Bridge Camera Advise

Oh it’s not an unlimited budget by any stretch of the imagination – I’ve temporarily delved into my new bike fund 😐 All being well the new camera will have cost circa £350.

Ah that’s a shame, my friend was recommending Canon 40mm 2.8 STM lens for this camera for out and about.

Should I potentially sell the Canon lens adapter then to recoup some money?

Why buy a small camera if you are going to attach big heavy lenses to it? It makes it rather unbalanced to hold.

Do some research (youtube etc), some combinations may work for you just fine. Putting big lenses on small cameras via an adapter is where the real problems appear. The ergonomics don’t work. The 40mm may be OK.

This is the lens I’ve been recommended for indoors:

But I clearly need to do research on it.

First job is to decide which camera to keep.

Ergonomics will be fine. You’ll need to check how it performs with an adapter, you may lose some functionality (which may not matter).

But that’s a 64mm equivalent which is really quite zoomy for indoors (which usually imply you’re tight for space and want a wide angle).

The highly rated 22mm f2 would be top of my list for interiors if it was me.

Thanks I’ll check that out!

As you guys suggest I’ll just stick with the standard lens for the time being.

IMO it’s pointless using adaptors if you’re just starting out into the system, you might as well use pukka ef-m mount lenses.

This is the lens I’ve been recommended for indoors:

that lens needs the adaptor, and I’d agree with above, it’s quite long for use ‘indoors’. What does that even mean anyway… could be all sorts!

I’d be looking at this as a general ‘do-it-all’ lens:-

my friend was recommending Canon 40mm 2.8 STM lens for this camera for out and about.

Why? The STM lenses’ raison d’etre is for shooting video. I’d stick with the traditional USM lenses for still photos (probably cheaper too).

Cheers for that!

I feel I’ll be asking for lens advice in a few weeks time 8)

On a general note how do Canon EF-M lenses compare to Sony E mount ones (again for future) to help decision making?

There’s loads of Sony fit lenses (Dyxum suggests 88) and very few canon lenses (all of 7 of them).

The only canon lens anyone raves about is the 22mm. Plenty of people just buy a body to use that one lens.

Sony has lots from mediocre to excellent. The good ones tend to be expensive. It depends what type of lens you want really, it could be there are some good cheap options, or the only options might be eye wateringly expensive.

Ha sounds like another minefield!!

Figure out the camera first, it’s now out of my hands and primarily up to the missus as after NYC she’ll be the main user.

The Sony A6000 arrived today, it’s a very nice looking camera – love the view finder on it.

Quick test shot in jpeg, subject not very happy about it:

So got them both now: http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r129/nathb89/camera%20test/5FA2EDAA-A872-4CC6-8DB4-9A6BA1E0FE87.jpg

The canon’s lens is much longer than the sony’s, but the sony definitely feels a bit nicer to hold in my hands.

I whacked it into “auto” and headed into the garden to shoot some comparison shots of the cat. Initial thoughts were that it was taking AGES between shots, which was very frustrating. After connecting it to the computer I’ve realised that I put it in “Hybrid Auto” which essentially was recording video (with sound) and taking stills when I hit the button. 😳

Sample of the hybrid auto still:

I thought getting them both would ease the decision making process, but looks as though it’s going to be tougher than I anticipated.

Thanks everyone for all of your advice!

Check out the continuous focus mode (or sport mode) and compare tracking on things (bikes, cars, people or whatever). That should be where you’ll find a real difference.

Auto? Hmmmmm….

Yeah auto, the main user will be the other half. I’m going to read up on various settings and how to take an okay picture – but she’ll more than likely just want it to do all of that for her. 😆

The intelligent auto on the sony is, err, very intelligent. It’ll even do multiple frames and add them together for low light shots.

Wouldn’t it be a fairer test to just use the same settings via manual, just tweak the shutter time to get the correct exposure? Shouldn’t be too tricky to learn just a couple of settings using manual?

Or just muck around with it 😉

Great move getting the A6000. Splendid camera.

I’ve been given some digital camera wallet cards from a photographer friend which give you a scenario (landscapes/animals/kids/flowers etc etc) and the best settings for it (exposure mode/focus mode/shutter speed/aperture/iso/drive mode) these seem a good start to test them.

One thing I have noticed though is that raw wise they are both very similar. The Canon’s Jpeg is identical to the raw (in terms of colours etc). The Sony’s Jpeg’s are amazing, perfect for uploading quickly without having to edit – VERY impressed with these.

If it was wholly down to me the Canon would be being sold on, just got to convince her now. 😆

I’ve been given some digital camera wallet cards from a photographer friend which give you a scenario (landscapes/animals/kids/flowers etc etc) and the best settings for it (exposure mode/focus mode/shutter speed/aperture/iso/drive mode) these seem a good start to test them.

The scene modes do that for you.

Doing fully manual shots for doing side by side comparison shorts with several cameras in the same place at the same time, or as an exercise to be mindful of all the settings is fair enough.

Otherwise if you are using the cameras meter as a guide for setting the shot then it just slows down the whole process of taking photos vs apeture or shutter priority – can always just tweak the EV if you want to shoot above or below 0 on the metre.

When you announced you bought the two cameras I bit my toungue but now i am typing i will say that TBH IMHO it is bonkers buying two cameras that are so similar in all respects except their lens compatability. Would have been far more useful to buy either camera with a respective bigger brother that shared it’s lenses, or either with a fit in the pocket point and shoot camera.

It has hopefully been a risk free venture, I know they’re similar in specs but actually usage has been very different. Been out this afternoon taking lots and lots of pictures, uploaded a few.

Sony Pics: http://s143.photobucket.com/user/nathb89/library/camera%20test/Sony%20A6000

Canon Pics: http://s143.photobucket.com/user/nathb89/library/camera%20test/Canon%20M3

Decided to keep the Canon, well it was a joint decision. 😛

**The gardens weeding needs doing, I just finished the front 😆

Wee bit of an update to this.

Loving the Canon M3! A photographer friend gave me a 20 minute “how to take manual shots” lesson so I’ve been following the cat around all weekend (she’s a moving target).

Couple of examples:

I’ve also bought a set of filters to try.

The next thing I need to figure out is the best way of getting decent pictures from a helicopter. 😆

Combine the two?

Haha.

This is a real helicopter so I need to combat the movement and the glare from the window.

Any tips greatly appreciated!

Polarising filters can reduce glare/reflections.

Yeah I’ve got one of them in the lens kit, thanks!

I guess I need to keep a fairly high shutter speed too?

I’m no pro, but yeah, faster shutter=less blur.

More noise, but less

You should investigate the image stabilisation options, play with them.