Hello from Idaho

[dcisive]

I've lived in many places over my lifetime from Chicago, Wisconsin, the SF Bay Area, Salt Lake City and now Sount Central Idaho near the Snake River. I'm more or less retired. Formerly a professional wedding/Portrait and Real Estate photographer now captivated with the whole Birding art since we have so much wildlife and birds near where I am. I've owned just about every brand of camera/lenses you can name along the way. Currently with a Nikon Z9 and S lenses having just added a Sony A6700 to the mix making it easy to run around with. Looking forward to seeing what you're all into here.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Welcome! Always glad to see another APSC shooter on this forum.

 

[dcisive]

Welcome! Always glad to see another APSC shooter on this forum.

Yeah over the years of course had my share of APS-C cameras. I rather like the reach afforded by them and the less weight to carry around. I'm looking forward to working with the A6700's focus system. Sure grabs and locks onto subjects nicely.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Yeah over the years of course had my share of APS-C cameras. I rather like the reach afforded by them and the less weight to carry around. I'm looking forward to working with the A6700's focus system. Sure grabs and locks onto subjects nicely.

Yep, that's part of the reason I stuck with Sony APSC: amazing autofocus.

 

[alexpler]

Welcome to the forum, Lee! How are you enjoying the new 6700 so far?

Just I year ago I was undecided between the 6600 and the A7C, and finally I took the FF path but a light gear was one of the my deciding points so I can totally understand you went for the 6700.

 

[dcisive]

Welcome to the forum, Lee! How are you enjoying the new 6700 so far?

Just I year ago I was undecided between the 6600 and the A7C, and finally I took the FF path but a light gear was one of the my deciding points so I can totally understand you went for the 6700.

I'm sorry to report it's all gone back to the vendor. The 35-350G lens was defective (decentered) and the vendor said it had to ALL come back as it was sold as a kit and that's how it is. So I've decided to throw in the towel. I realize everyone has their own likes and dislikes about gear. Ironically the ONLY reason I even tried a 6700 kit was it was so small and I figured maybe there would be times I'd prefer a small setup to lug around. But in the end I decided it was more of a GAS motivated toy movement then reality. My Z9 and several S lenses in testing came out so far ahead it made no real sense for me to continue the investment. The stability on a Z9 is so unreal good I just couldn't put up with anything less. I felt that anything above ISO1600 rendered the beginning of denigration of the image at 100% on a 6700 where on a Z9 it can go right up to 12,800ISO with minimal reworking and retain all the detail and removal of noise. The kicker was low light performance which is nothing short of amazing on the Z9 where as the 6700 didn't fair so well. Distant shots also were perfection on the Z9 and Z glass where with the Sony it was ok but not great at the extremities. After all, the gear I use was initially intended to supplement my income as it does (weddings, portraits, real estate) so it didn't need much justification. Sorry I won't be able to contribute to the Sony side of things at this time. I wish you all a lot of enjoyment with your goodies.

 

[dcisive]

I won't engage in any flame infused commentary so I will just say that the level of performance of the higher level cameras in each manufacturer tend to be on a different level of performance in many ways. Some are content to work with the other levels of performance, say a micro 4.3rd or 1" sensor and of course any of the APS-C offerings. They all have some benefits to be sure. But if one is demanding the best dynamic range, color depth, focus performance and resolution you simply have to ante up for the upper crust gear. For those of us getting paid to do what we do we tend to go in that direction. The lessor items were for travel or less demanding applications. Some of us are not terribly fussy, and that alone has it's advantages. I'll just leave it there.

 

[dcisive]

I think the issue was more one of my being so used to a certain level of performance, that I didn't think as hard and long about what any potential resulting sacrifice might cause me to feel this way. I found the focusing on the A6700 to be very adequate indeed, no issues there. I guess once one is used to a higher megapixel, higher dynamic range and color depth sensor it's a bit hard to go back. Especially having a electronic shutter with speeds that avoid the typical issues most have. I'm over it now. So should you be.........

 

[dcisive]

Hopefully you won't think I'm a nut job. But then I can look around and see so many that buy cameras like they do new socks (on a regular basis and multiples). I decided to give the A6700 another try as I was very impressed with it's focus system and color rendition. This time I have the 18-135OSS lens along with the 70-350G (sent back prior as it was decentered) as well as a Sigma 30mm f1.4DC DN for low light indoors and such along with a 200-600G to try out for birding and wildlife. I just had to give it another try especially after seeing several Youtube's of birders and wildlife guys that had some amazing results with that A6700/200-600G combo. Hopefully I'll get some post worthy stuff. Our weather is sucking terribly right now.......near "0" degrees Fahrenheit along with more snow on the way. I'm just hoping I can get out for some shooting in a week or so. The whole country is gripped by this nasty winter stuff.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Hopefully you won't think I'm a nut job. But then I can look around and see so many that buy cameras like they do new socks (on a regular basis and multiples). I decided to give the A6700 another try as I was very impressed with it's focus system and color rendition. This time I have the 18-135OSS lens along with the 70-350G (sent back prior as it was decentered) as well as a Sigma 30mm f1.4DC DN for low light indoors and such along with a 200-600G to try out for birding and wildlife. I just had to give it another try especially after seeing several Youtube's of birders and wildlife guys that had some amazing results with that A6700/200-600G combo. Hopefully I'll get some post worthy stuff. Our weather is sucking terribly right now.......near "0" degrees Fahrenheit along with more snow on the way. I'm just hoping I can get out for some shooting in a week or so. The whole country is gripped by this nasty winter stuff.

wait wait wait. Let me understand: you purchased the A6700, you got a lemon 70-350 and were generally unhappy with the platform, sent it all back, and now repurchased the A6700 with 3 lenses... sorry 4 lenses?

