Camera gear discussions

I’m willing to sell my left nut that X100 will beat the regular iPhone 13. I am not that impressed with the regular 13 for shots. I just don’t have interest in Pro and Pro Max models.

 

I had never really considered taking pics of the moon before, but you posting this, and me just getting my new lens I decided I would give it the ol' college try this evening.

I tell you what, even with a tripod, shooting the moon is tough, there is a lot of wobble as you said. I used a 10s timer on the shutter, but even just the breeze causes quite a bit of wobble.

And even at 400mm, the moon is very small, I had to crop from 60mp down to 3mp for this shot. EDIT: giving an equivalent focal length of 1600mm…sheesh



that was at f2.8 at 1/800th iso100. I took a bunch messing with the aperture and shutter, but this one turned out best. wide open with the fastest shutter helping kick the wobble.

 

That is pretty damn good for someone who is not a moon regular! I have tried just a couple of times, but so far I haven't even managed to get the exposure right.

And how is it that the moon is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond "infinity" (surely?) but one still has to focus?

 

So I dropped my Sony kit lens for the A6000 (the cheap 16-50mm OSS). I thought this might be a good time to sell it and upgrade to FF. The question is which one:

• Sony A7
  
• Sony A7 II

Or just go back to DSLR for the superior optics and battery life:

• Nikon D610
• Nikon D750
• Nikon D800/800e/810

I really don’t care about 4K video. HD is just fine for me. I just want a good vacation camera/general use. The he A6000 is okay, I just miss the FF of my Nikon SLR and my old Canon 5D.

Any on this list NOT good or worth it? Over the A600@ that is?

PS - The 5D is still an excellent camera and a still a great one today, even if only 12MP. The color is very accurate and the only things I didn’t like about it (besides only 12MP and no video) was the dynamic range and the AF is kind of cooky.

 

Nice thought. Although that might be a bit above my budget.

 

What is your budget?

 

Try to move closer to the current generation of Sony camera technology, if you can. Even a6100.

If you can stretch to $1400, the brand new a6700 comes with a heap of goodies. On the other hand, some guy on some youtube video I saw some of said, it's a great camera, but if you have any inclination to FF, you could spend your money on a used a7iv.

 

What lenses will you be running with it? If you want to invest in Mirrorless lenses, I agree with others to upgrade to A7C or A7III at least.

But if you will be running manual glass on adapters, A7II already represents a good buy and it was my choice. Both A7II and A7 are highly popular among Vintage glass crowd.

 

Not exactly sure, but $1,200 for body only seems too much.

I will put things this way, I have had an A6000 since it was released with the kit lenses: 18-50mm and the 55-210mm. Not fantastic lenses, no 5-point axis IS, and it has been fine. I could jut buy a used 16-50mm and continue down the road, but a FF in used prices finally seems attainable.

I do have a few (and only a few) manual lenses. Since my 18-50mm is broke, I could keep the 55-210mm, but it is not that fantastic anyway and on a FF is not worth using unless using it cropped and to retain same or similar resolution with my current A6000, I’d have to spring for A7R, and if I wand 5-point axis IS, then A7R II. I know The III series has much better color gamut for jpg. But even an A7 III is like $800 for body.

Basically I’m gonna need a body and at least kit 28-70mm. And still not sure I want to keep the 55-210, but even that lens looks like it’s only worth $60.

Looking more and more like an A7 II.

 

er, used A7C's sell for under $1100 commonly on Fred

 

Dang, I might have to price adjust. I was going off of sold ebay items.

 

at least 4 body only sales in the last week for <$900 on eBay. Tech doesn't hold value.

 

Weird. I only see 2 going back to June and they are both from sellers with 0 feedback who opened their account just a day prior to each sale. Just about everything else was in the $1200-1400 range for body. I will definitely cut a deal for a friend or known contributor, but those seem like weird outliers. I could also be screwing up my search.

edit: nvm, was searching just silver bodies. Still super weird to me that all the cheap sales are from people who created an account just prior to selling cameras for several hundred less that what seem the norm.

But to stop cluttering this thread, if anyone actually is interested in my A7C, they can reach out.

 

I don't [necessarily] agree with that. It depends on how much one wants to spend, and how much one wants to carry.

If used to 200mm on aps-c, that means a 300mm-plus focal length lens to fill the frame in the same way on full-frame. This is getting into the world of big, heavy, expensive lenses. The whole setup is much more expensive and much more heavy.

All e-mount lenses fit all e-mount cameras. One can use FF lenses on aps-c. One gets "bonus reach" of the 1.5* crop.

My most-used lenses are Sony FE85/1.8 and Samyang 135/1.8. Both FF lenses. If I move to FF body, my 135 then gives me the composition of my 85, and I have to spend much more again to get the 1.5*135 composition of the 135.

This is why, albeit with some latent doubts, I am not doing so, but will go for the a6700 now.

aps-c is not just a stepping stone to FF! It is a great format in its own right, with its own advantages.

(One factor that influences me strongly is that the "work" I do requires fast lenses. If I was outside in the sun, rather than in badly-lit auditoriums, then I could go for the slower, cheaper zooms on FF and have fun.)

 

Inherited a Mamiya C330, dunno what to do w it really, and don’t like shooting w it…

is there some waist-shooting trick that I’m missing?

 

Probably, yes.

I recall days when a lot of folk had those cameras with viewfinders that one had to look down on.

I do think that it gave an interesting perspective, especially for people pics.

But the bigger question here is... film. Can you even be bothered with it? I know I can't. Seems to me that it takes a special kind of love.