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Sony a7 III vs Canon 6D Mark II

Sony a7 III

Sony has just announced the Sony a7 III. It is a mirrorless full frame camera aimed at the enthusiast, filling the same spot on the dial, and price point as the Canon 6D Mk II. What many reviewers said about the 6D2 when it launched a few months ago, was that it was a missed opportunity. Built down to a price and purposely excluding features available on their more professional cameras like the Canon 5D Mk III. Sony has however embraced the new technology they have available and made it available at this price point. Is the Sony a7 III the camera Canon should have introduced? Let’s have a look at how they compare:

Body

The Sony has a 650 gm magnesium alloy body, the Canon has a 765 gm magnesium alloy chassis with a polycarbonate body. Both are environmentally sealed.

Sensor & Processor

Both cameras are full frame. the Sony is 24 megapixels compared with 26 megapixels from Canon. Both cameras use the latest processors in their camera line up. The BIONZ X (Sony) and DIGIC 7 (Canon). The Exmor X sensor on the a7III provides a claimed 15 stop dynamic range.

Point and Shoot

The Sony a7 III is a mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The Canon is a DSLR with a traditional optical pentaprism. Both have 3″ touchscreens, the Canon fully articulates the Sony tilts only.

Stabilisation

Sony Stabilisation

There is 5 axis stabilisation in the Sony a7 III which equates to avoiding camera shake by an additional 5 stops. In the 6D2 there is no in-camera stabilisation for still photography, but it is available for video. Both have image stabilised lenses.

Focusing

There are 693 focus points on the Sony. It is the system derived from the top of the range A9 with 425 contrast detection points. There are 45 cross-type AF points on the Canon. Sony has both face and eye recognition, Canon has face recognition.

Shutter

The Front End LSI pre-processor from the upmarket Sony a7R III, is incorporated into this camera, taking the drive to 10 fps with big buffers for RAW files as well as JPEG. The Canon can reach 6.5 fps.

The maximum shutter speed is 1/8000th and 1/4000th respectively.

Sony has 4K video, the Canon has Full HD

ISO

Sony ISO is 100-25,600 which can be boosted to 204,800. The Canon is 100-40,000 which can be boosted to 102,400.

Batteries and Cards

The Sony battery life is 610 shots (using the EVF) vs 1200 shots from Canon. The Sony has two card slots, the Canon has one.

Connectivity

Both have built-in wireless. Canon has GPS

Price

The Sony a7 III will be launched in April at $2000, the Canon 6D Mk ii was launched at $2000 but now retails for $1899.

Summary

Sony with a consumer electronics background is well used to developing new technology, and looking to the market (the new Fujifilm X-H1 for example) to lead new product development. This provides great value for consumers, who in the Sony a7 III gain a cutting edge at a bargain price. Canon is more introspective, used to a two-horse race with Nikon. For them, it is more about just keeping up. However, Canon may soon find this is not enough.

Where to Buy

I buy my equipment from Wex because I have found they offer great customer service.

Sony 18-105 f4 G OSS Lens Review of Reviews

by John Gough

Sony 18-105 f4 G OSS

This is an analysis of the reviews for the Sony a6300 e-mount lens, the Sony 18-105 f4 G OSS.

There are not a huge array of lenses to fit the Sony e-mount. It is therefore worth investigating the Sony 18-105, which has a useful focal range for general, travel and landscape photography, and costs less than £500.

A Summary of the Reviews

Not that fast but OSS makes up for 2 to 3 stops

Reasonably sharp and almost outstanding.

Some image quality flaws but nothing that cannot be ironed out in camera for JPEG and in post with RAW

Too big for mirrorless ethos but nicely balanced on camera

Not a Zeiss lens but has the look and feel of one.

After all it is a Sony G lens at a reasonable price.

Sony 18-105 f4 G OSS Lens Reviews

Ken Rockwell

Always speaks sense. I have a lot of time for his reviews. This is his review of the lens.