I don't think you're nuts, I'm just jealous because I had a lot of convincing to do to get my wife to allow me to upgrade my a6400 to the a6700, and that's camera body alone

 

[dcisive]

Oh wait here's the real kicker. I was struggling with the whole thing and my wife is the one that INSISTED I order it once again and give it one more try. She knows me and knew if I didn't it was just going to keep bugging me not knowing if it was possible to get gear that had no issues this time around. Now I'm stuck waiting it out for FedX to get it together as we've been buried in snow here and it's delayed in getting across the country from the vendor (B&H). They are saying tomorrow Thursday so I have to hope it gets here then.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Oh wait here's the real kicker. I was struggling with the whole thing and my wife is the one that INSISTED I order it once again and give it one more try. She knows me and knew if I didn't it was just going to keep bugging me not knowing if it was possible to get gear that had no issues this time around. Now I'm stuck waiting it out for FedX to get it together as we've been buried in snow here and it's delayed in getting across the country from the vendor (B&H). They are saying tomorrow Thursday so I have to hope it gets here then.

Well, she's a keeper
As for the camera, I will be interested to see what your second thoughts on the A6700 will be, now that we've gotten over the obvious facts that it is neither full frame nor a megapixel monster.

As someone who does not have the ability to compare against more expensive kit, I accept that the A6700 will have limitations but it serves me well enough in my capacity as an amateur on a budget. APSC is about compromise. I'm afraid if you wanted the BEST resolution for stills in the same compact camera body, you might have needed to go with the A7C-II or A7C-R instead.

 

[dcisive]

The thing that kept gnawing at me was that I actually DID get some shots of birds and some cats at a distance that really enthralled me regarding the sharpness and color rendition. I'd be the 1st to admit the whole megapixel thing has a LOT more to do with the level of cropping that is planned and not nearly as much as "sharpness" or detail overall. The detail rendered on this 26mp sensor of the A6700 is more then competent enough to render fine details of any animal. The trick is keeping the ISO down (preferably below or at 1600ISO) and filling as much of the frame as possible. I didn't find the 1/4000th shutter speed limitation an issue so hopefully that won't rear it's ugly head for any reason. Ironically I was shooting largely in Electronic Shutter most of the time and noted NO rolling shutter at all. It's very overblown if you ask me. Battery life the way I had it set up before was fine as well. I had the buttons dialed in so won't have issues replicating that. Now if it if would just STOP the frik snowing I might get this gear tomorrow. I'm so sick of shoveling.

 

[alexpler]

I'm sorry to report it's all gone back to the vendor. The 35-350G lens was defective (decentered) and the vendor said it had to ALL come back as it was sold as a kit and that's how it is. So I've decided to throw in the towel. I realize everyone has their own likes and dislikes about gear. Ironically the ONLY reason I even tried a 6700 kit was it was so small and I figured maybe there would be times I'd prefer a small setup to lug around. But in the end I decided it was more of a GAS motivated toy movement then reality. My Z9 and several S lenses in testing came out so far ahead it made no real sense for me to continue the investment. The stability on a Z9 is so unreal good I just couldn't put up with anything less. I felt that anything above ISO1600 rendered the beginning of denigration of the image at 100% on a 6700 where on a Z9 it can go right up to 12,800ISO with minimal reworking and retain all the detail and removal of noise. The kicker was low light performance which is nothing short of amazing on the Z9 where as the 6700 didn't fair so well. Distant shots also were perfection on the Z9 and Z glass where with the Sony it was ok but not great at the extremities. After all, the gear I use was initially intended to supplement my income as it does (weddings, portraits, real estate) so it didn't need much justification. Sorry I won't be able to contribute to the Sony side of things at this time. I wish you all a lot of enjoyment with your goodies.

Well maybe you should try the A7C/II/R instead, as Sony's FF sensors are known for their good performance even on high ISO. And the A7C series are FF in the body of a ASPC, so they will be as light as the A6700.

 

[dcisive]

Well maybe you should try the A7C/II/R instead, as Sony's FF sensors are known for their good performance even on high ISO. And the A7C series are FF in the body of a ASPC, so they will be as light as the A6700.

Well, the primary reason I went with a A6700 was for the 900mm reach on a 200-600G lens. Otherwise I'd just stick with my Z9 for everything. I have no need to duplicate my gear in any way. APS-C has it's place which I'm about to explore further.

 

[alexpler]

Well, the primary reason I went with a A6700 was for the 900mm reach on a 200-600G lens. Otherwise I'd just stick with my Z9 for everything. I have no need to duplicate my gear in any way. APS-C has it's place which I'm about to explore further.

Cool. Have fun shooting.

 

[spudhead]

HI good to have new blood on here