Why would you say the Sony. If they are truly better I would consider one but they are a whole lot more expensive.

Just moved into the A6000 form the Nex 5T. The A6000 has a different hot show on it and can use more common flashes so I would like to know which ones people here recommend.

Thanks in advance.

I bought Gary Friedman's book on the SONY NEX 5 and could be happier with it. It's a big book or PDF but it's kind of easy to learn from. He first gets you started in the areas you need know the most and builds on that as he goes. By the time your finished you feel pretty confident that you know what you are doing.

Another feature of the book is that besides just technically teaching you how to operate the camera he blends in the "whys" and "hows" of using each features to get the kind of results you want.

I never hated any camera because I've known all my life that my problems was not the equipment but rather my inability to understand how to take a decent photograph or at least do it predictably. If I took 10 pictures 7 of them sucked. However I knew people who could take good pictures rather easily with cameras no better than the one I owned.

Incredibly the thing that finally woke me up was the camera on my Samsung S5 cell. I hadn't really fooled with taking pictures in years but when I saw how nice the pictures turned out on my cell phone I was hooked. At the same time I started questioning people who I know who were professional photographers or very talented amateurs about the whole subject of getting the pictures you want. Once I started seeing that with work and some training I could do better I bought a SONY NEX 5T. It was my first reasonably sophisticated camera. It took me six months just to learn how to operate it but with that camera and lots of education I started to understand what I was doing and once I had that part down I was off and running. I am still learning but I know I will eventually get better and better. Nowadays I am sure that I could get some decent pictures out of about a half dozen cameras I let rot in my closet.

No offense, but do you mean by slow reaction time. The SONY NEX A6000 is super fast at 11 fps. I don't know what the camera you are comparing it to or how much it costs can do but that seems faster than any $700.00 camera has the right to be.

One more thing in favor of the mirrorless designs is that you can mount them stably on a lightweight, travel style, $150.00 tripod (bought online at a discount) but you'll need to spend a lot more for a tripod if you want to mount a full-size DSLR and especially if you use a telephoto lens.

I forgot one other very important issue and that is cost. The SONY NEX A6000 goes for about $700.00. Other models and brands of mirrorless cameras are in about that range and higher. To beat the quality of that camera in a full size DSLR you'd have to spend quite a bit more.

I think the biggest advantage to a full size DSLR is that due to it's increased size the controls are better laid out and the features are easier to use. My camera uses a lot of software that is only accessible by way of a touch screen.

I guess the best test of the mirrorless designs is that if I am out with someone with a full-size DSLR they will tend to view my camera with a certain amount of disdain. After about an hour they'll ask "Do you mind if I look at the "thing?" Next thing you know they've got one.

The only problem I have with the NEX 5T is the flash. The flash it came with is a toy. I will eventually buy another flash but as I plan to move to the A6000 someday soon I might wait to buy a more suitable flash if I cannot adapt one to both cameras now.

I am not a professional but I am reading about more and more professionals switching at least part-time to something like the A6000 so I assume that the mirroless cameras are going to get a stronger and stronger audience.

I use my camera mostly on trips, for street photography more often when I'm out riding my motorcycle' I usually carry it in a flip open leather camera cover mounted on an over-the-shoulder strap so, in terms of convenience it's about as close to point and shoot as you can get. For those reasons the smaller, lighter mirrorless camera is the only way to go for me.

Technically speaking I don't know why any camera would still have a mirror mechanism in them at this point. If there is any real merit in that design I haven't fathomed it so far.

Linda,

Your photos are beautiful. If you don't mind could you say where they were taken.

We were just in New England in October last year. My wife and I went on a motorcycle tour there for two weeks. We had a blast. It's a such a special part of our country. We loved Acadia National Park.


Brian

Jim,

Do you know who the photographer is or can you direct me to the website where you got this and maybe I can figure it out. I love this photo. It's beautiful.

Thanks in advance.




Brian

spphoto,

I looked at that flash. The ads say it's for a Cannon. I am so new to this whole subject I haven't a clue how you get a flash designed for one brand to work on another. They make a 283 and a 293 that are supposed to be suited for the 5 but both get bad reviews for reliability so I ight jsut bite the bullet and buy the SONY HVL-20.

Thanks for your help though.

I am so new to all of this that I have to learn what these things do and how they work all the while trying to figure out which one I need.

I wish I had bitten the bullet and just bought the SONY A6000 when I bought the NEX 5T. Nothing wrong with the 5T but the A6000 is a much better camera in my opinion. I travel all over on my motorcycle and travel photography is my main interest so I wanted something small but high quality. The NEX cameras still seem like the overwhelming best choice in that regard. Having never spent more than $60.00 on a camera in my whole life the NEX 5T was a huge step forward to me. If I'd known it had an unusual hot shoe I would have purchased the A6000 in a heartbeat.

Bpoh,

I knew what those features did but I was wandering which of the two of them would be the most useful. Any ideas?

I want to buy an aftermarket flash for my SONY NEX 5T but of the ones I have found so far (Altura Photo or Meike) neither have both bounce flash (Altura Photo) and TTL (Meike) in one unit. Since I am pretty new to this I'd like to know which is the most desirable and often used feature.

If there is another unit that has both features and I ahve somehow missed that I would love to know that as well.

Thanks in advance.