jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

My son is getting a deal on a Sony a6500 body. $1050 (new). He needs a lens and his interest is mainly Video. Any recommendations? Something better than the kit lens. I have the a6000 with both kit lenses. I’ll loan him my 16-50 for the time being until he decides what he would like.

cucharared Loc: Texas, Colorado

Cant help with lens, but where did he find such a good deal on the A6500 body? I’m going to be looking hard at one in the coming weeks.

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

Ok full disclosure. I’m a Sony broadcast dealer so I asked my rep if he can order one with employee discount. That’s how I got my 6000 with both kit lenses for $600. But for some reason the a6500 is body only. I asked the rep if he can order the 16-50 kit lens separately. No response yet on that question.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

The a6500 is the newest and best of the a6000 series, it has more weight and bulk than the a6000. A friend has the a6000 with kit lenses 16-50mm and another zoom that reaches out to 210mm. My friend would have jumped on that a6500 deal. It sells new for $1400. He would like to upgrade. Very good video on the a6500 is a plus. He has a selection of quite a few E-mount lenses, even though it is a crop sensor, and adapters to use other Sony lenses. Good luck.

le boecere

From what I've read and heard, Sony's "power zoom" lenses are designed for that purpose (video), and, of course, your 16-50 is one of those.

Hank Radt

The 16-50 will get him started - he might want to try it for a bit to see what it can and can't do, before making a significant glass investment.

I'm extremely pleased with the SEL 16-70/4 (Zeiss) and the SEL 10-18/4 - both of which are excellent (if you want to see some still examples, click on my Photo Gallery posts). Can't comment yet on the video capabilities personally, since my initial focus has been on just learning digital photography settings (started in the film era, where you only had a couple, vs. the 100+ on these cameras!), but I bought these lenses with video eventually in mind. The only thing I'm lacking is a good telephoto zoom (with the distances in the mountains, the 70mm doesn't get anywhere near the reach I want), which may or may not be important to him. For these, he'll need to look at some FE lenses - don't overlook these in your research - they are heavier and more expensive, but they give you an expanded selection, as well as some better lenses, like the G Masters.

I posted some links regarding lens selection for the a6xxx in another post, scroll down here: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-491372-1.html

I've also run across some youtube videos by vloggers who use the a6xxx, but didn't save the links - they're easily found, and you can see what they use.

Ob1 Loc: Utah

I use quite a few lens, my favorite is the 70-200 2.8. It is extremely expensive but I also use the 18-150 for video. It has a button for the zoom to make the focusing very smooth. They upgraded the firmware on the lens and it does a great job for the price. With the crop factor it will give you that additional reach you are after. Another lens to consider is the 70-300. These are both G master lens so they are good glass. You can google each lens and find the good and bad points. You will always be able to find better glass but you have to spend an awful lot of money.

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

Thank you

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Many have found the following lens to work out really nice. The 16-50 has never been a highly rated lens, but is OK for a starter lens.
https://www.sony.com/electronics/camera-lenses/sel1670z

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Funny you should ask. I just happen to have a recommendation or two...

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/first-sony-e-mount-lenses-to-buy/
https://www.dxomark.com/best-lenses-for-the-sony-a6000-primes-and-zooms/
http://heavy.com/camera/2017/06/best-a6000-lenses-for-sale-sony/
https://www.borrowlenses.com/blog/best-lens-for-sony-a6000/
https://www.switchbacktravel.com/10-great-sony-fe-full-frame-lenses
http://briansmith.com/sony-a7-a7r-a7s-lens-guide/
http://briansmith.com/best-sony-fe-fullframe-e-mount-lenses/
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/top-15-best-sony-e-fe-mount-lenses-2017-29886
https://www.slrlounge.com/first-5-lenses-buy-sony-a7-series-camera/

jimkh

On You Tube look up Gary Fridman's "The Inexcpected Thongs About the A6300." In this he documents some hidden facts about the 16-50 kit lens. Yes, it has distortiom BUT Sony has dealt with this in the A6300 and presumably the A6500 and those corrections are also observed by Photoshop and Lightroom but probably not with other programs.

Jim

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Good deal. Zoom lenses were invented for video. I have the SEL18200LE on my a6300. It is excellent for video. I also recommend that he buy a good external microphone.

Video demands good audio and the builtin mics IN ALL CAMERAS including even camcorders simply don't do a good job. They record too much ambient noise as well as the camera mechanical noise. I have three mics, two of which are available for the $25 that it will cost me to pack and ship each. One is a Rode Videomic Go, the other is a Takstar. I splurged some time ago on a Sennheiser and never use these, but they are both okay.

repleo Loc: Boston

The 16-50 is a gem for what it is - a small lightweight OSS power zoom kit lens which is intended to show off the capabilities of the A6xxx cameras for both stills and video. If the camera is set up properly, it will auto correct for any distortions or deficiencies in the lens. You can get them on eBay for $60 - $80 which is probably less than your trade contact can do. However, I would highly recommend the Sony E 18-105 f4.0 G OSS. At $600 list price, this is a reasonably priced, versatile, quality 'G' lens and has completely silent power zoom for video. It maintains focus and aperture throughout zoom. I don't do much video, but it is the one I use when I do.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

Without any doubt, the 18-105 "G" PZ lens is a great all around lens for the Sony APS-C sensor cameras. I have used it for years in dark settings to record live shows. The silent zoom, the fast focus, and the IQ are great. The one problem with video and Sony are the built in mikes. They are really poor. I added a plug in mike on my Nex 7, and it was better, but it was also a Sony. Test out some other brands for plug in microphones.