Save up to 29% on the Sony a6000 mirrorless camera & bundles at Walmart - the top-rated Sony Alpha a6000 packs a 24.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor & a hybrid autofocus … No, there were sometimes it focused on the eyelashes or a piece of hair, and it did struggle with quicker moving subjects, but overall, I’m impressed and plan on using Eye AF as much as I can. In any case, normally you should keep this enabled. I tested this out with the running test, and my results were the same. I researched carefully and quickly decided that a mirrorless camera was a good travel camera and a better option than a DSLR for me. 24.3MP Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor. It sounds amazing, but does it actually work? Then when there was a moment where no one was blocking the scene, I pressed the shutter. If you know about exposure, then you can try A (aperture priority) with Auto ISO. As far as I know, you can’t do that with other cameras. Go beyond conventional camera settings with Sony's 4D FOCUS system, a high-performance autofocus mode that captures any subject with exceptional clarity. I am really liking this site and now I am a regular user to this and do visit it daily. After locking in the focus, if you continue to activate the autofocus, the camera will keep trying to focus. The other lens you might want to check out is the Sony 18-105 f4 OSS. The instructions that you provided were extremely helpful. THanks a lot for giving a detailed description of each and every thing. Sony A6000 Digital Camera Review at Cameras.Reviewed. Either in Continuous Focus Mode or Single Focus Mode. . I feel “safest” on Auto mode, but with my new Sony a7iii camera, I see there is a lot more I should be considering. Moving the spot around also takes time, so there have been times I missed a shot because I couldn’t get the focus point there quickly enough. In the Center AF mode, half-pressing the shutter works just the same way as regular AF-C. We are continuing our series of recommended settings for cameras, and this time we have the Sony A6000, an advanced interchangeable lens camera designed for enthusiasts and professionals.In this article, I want to provide some information on what settings I use and explain what some of the important settings do. Wide is similar but also gives the flexibility to find faces and other things. Maybe I'll do a post on that topic... For now, here are some very general tips:- Check the top right corner of this page for an index of articles, including a quick guide to learning exposure (aperture, shutter speed, ISO). In order to make things easier for you, I created a bunch of quick how-to videos, which are completely free, that walk you through some of my favorite tips, tricks and hacks for the Sony a6000. This focus area takes Expand flexible spot, but then it will lock-on and follow the subject once you have started focusing. It just jumped back and forth and sounded like a dying giraffe. Once you get there, you’ll notice you have 4 options to choose from. It finds eyes quickly and will follow them. I forgot about the panorama function, which indeed is great for tall subjects.Best regards,Mic. I hope I can take awesome pics like that one day.I too just bought an a6000 and was hoping you could give me some tips. Awesome words for us newbies. It is much appreciated!I just got an a6000 during black Friday and am just now getting to play around with it. It is the one that makes contact with the main pin of the flash (or the v6). I just bought an a6000 and am new to photography. I think it's so cool how a pic can portray such serenity within a bustling restaurant. Check this is helpful to you or not. Sony cameras do have face detection, so it will probably lock onto the correct person. I’ve gotten quick with my ability to move that spot around, but still, there are times where I’m just not fast enough, and I miss the shot. Will let u know the results soon :), Congratulations on getting the a6000! Basically, you have a dot or square that you move around the screen and put on your focus point. Expand Flexible Spot takes Flexible Spot M, but it allows the camera to try to help. The Sony A6000 remains one of the best song cameras. For now, I will say that I’m pretty impressed. The waiters and customers walking in front of the camera did not change the focus. WE ALSO PARTICIPATE IN AFFILIATE PROGRAMS WITH BLUEHOST, CLCJ, SHAREASALE, AND OTHER SITES. Once your camera has locked down its focus, it will not change until you reactivate the focus again. Learn how to setup your Sony a6000 for portraits, sports, landscapes, nature, animals and more. Thanks for your feedback. Check this out: http://betterfamilyphotos.blogspot.com/2013/10/exposure-for-digital-cameras.html As far as I can tell, the a6000 selects an exposure that avoids blowing relevant