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Basic questions from new user of Sony a6000


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I just got a present of a Sony A6000 camera, and a Sony 35mm F/1.8 OSS E-mount NEX Camera Lens. I'm a novice user, with a few (probably very basic) questions. Hopefully someone can enlighten me:

1) where do I get a PDF manual for the camera? I have the one that came with it and I found a PDF version of it on-line but it doesn't seem to cover everything. For example, programming the customization button etc. It just doesn't seem like this thing is a complete manual. Is there a complete one somewhere?

2) with this lens (Sony 35mm F/1.8 OSS E-mount NEX Camera Lens), it appears there is no zoom at all. So, a) the twistable ring on the lens - what's that for? it doesn't seem to do anything when turned; and B) what distance is it meant for - given there's no way to change zoom (like on my old, much simpler camera), what is the distance this lens is ideal for?

3) is it possible to have the camera upload its photos to an Apple computer, or better yet, Dropbox, via wifi?  That is, suppose I go outside and shoot a bunch of photos; when I come home in wifi range, can it recognize that fact and automatically upload the new ones, or do I need to do this manually?

4) how do I tell it which location of the current preview image is to be used for setting brightness (gain) and focus? On my old camera, there was a little square drawn on the preview, and whatever was in the square, that's what it would use to focus on and to set overall brightness. How do I do that here? For example, to make sure that the thing I want is in focus, while the other stuff (behind or in front of it) may be blurry.

5) is there a burst mode - if I want it to take a bunch of photos in rapid succession (as quick as it can)? And can I program the customizable button to mean burst mode (to make it easy to access for action shots)?

6) I need some advice on next lenses to get. I mainly take pictures of my family, and occasionally nature shots outside.  For example: is a wide angle lens an improvement over the panorama mode where you shoot while you sweep the camera sideways - what's the difference? What is the benefit of fish-eye on some lenses? What's a good macro lens to get for taking pictures of plants, bugs, etc. close-up?

 

thank you in advance, all suggestions appreciated.

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1) The Sony manual is pretty junky for learning the camera. As long as you're familiar with the very basics of camera usage, watch Gary Fong's a6000 video. 

2) What you have is a fixed focal length lens. It doesn't zoom, but it's much better image quality than a zoom lens. A 35mm on an APS-C camera is a great general purpose "normal" focal length, so it resembles what you would see with your naked eye. The ring is for manual focusing when you're set to that mode.

3) No, you're going to have to either connect it via a USB cable or take out the memory card and put it straight into your computer. The wifi connectivity is somewhat limited in usage. Take a look at Adobe Lightroom and the Adobe Photographer's plan if you get serious about your photography.

4) I'm assuming you're talking about metering the exposure. Check in the menus for "Metering Mode", which is much easier using the FN button. There's spot, center, and evaluative/matrix, which can help you determine a proper exposure. There's actually a whole lot on this subject I could tell you, so read up.

5) Press the dial on the back of the camera on the left side towards the three boxes, then switch to continuous shooting. That's your burst mode.

6) SLOW DOWN. Learn the lens you have first. Use it for a month or two and see if you like it. If you have friends with e-mount cameras, see if you can borrow their lenses over the weekend and try them out, but delving into multiple spare lenses is an expensive endeavor. The 35mm is a fantastic general purpose lens that's sure not to disappoint.

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Thank you for the info!! Followup:

 

> I'm assuming you're talking about metering the exposure. Check in the menus for "Metering Mode", which is much easier using the FN button. There's spot, center, and evaluative/matrix, which can help you determine a proper exposure. There's actually a whole lot on this subject I could tell you, so read up

 

    yes, what I'd like is for it to continue to decide gain and focus automatically, but for me to determine which part of the image it's using to set brightness and focus. That is, let's say there are darker and lighter elements in the scene. I don't want to set values manually, but I want to tell the camera to make sure that a certain part of the image is to be of normal brightness and if that washes out (or leaves dark) another portion, that's fine.

