Sony a6400 lens recommendation - Alaska June 2024

[Firehunter]

Hi All,

 

I have a Sony a6400 with the kit lens 16-50mm and I'm new to manual setting cameras. I bought a used Sony 55-210mm to practice taking dog agility and sports shots which after some research on good manual settings I got some decent shots. I was thinking of getting a used Sony 70-350mm to get even better action shots, but now that we are going on a cruise to Alaska in June of 2024 I thought maybe I should spend more and get a lens with more reach.

 

So I'm reaching out to you all to get some advice and recommendations. I would love to get some good shots from our aft balcony as well as public deck areas. From our aft balcony on our 2013 Alaska cruise we saw dolphins playing in the wake some mornings, whales as the ship passed them, and spotted sea otters and puffins on our way through Glacier Bay. We will be on deck 15 on the NCL Encore, so pretty high up for surface water shots. I also hope to take a small boat whale watching excursion in Juneau.

 

I'm open to both tripod and hand held shooting as well as lenses from Sony or other brands and used or new. The a6400 does not have IBIS, so I think I would need a lens that has OSS. Budget is under $1000, but could stretch a little further.

 

And I'll also read through the "What to take to Alaska" post.

 

Thank you!

 

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by Firehunter

[pierces]

The 70-350 is actually a pretty good choice. It has stabilization and the 1.5x crop factor of the a6400 gives you over 500 mm reach. Quite enough for most uses in Alaska. Besides, hand-holding over 500mm is sometimes a bit tricky and a monopod or tripod on a boat, especially a tour boat is a little dicey .The 16-50 kit lens is better than it's reputation. It gets a lot of harsh criticism but I had very good luck with it when I was using it. If it's in your budget, the 18-135 APS-C lens has an excellent reputation and makes a superb walkabout lens. 

 

My 4¢

 

Dave

Edited June 18, 2023 by pierces

[Firehunter]

13 hours ago, pierces said:

The 70-350 is actually a pretty good choice. It has stabilization and the 1.5x crop factor of the a6400 gives you over 500 mm reach. Quite enough for most uses in Alaska. Besides, hand-holding over 500mm is sometimes a bit tricky and a monopod or tripod on a boat, especially a tour boat is a little dicey .The 16-50 kit lens is better than it's reputation. It gets a lot of harsh criticism but I had very good luck with it when I was using it. If it's in your budget, the 18-135 APS-C lens has an excellent reputation and makes a superb walkabout lens. 

 

My 4¢

 

Dave

 

 

Cool, thank you so much. Glad to hear the 70-350 would a good choice. I'll keep an eye on the 18-135 for the future. I know we won't have the opportunity in Alaska due to the season, but what would your recommendation be for a night sky (milky way) lens?

[pierces]

An inexpensive, but excellent option is the Rokinon 12mm f/ 2.0 manual focus lens. Very sharp wide open.

 

This was taken with one mounted on my trusty A6000.

 

The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 Art lens is a higher-end option, but at a higher-end price.

 

Dave

[Heartgrove]

I own all three lenses mentioned and recommend all three. My wife uses the 18-135 on her A6400. She liked initially using the 16-50 that I had but I convinced her to switch to the 18-135 that actually came with her camera. The 70-350 is great for reach and I use it on my A6500. That body normally has my Zeiss F4/16-70 on it. When we were in Iceland in 2021 and had a rental car I was using two bodies, my A6500 and my A6000. Made it a lot easier than switching lenses. As for my Rokinon 12mm, it  gets used as needed.

 

My advice is to pickup a used A6000 as an extra body. KEH is a good source. Mine goes in my bag and hardly takes up any room. I will never forget onetime my opthmalogist telling me this sad tale . He had just started on a three week vacation in New Zealand when the board on his Nikon fried. It took a few days to buy a new body. For my A6000 instead of a body cap, I have a 7 Artisans fixed 18mm f6.3 lens on that body (same size as a cap) so is actually ready to use - when it is bright in the sun.

 

- Jack

 

 

Edited July 8, 2023 by Heartgrove

[Firehunter]

On 7/7/2023 at 9:40 PM, Heartgrove said:

I own all three lenses mentioned and recommend all three. My wife uses the 18-135 on her A6400. She liked initially using the 16-50 that I had but I convinced her to switch to the 18-135 that actually came with her camera. The 70-350 is great for reach and I use it on my A6500. That body normally has my Zeiss F4/16-70 on it. When we were in Iceland in 2021 and had a rental car I was using two bodies, my A6500 and my A6000. Made it a lot easier than switching lenses. As for my Rokinon 12mm, it  gets used as needed.

 

My advice is to pickup a used A6000 as an extra body. KEH is a good source. Mine goes in my bag and hardly takes up any room. I will never forget onetime my opthmalogist telling me this sad tale . He had just started on a three week vacation in New Zealand when the board on his Nikon fried. It took a few days to buy a new body. For my A6000 instead of a body cap, I have a 7 Artisans fixed 18mm f6.3 lens on that body (same size as a cap) so is actually ready to use - when it is bright in the sun.

 

- Jack

 

 

 

 

Great advice thank you. With the a6700 available for pre-order I'm sure there will be lots of a6000 or other a6XXX on the second hand market soon. Which bad do you like to use with your gear? I'm going to look for a rain cover too just in case.

[Heartgrove]

11 hours ago, Firehunter said:

 

 

Great advice thank you. With the a6700 available for pre-order I'm sure there will be lots of a6000 or other a6XXX on the second hand market soon. Which bad do you like to use with your gear? I'm going to look for a rain cover too just in case.

 

Check out KEH in Georgia for used bodies. I have used them a number of times, both selling and buying. 

 

For a bag I have a number depending how I am traveling. Lately I have been trying to travel light suitcase-wise with a Carry-on Spinner that I check and a 35L backpack suitcase. On our trip to Italy, France, and Spain last Fall we were on 16 different trains so I spread my personal belongings out for easier handling. My camera bag goes in my personal carryon so just three lenses and two bodies in a Manfrotto bag. But in 2019 we were on a 20-day cruise with minimum extra travel so I used a 32" rolling duffle bag. For that trip I used my favorite bag and carried my whole kit in a LowePro 150 AW (?) backpack bag that has Molle straps. I have since added accessory puches from eBay that attach to the Molle straps for accessories. One item I feel very handy is the Peak Design Capture Clip when just using a regular backpack. It is an easy way of carrying an extra lens or two.