robjan245

Waste of $999

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I’m a soon to be retired GS-14 and wish I never made the Government my career. Good luck to the poor sap that takes that job. No thank you.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Plus the weight of carrying a full frame.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Like some you I've made the switch to mirrorless. I'm currently using s Canon EOS M6 with the 15-45, a 55-200 and a 22 mm prime less. Easier on my back but not my wallet.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

TSA Pre-check is worth the $85. No hassles with photo gear in my experience.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have the newer M6 and I love it. The knock on the M3 is focusing issues.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Another Eats, Shoots and Leaves fan?

 

 

 

Dave

Good one Dave!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I just bring my d5600 with my 16-80 and new af-p 70-300. It's light enough for this old 60 year old buzzard. No P&S cameras for me. Too many missed out of focus and noisy pictures with cheap P&S cameras.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Got my eye on a new lightweight Nikon AF-P 70-300 lens. Curious if anyone had this lens and what they think of it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We usually take C&J from Newburyport. Parking is free at that bus stop

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The Panny ZS100 is also a good option.

I've got rid of my M43 gear and went back to an APS-C sensor. Got the Nikon D5500. The image quality and focusing is so much better along with better dynamic range. I also got the 18-140 and 55-300 lenses along with an existing 35mm prime. The 70-300 is on my wish list.

I sold my A6000 and have gone back to a Nikon (D5500). Too many few long lens choices for wildlife photography. A6000 is a great travel camera but I prefer the better focus tracking of the D5500 (not saying the A6000 is a bad camera).

I'd think you would be better off with a one inch bridge camera (Pana FZ1000, Sony RX10 III, or one of the new Nikon DL bridge cameras).

I've got mine on order from B&H and will be delivered next Tuesday. Leaving for a Caribbean cruise next Friday and don't feel like bringing my Nikon D5500 with all my lenses. I had the FZ200 and ended up selling it due to limitations on indoor photos (high noise with anything over ISO 400). I hear this one is good up to ISO 800, even though it has a pinhead sensor. The environmental sealing is the biggest selling point for bringing it on a cruise.

Waiting for the price drop a bit before buying the new model.

I'm happy with the FZ300 and have the FZ200 as well. My good/bad list from Nov 19 on this thread is still mostly true. Graham Houton has several youtube videos on the FZ300 now. They are well worth watching if interested in the camera for an upgrade.

 

I'll list some things that I have noticed compared to the FZ200.

 

All FZ200 accessories that I have fit the 300 including a teleconvertor setup.

 

Although the 200 wasn't slow, the autofocus is noticeably faster on the 300. Autofocus then manual focus tweaking works well for something like birds in a tree behind branches. It can be set to highlight the focused areas with blue firinging while you make adjustments.

I use the exposure lock to avoid having to hold the shutter button at half-press while tweaking the focus.

 

One of the new aiming modes shows a horizontal line that rotates and changes color to indicate when the shot will be level. It's helpful for me.

 

The battery life is shorter even when not using the flash or wifi. It's not horrible, but the 200 was like the energizer bunny for battery life.

 

Speaking of Wifi, it does work, but it only connects to a smart phone or tablet running a Panasonic app to control the camera functions. I was using it with an android phone and the app is in the google playstore. This could be perfect for group photos; no timer needed.

 

The 300 is a few ounces heavier and slightly larger. I was handling the 300 for a few minutes this afternoon, then picked up the 200 and it felt noticeably lighter. I'd been using the 300 exclusively for the last month.

 

The 300 camera grip is a bit larger and easier to hold. Also, no more accidentally pressing white balance on the 4-way control with the edge of your palm like on the 200.

 

The lens hood is smaller, but with the hood on backwards for storage, it no longer pinches fingers when turning the camera off. It doesn't block the flash as much either. I'd rather have the larger hood from the 200 for outdoor use, but they are not interchangeable.

 

The FZ300 doesn't have any obvious shiny silver parts and looks more matte black overall. I prefer the look of the 300.

 

The FZ300 has an option to show overexposed areas before taking a photo. I use the feature since I'm guilty of blowing highlights. The downside to exposure compensation close to -2 EV is the viewfinder is also noticably dimmed. That can make it harder to use outdoors. I checked the 200 for confirmation and it does that as well. I had been happily overexposing pictures and didn't notice it. One factor may be that even wearing glasses, I don't touch the back of the viewfinder on the 200 or 300. The tip of my nose touches the back of the closed LCD first. That's why the rubber eyecup on the 300 isn't important to me.

 

I did the 2.0 firmware update on the 300 to get the Post Focus feature. It works. I can extract multiple 8MP pictures with different focus points in the same shot. I don't have the software to combine them yet, but see how that could be useful.

 

The 300 has mechanical and electronic shutter control options. I put it on auto and haven't noticed an issue. It also has a setting for diffraction compensation. Again, I set it on auto.

 

I purchased the FZ300 for $400 new during the one day sale in November. It was worth $400 to me, but no more than that with new FZ200s in the $250 range. The FZ200 is a tough act to follow.

 

Good luck.

Does the FZ300 blow out highlights like the FZ200? I just bought the FZ300 and I don't see much in the way on improvement with stills. This camera is really geared towards the videographer.

The FZ200 is not the best for low low light pictures at anything higher than ISO 400. A one inch sensor or a APS-C size sensor would do much better.

Yes, Dave thanks for your tips and help. I decided to go the prime lens route instead of overpriced zooms. My Sigma 30 gets delivered on Monday and I'm picking up a Sony 50mm at Best Buy later today.

Just got the A6000 dual lens kit. I must say its small and nice but has trouble get a focus lock in low light. I'm already exploring a prime lens and will probably get the Sigma 30mm 2.8 for indoor portraits. I'll get a travel zoom (either the Zeiss 16-70 or the Sony 18-105) before my March cruise.

Dave:

Thanks for the reply and link. Looks like the jury is still out on the autofocusing capabilities. No phase detect autofocus on the A6000, just contrast, which usually means slow autofocus. I'll pass on this one.

Anyone using a metabones adapter on their A6000? I have a bunch of Nikon lenses I'd like to use.

I ended not liking the ergonomics at all and returned the camera. That and the limited amount of long zooms has me looking at the Nikon d5500. To each their own. It just didn't work for me.

Welcome to the A6000 club and learning center.

 

Never really care for taking videos, but thought it was time to give it a go. The A6000 and my 18-105mm take GREAT video.

 

Took video in MP4 and AVCHD format, both look about the same. After a little playing around found out that AVCHD will not transfer to my IPAD and MP4 will, is that right or ?

 

Getting ready for a New England Cruise and thought it would be fun to take some video and of course want to back all pic and videos to my iPad Mini. Decided to use the mini has my backup and viewing (showing off lol).

 

Glad I check video format for transfer.

 

Tom

You need a converter such as this to watch avchd video:

http://www.winxdvd.com/resource/play-avchd-on-ipad.htm

I broke down and finally got the A6000 with the 2 lens kit. My Olympus E-M10 just wasn't getting the job done for action and lowlight shots.

Best Buy had it for $749, about $100 lower than usual. I've been checking Gary Fong's Youtube videos and some others. Now to scope out some decent prime lenses.

I'll post some pictures later.