highlights. I just got my A7 iii coming from a Nikon D750 and one thing I noticed is that during continuous AF single shot, there is a huge delay from pressing the shutter button to taking sequential shots. With a super-quick autofocus, a responsive shutter speed of 11 frames per second, crisp images in low-light conditions and 4K UHD video are why these cameras have taken the market by storm. You now get a much improved autofocus system with intelligent face- … It has an OLED Tru-Finder™, manual control, and interchangeable lenses. This would also work well in situations where your subject is by itself like portraits of one person or product photography. I recommend getting an external flash that can swivel and bounce. You wrote a very good information with latest info;; I used sony a68 is best camera of photography by Steve Huff. Basically, every frame was in focus, and I was shooting at f4.5, so it didn't have crazy depth of field. My general suggestion would be to choose the lens based on the kinds of photos you like to take. The Sony 50mm F1.8 was the worst. That will narrow down your choices. However, in Center AF or in Wide AF mode (where the camera selects the AF point anywhere), you can press the middle button of the directional pad, which will cause the camera to focus on the target under the AF point and lock. IMPORTANT: Performing AF fine adjustment with a lens from another manufacturer can affect the adjustment values of Sony® and Konica Minolta™ lenses. Check out the a6000 lens guide for some suggested lenses.- For exposure mode, if you are very new to photography, there's nothing wrong with using 'auto' or "P" (program). Once you've decided, I would look for photos in that genre that interest me, and I'd look at what focal lengths they used. The Canon 6D is a good camera. The first thing to consider is your Sony camera. 4D FOCUS allows you to take crisper photos than ever. Congratulations on getting the a6000 at an awesome price!That's a great question, and a timely one. At the time of its release, the Sony A6000 had an impressive set of features, with Sony touting it as having the “world’s fastest autofocus” system. Sometimes Continuous AF will jump off the subject because it is constantly trying to stay focused. Manual Focus. I can't find a proper answer to that isue... Hi there! Nevermind the previous submitted comment - figured that one out. APS-C cameras are still important to Sony, and the A6100 is a big upgrade over the A6000. For example, if you want a shot of the Eiffel from below, emphasizing the swooping lines of its legs, you'll need an ultrawide. best thing ever invented if u ask me, I never used the Canon 600d, but the 6d is a good camera. Advanced Fast Hybrid Autofocus system. Awesome!Thanks for the suggestion re Capture One Express. More power to you!Best regards,Mic. Sometimes Continuous AF will jump off the subject because it is constantly trying to stay focused. For example, flash is not that necessary for traditional landscape photography. Sony Focus Modes. 1) Press the 'Fn' button and change the 'Focus Mode' from 'AF-A' to 'AF-C' (AF tracking is not available in AF-A mode, and AF-C is reliable enough that you can leave the camera in that mode all the time). Usually, I miss several photos with my Nikon because of the low light and all the movement, but I felt like the Sony was hitting every shot. Any suggestions on what settings to use are greatly appreciated. Happy shooting. It makes things simpler, and if you pair it with Eye AF, which we’ll talk about soon, you’ll get what you want about 80% of the time. First time using camera – where is the Eye AF setting or does this automatically happen in Auto? Overall, I think this mode is good for beginners. The Sony A7iii now has a joystick but my Sony A7Sii doesn’t. If you have other questions, please feel free to email me at info AT betterfamilyphotos DOT com.Best regards,Mic. 2) In the 'Fn' menu, change the 'Focus Area' setting to one of the tracking modes. There are 9 different areas or zones, so you can have more control over where to focus. Video & portrait best clarity. You may also be interested in these posts: Sony 16 2.8, Ultrawide Converter and Fisheye Converter. Or do you recommend any one auto mode over the other for these kinds of shots?Thanks! All cameras can be confusing, and it seems like Sony has a lot of options for everything. I now own the Sony 50mm 1.8, Rokinon 50mm 1.4, and Zeiss 85mm. How To Set Up Eye Auto Focus On The Sony A6000. If that bothers you, you can disable EFCS. Once you choose the subject, you don’t have to hold down the focus button. Now.... why does my a6000 shoot twice every time I press the shutter once?? Just turn on Auto ISO.