These are my notes:

Not as really sharp as most DSLR or Zeiss mirrorless lenses today, but the lens is more than adequate
The zoom ring connects to the camera’s computer system. The disadvantage of this is that you can’t just twist the ring to go immediately from one end to the other; you always have to wait for it to motor in or out.
Bokeh is good at the long end where it matters
There is minor to strong barrel distortion, but this can be easily corrected in Lightroom or Photoshop
Zooming is controlled by a motor which is much slower than a real mechanical zoom ring for shooting stills, but is much smoother for shooting video
Size defeats the point of a mirrorless camera. If you don’t mind carrying it, does everything in just one lens at a reasonable price.

The Phoblographer

Plain speaking, with good selection of sample shots. This is the review of the lens

These are my notes:

‘The image quality is really where you’ll become smitten with it’
The lens is internal zooming
The exterior is smooth and Zeiss like, but there is no weather sealing
‘for element image quality, the Sony 18-105mm f4 G OSS has to be the single best lens that we’ve seen for the system’s APS-C cameras’
Sharpness is best at above f6.3
Big for a mirrorless camera
Editors Choice

EPhotozine

Lots of detail with a few charts. This is the review of the lens.

These are my notes:

‘Despite the large size of this lens, it is reasonably light weight, weighing only 427g’,
Manual focus is smooth and nicely damped
‘For those times when slow shutter speeds are necessary, this lens comes equipped with optical image stabilisation. With care, sharp hand-held images can be taken at shutter speeds as slow as 1/20sec, which is roughly three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb for hand-held photography would allow’.
Sharpness at the centre of the frame is ‘outstanding’ through the range. Poor performance at the edge of the frame especially at 105mm

DXOMark

Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens review: Attractive option

The go to site for lens performance. The Sony 18-105 scores 15. This is ahead of all the other zoom lenses available for Sony e mount in 2015. With the exception of the Sony Vario-Tessar T* E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS which is a Zeiss lens and scored 17.

Admiring Light

The editor Jordan Steele now shoots entirely mirrorless with Sony, Fuji and Olympus kit

Review: Sony E PZ 18-105mm f/4 G OSS

These are my notes:

‘The one down side to the power zoom implementation is that it sets itself to a ‘park’ position (somewhere in the middle of the zoom range) when you turn off the camera, and then resets itself to 18mm when the camera is turned on. It would be nice if the camera could remember the last zoom position and reset to that position when powering on’.
The front element of the lens is hard to clean, and although UV filters are going out of vogue, fit one.

Where to Buy Your Equipment

I buy my equipment from Wex because of their exceptional customer service. I once returned a camera after 30 days, and the next day they called to return my money to my account. Their prices are always competitive and they offer good prices on the trade in of your used gear.

Sony a6300 Setup

by John Gough

The Meeting / John Gough / Sony a6300

I recently purchased a Sony a6300 because it seems ideal for street photography. I have been setting it up and changing settings for a few weeks, but it is now good to go. The picture above was one of the first using the a6300 setup as described. From what I can see the a6300 settings are similar settings to the Sony a6500.

These notes are also going to be used as my checklist. So often I change a setting for a different circumstance, but do not remember to revert back to my original setup.

The Sony a6300 and Sony a6500 Setup

Cameras are now so configurable that it is worth sitting down for an afternoon to turn your camera into the one you want. Then go out and take a few shots, and change again until it is right. Lets start at the top.

Sony a6300 Aperture

Aperture Priority

The big dial on the top plate of the camera is the mode dial, where Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual or one of the Auto or Scene modes can be set. Many street photographers recommend Program mode, which is essentially an automatic setting for RAW files. However in Program mode, the Sony algorithm seems to move the shutter speed lower without moving the ISO higher, so I shoot Aperture Priority. It gives control over the aperture using the dial on the right hand side of the camera. This is a function dial, which when in Aperture Priority mode changes the aperture. Now to fix the ISO, and the camera will do the rest.

Sony a6300 top

ISO

Whether you are on the New York streets or taking a picture of your family in the park, you want sharp pictures. As the light fails, move the aperture down to the widest for the lens you have attached. On the kit lens supplied with the Sony a6300 that is f3.5. It is surprising especially in a UK winter, how quickly that buffer is reached. It is also tempting to let the shutter speed get lower, when after all, the lens has image stabilisation. But more of my picture are blurred through a low shutter speed and consequently camera shake than any other reason. So a high ISO is required to give some flexibility.

