The Online Photographer

Since I learned you can get a Sony camera converted to B&W only, I've been looking at Sony cameras.

I already own a conversion candidate...but that doesn't stop me from looking.  :-) 

Speaking of which, there's a sale on Sonys at B&H Photo right now—the stellar deal appears to be an A7 Mark II with a 28–70mm lens and some accessories for less than a grand; or you can choose the more recent A7 Mark III with the same lens. The same split is replicated with the high-res models, where the cheaper A7R Mark III is mirrored by the up-to-date A7R Mark IV (both with no lens but with a card, bag, and extra battery).

But the real dilemma—and a hard choice—seems to be between the top APS-C model, the A6600 (not included in the current sale), and the "standard" full-frame model, the A7 Mark III. The former is more compact and has a "rangefinder style" layout; the latter, which is really still quite compact by today's standards, has the more conventional faux-SLR type of body design.

Deciding between the two would be a hard choice to make I think, whether you're buying yourself or recommending a camera to others.

The Sony A6600 has a larger grip that houses
a bigger battery

For purchase and as a recommendation, I'd personally tend to lean toward the A6600, although I can see how others might do the opposite. I like the ex-NEX line of Sony products, and while I've never owned the A6000 or later cameras, I tested an A6500 at the end of 2017 and liked it. (Of course I have fond memories of my NEX-6 which is now a fossil in digital camera lifetimes.)

I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to be shooting stills with video cameras for the rest of my life—y'know, you adapt, even if you don't really like it—but in the case of the A6600, all the videocentric improvements and refinements have actually had one effect that stills shooters also really appreciate: namely a bigger, beefier grip and a bigger, better battery. That was done for video shooting I'm sure, but I love a good solid grip and I head out with a single battery nine times out of ten, so there's no harm in having one that lasts longer.

The A6600 in general has been highly refined by this point, and numerous reviews mention the superior finish and apparent build quality of the A6600, and the fact that Sony has revamped the haptics of the buttons, improving their "clickiness," their sound and feel. That's another of those things that shouldn't matter but does to me.

As far as lenses go, it is again a hard choice. Do you prefer Sony's latest G-Master statements, or do you tend to prefer smaller, lighter lenses? Of course they're all the same lensmount and will fit on either the A6600 or A7 Mark III, but most people will tend to match the lens to the sensor. There again, my preference tilts to the A6600. My baseline complement of lenses (for me, not as a recommendation necessarily) is a 35mm angle-of-view equivalent prime and an 85mm-e prime, and I'd love to have one of those beautiful Zeiss 24mm's paired with Sigma's lovely little 56mm ƒ/1.4 DC DN. What a sweet lens that is. They both are.

One thing both cameras have is Sony's Eye-AF focusing, which leads the field and is really a wonder of modern technology. It's a "sufficiently advanced" technology that remains magic. If you shoot people (or want to when the plague years end), it's got to be something you'd want.

There are many great cameras vying to be our "objects of desire." Obviously the list is very different for each of us. The A6600 would rank high on my own list. When I look at it I like pretty much everything I see.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

BOOK of the WEEK
as discussed in this post from last week:

How Not to Diet by Michael Greger
(Links go to Amazon)

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Andrew Young: "I had a Sony A7R Mark II converted to monochrome last year and really enjoy it. I greatly prefer it to color cameras for black and white images. It streamlines the workflow and looks great. I print using the Piezography monochrome inkjet system, so it is 100% B&W from start to finish. Great fun."

Arg: "Let’s face it: mirrorless cameras are only possible, with a pleasant EVF experience, if the sensor is a video device first and foremost. Even if the camera couldn’t record video, its sensor has to output high-quality, high-bitrate, low-latency video. Hooray for video-oriented sensors!"

Greg K.: "This past summer, I switched from Canon to Sony after nearly three decades of film and digital cameras from the former. I initially expected to buy an A6600 and the 200–600mm lens for bird photography, figuring the extra crop factor would often be very useful.

"Despite all the good technology inside of the A6600, after actually handling it in our local camera store, I strongly disliked the ergonomics of the smaller body. Trying to change settings in shooting position required uncomfortable contortions of my hand to reach the dials and I knew I would not enjoy using that camera body. I walked out of the store that day pretty disappointed because I knew my shopping was going to get a lot more expensive (I eventually bought an A7R Mark IV). The full frame Sony bodies fit my hand better than their APS-C bodies but even so, I still added the battery grip to my A7R Mark IV because my hand started to hurt after long days of shooting. Now, perhaps the balance is different if you are going to shoot with smaller lenses (as is more typical for many other types of photography). For me, the APS-C vs. full frame and newer vs. previous generation decisions were rapidly subjugated to handling considerations, which actually simplified my buying process."