- An external flash will help immensely for low light shots - both in terms of sharpness and less noise. The a6000 sprints in continuous shooting, capturing up to 11 frames per second at its highest speed setting and applying autofocus to each photo. Thanks for your comment. I locked on to my son and fired off about 8 or 9 frames. When I switched to the Sony A7iii and the Zeiss 85mm, though, Continuous AF was amazing. I would suggest imagining what your final shot would look like. The Sony A7iii is, The first choice to make is how the camera is going to focus. I really don’t see this being a very useful setting. Sony A6000 Shooter’s Report Part II: Focusing on a world in motion (Imaging Resource). The other big difference is the way it works. The person closest to you might be looking the other way while the person looking at you might be on the other side. I found Lock-On AF Expand Flexible Spot today and loved it… thanks for confirming this. The cameras are based on an APS-C (A6000) and an one-inch (ZV-1) sensor. Learn these easy steps to get the shots you want. To disable the timer, select single shooting. I only have the Sony 35 1.8 (faster AF than the 50 1.8, reasonably sharp), 50 1.8, and 18-105 (reasonably sharp, though the distortion is wild but can be corrected automatically), and the Sigma 19 2.8 (nice but has phase detection only in the middle AF point). (For options I've omitted it means I don't have a particular preference, or it's situational.) Sony has several autofocus settings to choose from, so it can be kind of confusing on what each does and when to use each mode. With this option, you can autofocus on your desired target, press this button to switch to manual (thus locking the focus unless you adjust it further), and you can recompose without changing the focus. So the a6000 appears to be compatible with any flash with a standard ISO hotshoe. I don’t normally trust a camera to help out or make decisions, but I found that when I select the general focus point, the camera does help me out. Hi there! The default shutter speed of the a6000 is a little slow. If you have any questions, just post here or send me an email at info AT betterfamilyphotos DOT com.Best regards,Mic, Thank you for such informative explanation.I also just bought a6000.Still new with world of photography.Till now still try to find how to take a good color balance picture.So many times with overexposed or underexposed.Hopefully with your explanation i can get the better result than before. I bought this Sony primarily to add audio mics to the camera, to improve the sound, but I still need auto focus. There were times where I had to move the subject into the center to get it to focus. 1: Camera Roll . Vijay, It's very limited. I am very very new to photography but am looking forward to learning!With the holiday's right around the corner I was wondering if you had any suggestions/tips/settings for taking family photos. If you want to use a remote, you'll need a remote shutter device (the Smart Remote via smartphone cannot access the Bulb setting). The result can make it seem that the image is underexposed, even though in technical terms it is actually correctly exposed from the point of view of preserving highlights. Haters gonna hate you keep doing your work. In Wide mode, the whole screen is active, so the subject can be anywhere. Check out the index on the top right corner of the webpage. This is the feature that is changing the photography world and getting people to jump over to Sony. This means if the autofocus is acting up, you can’t quickly fix it by manually focusing. Earlier i found this Auto focus setting in sony camera is difficult but now as you discovered it in simple words it is easy to understand and now i am able to use this setting easily. To do this, switch to S (shutter priority) and choose a shutter speed of 1/125 or faster. I’m a beginner and want to take wedding pictures this weekend. Thanks for the feedback! Basically, it’s an autofocus mode, but it does allow you to manually focus after the autofocus has locked in. I’m sure it’s one of those things you get better at with practice, but I still prefer autofocus. In very rare circumstances, EFCS can lead to banding. It has terrible pincushion distortion but the distortion can be automatically corrected in Lightroom or in-camera (if you shoot JPEG).Best regards,Mic. Change the shutter speed to the slowest shutter speed (30 seconds) and set it slower than that. I've also tried a Yongnuo YN-560EX manual flash, and it works as long as I don't use the locking pin of the 560EX (otherwise, its center pin doesn't make contact). When you start to turn the focus, the focus assist automatically kicks in, making the image zoom in so you can make sure you are in focus. Great explanation. Sony A6000 has external dimensions of 120 x 67 x 45 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 1.77″) and weighs 344 g (0.76 lb / 12.13 oz) (including batteries). To