Nostradamus part deux

 

It is almost 8 years to the day that I made some predictions on the future of cameras and photography. 

When I reviewed them in 2015, I rated my reviews and in truth my scoring was mixed, however 7 years have passed, so I thought it would be worth revisiting those predictions

So was I dead wrong, or was a just ahead of my time? do my predictive powers hold up or am I just another wannabe prophet? 

To find out read on...

2014 Predictions

1. Mirror-less cameras will continue to make in-roads into the professional market, taking market share from DSLR's, even at the top end.

When I made this prediction in 2014, the first high-end full frame mirrorless cameras, such as the Sony A7R II, were just coming on the market,

Reading the comments on forums like dpreview, there were many who doubted that such cameras could make in-roads into the established DSLR manufacturers. It was said that focusing was not good enough, battery life was poor and there was a lack of lens choice. Also, electronic viewfinders were criticized when compared to optical viewfinders on SLR's that they had poor resolution and had lags when tracking and when the camera fired, the EVF would black out.

8 years on, and it is clear that mirrorless has now taken over from DSLRs. Autofocus, for a long time the Achilles heel of mirrorless cameras, has matched or even surpassed DSLR models, and have added features such as eye and animal detect maening even in areas like sport and wildlife where DSLR's reinged supreme, mirrorless cameras are now common.

The EVF's have increased resolution to the point that they are the equal optical viewfinders, with a high refresh rate meaning black out and lag are virtually eliminated They also have the benefit of the extra viewfinder information that they contain and the ability for you to see what the actual photo will look like before you take the image

Even lenses are not a problem. Sony filled out their range with a combination of in-house manufacture and encouraging third party support, while Canon and Nikon provided adapters to allow mirrorless cameras to use legacy glass,

In 2015, I gave myself 8/10, but today it is not hard to argue that I deserve

10/10

 
2. Nikon and Canon will produce their 1st full frame mirror-less cameras. Nikon's especially will not gain much market share due to commercially driven design compromises.

 In 2015, it was felt that Nikon and Canon were still very much betting their future on DSLR's. This in turn gave Sony a free run to compete with big 2 cameras manufactures by developing their range of full frame mirrorless cameras. 

 For a long time Nikon and Canon were in denial, however the writing was on the wall, and Nikon eventually produced its first full frame mirrorless body in 2018, and Canon following soon after. 

Since then, it is clear both manufacturers see the future as mirrorless, and the future of any more DSLR development severely in doubt.

To credit Nikon, its 1st foray into mirrorless was very good and managed to stem the market share loss to Sony. However, unlike Sony and Canon, Nikon relies heavily on camera sales, and it does not have deep pockets. Developing and maintaining both the mirrorless and DSLR lines must have been expensive for Nikon. Also, due to the delay to entering the market means that Sony are now equal in terms of market share in the high-end areas, and Sony continues to be aggressive in its development strategy

Nikon on the other hand has history and intense customer loyalty to fall back on, but it remains to be seen whether Nikon can survive in this new world where it cannot share out the market equally with Canon

In 2015, I gave myself a dismal 0/10, but now...

9/10

3. There will not be much increase in maximum pixel counts in cameras. Instead, efforts will be made to increase the sensitivity of existing sensors by going full frame with fewer pixels on mid-range cameras

One of the certainties of the 2015 was that the camera megapixel war would continue unabated. At the time, 20MP was common, but cameras with 40MPwere coming onto the market.

Today, high MP is not seen as important. The sweet spot of APC is still around 20MP, but Sony full frame have gone as high as 60 Mpixels on its latest and greatest, which is not that much more than the Sony A7R 45 Mpixels of 2018. If you want 100 MPixel you will need to invest in high end, medium format cameras, which at best are niche products

This slowing of megapixel growth has been driven by 3 factors.

Firstly, is the law of diminishing return. The increased in resolution between 45 Mpixel camera and a 60 Mpixel camera is actually quite small, and at the same time it increases costs, the dependency on lens design, and camera stabilization etc. You will not see much benefit in this sort of increases of sensor pixel count while at the same time it increases the demand on storage and post-processing effort

Secondly, is the rise in computational photography. This has negated some of the resolution benefits of higher resolution sensors. Many cameras offer some manner of pixel shift capability, where the camera takes 4 images and combines them to quadruple the resolution. While the implementation in many cases is less than optimal, it is often an easier and cheaper way to get the increased resolution in those rare occasions when it is actually needed. Computation photography will no doubt improve removing, much of the need for higher resolution sensors

Finally, is the rise in video. Almost all cameras now promote their video capabilities as much as their photographic ones. It used to be 4K photography was the norm, but now high-end cameras are pushing 8K recording. However, video performance is dependent on how fast you can read from the sensor. Recording 120 frames at 8K means you need to shift the data out very fast. Even more important, the faster you read the sensor, the fewer effects like rolling shutter you get. However, the more pixels you have, the slower the read-out gets, meaning cameras have to resort to cropping the sensor.

Instead of increased pixels, we have seen improvements in both the readout speed and sensitivity of the sensor by changes in the sensor architecture, such as back side illumination chips that allow more light to be captured and read more quickly. These in turn have produced cameras which are almost ISO invariant in that even at high sensitivity they are creating little or no noise in the images.

In 2015, I gave myself 1/10, today....

Score 8/10

4. Sony will continue to indicate their continued support of the Alpha series  DSLR's, while doing bugger all to actually back up the claim by filling out the product range with a model between the A57 and A77II. In the meantime, they will produce 2 new mirrorless cameras, the A7S II and the A7R II.

To be honest, this was a no-brainer. The A-Series DSLR was based on technology bought when Sony took over Minolta which introduced a split screen that part of the light went to the sensor and part to the EVF. It allowed Sony to create a camera with some of the capabilities of a mirrorless DSLR, but with the cost of reduced light to the sensor. It was clear however that it was a stop gap solution and the future was pure mirrorless as long as the technology challenges could be worked out.

The complication was that although the writing was on the wall, for a long time Sony denied that the line was dead. Clearly now it was a commercial decision to ensure return of investment from the lens. The last camera, the Sony A99 II being brought out on Sept 2016, even then Sony refused to confirm the death of the line leaving many Sony DSLT users to hoping for an upgrade and production continued until 2020 when Sony was finally admitted it would be killing off the line and concentrating on their pure mirrorless cameras. 

You would have thought that the cameras would now be junk, but a Sony A99 II will still set you back £2500 on fleabay, so obviously there is still some love out there, and of course a lot of legacy glass.

Score at the time was 6/10, but now

Score 10/10


5. High-end cameras to use more smartphone technology in their OS. Not only the ability to upload photos via mobile networks, but also download apps to add new functionality to the camera. Also, it would be great if cameras opened up their SDK, so it allowed programming of new functionality. Why limit yourself to 5 stop HDR where you could expand your camera to do 10 stops and focus stacking at the same time. Preferably using some sort of graphical programming environment. (This was not mine originally but borrowed from Mark Abeln, but was too good not to include)

Today, the majority of photography is taken on mobile phones. Mobile phone cameras have grown from a toy to a serious photographic tool that has killed the small digital camera market. 

To overcome the inherent disadvantages of lens and sensor of mobile phone cameras, phone designers have added computational photography techniques such as combining multiple images to reduce noise and increase dynamic range. 

Not only that, but on a mobile you can add apps to customize the phones, process your images on the device, update your images to social media together with location info. They even allow you to make phone calls :)

It seemed obvious at the time that camera manufacturers would have to embrace some of these new technologies and build them into the cameras. However, that has singularly failed to happen, with camera OS showing little change to the one in 2015

I recently reviewed a Samsung Galaxy Camera I was given. Despite being almost 10 years old, I was blown away of how modern it felt, with a huge rear screen, mobile connectivity and apps. This should of been the future of all cameras, but for some reason design and innovation has stalled in camera design. I always think that it is a sign that designers have run out of ides where they start going down the retro route like the Nikon fc.

Sony did try having a app store for a while, but basically blew it by making it a closed shop. However the argument to have the ability to extend your camera or customise its functionality is a powerful one, and it seems only the conservative elements in camera design are stalling it happening. 

