At its core this channel is about a guy Who back in 2015 late 2015 bought an A6000 and then bought a bunch of Accessories and lenses for it and what Turned out as a photography hobby turned Into a quasi career if you want to call It that and even today the most common Question that I get from you guys is What camera should I get if I'm just Starting out what length should I get if I'm just starting out and what should I Buy if I'm on a budget so that's the Question that I'm going to answer in This video and I'm going to take it Quite literally I bought a camera and a Lens about three or four weeks ago for The purpose of this video so you'll see What I paid how I bought them this is What I bought the camera body a6100 and The lens the sigma 16 millimeter F 1.4 Which should come as no surprise for Those of you who have followed my Channel for any length of time now if You just came to see the camera in the Lens this is it but I think that this Video gets a whole lot more interesting When I just discuss my rationale and my Overall thoughts in purchasing this lens Over other lenses and this camera over Other cameras so let's start with the Camera body itself this is the a6100 That I bought just a month ago or so for This video I paid 490 dollars for it on EBay but after taxes it's 541 dollars
USD it's used but advertised as only 200 Clicks on it in the listing and indeed I Checked it and snapped the 160 second Photo with this camera which is nothing It's like a brand new camera body and The condition is Flawless no scratches Or blemishes to mention now what's great About buying the a6100 in 2023 is that Prices are a bit more down to earth you Guys may remember I did a video sometime In 2020 when I couldn't buy one of these Cameras for less than a thousand dollars Even used now it's about five hundred Dollars which I think is incredible Value so the question is why the a61 100 Why not the more expensive a6400 a6600 Why not the zve10 why not a full-frame Camera body why not a smaller one inch Sensor body and I will say this I have a lot and I have owned a lot of Camera bodies over the course of this YouTube channel at one point in time I Had all six of the aps-c lineup for a Comparison video and in fact I did own All six of those camera bodies and since Then I've kind of traded some of them Off for other newer camera bodies and I Guess the point that I'm trying to get To is the fact that out of all the Cameras that I've owned and that I Currently own the a6100 is by far the One that I use most often that I've Taken the most photos with that I've Done the most video work with and really
The reason is the a6100 is just as good For photo and video work as the a66 and The a64 and the zve10 for that matter so Why would I not recommend the cheaper A6000 well because I don't think that The savings is quite worth it let me Start by saying that in most cases You'll save about 100 us if you are Looking for a used a6000 versus an a6100 So 4 400 for an a6000 or 500 for an A6100 to me is a no-brainer get the A6100 if you walk into your local Best Buy and want to buy a camera there first Of all probably a bad idea but check out The price of the a6000 here Still in 2023 next there are some big Improvements and advantages to having an A6100 over in a6000 the color science First of all is vastly better and Improved battery life is significantly Better overheating and video is solved You have better video codecs you can Record in 4k instead of just 1080P and I'm not saying that the a6000 is a bad Camera I know a ton of people who still Use it and still love it and it's a Camera that started it all for me and For many others out there but again the A6100 is simply better for not much more Money but Arthur Why not pick up the Zvee 10 which is a newer better camera Body so they say anyway on YouTube and There are a couple of reasons for this Now if you guys don't know the zve E10
Is kind of a more video focused mini Aps-c camera so it's similar to the A6100 but again it's geared more towards Videography has a little flippy screen Whereas this one doesn't have the flippy Screen it just does the Tilt the biggest Deal with the zve10 is it has built-in Eis or electronic image stabilization so For video work you can stabilize your Footage and make it look better which is A big deal but there are some drawbacks To this first and foremost and the Biggest thing for me The viewfinder electronic viewfinder That you see on this which means you can Put your eye up here and see what you're Shooting does not exist on the zve E10 Which is a big big shortcoming if you Are using these cameras for photography If you're outside on a sunny day and You're trying to snap a photograph That viewfinder is priceless honestly uh It's annoying that it's not included on This camera and I do miss it when I take This out and I'm trying to take Photographs the other thing is there's a Couple of other small quirks that I Don't really like about this camera the Fact that Sony removed a whole bunch of Functional buttons and I mean functional As in real function buttons and then Other buttons that have functional Purposes just makes this camera more Difficult to use out in the wild than