move the focus point around, I had to push a button to activate it and then move it around. The only reason to come back is the content is useful. If you want a shot where it is part of a skyline, you'll need a telephoto lens, etc. The Sony 50mm F1.8 was the worst. If I were to build a flash system now, I would probably use either Paul Buff strobes, or for something more portable, a Cactus V6 (paired with old Nikon D-TTL flashes, which are powerful but cheap, and do work with the Cactus v6). The Sony is pretty horrible with focusing, the Rokinon is good, and the Zeiss is the best. Keep it up That’s so much faster and easier the rapidly clicking and moving a spot around the screen. Sony A6000: how to take advantage of the fast AF. The camera should be able to easily find it. That’s why most people prefer AF-C (Continuous AF). One thing that I have noticed is that with the lenses I’ve been using you can’t manually focus while the camera is set in most of the other modes. I hope that helps.Best regards,Mic, Hello, I really enjoyed your rose pic. sony is the biggest company best known for tv, camera, mobile, headphone and many others gadgets. Or even M (manual) with Auto ISO. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EXPLAINING HOW SONY WORK. Every single shot, whether candid or fast-action, is supposed to benefit from the 24.3-Megapixel detail and one of the world's fastest autofocus … I was wondering this because also of the black painting Sony has put on the a6000 black version (which doesn't appear on the silver one it seems). However, 2014 was the year that the Sony a6000 was introduced. Also, I enjoy using Lightroom, any suggestions on settings to take advantage of Lightroom are greatly appreciated too.Thank you!!! If you don't want to get an external flash, you can use the a6000's built-in flash and tilt it upward to bounce off the ceiling (as long as your ceiling is not too high).- If you can get a lens with a wider aperture, that would be better (you'll be able to use lower ISOs which means less noise, or you can use higher shutter speeds, which can improve sharpness). Hi Sony A7ii camera buyer, I just bought this same Sony, out of the box from Best Buy & I cannot see how to use AF Auto Focus with the Sony 28-70mm provided lens? This mode is helpful in situations where you know you don’t want the focus to change. Also discussed are: - 3 ways to implement AF-On in the a6000 The future of photography is in motion. how do I take a photo of the night stars and keep the shutter open for, say about 1 hour?? You still have to start with the focus point on your subject, but once it’s locked-on, the subject can move or you can move, and the camera just keeps going. I have a Sony a6000 and just tried taking fireworks at night on a tripod. Single-shot mode is exactly what it sounds like, a single shot. So this mode kind of solves the issue I mentioned earlier about the camera not allowing you to manually focus while in another mode. Beautiful pictures. Get out of auto and get control of your camera using tried-and-true recipes. The autofocus of your Sony A7 III is among the best you can find today but it is far from the only Sony model that can claim that statement. I don’t plan on using manual focus for photography, but Sony does have a really cool feature related to manual focus. The a6000 has a very cool feature called electronic first curtain shutter. For product and food photography, it's a necessity, as it is for event photography. This compact crop sensor mirrorless camera has been a hit among consumers and professionals alike. Focus area set in P, A, S, M (access through the Fn button) Smile/Face Detect (MENU → → page 5 → Smile/Face Detect) Lock-on AF ( (MENU → → page 5 → Lock-on AF) Even when recording scenes with a lot of fast movements, the videos are sharp and clear. This way it won’t change focus until you release the Focus Hold button. Sorry for the delayed reply. All you have to do is activate the focus and the camera does the rest. When I owned one, I mainly used it for video, but I did try it out for photos occasionally. Second, not all lenses are created equal. With all that said, make sure you test out the Sony body and lenses in Continuous AF before you go out and try to use it in a real shoot. Once you get there, you’ll notice you have, Unfortunately, Continuous AF isn’t great all the time. Go to Manual mode. For me and what I shoot and how I shoot, the Sony A7iii works better. Really nice article cant wait to see more of these. It’s been around for some time because I have it on the Sony A7Sii as well. In fact, all recent Sony E-mount cameras perform really well, with the Sony A9 setting the benchmark in the mirrorless category. Center button in Wide or Center AF mode. Also should I get a flash? Sony a6000 Cheat Sheets. Plain old autofocus is a thing of