For example on my camera I can set ISO limits, but they are crude. What I want is the ability to set a ISO limit, a speed limit and a aperture limit. I want them to cut in at certain light levels, so I can say ISO 100, speed 1/100 Aperture F8 is the limit, but when it gets darker it can go to ISO 400 etc. 

The other big area of mobile technology is connectivity. For example not many cameras provide a headphone jack, because the are large ane unweildy. Why then do cameras not provide bluetooth audio? It seems a no brainer, but no camera on the market offers it

While some connectivity to the cloud is offered, cameras are still a closed area with limited outside access and connectivity. They also provide little customisation both in the camear operation and adding extra functionality via a app store

Any way my score the was 1 out of 10, today dissappointingly it is still

1 out of 10

Conclusion

So 7 years on, it seems the majority of my predictions have been borne out. So waht will happen in the next 7 years?

Thsi will be the subjectb of another blog when I have looked in my crystal balls and consulted my tarot cards..

coming soon.

The most pointless review you will read this week

If you are a photographer and haven't recently returned from 6 months in deepest Borneo, you may have noticed that Nikon has announced a new camera format and two new cameras.

Unfortunately my invitation to the Nikon launch party got mislaid in the mail and Nikon failed to provide me with a pre-launch copy. This is not a great surprise since I am hardly their core demographic since I have never owned a piece Nikon kit and I don't foresee myself ever doing so (someone should do a photographic version of the film sliding doors where the same person goes into a camera shop, and ends up buying a Nikon, Canon and Sony and we see how that decision changes their lives [The answer, not a lot and none of them end up sleeping with Gwynetth Paltrow])

It is therefore a pointless exercise for me to comment on either of these cameras, So I am going to stop right here...

Except....

the internet is largely exists to cater for those with little knowledge and big opinions, and who am I to fight that. I do also have a little knowledge of how technology is developed and  especially how large companies work, so let me enlighten you on that basis.

So here is my pointless opinion.

How to get ahead in advertising

One thing I must congratulate Nikon on is their viral advertising campaign. Over the last months they have sneaked teaser after teaser to the awaiting world, to the point it felt that Nikonistas have a collective orgasm when it was released.

But once the cigarette has been smoked and the post-coital glow has subsided it is worth examining what we really got here. Is it the best mirrorless camera ever (or "sex Mirrorless reinvented" as Nikon put it), or just a the camera equivalent of a one night stand, which will be embarrassingly forgotten when the true love turns up? (enough of the sexual metaphors - Ed).

In truth it is somewhere in the middle.

Up to the launch it has been a lot of fun reading the speculation on various forums  on what the camera will do.Things like it natively taking all F  mount lenses (it was never going to happen), 100 M pixel sensor (why ???), how it was going to wipe the floor with Sony cameras (it hasn't), and all sort of other features and claims.

What we got in fact was a competent mirrorless camera, close to , but not beating the market leader, but with excellent future potential, presuming the lens development map is kept to, and Nikon maintains a good pace of refinement and development.

In truth it was a bit like going into a lap dancing club and finding rather than the voluptuous super models displayed on the posters, a rather middle aged plump lady who looks disturbingly like your single mother of three next door neighbor (Look I warned you - Ed).

Some people in the pre-hype days suggested that this would be Nikon's iphone moment. However what people forget about the iPhone was, apart from the fact it was actually not actually very good,  is that it was totally different to what was out in the market at the time. The Nikon Z series on the other hand was never going to be that. It is coming into relatively mature market with already established products from Sony, Fuji, Olympus etc. In many ways it is more a Nokia android phone, an attempt of an established manufacturer to compete in another related market.

So what about the camera

Not having the camera to hand, there is not much I can say here. However a some things did stand out.

Firstly is the overall design and specifically the prominent viewfinder hump. Compared to the Sony A7 series, it is far larger and prominent and there could be technical and ergonomic reasons for this. However personally I think it is a design statement. It allows the shape of camera to retain a common design look and feel with the camera DSLR's and maybe a comfort blanket to those who had always disparaged electronic view finders until their beloved Nikon went to the dark side.

Secondly the button and customization options. The buttons by the lens and its ability to change the functionality of the focus ring, are interesting features, and maybe other manufacturers should consider. However I personally think you can never have enough cutomisation features and this camera could do with a few more.

I also like the LCD top plate. Presuming it is programmable so can display a number of different elements based on mode, it makes a good place to combine the essential camera information.

Finally the issue of the single memory card slot. This has been discussed at length on various forums  and opinions range from its a total disaster to the "i've never had a card fail, so why worry" school of thought.

My own opinion based on only recently having a camera with two slots is that dual slots is a feature you do not miss, until you don't have it, at which image loss paranoia kicks in. Certainly if my job and livelihood depended on it, it would be a feature I would demand.

It therefore seems a simple and curious omission. Some have suggested it is for performance reasons, but neither the Z6 or the Z7 is a speed freak, and the Sony camera manages with similar frame rates. Another possibility is to differentiate the camera from the pro D850 and D500. If so this is short sighted by Nikon and will not help grab sales back from Sony.

However I was more interested by the card type itself. Rather than going for the more ubiquitous SD cards, they chose the XQD format. XQD cards are faster than SD, but they are also expensive and pretty well only produced by 3 companies (2 being Sony and Nikon). By forcing XQD on users is akin to when Sony tried to push everyone to Sony proprietary memory sticks. Most people will not take advantage of the increased memory bandwidth of the XQD cards but have for increased costs. At the same time SD cards will probably get faster over time and have increased capacity. It is a pity that they could not have support both XQD and SD cards

Its all about the lenses

While no doubt disappointing to some, this camera was never going to be a Sony killer.

Sony have been developing their A series cameras for a number of years and have reached the point where only the most rabid Nikonistas would disagree that that they produce some fine cameras. Not only that but the native lens lineup matured to match the range and quality of its competitors. However this did not happen overnight and has taken a number of iterations to reach this point.

The idea that Nikon, despite their many years experience in DSLR's could just generate a rival  product markedly superior to Sony' s on their 1st attempt was laughable. To be honest it is impressive that Nikon has come as close as they have.

The other issue was that Nikon was going to need a new mount. I won't bore you with things like flange distances, etc, but you cannot just bang a DSLR lense onto a mirrorless camera, without large compromises.

When choosing a camera for the 1st time,  Nikon's ace in the hole has always been their existing F mount lens with its huge range of legacy lenses. The ability to be able to mount them on the new camera was a must do, especially because at its launch the camera will only have a few native lenses.

Therefore an adapter was essential to allow Nikon time to build there Z mount lens line up. To be honest if I was Nikon I would of just given one out to every purchaser for free.

What will be critical however is how well it works in practice. If anyone can build an adapter for F series lenses, you must assume Nikon can. However Sony showed with its own A-series adapter that they never work quite as well as native lenses.

However it should be enough to encourage Nikon users wishing to move to mirrorless to stay with Nikon, not least because changing lenses is expensive and time consuming. Whether it will be enough for those with no existing commitment to move to Nikon, is questionable. Apart from the brand name, and if you remove the adapter from the equation, the cameras offer no compelling reason to choose it over say the A7iii.

However the big worry for Nikon will be that rather expand its user base, it will just eat away at its own DSLR sales. This will mean they will sell the same number of cameras, but will need to support  two systems.

In reality Nikon is 2 years too late with this product. By delaying, they have given Sony time to refine both the technology and their lens lineup. However this is always the dilemma for companies in near monopolistic situations when introduced with a new threat.

How big is your Flange?

Which brings us to the most exciting part of the new Nikon system. The Nikon Z mount.

Nikon could of easily stuck with the dimensions of the F-mount. Its diameter happily supports full frame in the D850 and it would of reduced production lens costs. Instead they have gone with a totally new lens mount.

The most outstanding feature of the new mount, is its diameter which at 55mm is huge.

For example here are the diameters of equivalent mounts

Nikon F 44mm
Fujifilm X 44mm
Sony E       46.1mm
Four Thirds  44mm
Micro four thirds 38mm

As you can see it is about a 1 cm larger than most other mounts. in fact it is getting closer to the type of mount you would see on a medium format camera (Fujifilm G is 65mm).

So the question is why?

Unfortunately lens design and manufacturer is one of those arcane arts truly understood by few. If I could ask one question of Nikon engineer it would be what was their design process in getting to those dimensions and what is their future plans.

