Sony Sony A6000 or Pani FZ1000 - opinions welcome

[Turtles06]

Hi, Tom - I actually found that video for free via the B&H web site. Will watch it once I have camera in hand. For others who may be interested, here's the link:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solution/unleashing-power-your-sony-a6000

 

Are there other A6000 videos on Gary's site or is that the only one?

 

Barb

 

I've watched about half an hour so far of the free video on the B&H site and so far it's mostly been a commercial about how great the a6000 is; no instruction. (Maybe this goes in the category of "you get what you pay for." :)) I will watch the rest to be sure. He did mention one tip that I already knew: keep the camera in Airplane mode to avoid battery drain.

 

Just from using the camera for a few days, I will say I agree with the knock on it that it has less than optimum battery life. You'll definitely want several spares, and an external charger.

 

Another resource that I've stumbled on: the Sony User Guide on the UK site is far more user-friendly (and printable if you want) than the one on the US site:

 

http://download.sony-europe.com/pub/manuals/consumer/ILCE6000_HG_EN.pdf

 

I like to download guides like this to my Kindle and iPad so that I have them when I am traveling.

 

My biggest personal tip so far would be: the FN button on the back -- it gives you immediate access to things like WB, AF mode, etc. -- things you are likely to want to change depending on the circumstances.

[Turtles06]

Menu > settings > section 6 > custom key settings

 

Any of the customizable keys can be set to "Deactivate Monitor". When set to auto, pushing the customized button will turn off the LCD image except for basic camera setting indicators.

 

Personally, I leave it on auto except when shooting in a dim environment where the bright LCD is annoying. For that I just set out to viewfinder only.

 

Dave

 

Dave, thanks for this info. I've only had the a6000 for a few days, and have found the Auto switching between the viewfinder and the LCD to be pretty remarkable, but it's good to know how to set up a toggle like this. (Query whether the Auto switching is one more thing that contributes to battery drain, though; it seems it would have to, no?)

[c230k]

I've watched about half an hour so far of the free video on the B&H site and so far it's mostly been a commercial about how great the a6000 is; no instruction. (Maybe this goes in the category of "you get what you pay for." :)) I will watch the rest to be sure. He did mention one tip that I already knew: keep the camera in Airplane mode to avoid battery drain.

 

Just from using the camera for a few days, I will say I agree with the knock on it that it has less than optimum battery life. You'll definitely want several spares, and an external charger.

 

Another resource that I've stumbled on: the Sony User Guide on the UK site is far more user-friendly (and printable if you want) than the one on the US site:

 

http://download.sony-europe.com/pub/manuals/consumer/ILCE6000_HG_EN.pdf

 

I like to download guides like this to my Kindle and iPad so that I have them when I am traveling.

 

My biggest personal tip so far would be: the FN button on the back -- it gives you immediate access to things like WB, AF mode, etc. -- things you are likely to want to change depending on the circumstances.

 

Go to Gary's site and his training video is much better and easier to work with than the one at B&h, guess that's why it's not free. You can pick the button and he will show you how and what it does. It's worth the $12.00 to me, like the way he teaches it.

Tom :cool:

[Turtles06]

Just for fun, here's a photo I took yesterday down at the beach with my new a6000. These folks were well off shore; I shot this with the 55-210 kit lens fully zoomed, AF-C, burst mode, 1/400 sec, f/13, daylight WB. (I've done nothing to the image but crop it.)

 

[zelker]

Another resource that I've stumbled on: the Sony User Guide on the UK site is far more user-friendly (and printable if you want) than the one on the US site:

 

http://download.sony-europe.com/pub/manuals/consumer/ILCE6000_HG_EN.pdf

 

LOL. I ran across this last night.

[zelker]

Go to Gary's site and his training video is much better and easier to work with than the one at B&h, guess that's why it's not free. You can pick the button and he will show you how and what it does. It's worth the $12.00 to me, like the way he teaches it.

Tom :cool:

 

Will definitely check this out - sounds quite useful.

[Turtles06]

Go to Gary's site and his training video is much better and easier to work with than the one at B&h, guess that's why it's not free. You can pick the button and he will show you how and what it does. It's worth the $12.00 to me, like the way he teaches it.

Tom :cool:

 

Thanks Tom, a personal recommendation for a site like this is always most helpful.

[Turtles06]

I've watched about half an hour so far of the free video on the B&H site and so far it's mostly been a commercial about how great the a6000 is; no instruction. (Maybe this goes in the category of "you get what you pay for." :)) I will watch the rest to be sure. He did mention one tip that I already knew: keep the camera in Airplane mode to avoid battery drain.

 

 

Having now watched the rest of the video, I'll say that the final hour did consist of actual instruction about a number of the menu settings, and was useful. Of course, in that time (and for a freebie), Gary could not cover all the menu settings, and there are definitely some to learn more about (and for that there are his paid videos that Tom recommends).

 

One additional battery saving tip Gary recommended: turn the Pre-Auto Focus to Off. (In the "On" setting, the camera will do a pre-Auto Focus before you press the shutter button. Gary says this is a huge battery drain.)

[CruisingSince2012]

The one feature I'd really like to see added would be a touchscreen.

 

I saw a few cameras that have it, but they aren't made by Sony.