Reading the reviews, high ISO’s are possible with this camera without compromising image quality. It is personal, high ISO’s lead to more noise. How much is acceptable is up to you. Try it out. Is a high ISO better than a shaky shot. Again it is personal preference.

I usually shoot at ISO640

The quick route to changing ISO is to use the Fn or Function button on the rear of the camera, which brings up some often used controls

Fn>ISO or Menu>Camera>4>ISO or Control Wheel>right.

Sony a6300 Back

Sony a6300 Drive

Drive Mode

I usually leave the drive mode as single shot. The continuous shooting is so fast that before you know it you have hundreds of images to post process.

Fn>Drive>Single Shot or Menu>Camera>2>Drive Mode>Single Shot or Control Wheel>left>Single Shot

Set the C1 Custom Button to Drive Mode

There are circumstances where the continuous mode is useful. I therefore set the Custom 1 button on the top of the camera, to bring up the drive mode menu.

Menu>Wheel>7>Custom Key(Shoot)>Custom Button 1>Drive Mode

Silent Shutter

This is a completely silent shutter, definitely useful in situations where you don’t want to cause a stir.

Menu>Wheel>5>Silent Shooting On

Personally I prefer to risk the shutter sound. I can be sure then that I have the picture.

Sony A6300 Metering

Metering Mode

Metering technology is pretty much taken for granted, but when you realise how much time used to be spent with light meters, it is really special. Choose a metering mode. The multi mode seems to work the majority of the time

Fn>Metering Mode or Menu>Camera>5>Metering Mode

White Balance

White balance is used to get colours as true as possible. Auto seems to work well. In the rare circumstance that the camera does not handle it correctly, it can be fixed in post processing.

Fn>AWB or Menu>Camera>5>White Balance>Auto

Sony A6300 Focus

Focus Area

There are various options:

Wide

Focuses automatically on a subject in all ranges of the image. When you press the shutter button halfway down in still image shooting mode, a green frame is displayed around the area that is in focus.

Zone

Select a zone on the monitor on which to focus. A zone consists of nine focus areas, and the camera selects a focus area on which to focus.

Centre

Focuses automatically on a subject in the middle of the image. If you half press the shutter or use AF lock it is possible to hold the focus and recompose the shot.

Flexible Spot

This allows you to move the focus frame to where it is required on the shot.

Expand Flexible Spot

If the camera cannot find focus within the focus frame it will focus on points around the flexible spot as a secondary priority area for focusing.

It is worth understanding how mirrorless cameras differ from DSLRs in terms of focusing, and how the Sony a6000’s hybrid focus detection works.

My choice is the flexible spot focus area. It is also possible to select how big the focus area should be. Small, Medium or Large. I recommend running some test shots and see which is best for you. Following my testing I chose the large focus area. It seemed to me that the camera was struggling to find focus when set to Small

Fn>Focus Area>Flexible Spot>Large or Menu>Camera>3>Focus Area>Flexible Spot>Large

Focus Mode: AF-S

Focus Mode (not to be confused with Focus Area) changes how the focus adapts to different scenarios. In AF-C, which is ideal for continuous shooting the camera will reattempt to focus every time a subject moves. AF-S locks the focus despite the subject’s movement. Ideal for single shot shooting.

Fn>AF-s or Menu>Camera>3>Focus Mode>Single Shot AF

AF Illuminator

This is a beam of light which assists the camera focus in low light. However this camera copes admirably in difficult lighting, therefore is is best to switch off and avoid being given away by a red beam of light. Especially useful when covertly shooting on the street.

Menu>Camera>3>AF Illuminator>Off

Pre AF

When Pre-AF is on the camera will continuously focus, even without half-pressing the shutter button. This can be draining to the battery, so I set to off.

Menu>Wheel>3>Pre AF>Off

Priority Set in AF-S

This setting allows the release of the shutter even when the subject is not in focus, when Focus Mode is set to Single-shot AF. There is a setting, AF which prioritises focusing. The shutter will not be released until the subject is in focus. I only want to take pictures that are focused correctly, so that is the setting I use.