However here is just my own ill informed idle speculation.

Firstly Nikon, like most Japanese companies, have long term strategies.  The increased diameter allows the sensor size to increase past full frame with no lens changes. Whether anyone wants bigger than full frame is another question, but if the technology goes that way Nikon has got its covered (remember the F-mount has lasted almost 60 years)

Secondly it allows lenses with wider apertures and they have already announced a 0.95 f lens.

However this might come at a cost. Wider lenses are more difficult to make and therefore the cost of Z lenses might be prohibitive to some. Secondly the lens itself becomes bigger so negating some of the the mirrorless advantage.

However a more flexible future proof mount might just be the area where they Nikon could form a decisive advantage (I also wonder whether we will ever see a Nikon DSLR Z mount camera or at least a Z mount to F series adapter...discuss)

It will also be interesting to see whether 3rd party lens manufacturers such as Sigma will support the new mount. This would reduce the cost of ownership, but I am guessing they will hold back until they see the uptake of the camera and the new mount lenses in particular.

Conclusion

One thing important point is that this is a camera Nikon did not want to make.

Nikon has built its reputation on conservative gradual improvements. For example Nikon's F mount which sits on the majority of their cameras has been around and continually improved since 1959. Just think for a second how much the world has changed since 1959.

Also consider Nikon is not a big company. Those who live within the world of photography, think of Nikon as this giant monolith, but compared to both Sony and Canon it is relatively small and more importantly relies almost exclusively on camera and lens sales for its income. However camera sales have been declining for years now as smart phones sweep up the lower end of the market, meaning manufacturers have to concentrate on higher end systems, which have higher profit margin but fewer sales.

Producing a new separate, parallel, camera line is a big drain on resources on a company like Nikon and required a huge amount of investment in both development and production. Not only that but they will need to support 2 camera systems. This is a huge risk for Nikon and no doubt not taken lightly.

If Nikon could have their way they would introduce a new DSLR every few years and make a killing on lens sales. However, despite the hype, Nikon and Canon have been slowly losing users to customers like Sony. More importantly new customers in a declining market have been increasingly also going to mirrorless systems. At least Canon has a mirrorless system, but since the debacle of the J1 system, Nikon has been increasingly riding a one trick pony, and that trick has looked increasing tired and on its last legs recently. This is not some vanity product, but could be a make or break moment for Nikon.

In truth the overall winner of this is Sony. Not only do they produce Nikon's imaging chips, but by Nikon entering the mirrorless market, they have after many years denigrating it, confirmed Sony's camera strategy. After many years of denying it ,they have shown that the future is probably mirrorless. 

Also don't believe the tag line "Mirrorless reinvented". There is nothing new or innovate in this camera  I have no doubt that Sony have a A7 mark IV well into development so Nikon, so used to being a product leader, and now playing catch up. 

Personally I don't think that Nikon have the resources to fully support two camera systems so something will have to give. This will probably mean that we will not be seeing many new DSLR's out anytime soon. Also don't expect many new F mount lenses. This is not a disaster, since Nikon's DSLR lineup is pretty complete at present and any short fall in F mount lenses will get taken up by 3rd party manufacturers. However time will tell whether this is pivot or just Nikon dipping a toe in the water to see whether it is worth doing the journey.

It will be also interesting on how Nikon supports these cameras. Will they go the Fuji route of continual feature update or the Sony way of bringing out a new model every few years? 

The big question is now what will Canon do. Despite the rumors we have no idea whether Canon will actually introduce their own FF mirrorless camera. In many ways Canon are better placed than Nikon, with greater resources and already mature differentiating technologies such as dual pixel. 

Whatever happens, competition is always good, and never hurts the consumer (at least in the short term). It is definitely an exciting time to be a camera user.  

Fuji X-T2 - a Review

Disclamer - I started this review about 6 months ago when I 1st purchased my Fuji XT-2. Since that point I have learnt a lot more things about the camera, both good and bad, and therefore the review has evolved accordingly. Writing a review of something as complex as a modern camera as well as all the lenses that go with it is never an easy task. You want to be objective, but at the same time you are on a steep learning curve. The tendency is to add just one more thought or modify an initial assumption and so the review goes on till the end. At some point however you must say., enough and draw a line in the sand.

All the photos here are mine and from the camera, and generally unprocessed. I have taken better since then, but these were taken on the 1st day of usage so show me at my most innocent and naive.

Finally remember this is IMHO. If you think I have made a mistake, please correct me however if you don't agree with my opinions, fine, but they are just opinions, honestly held and given.

When I started this blog around 4 years ago I set myself 2 rules,

1. No exotic locations
2. No expensive cameras.

The first rule went out the window ages ago, and now only gone and broken the 2nd one.

I am now the owner of a Fuji X-T2 therefore and therefore descending to the level of hypocrisy previously only achieved by the present president of the United States.

So why did I succumb to this heinous crime? and why was the Fuji the instrument of my demise. Read on, dear reader, read on.

Decisions, Decisions

Personally I never understand people who are constantly changing their cameras to the latest and greatest. It takes me months to get to grips with the functionality of any new camera, and years until I get to the point of being comfortable to the point I can use it without to much thought.

Changing cameras is like changing your partner. Whatever the issues and faults, you have grown comfortable with them and accept their irritations and foibles.

A change is always exciting, but after the initial honeymoon wears off, you still find yourself dealing with issues, but are now a lot poorer.

However like life, technology never stops and there comes a point where you have to face facts that you have reached the limitations of what your cameras can do.

I was still on my 1st DSLR, an elderly Sony A-37) plus a slightly more modern Sony A6000. While I still love the A-37, Sony have done little to  reciprocate that love over the years letting the DSLR market wither to concentrate on their high end full frame mirror-less cameras

The A6000 is a great little camera for the price, but again with Sony concentrating on their full frame models, the lens choice is less than stellar and the user interface was designed by some intern who obviously had never used a camera before.

Things like poor high ISO performance, small dynamic range and lack of a lens upgrade path was beginning to annoy me. So it was time for a change.

The tough question was though "what my next camera was to be?"

Obviously the most important consideration would be the price. Me and my wife came to an unwritten agreement years ago, that she wouldn't ask and I wouldn't take advantage of this.

 Another important consideration would be that any camera would need to last for at least 5 years. This meant its performance should not lag too much in that period, and I needed to be sure that things like lenses would be obtainable in that period.

As much as I like Sony DSLRs, I just didn't fancy the Sony A99ii. As good a camera as it is, I have lost faith in Sony's DSLR roadmap and did not feel like going down that particular dead end again. I had similar issues with the A6500. Great camera but poor choice in lenses. Also the A6500 always feels a bit like a backup camera, not your main device.

Being a fully paid up member of the EVF fan club, going to a Canon, Nikon or Pentax DSLR would feel like a retrograde step. Plus Canons mirrorless offerings had too many compromises, and Nikon just had nothing to offer (yet) in that area.

So that left me Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic or the Sony Full frame mirrorless cameras.

The Olympus and Panasonic sensor sizes ruled these out. They do great things with them, but as they seem to be behind the curve now, what would they be like in 5 years time?

If I had a infinite amount of money, I may well of plumped for a Sony A7. However an important things I learnt since buying my 1st camera is not to look at the camera on its own, but the cost of the whole system, lens and all. While I could get a Sony A7 within my budget, equipping it with a set of lenses that would cover the major focal lengths would cost a small fortune.

So basically this left Fuji, with what seemed the best compromise in terms of overall cost, long term support, and feature set.

I must admit Fuji cameras had always intrigued me.

Firstly a number of photographer I knew and admired use Fuji, which is always a good sign.

Secondly I was impressed by the way Fuji provides long term customer care, such as providing software upgrades to existing models (Sony in contrast only provide fix bugs, if that). As a software developer myself the commitment to continual improvement impressed me.

Finally, no one seems to have bad word about Fuji lenses. Not only are they sharp, but they are relatively affordable, especially compared to the cost of Sony full frame glass.

On the downside, I have never been totally convinced by the Fuji retro design philosophy, and then their was the reported issues of processing Fuji RAW files were a concern.