 

> Press the dial on the back of the camera on the left side towards the three boxes, then switch to continuous shooting. That's your burst mode.

 

   excellent; when continuous shooting, does the quality of each image decrease over single shot (do you give up resolution, focus, or anything else as tradeoff for the speed)?

 

> SLOW DOWN. Learn the lens you have first. Use it for a month or two and see if you like it. If you have friends with e-mount cameras, see if you can borrow their lenses over the weekend and try them out, but delving into multiple spare lenses is an expensive endeavor. The 35mm is a fantastic general purpose lens that's sure not to disappoint.

 

     understood;  "focusing with your feet" takes some time to get used to.  Also I was just curious about the difference between wide-angle lenses and panorama mode, in terms of outcome.

 

also, what's the right-most wheel on top (the one with vertical grooves on its side) - what does that do?

 

thanks again!

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I just got a present of a Sony A6000 camera, and a Sony 35mm F/1.8 OSS E-mount NEX Camera Lens. I'm a novice user, with a few (probably very basic) questions. Hopefully someone can enlighten me:

1) where do I get a PDF manual for the camera? I have the one that came with it and I found a PDF version of it on-line but it doesn't seem to cover everything. For example, programming the customization button etc. It just doesn't seem like this thing is a complete manual. Is there a complete one somewhere?

 

Here is a link to a copy of the manual, otherwise just search for "Sony a6000 manual" in google or any other search engine:

http://support.sony-asia.com.edgesuite.net/consumer/IM/4532055111.pdf

 

Also, these are excellent books for learning the a6000:

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Sonys-A6000-Camera/dp/1312318791/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1466875093&sr=8-3&keywords=a6000+book

 https://www.amazon.com/David-Buschs-ILCE-6000-Digital-Photography/dp/130526357X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1466875093&sr=8-4&keywords=a6000+book

 

As far as lens:

The SEL 55210 is an inexpensive kit lens that gets decent reviews

The lens that usually comes as the main kit lens will give you some zoom at a cheap price, it's called the SEL1855.  Reviews on it are not quite as good, but it is fine for beginners and learning the camera

 

My favorite "keep on the camera most of the time lens" is the Sony SEL1670z  It is expensive but after you have owned the camera for awhile and learned how to use it perhaps you can find a good used copy of the lens.  It's a good one.  All three of the lens I mentioned are zooms.  There are fixed non zoom lens that are very good also.

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So basically what you're looking for is single mode center focus with center metering. When you press your shutter button halfway down, assuming you haven't changed to back button autofocus, it should meter and focus on what you have under the center square, then tilt, rotate, shift, or pan your camera until you have the subject where you want it in the frame and press down. Once you learn how to compensate for exposure or set it manually, you can switch to using flexible spot so you don't have to move the camera once you've set focus.

 

As for the continuous shooting mode changing the quality of pictures... The overall answer is no, but there is a little subjectivity to be had there. You don't need to worry about that subjectivity until you're doing fine art or other highly detailed professional work, though. Suffice to say it can affect the dynamic range available in the raw files in a very miniscule way.

 

The phrase, "Zoom with your feet" is... bad. There's absolutely no way to zoom with your feet. Changing the focal length of a lens (or zooming) changes your field of view, and moving to compensate changes your perspective. Wider angle lenses incorporate more of your background, and telephoto lenses compress. You absolutely cannot get the exact same picture without using the exact same focal length of lens. The purpose of prime lenses is to get you to think differently about your framing because you can't just zoom in or out to get whatever framing you want. Primes can be challenging, but also an incredibly useful learning tool.

 

The wheel on the right (top of the camera) will change your shutter speed, aperture, or both, depending on the mode you're in.

