iJourneys

John Gough Photography

Sony a6300 Review of Reviews

by

Sony a6300

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‘.

Street Photography Portraits

by

Street Photography Portraits

The Reader John Gough Canon EOS6D

 

Ever wondered how to take photography portraits of strangers in the street? You could be furtive and point a long lens in their direction, or you could be cheeky and like Dougie Wallace point a camera in their face and quickly walk on. It is one of the dilemmas of street photography.

I have to admit to discretely taking this picture, by pointing my camera to the left as I sat on the next bench. By the look on his face, I think he guessed that there is something going on!

The other alternative is to be like street photographer Kevin Gilper. This is a man who is on a mission, to take one thousand portraits a year. He calmly walks up to his victim and asks politely, “Excuse me, may I take a picture of you for my portfolio?”. A few say no but the majority say yes.

Kevin is not out to make money, he just feels that everyone deserves a good picture of themselves. He share his pictures on Instagram (@kgilper).

 

Sony a6000 for Street Photography

by

Sony a6300

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 http://crazyaboutcameras.com/best-cameras-for-street-photography/

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 http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mirrorless-cameras-great-street-candid-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

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

Camera Wrist Strap

I have avoided dropping my camera so many times using a simple inexpensive wrist strap like this one. Cameras and expensive lenses do not bounce! UK USA

Photography in the Lake District

by

I was in my element over the last few days back in the Lake District.

Wastwater Photography

Wastwater is in my opinion just one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is almost impossible not to get a stunning photograph, which is why I keep going back. The weather is the only major challenge.

This is not a picture from this trip, but just shows how beautiful the lake can be when the weather and lighting are right.

Wastwater John Gough Canon EOS 6D

 

Keswick Photography

I usually stay in Keswick so that I can get up before dawn and photograph near Derwentwater. It is the golden hour, there are only a few people about and the light is magical. There are numerous opportunities for great pictures. The picture below was taken from here.

The ISO is an amazing 25600, f8 at 1/6th on a monopod rather than a tripod.

Lake District

Derwentwater Before Dawn John Gough Canon EOS 6D

 

Another couple of locations close to Keswick are Ashness Bridge and Surprise View. There are car parks at both locations, so that you do not waste valuable photography time walking and climbing fells.

This picture was taken on this trip. Early in the morning on a grey day, but it is still a beautiful scene.

 

Lake District Photography

Ashness Bridge John Gough Canon EOS 6D

 

The next picture was also taken this trip at Surprise View

 

Again early, the cloud is heavy and it is barely light, but Photoshop allowed me to recover some of the shadows.

Lake District Photography

Surprise View Keswick John Gough Canon EOS 6D

Both these books are an  excellent guide to photography in the Lake District, and I carry them with me every trip.

 

 

Joel Meyerowitz Photographer

by

Joel Meyorowitz is a contemporary of Tony Ray-Jones. His YouTube videos are both educational and inspirational.

Here he describes how his photography is not the record of a single thing, but the coming together of two different things. This is about contradictions and connections in photographs which we talk about frequently in these pages. However for Meyerowitz it is about having the scene as busy as possible so that the eye is not necessarily drawn to just one thing.

This is how he works and why it is important to photograph in colour, and not have a single thing dominate the image.

Tony Ray-Jones Photographer

by

My aim is to communicate something of the spirit and the mentality of the English, their habits and their way of life, the ironies that exist in the way they do things, partly through their traditions and partly through the nature of their environment and their mentality. For me there is something very special about the English ‘way of life’ and I wish to record it from my particular point of view before it becomes Americanised and disappears.

Tony Ray-Jones was a documentary photographer even before the term was coined. He studied in the US at Yale and returned to the UK in 1965, it was then whilst doing work for the Radio Times and other publications, that he decided to turn his camera on the English at leisure. At the time, his photographs were considered “exotic”.

In 1968 his attempts to publish his England by the Sea album, which served as a basis for the A Day Off (which was published after his death), came to nothing – the publishers claimed that the album would raise no interest.

He was a major influence on Martin Parr, but sadly died at the age of 31 from leukaemia.

Here Martin Parr talks about his influence on him.

The Guardian have a super collection of his work

More of his work at Lensculture

In 2004 Liz Jobey wrote a very informative article about Tony Ray-Jones

The critic Sean O’Hagan said:

in his short life he helped create a way of seeing that has shaped several generations of British photography

Camera Wrist Strap or Neck Strap

by

What if you wanted to use a neck strap for say landscape work and a wrist strap for street and urban style pics. Its too much of a faff to unbuckle one and put on the other, so what is the solution?

It is these Op Tech System Connectors:

I bought these 1.5mm connectors and I use them when I am not using the strap that came with the camera, with this Maveek paracord wrist strap.

11 Stages That Every Photographer Goes Through

by

Just had to share this from the Digital Photography School, which is a great site and a valuable source of tuition and information.

I read this article thinking it was going to be rubbish. I am always very wary of articles that start, “10 things you didn’t know about………..”, but it turned out to be very true, and funny. Especially the stage about giving up all your gear and just choosing to shoot with a small camera with a prime lens. Personally I am still in that phase, but because my site is about a personal journey. Enjoy…………….

11 Stages That Every Photographer Goes Through

Ruddy Roye Documentary Photographer

by

I came across Ruddy Roye in the Fuji Spotlight Series of videos about photographers:

He is a photographer based in Brooklyn specialising in editorial and environmental portraits and photo-journalism photography. His photographs are gritty and real, this is his website

He has also been instrumental in using Instagram to showcase his interest in his community of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. He has over a quarter of a million followers on Instagram and was TIME Instagram Photographer of 2016. See here.

“My Instagram account has become a way for me to question everything around me,” said Mr Roye, who has uploaded roughly 2,000 images in the past year. “The media has a way of deleting the stories of people who society does not want to deal with. This is my humble way of putting these stories back in people’s faces — forming a real and active dialogue about these issues.”

It is inspirational to see a photographer use his camera for social activism. He takes pictures about the issues of race, deprivation and inequality, which if he were a journalist would be difficult to publish.