the past. When selecting it, you can hit left or right to choose between three sizes. You're welcome my friend.As for lens suggestions, I don't have a lot of experience with Sony lenses. Well guys this was really amazing thanks for this knowledge of Sony . AF is essential to me, so right out of the box, what setting should the Sony A7ii be set at?? The Sony A7iii is much better than the Sony A7Sii along with the majority of other Sony cameras. By simply pushing the center select button (or whatever you’ve programmed it to), the camera will search for an eye and focus on it. 0.41% more megapixels (main camera)? It has nice bokeh though among the Sony lenses I've tried, it's a little slower to focus. The first thing to consider is your Sony camera. It will be published as soon as we get a chance to review it, sorry for that, but we get lots of spam with malicious links. It does what Lock-On AF Expand Flexible Spot does but in a different way. Just for the short time I’ve been using the Sony A7iii, I can say it much better than the Canon. ;), Hi onirexd! It’s good because you don’t have to move the spot around a lot, but it’s bad in that you still don’t have complete control. Hi Bryan, As I said earlier, if you don’t want to mess around with controlling the focus point or you just aren’t quick enough at selecting a focus point, wide can be helpful. It can be viewed on the LCD screen or electronic viewfinder. If you’re a control freak, this is the area for you. THank you so much. You can also use M (manual) and choose the shutter speed as well as the aperture. 3. Sony steps it up again! No external microphone port; Small screen thats impractical for shooting stills; The screen is calibrated differently than the viewfinder which can be confusing; Sony A6000: Summary. How to: Turn the mode dial to select a desired shooting mode. Not all cameras are created equal. As you know the a6000 doesn't have a fireworks mode (unlike many other cameras). This is it! Now, is it perfect? With Flexible Spot, you control exactly where the focus goes. Do I need a special higher priced lens to make AF work with Sony A7ii? Recently, Sony has made some big leaps in the autofocus world with the Sony A9 and now the Sony A7iii. Sony 50mm 1.8 (on Amazon) (on KEH Camera), Rokinon 50mm 1.4 (on Amazon) (on KEH Camera). Thanks for taking the time to help out the masses. This procedure should not be used with a lens from another manufacturer. Mic, Thanks for the write up! Therefore it is like being able to instantly use either AF-C or AF-S any time. After you’ve used Wide AF for a while, you’ll probably be ready to move to an area with more control. Sony A6000: Pros. To some, this may seem silly, but it matters to me. Then read the TTL Flash Tutorial (the link is on the upper right corner of the page). The index hasn't been updated in a while, but you'll at least have an organized index for a couple years' worth of articles.- To improve the sharpness of your shots, use a higher shutter speed. Hi. At this stage, the quality of your shots will be more influenced by your composition and timing more than your exposure.Feel free to email me or Mohammad specific questions at info AT betterfamilyphotos.com.Best regards,Mic. I haven't been to Paris, so my suggestions are only general. When you attach an unregistered lens, 0 is displayed. Its body is 21mm narrower, 46mm shorter and 37mm thinner than Nikon D600. I haven’t used the A9, but I did recently get the A7iii, and it’s pretty amazing. The camera just keeps following that subject. It depends on what you're shooting. You'll see "BULB". Mic,I have a 16-70mm f4 and a 50mm f1.8 for my a6000. Just ordered the A6000 and Sony 50 1.8 OSS lens. Still, you have to have the autofocus lock in first before you manually focus. It’s been around for some time because I have it on the Sony A7Sii as well. This means that if the subject does move a little or you do, the camera should adjust. Let me show you how to use your Sony a6000. For example, maybe something is moving in front of your subject, like people or blowing leaves or confetti, and you don’t want the camera to switch focus to these things. With all that said, make sure you test out the Sony body and lenses in Continuous AF before you go out and try to use it in a real shoot. Laurie. Not a problem. If you’re looking for the simplest autofocus area and you don’t want to deal with controlling the focus point, Wide mode is for you. I will try and give a feedback here for anyone also concerned. The same goes for Eye AF. Here are Sony's instructions on taking shots of fireworks:https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44473/p/40096,40680,40758,92431,92432/c/65,66/kw/fireworksYou can take it without the timer mode. This option can be a little hard to find. All of this looks really neat and fun, but will the knife