The a6100 add to that it's a little bit More expensive even out on the used Market you're looking at 600 versus About 500 and to me that electronic Stabilization as great as it is you have To do it in post but you have to do it Before you put together and edit your YouTube video so again I would much Rather spend the extra hundred dollars And buy a cheap gimbal using a 6100 and Have stable video versus using this Handheld and then having to go in Manually one by one stabilize all the Clips and then export them put them into Premiere and then edit it's just more of A hassle and the last justification is Why would you not go out and spend the Money on a full frame Sony mirrorless Camera Right here and this is perhaps the most Fun one to answer because it makes the Most people angry or upset or Uncomfortable whatever it is but I'm Gonna start out with some facts fact is Most people don't need a full-frame Mirrorless camera They just don't fact is most people who Have a full-frame Sony mirrorless camera They're not pushing the camera to its Limits they really aren't most people Who have an aps-c camera in most Situations are not pushing that camera To its limits these cameras are very Very capable and even in my eyes I think
That they are too capable for me and you Can call me an amateur you can call me a Professional whatever it is now there Are two reasons why people Buy Full-frame cameras or why you should Consider buying a full-frame camera in General number one is low light Performance because the sensor on this Camera is larger than the sensor on this That means it gathers more light so if You're working in the dark if you're Shooting video or photos in the dark This is going to give you better images And better video and the second reason Is similar but if you're taking pictures Of let's say a person portrait work and You want super duper blurry backgrounds This is going to give you more subject Separation and a narrower focal plane so At an equivalent focal length the full Frame camera will give you you a Different look if that's what you're About so you have to ask yourself two Questions are you going to be shooting Outside in the dark to wear a camera That's going to offer you maybe 20 Better performance is that going to be a Routine thing for you to where you'll See that Improvement or are you going to Be photographing people where a 20 Smoother background or more blurry Background is going to make a difference To you or a client that is paying you And I'll say this here because I think
This is important and needs to be said Most people who are out there buying the Newest best greatest most expensive Full-frame mirrorless cameras are more Gear heads than they are professionals And I say this not in a negative way but From experience because I have several People in my family who are Photographers that's what they do for a Living and I can't even have a Conversation with them about cameras or Gear because they don't know anything About cameras or gear they have their One cam camera that they love that They've always used they have one lens That they use usually a prime 35 50 75 85 whatever it is that's their one go-to Lens and that's all they want and I Asked them do you want to upgrade do you Want something better No they don't they simply don't they're Happy with what they have and their work Is constantly improving the actual Photography or the actual skill side of Their business on the flip side I talk To people who are wearing a Sony A1 six Thousand dollars with a nice G Master For a couple thousand dollars on it and Ask them what they do for a living and They have an office job but they like to Do photography on the weekends and again I'm not saying this in a bad way because There are certainly professionals out There who have the newest and the best
Gear and that's great I applaud them for Doing that and having that I'm just Saying that there's a big section of People who just like having the newest Gear I mean I'm one of them I I'm all About getting the newest and greatest Camera bodies mostly to share that with You guys but also because I'm genuinely Interested in seeing where this stuff Goes where the camera industry goes and Where lens manufacturing takes us I Guess what I'm trying to say is that the Gear that you have does not define or Even indicate the level of talent that Have I'm more impressed with someone who Can take an amazing shot with a cheap Aps-c camera and lens then I am Impressed with a photo taken by someone With a twelve thousand dollar camera Setup now does the Gear help absolutely But I think at a certain point the Expensive gear becomes an excuse not to Focus on refining your skills and that Is bad if you don't have to think Anymore because your camera does all of The thinking for you are you really a Photographer and what I found especially With aps-c cameras and lenses compared To full frame is after aps-c you get an Increasingly diminishing return for Every additional dollar that you spend I Mean the curve is pretty flat towards The end meaning that if you buy a good Camera body that's an aps-c with a good
