Hi - newbies mum

[joannewright931]

Hello everyone. Ive joined as my son (15) is looking a camera/lens for Christmas. Hes been using his phone for past 2 years. Mostly car photography (static and on track)

Options are we think unless any better recommendations
Sony A6400 with sigma 18-50
Sony A7iii ( a lot more expensive tho) with sigma 28-70

Any advice greatly appreciated from 2 clueless parents

 

[Unframed Dave]

He's chosen an excellent hobby and personally I think that's an excellent choice of present.

The 6400 is a great camera, however I'd be inclined to go up a step to the 6600 if the budget allows. Main reason being, it uses the same battery as the full frame cameras. If he grows into the hobby more, he may well go that way and will have some commonality.

I think both lenses will be a bit short on range for on track use, but ideal for stationary photos. It's hard to find a one lens does all lens. Sony do an 18 - 200 which can be found secondhand for around the £200 mark. That would cover all his requirements and be useful for landscape, street, travel and to some extent wildlife.

Good luck.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Welcome Joanne! Hang on tight, we're going down the rabbit hole...

The A7III and accompanying lens are full frame gear and you would get locked in to always purchasing this class of gear which is heavier and more expensive. On the other hand, the image quality with that camera, in the hands of a pro, are superior.

Nothing wrong with the APSC gear (A6XXX line), its cheaper, smaller, lighter, and in good light the image quality can come close to the A7III. I agree with Dave, if you can make the stretch, get him an A6600 instead of an A6400. In addition to the bigger battery as mentioned by Dave, the A6600 also has IBIS (in body image stabilization) that will help your kiddo get smoother shots.

If he's interested in cars and track shots, maybe the Sony 18-135mm "kit" lens would be sufficient. It works best in day time since the aperture doesn't open as wide as the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 you mentioned. If you're not into cameras just know this: the smaller the "f" number, the wider the aperture opens and more light it lets in (so better performance in dim light), but also means more expensive. That is a simplified way of describing it (hopefully the pros on this forum don't wave their pitchforks at me). You can look for a deal on Black Friday (do they have that in the UK?) which includes both the camera body and kit lens as a combo.

Another nugget of info: comparing jpg photos from a recent smartphone and one of these cameras, your son might initially be disappointed. Smartphones do some processing for you that cameras do not, so he will have to learn to understand his camera and how to edit the photos afterwards on pc/mac to fully appreciate the images. You may need to invest in editing software, or his allowance can pay for the subscription cost

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I thought about this some more after lunch. The only flaw in my lens advice above is if your son wants to take more pictures at car shows than at the track. Back in the early 2000's, I used to go to Hot Import Nights and they were indoor car shows where it was deliberately dimly lit with occasional neon lights and spotlights. I never had a camera for those kind of conditions back then.
Now I don't know what kind of car shows or museums your son might visit, but dimmer light would necessitate those more expensive lenses I mentioned above, lenses like the Sigma 18-50 f2.8, Tamron 17-70 f2.8 or a prime lens that comes in f1.8 or even f1.4. This is why it's hard to suggest a singular perfect lens for all scenarios, it doesn't exist.