But as Fuji seemed the only realistic option, the next decision was what camera would it be. That decision basically came down to the X-T2 or the X-T20. Both are great cameras, and use the same sensor. I was tempted by the cheaper X-T20 and its touchscreen, but in the end, the more pro-centric X-T2 seemed to provide more growth room.

So with decision made and after finding a good body only deal on the grey market for a suspiciously low figure, I went for  it.

My plan was to order the camera and by the time it had arrived on the slow boat from wherever it was being shipped from, I would had plenty of time to decide which lenses to buy. As it turned out it arrived 2 days later, meaning I had to cadge some lenses from a fellow MPS member.

Therefore I found myself £1000 poorer and with a new Fuji camera together with a weird mix of a lenses (a 55-200, 55-230, 23mm f2.0 prime and a Samyang 8mm fish-eye lenses).

First Impressions

The thing you notice when you take the camera out the box is its heft.

Not so much the weight, but a feeling of solidity. Basically it feels like a tool designed by and for craftsmen, which was in stark contrast to my present cameras which always felt plastic and fragile.

The second thing I noticed was the body and how it was crammed with manual controls and dials. This was in stark contrast to the functional minimalism of the A6000. The controls (with a few exceptions ) are placed where you need them and provide loads of tactile physical feedback. 

Saying that still I am still not totally won over by the Fuji retro thing. Sometimes it works, but they do sometimes push the concept to far (more on that in a bit).

Usability

At the end of the day a camera is a tool to help take the photos you can and often is determined about how user friendly is the camera. Usability however is hard to define and measure. You know when its right or wrong but it is often hard to formulate why.

When you take a shot you are relying on your muscle memory to control the camera, while you concentrate on framing and composition. If a control is not easily found, or difficult to access, you have to think and recompose. That may mean you lose that shot.

I must admit when I first picked up the camera, I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of dials and buttons. It took me about 3 days to start to understanding how the camera worked and to start making it do what i wanted.

The X-T2 is a camera that very much emphasizes manual user control. While you can use it in Auto everything mode, it almost begs you to take it off the leash and start finessing the controls. You can see why pros love it so much. This is a camera that stretches and rewards the skill of the photographer and unlike other cameras, you feel that you are in control. However there are downsides to this

The top of the camera is akin to a 1960's Film SLR with a similar set of dials. All the critical dials, such as ISO, Aperture, Speed and exposure compensation are there and ready to use.

However some of the dials make more sense than other. While I the dials to set  the ISO and exposure compensation are make sense, the speed dial  is another issue.

The speed dial allows you to set the shutter speed  to speeds between  1 to 1/8000  of a second. However because the speed range is limited by dial space, if you want a speed of about 1/10th second, you would have to move the dial to T mode and set the speed via the rear dual. This means in reality this dial is largely redundant. Most of the time it will be in Auto or T mode, meaning a large amount of camera real estate is wasted.

I would also of liked a lock button on the EVF dial, like the ISO one so to stop it being knocked by mistake. Alternatively a redesign of the dial so they are harder to knock.  I found I knocked the ISO dial a number of times, partly because the lock button is not obvious whether it is on or off.

Another problem with the dials approach is that they are difficult  to use at night. It would be greatly improved by just raising a mark next to the A on each dial, so it could be located by touch. Even better if the camera itself could provide some illumination like the Nikon D850.

If the speed dial is unnecessary, the opposite can be said for the aperture ring on the lenses. Changing the aperture via a aperture ring just feels right. It is exactly where you need it and makes aperture control so pleasant.  This means that for most of the time you will operate the camera in aperture priority mode. The minus side is that it not always obvious whether the lens is in manual or automatic aperture mode because it is not instantly visible. Also it is very easy on primes to set the aperture ring on non-auto when screwing the lens on. Although it works well, a dedicated Auto button makes more sense and is easier to see and use.

Beneath the speed and ISO dial are dials for setting the shooting mode and exposure metering. One problem with these is that these are small and fiddly, making them difficult to set with normal fingers and virtually impossible with gloves on.  If Fuji could extend the switches upwards a few mm it would make them both more visible and easier to use.

On the front is a dedicated dial to move between single shot, continuous and manual focus. While useful to have those functions on a dedicated switch its placement leaves a lot to be desired.  Being on the front means it is easy to forget about until you cannot work out why the camera is not focusing properly after you left it in manual mode . It would of made more sense to be on the back, or on the top plate.

Most of the other buttons are well placed and customisable. The only switch that I find annoying is the one on the front. Initially I customised it to set the timer delay function, but I found it to easy to catch when holding the camera. In the end I set it to show the levels curve, but even then it is annoying.

One thing that stands out on the camera is the lack of a PASM dial. The Fuji philosophy is that these modes are defined by the state of the aperture switch and and the shutter and ISO dial. That is fair enough, but it does mean you have to check 3 different dials and switches to confirm which mode you are in. You will find yourself spending a lot of time checking the dials and in a hurry you ,may well miss one. I would of really liked a  auto override button on the camera for those situations where you just need a shot. There have been situations when I realised to late that I had left the camera in manual focus/High ISO/Manual Aperture.

A great feature of the X-T2, which works far better than I thought, is the focus point selection joystick. I have always liked the idea of touchscreens on cameras, but I have to admit the joystick works far better. Not only does it give you far finer control, it is far easier to use with the eye pressed to the EVF and with gloves on.

Fuji seem to like to incorporate a lot of hidden functionality in their controls. For example it took me a while to find the rear dial could be not only rotated, but pressed as well. In fact with a number of the controls, their behavior changes depending on not only how you use them, but also what mode you are in. Why some of this is intuitive, it does take a while to learn all the tricks.

Fortunately Fuji's are very customisable. First there is the myMenu, which allows you to create a custom menu of well used functions. Then the Q menu extends this further by allowing you to designate some of the functions to a quick graphical menu. Finally you can re-assign a number of functions to various buttons. While I could do the latter on the A6000, I could never remember which button I had assigned to which. With the Fuji has a neat trick to help this. A long press on the Disp button will show the button  assignments, which shows the Fuji designers are thinking hard about usability.

On the negative side however, Not all functions can be allocated to either the Q menu or be reassigned to custom buttons, and I feel that Fuji could of pushed the total customization philosophy a bit harder.

The camera menu itself is relatively easy to navigate, but some of the options are in non-obvious places. For example when I first tried a manual lens it would not take an image. I knew there must be a release without lens option, but I just could not find it. In the end I found it in the Button/Dial setup menu!

Finally, you never know how usable a camera is until you have had to use it on a cold winters night on a force 10 gale at night.Any camera is easy to use in the right conditions but the true test is how easy it is to use when you are under pressure or when you are wrapped up against the elements. So how do I rate the X-T2 on this scale?

The top control dials, certainly make it easy to see and access the controls with gloves on, but the lack of illumination means in the dark you are  struggling. On the plus side the aperture ring and joystick provide good control while your eye is pressed against the EVF.  The button customization and the Q menu allow you to access your many of most  used functions easily. However the bracket and metering controls are far to small, and some of the switches like the focusing mode should of been grouped on the back of the camera. So generally it is very good, but a few small changes would make it far better. 

Camera Functions

When I decided to go Fuji, there were some things that I was really keen to try.

One was the film simulation modes. These allow the output to look like film of old and because you can save both RAW and JPG, you can always recover your original image if you don't like the end result (it is only applied on the JPG). These provide great creative possibilities, and the B&W modes in particular help you visualize what an image will look like.

I was also excited by the multiple exposure mode and its potential creative possibilities. However here Fuji's implementation was a disappointment.

Fuji allows you to take a photo and overlay it with a 2nd image. However  you can only overlay the picture taken before in that mode. It would of been far better to allow me to choose any stored image. Secondly, it only allowed to overlay 1 image. Why not allow 2, 3 or more? This would of provided far greater creative freedom.I feel Fuji have missed a great opportunity here to provide a truly useful creative function.

Also surprising is that there is no in camera  HDR mode. To be fair, I do most HDR images with post-processing and the camera supports a fair number of bracketing options. However sometimes it is useful to do it in camera if only to see the result, and for some reason Fuji felt that this was not necessary.