 

Green Auto : Nothing

Shutter (S) : Shutter Speed

Aperture (A) : Aperture

Program (P) : Both Shutter and Aperture

Manual (M) : Either Shutter or Aperture depending on your settings, and the wheel on the back controls the other

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You were given a gift that is a bit over your head at

the moment, but from what I can tell by reading your

posts, you are perfectly ready to learn it. Even your

grasp of basics needs work, but you definitely have

the "feel" and seemingly and aptitude for this stuff,

and the camera in question is an excellent, versatile,

quality camera that has built-in "training wheels" to

get you rolling which you can later retract and later

make them disappear as you transition from novice

to enthusiast. The a6000 is exactly right for anyone

in your situation. Stick with it. Enjoy !

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Edit:

You were given a lens favored by more advanced

users for reasons you have yet to discover. But the

fact that advanced users favor it does NOT in any

way mean that it is harder to use. It's just that it's a

non-zoom, which appeals to the sensibilities of the

more seasoned user. But, operationally, it's totally

easy to use. NOT zooming is a fun discipline. You

forgo all shots that are out of reach, and make the

most of shots within reach. This sharpens the eye.

 

And yes, we ALL "zoom with out feet", even when

we have a zooming lens. The technical distinction

between moving closer vs zooming-in is real, but

don't overlook that photographers had only their

feet, for almost a century, before zooming lenses

became practical :-) Later on you might notice the

distinction is visible in some situations but not in

others. Live and learn and [repeating] ENJOY !

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Thank you all for your thoughts!
 

The phrase, "Zoom with your feet" is... bad. There's absolutely no way to zoom with your feet. Changing the focal length of a lens (or zooming) changes your field of view, and moving to compensate changes your perspective. Wider angle lenses incorporate more of your background, and telephoto lenses compress. You absolutely cannot get the exact same picture without using the exact same focal length of lens. The purpose of prime lenses is to get you to think differently about your framing because you can't just zoom in or out to get whatever framing you want. Primes can be challenging, but also an incredibly useful learning tool.

 

Makes sense; I was just making sure I wasn't missing something; when sitting on the couch and my kids are doing something I want to photo, it means I have to get up and move around in order to get the subject filling the correct percentage of the shot.  It's a different mode of using the camera and relating to the goings-on; I'll practice it.

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Hi Melvin77:

 

One thing you will learn is that everything in photography is a trade off.

 

The lens you have will give you better image quality and will help you avoid getting blurry photos in darker situations / low light situations, but as you noticed, you will have to move closer or further from your subject to really fill the frame.

 

The drawback to having a zoom are that the image quality may be good, but they are almost never as good as a prime (keyword, "almost"). Plus they tend to have you use a longer shutter speed, which can lead to motion blur when shooting indoors (as well as blur from camera shake).

 

There are some zooms out there that are excellent but they tend to be quite expensive and heavy.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Jaf-Photo

I think you'll have fun discovering your new camera. My advice would be not to try and learn everything at once. Focus on one thing at the time and move on once you have a full grasp of what it does. Many settings influence each other, so in the beginning it may be difficult to understand what each setting does.

 

Another advice is to take practice shots. Go for a walk and take photos of random things. If the subject of the photo doesn't matter so much you'll be able to experiment and focus on what the camera does.

 

Enjoy!

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  • 11 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

True but the book will help in many areas.

 

 

   

Point is that this is a zombie thread ... died a year ago.  

   

Mlevin is still around. Still identifies himself as a novice 

and has posted very little ... but he has posted not too 

long ago, so he's still at it. Last seen chasing bugs with

his macro lens about a month ago. But THIS thread ?

Check the dates. 

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Guest Jaf-Photo

Point is that this is a zombie thread ... died a year ago.  

   

Mlevin is still around. Still identifies himself as a novice 

and has posted very little ... but he has posted not too 

long ago, so he's still at it. Last seen chasing bugs with

his macro lens about a month ago. But THIS thread ?

Check the dates. 

 

Mlevin is still around. I actually got a like from him today (thank you).

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