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Sony a6000 topic
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  • Another AF test

  • Well damn, keeps on making my decision even harder for what to upgrade to from my current Panasonic GH1/G3/GF3 kit.

    First the Panasonic G6 came out, and this looked like the one to keep an eye on for when its price came down a little (like it has now, when you catch it on special for under US$500).

    Gave you Focus Peaking and better performance than a GH2.

    Then the Nikon D5200 came out with its exceptional performance (low light win!). And it would be easy for me to move over to Nikon again, as most of my lenses are Nikon F mount that I adapt to Micro Four Thirds (it helps that my first ever camera was the Nikon D50, ages ago).

    Then the Nikon D5300 came out.... does even better! Though not enough for me to consider currently, the price is too much higher than D5200 for what is largely a fairly similar camera.

    So here I am tossing up between:

    Nikon D5200 => live HDMI out, but no focus peaking. Better low light, but is not Micro Four Thirds which is a plus and minus. Mostly minus as I greatly prefer mirrorless. But it could replace not just my GH1 for video, but also my Nikon D50 for photography. Killing two birds with one stone.

    Panasonic G6 => has focus peaking, but no live HDMI. Is mirrorless! (yay, can adapt zillions of other lenses and use focal reducers)

    Now it seems the Sony A6000 for only a little more in terms of cost, can give me the best of both the G6 and the D5200?? (focus peaking, live HDMI out, mirrorless, low light performance, etc)

    Hmmm.... sooo tempting.

    Only negatives I can see is a little higher cost, isn't an adjustable screen like the D5200/G6 (but you can at least tilt it in one way, so I'll give it half marks here), and isn't a Nikon F mount that could also be my main photography camera (though I suppose this a pretty minor issue). So a few minor issues.... plus one big one, no microphone input :-/

    Of course ideally I want the Panasonic GH4!! But that is over $1k more than I'd like to spend. And I'm going to get a camera this year, if I went for the GH4 I'd have to wait until next year probably. Not going to do that.

  • Yep, no mic input is a bummer.

  • @oscillian

    May be mic input is present in hot shoe? Sony usually likes to do accessories like it.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev Sure, one could use Sonys proprietary microphone or probably add the XLR adapter, but then you're either locked into Sony territory or getting a bulkier configuration. I love my tiny Sennheiser MKE400 and would like to continue using it.

  • Gordon Laing uploaded high ISO tests to Vimeo (native mts files).

  • Why can't these photography sites "get" shooting video. Read the description. He fixed the fstop and let the shutter speed float. I'd like to see a 24p clip with proper shutter angle....up to iso 12,800. I'd doubt he'd need an nd in this scene. Regardless, this is a great aps camera .

  • Well... I downloaded the A6000 mts videos from Cameralabs review and the iso tests. Comparing to Nikon, to previous Sony NEX models and to Panasonic M43 cameras my conclusions are:

    The A6000 does not show aliasing which is pretty good. There is very small moire, not disturbing enough, possible to live with (I saw it in the beach shoot). The noise in high iso does not show chroma noise which is great. The noise in high iso is very fine and charming compared to previous NEX and to Panasonic. The iso up to 1600 does not need denoise. The iso 3200 is clean after denoise. The iso 6400 is clean after denoise with small trembling in shadows, not disturbing. The iso 12800 is not usable. The resolution is a little gross compared to Panasonic, Panasonic is more cinematic, razor sharp. If you want that razor sharp look which is desired to compete in tv broadcast and cinema theaters Panasonic M43 is the way to go, but the low light performance and E-mount with focal reducers allowing 1.16 crop factor is amazing on A6000. The gross in A6000 resolution is more perceived in wide shots showing buildings, in low light it is not annoying, but still much better resolution than Canon APS cameras. The resolution is on par with D5300 and I think A6000 is better because does not show halos in contrast edges. Low light is better than D5300. The highlights are recorded above 100 IRE and can be recovered in post production and this is amazing. There are textures and tonal range hidden in the cliped highligts, something like 1 fstop of dynamic range can be recovered in post, something like HTP in Canon cameras. The 5 levels of DRO to lift shadows combined with recovered highlights can deliver a great dynamic range. With a RJ lens turbo to increase light by 1 fstop and reduce crop factor this camera will be a new low budget Queen for low light and for use all kind of lenses. The 1.16 crop factor with the lens turbo just avoids the soft and dark corners from the full frame lenses. If you can record audio outside camera the A6000 is great for indie cinema. Also there is the option to buy the expensive bluetooth mic. I hope Sony give us mic input in A7000 and maybe S-Log2 in the A7000 also. The auto focus is accurate and smooth and does not show hunting, this is great. I like the A6000 a lot! I have the dream of Sony give us S-Log2 in the A7000 to increase dynamic range 1300% That's it.

  • I have make some video works with a Nex 5n and i really love it for what it was, for this i have some question for owners of the a6000:

    1.- Is possible make audio levels adjustments? Because Sony will launch a new revised version of the XLR-K1M it will still use the hotshoe but it will lacks of the additional cable that the K1M has, so is a lot simpler equipment, if this devices will operate on the a6000 could make this camera a great documentary camera, sad Sony still has the 29min limits, Kudos for Panasonic is just the only one that has no such limitation. If something like an a7000 comes (really hope it happens and soon) it must have all the video goodies from the a7s, full sensor readout, audio and earphone jacks, plus no time limit on recording.

    2.-How is the Rolling shutter on the a6000? I ask this, because It looks like the rolling shutter on the a7s could became a problem, so if this is happen; for me reduce greatly the possibility of use this camera on handheld situations and i don't think that a shoulder mount can eliminate this, someones says if becasue of the size of the sensor, but also on the Handycam Sony AX100 has show severe rolling shutter in a much smaller sensor.

    Both scenarios can be covered by the GH4 less the sensor but with 4k recording and higher price.

  • I am curious about the HDMI output in this thing. This may sound weird, but I like my images quite underexposed without crushing the blacks. With my 5N I find that things look beautiful on the screen, but the videos are always way lighter than I want them to. I suspect it has something to do with the way H264 works, all that story about saving bits for higher luminace because humans perceive less detail in the dark and all that jazz (that I obviously don't understand). So light, in fact, that I cannot get the look I want in post. Maybe ProRes would help with that. Basically, I want someone to test the a6000 in low light with an external recorder.

  • I don't think hat can we see a mayor improvement on the image quality on a recording from the a6000 to the Ninja, but i just my guess.

  • i've been curious about this camera paired with a speedbooster and a ninaja star recorder. i would imagine clean hdmi out to prores would be better than avchd transcoded to prores. Isn't this always the case?

  • As far as im aware the 5N never had clean hdmi out? I own a VG20 and the image has a very small improvement with a Ninja. The benefits are better codec and a small increase in detail..thats it. Not sure if the A6000 will have clean HDMI. Will confirm when getting mine. 50p modes on Nex cameras always seem to exhibit more aliasing & moire than the 24/25p modes. Apparently virtually aliasing and moire free is what ive heard of the a6000 in 25p. I should have one in a month or so (sooner if my Nex 6 sells)...I expect rolling shutter to be much like previous nex cameras. Rolling shutter is never a problem unless you have a telezoom,swinging about..no more different than any other cmos cam. Speedboosters are great on the Nex btw.