A New Camera

A new, smaller APS-C sized Sony camera (left) to
complement my full-frame Sony kit.

I've been waiting for a specific Sony camera to drop in price into my "acceptable" price range for two years now. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, this camera dropped in price and fell within my target price range. After holding this camera in my shopping cart for a day or two, finger twitching and hovering over the "buy now" button, I finally ordered it for myself.  

I purchased this camera as a means to complement my current full-frame Sony camera. Mostly, I wanted to get my hands on this camera to use for wildlife and sports. Purchasing this camera would allow me to sell off all my far older gear with far smaller sensors... noisy, rather crappy sensors, at that... gear which has been consistently frustrating me and driving me crazy for many, many years.

This particular Sony camera uses the same lens mount as my current Sony workhorse camera and I already have a decent selection of lenses to use for that camera so that is a tremendous plus. Using camera bodies with the same lens mount will save me a fortune on a new set of lenses.

The new Sony a6000 did fairly well at dusk
but my full-frame Sony is better suited for this.

A weakness of my current Sony camera was super-long telephoto because its sensor is so large. Larger sensors need larger lenses so I would need to attach a telescope-sized lens to get the power I needed for wildlife photography. That wasn't practical for a guy with extensive spinal injuries, nor was it practical for a guy who often shoots while sitting in a bobbing kayak, nor is that a practical option for my fixed income budget. This new Sony camera, while still sporting a larger sensor than my old wildlife gear, would provide me with the reach I need for wildlife photography.

When I received this camera, I took it out to Burlington to shoot some night scenes of Christmas lights... as expected, it is not nearly as good at this type of shooting as my current Sony camera but it was 'okay'. 

I tried to shoot some photos of the kids the other night as they opened a couple of early Christmas presents in our dimly lit living room... again, it did 'okay' but it is not nearly as good at this type of shooting as my current Sony camera. I'll continue to use my full-frame Sony for people shots... especially when shooting in low light.

I mounted my Sony 70-200mm f4 lens on this new Sony camera body... this camera body would give me the equivalent view of 105-300mm with this lens... it worked great while still giving me 24 megapixels of image! This was awesome news!  

The new Sony a6000 with my Sony 70-200mm f4...
a very nice combo!

Next, I mounted my Canon 400mm f5.6L lens on this new Sony camera body... this would give me an equivalent view of 600mm with this combination... I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality and the speed of autofocus! This will be great for wildlife shooting at the lake or anywhere, really. I'm looking forward to getting back to the lake house though since that is where we see the most wildlife... and the place we enjoy the most.  

This new Sony camera paired with my Sony 70-200mm f4 lens should be ideal for shooting photos of Lukey's hockey and Kenzie's gymnastics too. This camera is exceptionally fast and it tracks action very well. I'm looking forward to getting some nice shots of the kids in sports. There is no way I could have done this nearly as well with my older gear. This also was a great source of frustration until now.

The new Sony a6000 with my Canon 400mm f5.6L...
this will be a great combo for the most reach!

My older, full frame Sony camera with its larger sensor will continue to be used for people photos, particularly when the light is not all that great. This camera is ideal for portraits of all kinds.

Theoretically, I could use either camera for landscapes but I know that my larger sensor Sony will be better at this too. I'll probably use my full-frame Sony camera for most of my landscape shooting unless I want to go ulta-lightweight which would make the Sony a6000 a better compromise. 

So, now these two Sony cameras will split duties and I can box up all my older "four-thirds" and "micro four-thirds" junk to be sold... Truth be told, I'd like to put a sledge hammer to all that junk... or toss it in a big burn pile... but, if I can get a few bucks for this old gear, that is good for my budget. 

So far, I'm quite excited that this camera has dropped so much in price allowing me to purchase it!