Menu>Wheel>5>Priority Set in AF-S>AF

AF with Shutter

Selects whether to focus automatically when you press the shutter button halfway down. Leave this switched on to focus.

Menu>Wheel>5>AF w/shutter>On

AEL with Shutter

Determines whether the exposure and focus are both set when the shutter is pressed half way down. Leave on Auto

Menu>Wheel>5>AEL w/shutter>Auto

Centre Lock-On AF

This feature will track the subject at the centre of the image and is useful in e.g. sports photography. For single shot I switch off.

Menu>Camera>6>Centre Lock-On AF>Off

Smile / Face Detect

This is a clever feature on the Sony a6300, because there is a setting to register faces. This for example could be used at a wedding, to register the bride and grooms’ face. These will then be held in memory and automatically brought into focus in a any scene. Up to eight people can be registered. However I just want to switch on face detect, which is both useful in general photography and street photography.

Menu>Camera>6>Smile / Face Detect>On

Eye Detect

Eye detect is another powerful feature on the Sony a6300. I have it setup so that the AEL button activates eye detect. NB the AEL button must be held down to maintain focus on the eyes.

Menu>Wheel>7>Custom Key Shoot>2>AEL Button>EyeAF

Summary AF

This guide from Sony provides a comprehensive review of the AF function on the Sony a6000, which also applies to the Sony a6300 and 6500.

Sony a6300 Screen and Viewfinder Settings

EVF / Screen

I have this set to auto, so that when you put your eye to the viewfinder, the screen switches off. The problem is that the detector on the view finder is very sensitive, so that when you hold the camera at waist level to use the flip out screen, the screen switches off. There is a custom setting to toggle between finder and screen, but in my experience it does not work consistently. Therefore I use this setting.

Menu>Wheel>4>FINDER / MONITOR>Auto

The solution I have come up to desensitise the finder detector, involves glue and sticking plaster, using a product called Light Dims. These are little inexpensive, stick-on pieces of a neutral grey shading material which are actually made for putting over LED’s that are too bright.

Simply cut a 3mm x 5mm piece of this material and apply it over the left half of the EVF sensor. The sensor continues to function perfectly, and the LCD remains on even in very low light. The EVF then still switches on again automatically, when the camera is held up to your eye.

Sony a6300 Other Settings

RAW

I will be shooting RAW. This is set:

Menu>Camera>1>Quality / RAW

Grid Line

Useful tool for composition:

Menu>Wheel>1>Grid Line>Rule of 3rds Grid

MR Setting

To save these settings to 1 on the mode dial on the top plate of the camera

Menu>Camera>9>Memory> 1

Summary Setting Up the Sony a6300

The Sony a6300 is an amazingly versatile camera. The settings may be bewildering, if that is the case then set the camera to Auto and get great results. But to get even better results dive in and understand the settings and make the camera your own.

Right now the Sony a6000 is the best camera without doubt for under £500. The a6700 will likely be launched early 2018, so get in while you can, and please use my link as I receive a small affiliate payment. Many Thanks

Where to Buy Your Equipment

Sony A6300 Image Quality

by John Gough

Sony A6500

I was looking to do some sensor comparisons and headed off to this fantastic site.

I have been researching Sony A6000 cameras for a bit now, because I am looking for the ultimate street camera. I did have a Fuji XT20 but I had to send that back to Wex because the AF was dire. See how I tried to overcome the problem. Can I just mention that Wex were fantastic and their customer service is second to none.

However back to the Sony 6300. At DXOMARK they measure the image quality of camera sensors, this covers colour sensitivity, noise including dynamic range and tonal range, and ISO sensitivity. The Sony 6300 and Sony 6500 have a score of 85.

This is on par with the Canon 6D MK2. The prestigious Canon EOS-1D X Mark II scores 88, the Canon 5D MKIV 91, and the extraordinary new Nikon D850 scores 100. The list here is dominated by Nikon, Sony and to a lesser extent Canon.

Sensor Comparison Mirrorless Cameras

So how about the competitor mirrorless cameras (priced at around £1000), how do they compare with the Sony A6300 score of 85. Unfortunately there are no recent Fujifilm cameras in the list (I wonder why?)

