millsart

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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Hmmm, A6000 is a great camera but I don't like it at all



A6000 is probably the best bang for the buck on the market right now, its a ton of camera for under $700.



For me it just has some frustrating omissions though, which had I not previously used the A7, might not seem as big of issues.



For example, I have my A7 set up where the down direction on the control dial brings up the AF focus settings, so when I want to move the AF point around the frame, which I usually keep on Small or Medium, all I do is hit the down button, and then can can move the point around the screen (the c3/trash button returns it to center FYI)



A6000 doesn't give me that option to assign such a feature to the down button for some reason.



Additionally, I have come to really love face/eye detect AF. One of the things I didn't like about the XT1 was how poor Fuji's face detect was in comparison. It would always give me focus on the brim of a hat, tip of the nose etc, Sony is great at getting the eyes, as is Olympus for that matter.



What I like to do is have AF off of the shutter, which is how I've always used my DSLR's with an AF on button, so I can do things like prefocus/zone focus and then just hit the shutter as needed.



I set up the A7 where the af/mf toggle button in the up position is AF on, and then when the toggle is down, in the AEL postion, that is assigned to eye detect.



This basically lets me have instant access to both AF modes, small or medium point for non-human things, and eye detect (which shifts to face detect when it can't lock an eye). On the A6000, there is the AEL button, and I could assign this to one or the other, but not both.



Same goes for the lack of a front dial, I really can't understand why Sony wouldn't of added a dial either around the shutter button, or into the front grip.



If you assign the top dial to EC, which is where I'm used to having EC, then your stuck using the back control dial for Av or SS, depending on mode.



That isn't too bad really, but then, when your in M mode, the camera goes and automatically defaults the top dial back to Av or SS, with the opposite on the control dial. To access EC, you then need to have a button also set up to access EC.



This is annoying for 2 reasons really, 1) having Exp Comp in Manual mode, with Auto ISO, is simply a brilliant way of shooting, I love that control. and 2), given Sony doesn't let you set a min. shutter for auto ISO, you basically need to use M mode with auto ISO if you want to set a min. shutter speed.



So its taking something that works beautifully on the A7, having a front dial for SS, a back thumb dial for Av, and then a dedicated EC dial, and makes you have to make due with just one dial.



Now granted its a different camera, so I can't expect it to be exactly the same, but I figured since the menu's were the same, it shares the same lenses etc, that I would be able to set it up pretty much the same, and that just isn't the case.



Its almost harder having 2 very similar cameras that are set up differently than using 2 totally different types of camera.



I've lost track of how many times I've tried to turn the mode dial with my thumb thinking its my Av dial, or trying to turn what is normally programmed to be the EC dial and changing the aperture because I'm in M mode, because the auto ISO min shutter choice is too slow when the light gets low.



I didn't love the A7 right away, it took time for its grip and controls to grow on me, but with time I've found it to be a really clever and very customizable camera.





