 80ish fov range outside of their zooms..

Good luck..from a gear head..
Gary
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
This camera is fantastic. On sale now new for $450 body only. Or $598 with kit lens. (Amazon links.) Buy two!!

OK…
Click to expand...

Tempting to buy two..but I hope they come out w/ an a7000 (nex7 replacement).

I also have the 32 toit, bought it for the combo price w/ the 12. The toit af lens motor is noisy and a tad slower compared to the 35f2.8 fe. It may be my sample, but the overall iq between the 35 and 32 are close enough, I can't tell the difference for the type of shooting I do..

Since I have the A7, in 55 i think I will eventually get the 55f1.8 fe.

Gary
 
Just a quick example shot today of what the A6000 can do: Club lighting, local musician is thrilled as he finishes his clarinet riff and passes it on to the great Tiger Okoshi.

Sony/Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 at f/2.8, 1/100th, ISO 1600. AF w/face detect. A little post processing, as I most always do. For those interested in a closer look, here's the straight-out-of-camera jpg. I have really been enjoying this camera!

141207-Tiger-DSC3346-Scr.jpg
 
These shots were taken during the last two weeks of 2014.. All B&W converted from color w/ Silver FX Pro2

Gary

Shot using Zeiss Toit 12f2.8, cropped to pano...skyline shot thru viewing area windows

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Zeiss Toit 32f1.8

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