Samsung NX 500 87

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II 80

Canon EOS M6 78

Canon EOS M5 77

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 75

Leica T 75

Olympus PEN-F 74

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II 73

It is interesting reading reviews in which reviewers use their own image quality tests, but on this site it is completely impartial. The numbers do the talking.

Where to Buy Your Equipment

Sony a6300 Review of Reviews

by John Gough

Sony a6300 with Sony Vario-Tessar T E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS

The Sony a6300 seems like a good candidate as a great street camera. I have pulled together the best reviews and drawn some conclusions.

DPREVIEW

Likely that Sony have retooled to create the a6300, because although it looks like the a6000, it has a more substantial-feeling magnesium alloy construction compared to the composite materials in the a6000 which it supersedes.
The menu system is complicated and is beginning to be overwhelmed by the number of functions it contains.
Can successfully shoot at 11fps and 8fps with a simultaneous live view
Constrained by a relatively small selection of lenses.
The AF point can be difficult to position.
RAW files have good dynamic range.
‘The a6300’s image quality is excellent – as good as any we’ve seen from an APS-C camera of any type, from any manufacturer’.
‘dynamic range and noise performance of the sensor are as good as things get in an APS-C camera’.
‘If you’re looking for a camera with great image quality, excellent autofocus and top-notch video, it’s the strongest all-rounder’.
‘Overall, then, the [Sony] a6300 is a camera where you benefit from putting in the work required to get the best out of it. It’s worth it, though, since it’s probably the most capable stills/video camera I’ve ever used. If the lenses you want are available, unless you really need a specific feature of one of its rivals, it should be at or very near the top of your list’.

Ken Rockwell

‘I love its EVF, speed, tiny size, tough build and great looking pictures in any light — as well as its completely silent operation’
The EVF works flawlessly whatever lighting condition.
The silent mode is a considerable benefit
‘Once you get the camera set it works very fast, but getting it set can be maddening since important menu options are carelessly spread all over its arbitrary menu system. Expect to wade through the entire system every time you want to find something. It takes a long time to learn this camera’.
If you dont get a sharp image with this camera it is because you are doing something wrong.

TechRadar

‘425 phase-detect AF pixels that reach almost to the peripheries of the frame. This is the highest number of phase-detect points we’ve seen on an interchangeable-lens camera to date, and this density, together with 169 additional contrast-detect points, is said to enable the camera to focus on moving subjects in as little as 0.05 seconds’.
‘Dynamic range in raw files starts at a reasonable level, although by ISO400 this starts to slip, and at the highest settings performance from the Panasonic GX8 and Olympus Pen-F is considerably stronger’.
‘In the absence of any significant failings, it’s only really a handful of smaller shortcomings that let the A6300 down. The screen feels somewhat underpowered; some of the controls aren’t quite as accessible as they could be; and the lack of in-camera raw processing is a shame. Furthermore, while the tiltable LCD is great, it’s shame it’s not a touchscreen’.
‘Sony A6300 represents an exceptional value for a camera which offers so much in such a compact package. It packs one heck of a punch in both features and performance, and undoubtedly gets two thumbs up as a Dave’s Pick‘.

Sony a6000 for Street Photography

by John Gough

The Baron of Beef / John Gough / Sony a6300

I am researching what the Sony a6000 and its’ derivatives the a6300 and a6500 are like at street photography. Not so long ago (well 60 years ago) you set forth into the streets of New York. (See Joel Meyerwitz) with Leica in hand. Now we are all striving to be street photographers, and there are lots of alternatives to a Leica.

