New Sony A6000 Lens Recommendation?

Easto

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
I had a Canon XS that I have now upgraded to a Sony A6000. I wanted a more compact camera. So far I love it.

We are planning to go to WDW this summer.

With my A6000 I have the kit lens 16-50mm as well as the kit 55-210mm

Typically most of my WDW pictures are of my family, character interactions, etc. I am more about having family members in pictures rather than taking pictures of the architecture and landscape. If I found a good architecture or landscape shot I would want to have a family member in the shot as well to make it more personal.

All that being said I would love to get away with bringing 2 lenses with me.

Based on the above is there a lens you can recommend I check out?

Do you think the lenses I have would be sufficient?

I'd like to buy a budget friendly lens if that's possible.
 
I had a Canon XS that I have now upgraded to a Sony A6000. I wanted a more compact camera. So far I love it.

We are planning to go to WDW this summer.

With my A6000 I have the kit lens 16-50mm as well as the kit 55-210mm
Typically most of my WDW pictures are of my family, character interactions, etc. I am more about having family members in pictures rather than taking pictures of the architecture and landscape. If I found a good architecture or landscape shot I would want to have a family member in the shot as well to make it more personal.
All that being said I would love to get away with bringing 2 lenses with me.
Based on the above is there a lens you can recommend I check out?
Do you think the lenses I have would be sufficient?
I'd like to buy a budget friendly lens if that's possible.


probably, when I travel I use a wide "pancake" lens and a 55-250
www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless
 
Wide. Go wide. Like a 10-18 (15-27 equiv).

Based on this "If I found a good architecture or landscape shot I would want to have a family member in the shot as well to make it more personal. "

The FOV on wider lenses really lends themselves to being close yet providing surrounding context. Unfortunately, it's $800-900. I know we have a couple of mirrorless champions here who might know better and chime in with another selection.
 


If you want a truly '1-lens' kit, a very good option is the newer 18-135mm lens. It's got a good wide to tele range, it's light and reasonably compact, has very good image quality better than the kit lenses, and good stabilization. And the focal range covers almost anything you'd need at Disney.
If you want to go 2-lens kit - then adding an ultrawide lens like the 10-18mm can be interesting, but just know that shooting with UWA lenses can take some adjustment to those not used to it - for best results you generally want to get ridiculously close to subjects, take advantage of the huge depth of field, never take group shots with people near the edges of the frame, and avoid tilting the lens up or down when shooting as the distortion can get extreme very quickly. Another option would be to consider a fast prime lens - like the 35mm F1.8 or 50mm F1.8, as that would give you dark ride and night photography handheld ability.
I have many lenses for my A6300 - I like lenses and do a lot of specialized types of photography that require different types of lenses. When I go to Disney for casual trips or family trips, I've been reducing how many lenses I bring, and actually have taken a few trips lately with only two lenses in my bag, and some days I walk around with only the camera and one attached lens. The 18-135mm has become my go-to travel one lens solution for this camera...and the Sigma 16mm F1.4 because I like the wide and fast prime for dark ride photography. That's actually a pretty good two-lens combo in general and would cover 95% of any need at Disney...even Animal Kingdom in a pinch at 135mm is not bad for animal shots - and is so much lighter and more portable that I haven't bothered to bring my 70-300mm, 55-10mm, or 100-400mm to AK on my last two trips, just because I didn't think it was worth lugging the extra weight.
That said, the two lenses you have now honestly should be fine. They're good enough for general photography, and are quite reasonable in size - a small bag can fit your whole kit, and you're covered for everything from wide to telephoto. The kit lenses you have are both average quality, but unless you're really needing to push the boundaries and take some really challenging photos, you rarely need more than that for general Disney photography.
 
I’m the mostly wrong person to ask, but I picked up a The Sony nifty 50 for my a6000, and love it, but I’m really only doing food/baby daughter/baby daughter covered in food photos and love the bokeh.
 
If you are just looking to capture family moments and "environmental Portraits" with family + background, what you have should serve you well. The kit lens should do fine.

If you want a lens that's faster for low light shots or to create some background blur, the 28mm f/2 is a good option. It's wide enough for several family members and background to frame and is fast enough for low light shots.

Since it also covers full-frame, you can use it if you ever move up to a FF camera. It also won't break the bank.

I also recommend the Sigma 16mm 1.4. I've had it for about a month and really like it, but a wide lens can be tricky for portraits (especially more than one person in the shot).

My favorite lens for cropped E-mount is the Sony Zeiss 24mm 1.8. But it's not budget friendly unless you get a deal on a good used one.

The 50mm 1.8 OSS is also nice, but too tight for what you're looking for.

Good luck and have fun!
 


I also started with the a6000 and two kit lenses and moved to the Sony 18-105mm f/4 (SELP18105G). The Sony 18-135mm (SEL18135) is also a good choice. Both are about the same price. The 18-105 is probably a better lens, but the 18-135 is smaller, lighter and has a slightly longer reach.

You could actually use either as a only lens. The 18-105 is on my camera about 90% of the time and it works great on Kilimanjaro Safaris. The 55-210 usually gets left in the room and I'll probably get left home next trip.

A fast prime could be your second lens. I have the Sony 35mm f/1.8 (SEL35F18) and Rokinon 12mm f/2.0. The Sigma 16mm would be a good choice if you like wide angle.

The CameraSize site will let you see a size comparison of the a6000 with the kit, 18-135 and 18-105.

Going back to the 16-50 is a good option if you want a small kit when you're just going to dinner.

Hope that helps and have fun on your next trip.
 
I grabbed a 50mm 1.8 for a great price. I loved my 50mm 1.8 on my Canon.

I’ve heard the 18-105 is a great walk around lens, it may be something I look into down the road.
 
Do you think the lenses I have would be sufficient?
Yes absolutely. You get to 16mm, the start of useful wide angle, and have a decent telephoto. If I were to add one, it would be the 35mm f/1.8, simply because it's fast for low light.

A 16-85, 55-200 (70-300 for AK), and 35 f/1.8 are my go-to Disney lenses on Nikon DX bodies - and I have a full stable of wide angle and bigger telephotos, f/2.8 and f/4 zooms, and faster primes to choose from. Beyond 16mm is just not very useful at WDW, by design, since the sightlines were designed by Eastman Kodak for their cheap consumer cameras, and beyond 200 mm on a crop body needs practice to use, and the A6000 just isn't up to DSLR focusing speeds or ergonomics when it comes to target finding on the long telephotos, so it's not very useful to go much longer until you have experience. The F20M flash is a good add-on as well, since it can do daylight fill flash much better and gets the flash away from the lens.

The big thing though: take what you have and practice! If you want good photos, at least 10k clicks, and preferably 20k, on the A6000 in a variety of situations between now and then is important!
 

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