Lens you can perform almost as well as a Full frame setup at half the price maybe A third of the price what you get for Double and sometimes triple your money With a full frame camera is not double Or triple better in comparison sometimes It's not even better at all so for most People especially those just starting Out the aps-c size sensor is going to be More than enough to start out your Photography in your video journey and This will allow you for many many years Of growth and development and building Up your skill set so that's the camera Body this is what I recommend for the Bunny if you are starting out and look I Think we are on the cusp of some new Camera bodies from Sony I really do I Think we should see some new APC bodies Out soon with improvements and features That will be very compelling but if You're new if you're starting from zero And you don't want to spend more than You have to the a6100 is still the best Solution and now on to the lens so this Is the sigma 16 millimeter F 1.4 Contemporary series lens that came out In 2017 and probably is the most popular Lens available for Sony aps-c email I'd Like to think that I'm part of the Reason for that because this is the lens That I've recommended to more people Than any other lens that I've ever Recommended and that says a lot I did a
Video a couple of years ago if I could Only have one lens which one would it be It was this one now if I were to remake That video today I'd probably change my Opinion a little bit because I am a big Fan of the new Sigma 18 to 50 and it's a Little bit more usable but for the money You simply cannot beat this lens right Here in fact when I look back at all the Photos that I've taken over the years The majority of them the vast majority Of them were taken with this 16 Millimeter Sigma it's a very sharp lens It focuses well and quickly it offers Nice subject separation even though it's A wide field of view it's a wide angle So you can use it in almost any Situation and the results speak for Themselves it does everything well and Is an extreme versatile lens for being a Prime meaning that you can't zoom in or Out because I still get that question Sometimes yo I bought a sigma 16 Millimeter how do I zoom you can't bro You just can't this one in particular Was one I picked up used as well about Three weeks ago and I paid a nice 230 Dollars US for it used on the photo Market Forum on Reddit it's a great Place to look if you're trying to pick Up a lens or a camera for cheap from Someone else no sales tax so all Together for the camera body and the Lens I am in this setup for 771 dollars
U.S give yourself another fifteen Dollars for an SD card that's 785 or so All in now is this the best lens out There probably not and undoubtedly there Will be better lenses released out in The future but for the money I think Honestly you cannot beat it for 230 Especially used there's nothing out There that will ever come out that will Beat this in terms of performance in Terms of build quality in terms of Optics whatever it is the one thing that I will say is that I do as I mentioned Before really like the new 18 to 50 from Sigma it's a zoom lens constant F 2.8 But the problem with this lens is that Even used it's expensive it's four to Five hundred dollars versus 230 dollars So that's why I didn't put it in this Video but if you have a little bit more Money check this one out the other thing Is because this is a prime lens meaning You can't zoom in or out it forces you To zoom with your feet and really think About composition where stuff is rule of Thirds all of that stuff so it forces You to become a better photographer to Use it which I think is a good thing as Well so all together this is simply a Financially smart and functionally Brilliant setup you don't need much more For starting out your photography and Video Journey this is the camera and the Lens that I used to film probably over
50 percent of my YouTube videos when my Wife started her workout Channel this Was was the camera and the lens that she Used in fact this entire video that You've been watching has been filmed Using an a6100 and the sigma 16 Millimeter but these are my own that I've owned for the past four or five Years and It's great honestly in a small room like This for the purposes of making YouTube Videos you cannot get anything better I Think even by spending double money the Goal at the end of all of this is Hopefully you start out you get this Camera and lens and you use it to make Awesome videos and take amazing pictures For paying clients and then you grow Your business and slowly upgrade what You need lights gimbals Studios whatever It is and then you can check out more Expensive cameras and lenses but you Don't need the best of the best in the Beginning you simply don't and even if You never do something professionally Even if you are just snapping photos and Capturing family moments I can't tell You how amazing it is to have these Memories it's a moment that is 1 400th Of a second that's frozen in time but Carries so much emotion and feeling Behind it that's why I bought my a6000 In the first place my goal was never to Become some YouTuber and show off my
Skills to some audience my goal was to Take some good pictures of my family and To save those memories because I knew we Only have a finite time on this great Big green and blue ball that we call Earth and I think I'm going to end it Right there I hope that this has been Helpful thank you guys so much for Watching stay tuned for more have a nice Day bye