Another issue is with the exposure mode.  Switching between zone and spot is fiddly using the dial beneath the speed dial. Secondly it does not work in face detect mode, making Face detect less useful because I cannot leave the camera in Face detect mode.

On the plus side, this is the first digital camera that I have felt most comfortable using  manual focus lenses. Not only do most manual focus lenses come with a aperture ring, so they fit nicely into the Fuji design philosophy, but the camera provides a number of methods to check your focus, the nicest being pressing rear dial, expands the view in the viewfinder.On the minus side I have found the zebra as not as great as contrast as the Sony, and it does not appear to provide any focus achieved indicator such as the focus squares changing colour.

Even with auto focus lenses, the ability to initiate auto-focus then fine tune with the manual focus ring is excellent. Add to that the control you have over the focus point via the joystick, it should mean that I will never have to desperately recompose my image to try and get the right subject in focus.

The camera itself provides 2 card slots, which can be configured in a number of ways such as backup, extra storage or split between JPG ad RAW's. At present I store RAW on one and JPG on the other, however this means that I double the amount of files I stored.. One issue I found in setting up the cards was that despite choosing RAW and JPG's, I was surprised to find that both cards were filled with jpgs. Apparently you also need to choose the image quality options as well in the menu. It would of been better if these functions were linked or some sort of warning given.

Another strange thing to mention that happened to a colleague  was that their camera stopped  taking pictures. It was eventually worked out that the camera folder had reached 999 and it would not take anymore until either the card was formatted or a new card inserted and the card renew option pressed. From a usability standpoint this is bizarre and akin to a car stopping when its odometer reached 999999.

I have grown to love the Samyang 8mm. 

Lenses

One of the questions you have to ask yourself before buying a camera is what lenses do you intend to get. In the end you are not buying a camera, but a system and you need to work out whether you can get/afford the lenses you will need.

The relative quality of Lenses between manufacturers is always a subject of endless arguments between different sets of camera fan boys. In truth, at the top end there is very little difference between the major manufacturers in terms of quality and price. If money is no object you can get great lenses for any camera. However for those who are looking for value and a lower price point it is far less clear cut.

On of the benefits of Fuji is that virtually all there lenses, from the standard kit lens upwards, are pretty sharp and fast.  Comparing this with the Sony A6000 you buy some great lenses if cost was no object, but at the lower end, the quality drops off dramatically. For example kit lens on a A6000 is the is the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. The Fuji equivalent is the Fuji 18-55 f2.8-4 . Not only is the Fuji faster, but in terms of quality, it leaves the Sony in the dust. In fact, while most kit lenses get discarded soon after purchase, the Fuji is a lens which will get good images in most conditions.

On the downside there is little 3rd party support for Fuji, and virtually no 3rd party autofocus lenses. This could be due to the fact that Fuji lenses are different to most other manufacturers, by incorporating a aperture dial, meaning  3rd party manufacturers cannot easily adapt lenses.

This does mean that you rely on Fuji largely to fill the lens line up, which it does largely, but there are significant holes.For example the longest lens you can get is a 100-400mm f4.5-5.6. This will get you so far, but not the greatest lens for wildlife where you are really wanting something that up to 600mm or 400mm f2.8.

Another thing missing is a good range of Macro lenses. The only true autofocus macro is the XF 80mm f2.8 LM OIS WR. However this is expensive and a more reasonable priced 100mm macro would be welcome.  This is a surprise because with the right macro lens the Fuji is a great macro camera. You can get manual lenses such as the Samyang 100mm F2.8, but while most of the time that is adequate, you will sometimes miss autofocus.

So what lenses should you buy?

It makes sense to start with the 18-55mm. Its stabilized, relatively fast  and with a good range. Of course there is temptation to go for the constant aperture f2.8 16-55mm. However the constant aperture lenses are considerable bigger than the equivalent non-constant aperture versions, so you have to consider whether the constant aperture is worth the extra weight and cost.

Next is the 55-210mm  F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS because its nice to get aa lens with a bit more zoom power. This is not really a lens you will leave on your camera all the time, but it compliments the 18-55 and provides a good reach at a reasonable price.  Again there is the constant aperture version f 2.8 , but agian comes with weight and cost concerns.

So those two lenses will cover 90% of your requirements, however for landscape you may feel the need for something wider. The XF10-24mm 4 R OIS is a true wide angle and great for landscape work.. While there are wide primes, the fact it is stabilized and the extra flexibility of a zoom meant that this lens was high on my list.

Filling things out was 35mm F2.0 Prime. This is a good street photography. portrait lens, reasonable fast, very sharp with good bokeh. however it was a toss up between this and the 23mm and its extra FOV. In the end I got both and probably will eventually sell the 35mm. I musch prefere the wider view of the 23mm, and it makes a good carry around lens for when you are around and about.

Like I said, the only true Fuji Macro is heavy and expensive, but the Samyang 100 f2.8 is a good well made macro lens if you are willing to put up with manual focus. Another lenses worth looking at is the Samyang 8mm fisheye lens. Again it is a manual lens, but thats not a reall issue with a fisheye, and provides some nice effects

Battery

Over the years I have got used to Sony cameras and their pretty woeful battery consumption. My A-37 DSLR could last about a day and a half on normal usage, while the A6000  is normally flagging after about a day. I was expecting the Fuji to have a similar battery life, but I was quite shocked to find it red lining after about 2/3 of a day.

Normally I try and ensure I have enough battery for about 2 days shooting. This means that I now need 5 batteries. (2 for the day, plus a spare, 2 charged and on standby for the next day) to be comfortable. This would not be so bad if spare batteries were not about £50 a shot, so forcing me to buy Fuji clone batteries. Fortunately they do seem to work OK, but I would prefer either a bigger battery or lower power consumption 

In practice, I have been OK and rarely need more than 2 batteries in a day. However I may well invest in a two battery charger.

One thing I haven't tried is in camera USB charging. This is a useful last gasp measure, but my experience is that charging is always slow with this method.

Image Processing

One of my big worries was that my RAW editor would choke on the Fuji RAF file. It didn't and handles both compressed and compressed RAW files. Saying that there is defiantly a lag when a file opens, presumably as it is uncompressed. 

The other worry was that the RAW converter would struggle to make the best of the data from the Fuji sensor. There are loads of horror stories on various forums about RAW conversion issues, but to be honest I'm not noticing them, but maybe I'm not being anal enough.

Saying that I am starting to use the Silkypix converter provided free from Fuji, and I must admit the output does seem to be improved over the native Adobe version, albeit with less control over the output. The silkypix converter has the additional advantage that it allows you to add film simulation in processing. 

I must admit I don't do as much RAW processing as I did on Sony. Part of the reason is the JPG engine is just so much better meaning that generally the output is already pretty good meaning there is less need for RAW tweaking. 

Manual

The camera manual provided is pretty well par for the course on these sort of things in that  it talks a lot of what each control does, but very little on why. In fact I would challenge anyone to learn to use the camera from this book.

So instead I bought myself a kindle copy of the complete guide to Fujifilm's X-T2 by Tony Phillips on kindle, which is far better. In fact, I am not sure why Camera manufacturers just don't throw a copy of such books into the camera box, and leave the manual out totally.

Video

Yes I can confirm it has video....:)

EVF/Screen

Like I said, I'm a EVF guy. I understand the attachment to some over OVFs, but in the end I want to know how my picture will turn out before I compress the button. The EVF is clear and pretty fast with little blackout time. It is dominated by the focus zone square allowing you to put it over where you want to focus.

My only real criticism is some of the graphics symbols are small and not obvious, such as the shooting mode. Also the zebra manual focus assist could be brighter, since sometimes it gets lost in the glare.

The screen itself is clear, bright and has a reasonable level of tilting both in the vertical and horizontal plane, but it is not as flexible as some. Saying that I tend to use the EVF for most things since it means I can use the camera without glasses.

Camera App

Fuji provide a camera app that allows you to control the camera from tablet or smartphone. It pretty well does what it says on the tin, however connecting the camera to the phone was not a quick thing. One other glaring omission is the inability to take photos on a B setting. Since this app will be used largely for long exposures this is a weird omission.

Talking of long exposures, you will at some point want to get some sort of remote release. While Fuji still provide a cable release socket on the shutter button, you may well want something a bit more modern, Fuji will sell you one that fits in the usb socket, but at £35 this is well overpriced for a glorified switch. Instead a Canon one will fit the other shutter release round socket and is half the price.