really cut through a shoe? For family photos, I would just get one flash that is capable of bouncing (F43M or F60M), and maybe a TTL cord if you want. July 30, 2015 January 28, 2019. I never took my finger off the focus or changed anything. The next step from Wide AF is the Zone autofocus area. If this is enabled, you will get sharper shots (you will avoid shutter shock). Congratulations on getting the a6000! You will first see the last photo taken, but you can also view previously taken photos using the navigation buttons (see point 3) and even view the associated settings. After you visualize the shot, think about how to take it and if needed, get the lenses to execute the shot. They also have really good financing options for the expensive stuff! I plan on writing a longer review on the Sony A7iii in the future, and by then, I’ll be able to give you a more detailed answer. The camera is capable of shooting continuously at 11 frames per second with an autofocus lag of just 0.06 seconds. So don’t think you can use a really cheap lens and get the best results. Mic,Thanks very much! Cactus also says that the v6 is compatible with the Sony multi-interface hot shoe http://www.cactus-image.com/community/discussion/75/are-the-new-cactus-v6-and-cactus-rf60-compatible-with-the-sony-s-multi-interface-shoe Therefore all available info suggests that the v6 should work, but I have no personal experience to back it up. Once you understand how things work, though, you can pick what works best for you. Thanks for reading! With these photography tips we will take you though the basics so you can find the settings you want. I’m desperate for recommendations on what setting(s) I should have for getting focused pictures. Other times it did find a face and worked well. I think it’d make more sense to let you manually focus at any point instead of having to wait. Hi! I could see this being useful for product photography or landscapes, but if you have that kind of time to adjust things, you could always just do it all manually from the beginning. This option can be a little hard to find. The real issue with the wide autofocus mode comes when you have multiple subjects or objects in the frame. I’ve used it around the house with my kids and some during a wedding, but I am by no means an expert on that. If you own a Sony camera, I hope this has demystified some of it for you and now you have a better idea of what everything does and when to use it. I'm planning on purchasing an a6000 in the very near future. From my experience, the Zone area is better than Wide when dealing with lots of things in the frame, but there are still times where you focus on the wrong thing. Gary Fong. FWIW I hope that helps.Best regards,Mic. To enable or disable the timer, it's the same menu as the drive mode (single or burst, etc.). Sony a6000: Autofocus and speed. This focus area is pretty amazing. WE ARE COMPENSATED FOR REFERRING TRAFFIC. It’s is essential to get to know your cameras’ capabilities. To make things easier if you plan on switching this often, you’ll want to assign this to either one of your custom buttons or put it in one of the 12 Function slots. I hope that helps!Best regards,Mic. The good and the bad is that Zone covers a large area. Yes, I know we are talking about how amazing Sony’s autofocus is, but I still thought I’d point out that there is a manual focus mode. If you or your subject moves a few inches forward or backward after the focus is locked, your focus might be off. Thankyou! Over the years, autofocus has gotten better and better. This is for people who like to use the focus and recompose method. Initially, I was using the A7Sii, and it had some issues with Continuous AF. Buttons on the back of the Sony A6000. Direct Manual Focus (DMF) AF-S (Single-Shot) AF-C (Continuous AF) Can you help me figure out if i) I can take it without the timer mode; and ii) how to adjust the timer to less than 10 secs? The Sony A6000 remains one of the best Sony cameras, as well as one of the best mirrorless cameras, thanks to its still-great performance and sheer value for money.While its specs have certainly aged, they're still plenty enough for most people's needs – and with six years of price drops, it's irresistibly affordable. Imagine you have a group of people talking. It’s basically automatic. It never locked focus. We’re done with the Focus Modes, so I now we move on how to select focus. If I may say so, I think you made a fine purchase. This is what I used at a wedding last week during the reception??? When activated, a zebra-like pattern appears on the monitor in the zones of your frame that are overexposed or close to overexposure (too bright). May I ask, which lens did you use for these 2 photos? The A6000 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, while the ZV-1 is a fixed lens compact.