These include the mirrorless Sony, Fuji, Panasonic and Canon cameras. But how good are they? Concentrating on the Sony a6000s, here are some views from some street photography bloggers:

Thomas Fitzgerald Photography

The big advantages of the A6000 for street photography are as follows:

1. It’s really fast in operation. The camera responds quickly and you are never left waiting for it to catch up, which can be an issue with some older mirrorless cameras, especially in this price range.
2. The flip up screen is great for shooting from the hip. It’s great for being stealthy when shooting on the street.
3. The autofocus is superb. It’s still one of the better autofocus systems that I’ve used on a mirrorless camera. I find it better than my X-Pro 2 for autofocusing (send your hate mail to….) especially when shooting street photography. It’s very fast and it locks on really quickly. Also, the face detection works well, and is a really useful option when shooting street shots.
4. It’s really small and discrete. When coupled with a small lens it’s not much bigger than a compact camera.
5. You can adapt it to an incredibly wide range of lenses (pretty much anything). While it doesn’t autofocus with adaptors as well as the newer A6500, if you’re willing to manual focus, and have old glass, there is more than likely an adaptor for it. And some of these adaptors are pretty cheap too.

Steven Brokaw Photography

There are MANY reviews on the A6000 focusing on features & performance, so I won’t try to do one myself. I would recommend if you are looking at an ILC for street then check out the online reviews, blogs and go to your local camera store to get the feel of the Sony A6000.

However, I did want to highlight what I liked about the camera. They are:

Lighting fast focus,
Easy to use menus & menu layout,
Fine lineup of Sony lenses and readily available adapters for non Sony lenses,
Focus tracking is awesome,
Burst rate is stupid fast,
OK (but, not great) low light performance,
Feels good in my hand (very sticky),
APS-C sensor,
Good video,

Crazyaboutcameras

The Five Best Cameras For Street Photography On The Market

The main benefit of the a6000 is its portable size. The ability to put a camera in a coat pocket and take it out everywhere with you is not to be underestimated. Especially with street photography where you may want to be discreet.

But apart from the portability, we are just amazed by the image quality that a camera of this size can produce. The a6000s sensor is incredible and is widely regarded as being one of the best in this “size class” of cameras. It picks up colors well and the processor that powers the whole product can accurately adjust the balance on auto mode.

Some other cameras without a digital viewfinder can struggle in bright lighting conditions making the shot reasonably difficult (or impossible) to take. The OLED viewfinder on the a6000 makes it well suited to shooting in bright conditions. It is perfect for the street where you never know when the next shot might arise.

Tim Brookes MakeUseOf

Why Mirrorless Cameras Are Great for Street, Candid, and Shy Photographers

For street photography, this matters. As someone who’s always been a bit shy when it comes to pointing a camera in people’s faces, a smaller and more discreet camera allowed me to get closer and push myself further than an SLR ever has. The amazing thing is that modern mirrorless cameras don’t require you to sacrifice image quality — I’ve been shooting 24.2 megapixel images in RAW format images in RAW format and the excellent low-light performance and 425 points of autofocus on the A6300 allowed me to trust the camera completely.

Aforementioned street photographer Eric Kim notes that “ultimately capturing the moment, emotion, and feeling of a scene is more important than how many pixels or how sharp it is.” This could apply to a whole manner of photographic applications, but it’s especially true for street photographers and anyone who wants to get into candid photography. Kim’s top pick for a dedicated street camera is the Richoh GR-II, a compact camera with a fixed lens and an APS-C sensor that retails for around $700.

Considering the flexibility offered by an interchangeable system, Sony’s A6000 is cheaper and ultimately more versatile. The newer A6300 has a groundbreaking autofocus system and full silent shooting for around $1,150 with a kit lens. These are easily two of the best mirrorless cameras on the market in terms of value for money, raw performance, and overall size — so be sure to check them out if you’re planning your next move as a photographer.

The Phoblographer

Review: Sony a6300

In many ways the Sony a6300 is an excellent camera. Great image quality, very versatile RAW files, a small size, great autofocus, and more. What more could you possibly ask for? My qualms with it have to do with the fact that the high ISO output is starting to fall behind the competitor and that I genuinely feel like the ergonomics need to take a step up at this point. Otherwise, it’s a very solid camera.

It is interesting gaining the views of actual users. The Sony a6xxx have fantastic autofocus, good IQ and are small and discrete, ideal for street work. May also have to invest in some primes. the Sigma 30mm 1.4 looks a good option very highly rated by DPReview.

Plus a top tip, if the 30mm is too tight then take a few pictures and stitch together in Lightroom

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