Performance

In the end of the day, you can have as much technology and bells and whistles as you want, but if it does not take decent pictures it is a waste. 

First let me say, that when things are right the camera takes excellent images, far better than I could of for with my old kit. The combination of lens sharpness and the ability to push the ISO to 1600, before you start getting appreciable noise, allows you to hold the shutter speed high, reducing camera shake. 

Focusing is pretty fast, although I have had little opportunity to try it on fast moving objects. The ability to easily move the focus point around with the joystick means that composing an image off center is pretty simple. 

The in-camera jpg conversion is excellent allowing me to use the camera up to ISO 800 and above with little apparent noise. One thing that I have noticed is now I rarely have to resort to a tripod in low light conditions since I can push the ISO much more.

I have the cards setup for both RAW and JPG, and I know its heresy to say so, but often I found the in-camera jpg, better than I could achieve through the RAW editing, especially when it comes to noise.

Saying that I had issues with exposure. Switching between spot, center weighted and wide aperture modes, does not always work as I want, meaning it sometimes struggle in tricky lighting conditions although the exposure compensation dial helps here.

Conclusion

So whats my conclusion, was I right to buy this camera?

The biggest test it had was when I had 3 days in Riga. I managed to pack the camera, 5 lenses, plus batteries and filters in a messenger bag. This meant that I could carry more and gain access quicker than say with a DSLR.

One thing that became obvious early was that this was a camera that needed to be worked. Yes, you can set everything in auto, but the camera is designed for the photographer to fine tune their image continually

Sometimes I found the lack of a dedicated auto dial annoying, and I had to constantly check the controls to see what state they were in. The lack of a lock on the exposure compensation dial was also irritating here, as was the switch on the front of the camera. This often caught me out when I moved from a dark building, forcing me to switch to high ISO to the outside and forget to change back. In these situations I would of loved a simple way to reset the camera to some default settings

This is not a camera a beginner can pick up and expect to get great photos instantly, instead it is a camera aimed squarely at the photography enthusiast.  There is quite a large learning curve, and little hand holding. You really need to understand the photography basics and apply them continually. Of course this is why so many semi-pro photographers love it, since it rewards their skills. On the plus side, it is a camera that when used properly creates stunning results

One of the things that put me off Fuji camera in the past is their fascination with retro styling. Things like the aperture dial on the lens work well, however other things like the dedicated speed dial, makes less sense and I would of liked a more pragmatic approach to the camera layout. Also larger illuminated buttons and switches, and rotary controls with the auto mark raised would be useful

In terms of the functions themselves, I must admit I was disappointed with the lack of in-camera processing functions with no in-camera HDR and poor multiple exposure functionality. The panorama function works well, but to be honest my Sony (and my mobile phone) do it better and none of these functions store the output in RAW, which is disappointing.

Fuji Future

There are many things to admire about Fuji as a camera company.  There long term support of their camera users, a well defined design philosophy and honest road map are things other camera manufacturers would do well in copying.

Saying that, there are dangers ahead that Fuji will do well to avoid.

The first is lenses. Fuji lenses are generally as good as any other manufacturer, however they have significant gaps in their lineup, especially at macro and the long end. Other camera manufacturers have 3rd party support that fill these gaps or produce cheaper alternatives to the native lenses. Fuji however, apart from a few manual only lenses, have none of that support, meaning its generally Fuji or nothing.

That is fine if they do the lens you want at the price you can afford, but other camera makers generally offer a greater choice for less through companies like Tamron or Sigma. One of the problems here is that the Fuji lens design with a aperture ring is different to most other makers. This means that a company like Sigma cannot easily convert there lenses to the Fuji standard.

Secondly is the Fuji sensor. Many man hours have been written about the pros and cons of the Fuji sensor, and I'm not going to add any here. Just to say that if you go your own path, you have to show a sizeable advantage to justify it. Those advantages are getting less and less obvious as companies like Sony push the sensor boundaries. There is a justifiable question about whether the Fuji sensor experiment still makes sense.

Thirdly is computational photography. It is clear Fuji lag in terms of in camera processing compared to say Sony. Poor multiple exposure support and lack of in-built HDR suggest that Fuji do not have the processor horsepower to fully implement some of these functions. Yes they do have film emulations, but i am not convinced these are not gimmicks and can be easily done in RAW post processing anyway.

Finally there is the retro design philosophy. Yes the cameras do feel very good in hand and  the manual controls are sometimes very useful. However I still feel that Fuji does retro for retro sake and things like a dedicated speed dial make little sense.

As Nikon counts down to its 1st full frame mirror-less camera and Sony seem to bring a new camera out each week, there is a danger that Fuji will become increasingly marginalized.

Yes they make great cameras and have a loyal fan base. They are also loved by many professional photographers, but the danger is that Sony, Nikon (and Canon if they ever bring out a reasonable mirrorless camera) will squeeze Fuji to the periphery, sort like a poor mans Leica.

The XT-2 is a great camera and will give you fantastic photos in the right hands. However Fuji needs to decide what they are. If they are happy to stay a niche player, fine. If they wish to compete against the Nikons, Sony et al, then maybe they need to examine there whole design philosophy and kill some sacred cows.

The Sony A6000 - A review

Disclaimer

This review has taken over 6 months. Partly I underestimated the time required to do a review full justice, but mainly each time I have used the camera, my opinion has changed. Of course I am aware that the longer time that I have spent writing this, the less relevant it has become, butt hey,ho.

However the A6000 is still sold and therefore some relevance. Also some of the points below also apply to the A6300.

So here finally is my review.....

The Review

To say that I vacillated about getting a new camera would be a major understatement.

My present Sony A-37 camera is a bit like an old Labrador, it's been a faithful companion, but nowadays it sometimes struggles to go where I want it to go, and its weight means that I don't take it out as much as I should.

While I initially considered an upgrade to another DSLR such as the  A77mkII, my experiments and fun with IR photography had convinced me my next camera would be of the mirrorless variety.

And as always  there is the budget to consider. While I would of loved a A7RII (or even a A7SII), the body cost and more importantly the cost of the type of lenses that would  do the camera justice meant that this was not an option.

I therefore considered a number of options, including cameras by Olympus, Fuji and Panasonic. The Fuji X-E2 was very tempting and I have seen people get great results, but Fuji's retro for retro sake styling I find off putting.

So finally in a moment of weakness, I pulled the trigger just before Christmas and got myself the A6000, which came with the standard kit lens

Of course as usually happens when I buy a camera, a month down the line and Sony announced the A6300. Fortunately however  (in terms of temptation) it is about twice the price of the A6000, so I did not feel I lost out.

This does mean however that I am now reviewing 'old' technology. However since Sony seem to be determined to keep the A6000 around as the budget option, I feel this review is still valid.

First Impressions

 

The first thing you notice when you pick up the A6000 is it's size.

My DSLR is not the largest in its canon(sic), but it still feels huge compared to the A6000. While The size and weight difference is small, I really noticed how much easier it was to carry around. Also unlike a DSLR, you do not feel like you stand out in a crowd and is more discreet at social occasions.

It also feels nice and solid, and that it could take a few bumps or scrapes. Despite its small size however, its feels secure in hand. However I can also see when mated to a large lens, it could feel unbalanced and unwieldy.

The battery and SD card are placed together on the left of the camera. The SD card is fiddly to get in and out, and could of been better placed. One bonus is that the battery is the same type as my other Sony camera, so allowing me to use my spare batteries and the same external charger. This is just as well, since no external charger is provided, although the camera can be charged via a USB socket.

However my usual routine is to to have one battery always on charge, so I find a external charger essential. This is even more essential for the A6000 due to its battery life.

My original plan was to have this camera in the car, enabling me to take all those great pictures that I have been missing on my  way to work (both real and imagined ). However when I first tried this the battery was totally flat even though the camera had been off in the meantime. Other people have noticed this as well and it appears that the camera can consume battery charge even when in the off position.

