Great lens! When I'm buying a new lens, I always get the fastest one I can afford. I'm sure you will take many great photos with your 50 mm f/1.8.
With my most recent purchase of a full-frame DSLR, I decided to try a Metz brand flash. About half the price of the top-of-the-line Sony brand with about the same performance specs. Works great! I haven't yet tried any other brand of shoe-mount flash.
I have and primarily use Photoshop. But I also have and sometimes use DxO Optics Pro and Cyberlink's PhotoDirector. DxO Optics Pro does a few things better (or easier?) than Photoshop, and PhotoDirector is relatively inexpensive and does a lot of "quick-and-dirty" work with almost no learning curve. You get what you pay for: if you want a Cadillac and can afford it, get it; if you can't afford a Cadillac, get a Chevrolet and live with it.
If you want to print the best photo images on glossy paper, you will need a PHOTO printer. Good photo printers have six or more different ink tanks. If you are not interested in the best photo images, almost any inkjet printer will do. Generally speaking, the less you pay for a printer, the more money you will have to spend on ink. When you think you know which printer you want, check the prices of the ink tanks before you buy. In inkjet photo printers, I have always had good luck with Epson and Canon printers, not so much HP, but, in my opinion, HP makes the best color laser printers for printing color photos. Don't use inkjet photo paper in a laser printer, if you have one.
I have Pelican pick-and-plug cases for all of my camera equipment. Whenever I take to the road, I just throw (yes, throw) the case or cases into the back of my truck or trunk of my car and go. That way, I can always pull out what I want when I want it, quickly and easily. The Pelican cases have always protected the equipment inside--camera(s), spare lenses, flash, batteries, SD or CF cards, filters, etc. Not cheap, but neither was your photographic equipment.
I have been using two Western Digital USB 3 hard disk drives for backup. Not just photos, but all data and programs are backed up from time to time. Photos which are no longer urgently needed are placed on DVDs or Blu-Rays and stored in my safe deposit box.
Decades ago, prime lenses typically provided slightly better images than zoom lenses for 35 mm cameras. Zoom lenses have significantly improved in image quality, based on my observations: I have never noticed a difference in image quality between a modern zoom lens and a prime lens in the same focal length, except possibly for a prime macro lens versus a zoom lens with macro capability.
For inclusion of images in reports, I usually reduce the JPEGs to 4x6 at 300 dpi and print on a color laser printer. For nicer and/or larger photos when necessary, I use the RAW file to make an uncompressed TIFF and print that on photo paper on a Canon Pro9000 Mark II up to 12x18.
My professional photography is limited to vehicle crash sites and crashed vehicles--overall and specific details of vehicles and/or components, like tires, seat belts, etc., including some extreme closeups, like filaments in automotive lamps. Personal photography can involve anything from scenes on a trip or vacation to groups of people at some church function to individuals or families at their request, but I limit such photos, because I'm not set up for any kind of portrait photography. I tell them to go a a portrait studio or to go to a professional photographer who is set up for that.
I'm not familiar with that specific printer, but, if you want really great photo prints on photo paper, you should get a photo printer, not just an inkjet printer. As far as I know, every inkjet printer can print photos, but the true photo printers will have more ink tanks of different colors, usually six or more, including black, which may be in two shades. If you're not real picky about how great your photographic prints are, almost any inkjet printer will print decent photos, but they won't be best.
mp4 is the easiest solution, as far as I know. With appropriate software, you can also provide the video files in other formats as well as create a DVD with the video files, but all of those processes take more time than mp4, and mp4 will play on virtually any computer with a DVD drive. As far as I know, mp4s will not play on a DVD player, unless there are some newer ones on the market which will play mp4s.
Great idea. Thanks for sharing.
I agree. Sony E-mount zoom lenses seem expensive to me and are somewhat limited in variety. The earlier Sony digital cameras took Minolta A-mount lenses, which you can usually find in good supply at very reasonable prices. My favorite outlet for used lenses is KEH. (
www.keh.com) With an appropriate adapter, it should work fine on your A-6000.
Before you buy refurb, compare the price to the cost of the same camera new from a reputable dealer, like B&H. You may decide that the difference in price justifies getting new. Also, B&H often sells packages, with a kit lens and an appropriate card and sometimes other goodies, at very reasonable combo prices. If you don't want a kit lens, you should consider the cost of a new body vs. the refurb. B&H also has lenses and other accessories available for most, probably all, of the DSLR and mirrorless bodies they sell.