a6000 recommended accessories?

[Nick Gatel]

My wife bought me this camera and the two kit lenses (16-50mm & 55-210mm). I ordered a Wasabi charger and a couple batteries, a Sony screen saver, and a shutter remote. Years ago I used a SLR and am not interested going into the financial black hole of a bunch of lenses, although I might get a prime 35mm. I already have several tripods.

Anything else you would recommend? How is the strap? Is there a better one, or have you dispensed with a strap altogether since the camera is so light?

Has anyone used this with a telescope? I have a piggyback mount for my 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain. Any experience with a 2″ T-Adaptor that works with the e-mount?

[Ian]

I really like the 55-210 but the 16-50 is softer than what I care for.  YMMV

Focusing on things other than lenses, these are some additions that I’ve come to appreciate.

• $3 hot shoe spirit level
• Giottos Rocket Air Blaster.  I get a fair amount of dust on the sensor and consider this to be a must have item, although I never bring it backpacking.
• Meike Macro Tubes.  They are plastic, but for $19, they get the job done and my autofocus works reasonably well
• CPL and ND filters.  I’m using a 49mm CPL filter from B+W and a Tiffen knock off ND filter system that I got off of Amazon for $20.  Both work great.
• Will recently started a thread where he said that he doesn’t like the Peak Design camera strap, but I really like their Leash Camera Strap.  This was among the first things I upgraded on my camera as I didn’t care for the one Sony provides.

[Ian]

Also…

If you’re going to edit on an iOs device, regardless of what image setting you choose (ie Raw), the camera will send the image to your device as a jpeg if you transfer the images over with Sony’s Share Memories app.  If you want to edit it in its raw format, you’ll need to transfer it with a card.  The “editing Raw files on iOs” is all theoretical for me as I just learned yesterday that the current version of Lightroom Mobile is capable of doing this.  This wasn’t the case when I tried it when the app was first released.  I will pick up the SD to lightning dongle later this weekend to see how well/poorly this works.  If anyone reading this knows of another work around, please share.

Same goes for panoramic shots.  It’ll default to jpeg, even if you have raw selected as your preferred file format.

[Nick Gatel]

Thanks, Ian!

Focusing on things other than lenses, these are some additions that I’ve come to appreciate.

• $3 hot shoe spirit level
• Giottos Rocket Air Blaster.  I get a fair amount of dust on the sensor and consider this to be a must have item, although I never bring it backpacking.
• Meike Macro Tubes.  They are plastic, but for $19, they get the job done and my autofocus works reasonably well
• CPL and ND filters.  I’m using a 49mm CPL filter from B+W and a Tiffen knock off ND filter system that I got off of Amazon for $20.  Both work great.
• Will recently started a thread where he said that he doesn’t like the Peak Design camera strap, but I really like their Leash Camera Strap.  This was among the first things I upgraded on my camera as I didn’t care for the one Sony provides.

My RX100 has a level built into the screen, but I never use it. If I need to adjust the level, I do it with software (which does crop some of the picture). Curious how you use this and why you like it so much.

I never had a camera with an exposed sensor, so that air blaster sounds like a critical item.

Never heard of a macro tube until now and just read up a little. I am surprised that it is so useful to you given my experience with macro shots on the RX100 and the large size of its RAW files for editing. Can you explain a little more on how and why you use these? They’re pretty inexpensive and would be a good purchase if they make a difference. With the RX100 I mostly do landscapes and some macros, but the large zoom lens will enable me to do more wildlife although I plan to mostly stick with the RX100 for backpacking.

I’ve never been one for filters other than UV to protect lenses. Joyce bought the camera with an accessory package from Amazon (for the same cost as just a camera and lenses) and it came with 3 cheap Vivitar filters, so I’ll probably play around with those first.

I usually remove straps, but old age has made me a bit clumsy or perhaps inattentive at times. I like the quick release on that Leash Camera Strap. I guess I’ll just use the included strap for a while and then make a decision based on how I use it.

If you’re going to edit on an iOs device, regardless of what image setting you choose (ie Raw), the camera will send the image to your device as a jpeg if you transfer the images over with Sony’s Share Memories app.  If you want to edit it in its raw format, you’ll need to transfer it with a card.  The “editing Raw files on iOs” is all theoretical for me as I just learned yesterday that the current version of Lightroom Mobile is capable of doing this.  This wasn’t the case when I tried it when the app was first released.  I will pick up the SD to lightning dongle later this weekend to see how well/poorly this works.  If anyone reading this knows of another work around, please share.

Same goes for panoramic shots.  It’ll default to jpeg, even if you have raw selected as your preferred file format.

Yeah, not sure how useful the wireless function will be until I play with it. My MacBook Pro has an SD slot built in, so that is what I usually use although sometimes I’ll just use the USB cable. I have Lightroom iOS and it is so limited versus LR5 on my computer, so I’ll stick with computer processing. I shoot 100% RAW anyway. The RX100 also does panoramic as JPEGs too. At least I’m used to the Sony user interface.

Again, thanks for the feedback. I hope my wife doesn’t feel like a camera widow as I spend time to learn how to use this thing :-)

[Nick Gatel]

Holy Moly! How did the bullets in the block quote change font sizes? I just copied and pasted it.

[Ian]

I had something similar happen earlier when I copied/pasted some text.  Weird glitch.

I assume nothing has changed but my camera didn’t come with a hot shoe cover.  For $3 with an included spirit level, I figured why not.  I compose most of my pictures using the EVF and I have the rule of thirds lines turned on.  This serves me well but I still find myself making micro adjustments in post.  Where the spirit level comes in handy is when I’m setting the camera up on a tripod and looking down on it.  Like you said, I can and do straighten it out in post but that will crop some of the picture.

As far as the macro tubes and filters go, it’s just personal preference.  The camera has good resolution but I’d rather use the tubes to get the macro shot than crop and turn a ~20mp picture into a 10mp one.  There’s a less compelling reason to use ND filters as I can take several shots without one, stack the pictures in post processing, and get the same final product.  Likewise, instead of using a graduated ND filter, I can shoot it in HDR and not have to compromise on either blowing out the skies or massively under exposing the fore ground.

For me, I enjoy the whole process from shooting to post processing so farting around with the filters and whatnot adds to the enjoyment as I sort out my formula for the shot.

[J-F B]

A very dark Nd filter for me is one of the most amazing pieces of gear you can get. The Hoya 1000 cuts out 10 stops of light and means I can have fairly long exposures for those travelling cloud effects. Of course you also need a tripod but I just carry a small travel tripod that I can strap to a branch or post.  Light and effective. A circular polarizer <span style=”line-height: 1.8;”> is also a must for me. </span>

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