This means that I now carry at least one spare battery at all times. More frustratingly the power drain appears to be unpredictable. Sometimes I have turned the camera on to see 90% charge left, then next turn it on to find the camera dead. My DSLR also has a EVF, but I find I with the kind of usage that means the DSLR battery will last a whole week, the A6000 will only last 2 day, so basically it uis a bit of a power hog.

The EVF is on the left hand side of the camera, rather than the center like my DSLR. There are plus and minuses here. As long as your right eye is OK, its a good location and I had no issues adapting to it. While it may not be  the sharpest EVF out there, it is perfectly clear and provides all the information you need. I especially like the 'dancing dots' in continuous auto focus mode. I have had no chance to test what the lag is between the view in the EVF and the real world.

The LCD screen, while not fully articulated, can be pulled out for low and high shots and is certainly a lot clearer than my A-37(but then again so is a muddy pond)

However It does not have a touch screen functionality. Why Sony, makers of mobiles and tablets, seem to have such an aversion to touchscreens on their cameras is baffling. While I do not believe that touchscreens are the  panacea to all user interface ills, there are still some situations where it makes a lot of sense. Not only that, but touch screen technology is mature and would add little cost to the camera

The instruction manual is typical Sony affair. You do not get a much more than a simple book in about 30 languages that tell you how to install the battery and memory card and little else. For a more complete manual you need to download a PDF and, if like me, you struggle to read electronic documents, you will need to print it off which will take a while.

The manual however provides little more than how to find and use the functionality, and you would be forgiven in thinking the authors were describing the controls for an air conditioning system rather than a camera. If you want to have a better understanding of the camera, i would recommend buying one of the books by Gary Friedman or Gary Fong. In fact I don't know why Sony bothers with the manuals at all. They should just provide a discount voucher for the books on Amazon or even better give the book away free with the camera.

The Kit and other lenses

 

The standard kit lens (16-50mm 3.5-5.6) has, let us say, mixed reviews. Some say its fine while others have complained about its poor optical quality.

I can see both points of view

Its size when the camera is off means that the cameras is very portable. However while it is fine for landscapes or portraits, I found the maximum zoom a little limiting.

While in good light it fine, it is not a particularly fast lens with a maximum aperture of f3.5. This is par for the course for kit lenses, but you feel that the camera is being held back by the lens, a bit like putting a tractor engine in a Ferrari.

The lens is also a power zoom, which means that zoom is controlled electronically rather than manually twisting the lens. The last time I had a power zoom was on my old Minolta film camera and personally I am not a great fan because it feels like you have lost that direct connection between you and the camera.

It also means that you have to use a electronic focus control in manual focus mode. This is equally fiddly and is slower and harder  to control than a manual control. While power zoom is no doubt a boon for video photography, I don't feel the extra cost and complication of power zoom has any advantage for still photography and would of preferred manual controls.

So what about the quality of lens itself?

One should not expect too much from a kit lens, however when used in RAW mode, I don't think I have ever seen a lens with so much vignetting in the corner. While this can be corrected in RAW processing or in camera when taking JPEGs, it does not give you an lot of confidence in the lens.

One more thing about the lens. It has the smallest lens cap I have ever seen on a camera. It is so small that when I stick it in my pocket I often mistake it for a £2 coin. It is a lens cap begging to be lost and it is a pity that Sony could not have made it with a permanently attached lens cap.

After using the kit lens for a while you will be certain to want to add to your lens collection. After all this is one of the important advantages over a fixed lens camera.

My 1st new lens was the Sony 55-210mm zoom at the NEC photography show(word of advice, always leave your credit card at home for this reason). It is reasonable priced and is just about compliments the kit lens. However for a while i struggled with it. Again it is not the fastest lens, at a maximum aperture of F4.5 and is a bit short for wildlife work. Carrying it reduces the portability benefits of the camera. However I did find a niche where it worked very well and that was street photography where you wanted to take shots of your subject without disturbing them.

My only other lens is a 30mm sigma prime, which was a steal 2nd hand. This is relatively fast at F2.8 and at a equivalent  APC-C focal length of 45mm is a good portrait lens. In truth however I would like a wider prime and may well get the equivalent 19mm if possible.

Unfortunately however this is where the issues begin. The choice of native lenses for the Sony E-Mount is not good. For example there is no obvious extra wide angle choice, macro lenses are rare. Even a well priced super-zoom is difficult to find. Yes you can get an adapter to fit A-Series glass, but this in no real substitute for native glass.

Yes there are some great lenses for E-Mount, but there are not many and will cost as much as the camera plus kit lens itself.  Compare this to the huge range of Olympus and Fuji lenses and its not hard to feel a little inadequate and constrained

Ergonomics

 

The ergonomics of a camera defines how easy it is to pick up and use. It is what you notice first when you pick a camera up, and can make a huge difference in your level of enjoyment.

The A6000 ergonomics can only be rated as adequate, and could  of been so much better in a number of ways. Unfortunately this appears to be a common Sony trait with their cameras.

Menus

 

A lot of people complain about the Sony menu system. I have little to compare it with, but because they are very similar to my DSLR, I find them logically laid out and found my way around pretty quickly.

However 'logically' laid out is a bit of a back-handed compliment.Cameras should confirm to a photographers needs, not the system designer and I often wonder at what point Sony actually involves actual photographers in their design process.

90% of users will use only 10% of the functions, so these should be prioritized. However this would not be so bad if there was some way  to customize the menus allowing the most useful functions to be placed on one page. However Sony designers don't seem to understand why you would want to do that,

The other problem with Sony user interface is that using it you are too often forced to break the control cycle. The control cycle consists of the actions people do when they are trying to do an operation. This consists of working out what how to achieve, doing it and then assessing the feedback to see if they have achieved it. Any break in that cycle is frustrating, and Sony unfortunately does that a lot

For example, if you take a bracketed shot, the camera will lock you out of changing the shot mode until it has finished processing the images. What would be better would be for the camera to accept the change in mode, but only allow you to retake images when the processing is complete. The way Sony have implemented it means you have to keep going back to the menu to see if you can change modes.

There are also some weird decisions however. For example, Eye detect is hidden in a weird custom menu rather than adding it to the face detect menu.
 
Also a lot of functionality found in other similar cameras is missing. For example you cannot set minimum exposure and maximum exposure for Auto ISO. The camera has a tendency to go to maximum (and noisy) ISO far too readily, when a reduction in shutter speed would be more appropriate.

One other issue that has often frustrated me is that there seems to be no option to only allow you to take a photo only when focus is locked. This is especially important when  close to a subject, meaning you need to watch the green focus lines rather than relying on the camera to stop you taking blurry images.

Many of these faults could be fixed with relative minor software changes. However Sony don't seem to like to add new functionality into firmware releases, preferring to bundle new features into paid for apps. This compares poorly to other manufacturers such as Fuji, who seem far more willing to support legacy cameras by adding new and improved features.

Controls

The A6000 provides two types of physical controls for user input. There is the main control dial for mode selection, then a thumb wheel to select things like speed and aperture, depending what mode you are in. Additionally there is a 4 way switch/rotating dial to select other things such as ISO. The usage of this dial is customisable. Additionally there are two buttons that again can be customized.

Finding the thumb wheel tales a little getting used to. It is smooth and recessed. I would of preferred the dial to be on the front like  DSLR. Additionally two such dials , one on either side of the camera would of made more sense and improved usability.

Also 2 customisable buttons does not feel enough. I would of liked to see at least 4(Focus type, Exposure, App Selection, EVF selection).

This lack of customization is not helped by the lack of any other types of control on the camera. Probably the most annoying is the lack of a dedicated manual focus button. To get manual focus you have to dig into the menu. In most situations you will want to switch between manual and auto focus when trying top lock onto difficult subjects and this makes it particularly difficult.

Compared to the controls on a Fuji or Olympus camera, the physical controls feel parsimonious. Add the lack of a touch screen and you will find yourself hunting via menus far more than you would like.

Apps

 

One of the things that attracted me to the A6000 was the ability to extend the camera via apps.

There a number available, some free and some for purchase. I downloaded Smooth reflection, Bracket Pro and multiple exposure.  Of those I have used Smooth reflection and multiple exposure to various levels of success.

Smooth reflection takes multiple shots and merges them to smooth out running water, etc. This works well enough, but you need to be mounted on a tripod and as with the majority of apps only works in JPEG.

Taken using smooth reflection

Multiple exposure allows you to combine two shots in a number of ways. This is a mode I have missed on my other camera and being impressed by the work of artists like Christoffer Relander I was looking forward to trying it.

However it is poorly implemented. One problem is that the images must be taken in succession, so you cannot combine a present image with one taken earlier in the day and so restricts its usefulness. Another annoying omission is the ability to create horizontal reflections. It will also only merge with one image, and does not work in RAW made.

While the use of apps is useful in allowing the camera functionality to be extended like your mobile phone, some of the features should of really been provided by the manufacturer as standard rather than make you pay for it after. For example the focus bracketing mode of bracket pro.

However the biggest issue is the way apps have been implemented. They are stored in a separate menu section,  meaning to use them you have to break your control flow. Just as bad is that once you have to remember to disable them via the same method. It would of been better the app extended the control or menus so they seamlessly added functionality.

In consequence while the theory of apps is good, Sony's implementation is lacking. The user interface is clunky and inconsistent. You lose a lot of control over the image such as ISO, etc and they only work in JPEG. Some of the features, such as double exposure are provided for free in other camera makes in a neater way.

The worse criticism however is that it  shows how many things Sony could add with a simple firmware change,  but refuse to do so, forcing users instead to pay for additional features.

Performance

 

At the end of the day, a camera stands and falls by the images it takes.

To be honest it has taken me a little while to get to grips with the camera. Even now it does not feel comfortable in my hands.

One of my hopes with the camera was that it would be more capable in low light than my DSLR.

It does,  to certain extent, but perhaps not to the level I had hoped. While the noise with my DSLR starts becoming noticible at 400 ISO, the A6000 I can push to 800 before it gets too bad. Unfortunately the slowness of the kit lens mean that indoors I have to push it more than I would like. Again we are not helped by an over eager Auto ISO which will push the ISO all the way to 3600 rather than reduce the speed a bit.

One of the advertised features of the camera is the speed of the focus.

While it is undoubtedly fast, I did find that I could not always be confident of where it was focusing. This means you always need to be aware of the focus indications in the range finder. One really big annoyance is that it will take an images even when not in focus. This is particularly onerous when taking close ups. If you get too close and do not watch the focus indicator you will end up with a lot of blurred images. Also I found I could not always be confident of achieving focus lock of what I wanted, with a few blurred images from when the camera had focused on god knows what.

Certainly when it gets it right the images can be great, but this is a camera that you have to work harder than you should  to ensure you get the best results.

One feature that is great however is the bracketing. It is easy to fire off 3 or 5 bracketed shots in the blink of an eye. This means that you can then generate HDR images post processing, even hand held in most situations.(The camera has a HDR function, but again that only works in JPEG mode)

The extra resolution of the sensor also means that I can crop far more than my DSLR and still retain some sharpness. That combined the the greater noise in-variance mans it can be more forgiving a camera in tough lighting such as indoors.

Conclusion

So what is my overall opinion of this camera?

Each time I come back to this blog post, my conclusion has changed based on how I have used the camera and come to terms with its strengths and weaknesses. Ask me tomorrow and I will probably give you another opinion. One I have noticed since I bought the camera is that generally it is my "goto" camera when I am go out, unless I am doing birding or require a large wide angle lens.  Its size and weight make carrying it a breeze.

Let us also state that for this price point there is nothing  really that will touch this camera. The equivalent Fuji is about the same price, but you only get the body. Sony new A6300 in contrast is over 50% more expensive. Others cameras at this price point come without key features such as a viewfinder.

So if you want a compact camera with interchangeable lenses and a viewfinder at a bargain price this is the only game in town. No surprise then that it is one of Sony's best sellers.

It also provides a great package in a small size.  It is a camera that will, with a bit of effort, get you great images in most conditions. It is especially good in situations where a DSLR is just too bulky or obvious. For example I found it a great camera to take images at social events where a DSLR would just be too obvious.

If you are already a Sony DSLR owner. the case for it is even stronger with the ability to re-use A-series lenses (via an adapter).

But( and there is always a but)....

While this is a camera that deserves respect,it will probably never garner the same level of love and loyalty in the same way that Olympus and Fuji owners lover their cameras.

This is due, in part,  to Sony being primarily a technology company. Unlike the aforementioned camera companies, Sony designers just don't seem to get the psychology of photographers.  Cameras can be a very personal object, however Sony treats camera design like any other technology item such as a TV.

The most frustrating thing however is that this could of been, with a few additions and changes, a great camera rather than just very good.

So whats the difference between good and great devices?

All great designs allow you to interact with them in a natural way such that they almost becomes a extension of your body. The controls and menus of the A6000 just don't do that and get in the way at regular intervals. Still now I not felt really comfortable using the camera. Too often has the user interface got in the way of what I'm trying to do. These are little things but they add up  and will consistently frustrate you.

That is not to say that I feel the retro feel of Sony and Olympus camera are the way to design cameras, but I feel Sony have pushed to far in the other direction by giving too few physical controls, poor menu layout and lack of customization.

Also the controls that do exist, are not always placed in the best position. Controls like the main control dial feels in the wrong place and too often I mistake it for the main mode wheel. This is also a camera that could do with  a second dedicated control wheel

The control I really miss however is the manual focus switch. Having to go through 3 button presses to enable manual focus is ludicrous. I could program a button to do this, but with only two custom buttons to play with, I have quickly run out of options (the A6300 does sport a manual focus button meaning Sony does sometimes learn from its users)

Sony could also help themselves by allowing the customization  of menus to allow users to pare down the menu system to the critical items.

Then there is the lack of touch screen.

Why Sony, maker of tablets and mobile phones, do not provide touch screen functionality is one of the enduring mysteries in camera design and are now probably the only major camera manufacturer who do not provide touch screens on at least some of there camera line up. .

Apps

 

One of the big selling points for me with this camera was the ability to add functionality via apps.
However the implementation by Sony is poor, making them clunky and less useful than they should be.

Also a lot of the functionality should of been by rights part of the standard  camera. You get the impression that Sony have deliberately left some of these features out, so they can extract money from you later via paid applications.

For example, In Camera MultiExposure or ICM is one area that Sony cameras fall well behind equivalent Nikons. Apps could of narrowed the gap, but the fact it does not and in fact emphasizes the lack of functionality is a damning indictment of Sony's app system. All this at extra cost too!

This highlights another issue that Sony just don't support older cameras as well as other manufacturers. For example Fuji will update firmware to add and extend functionality. Sony only do it to add lens support and fix bugs.

Lenses

 

All lens design is compromise.  For example a fast lens, needs larger glass, which makes it heavier.

Therefore you should not expect too much from a kit lens, which was clearly designed by Sony to create a zoom lens with a small a footprint as possible. This makes the camera look more akin to a bridge camera than one which has interchangeable lens. However such design compromises has a effect on the lens quality.

In good light it will do a decent job, but it doesn't really do the camera justice. On the plus side it does make the camera portable, but I would be willing to sacrifice some of that portability for longer zoom and a wider aperture.

Sony have a bigger issue with there overall lens range. It is only after when you start looking for a something that will replace the kit lens with something with greater reach and/or a little faster that you realise the paucity of reasonable priced choices.

What I would really like is reasonable priced super zoom to replace the kit lens with something of longer range. However there is little choice in this type of lens. The SELP18105G is the closest you will get, but will cost as much as the camera.

Final thoughts

 

In the DPReview review of the new A6300, the reviewer cited 2 major concerns of a otherwise fantastic camera which are the  user interface and lens choice.

Unsurprisingly the Sony A6000 suffers from those as well. While lens choice is something that may get fixed in time, the user interface is totally under Sony control.

It is strange then, that Sony seem to be blind to the issues.

Sony really need to take a step back and reconsider how people interact with cameras. The lack of a touch screen these days is an amazing omission and makes the camera stand out like a sore thumb. Why Sony, makers of tablets and mobile phones, find it so hard to see this is frankly a symptom of the malaise in Sony's design process.

What was most disappointing was the apps. The way they are implemented means that rather than extending the camera functionality, they often inhibit it.

This is disappointing, because there is a lot to admire about this camera, but it could of been so much better.

Some example images taken with my A6000...