Hello from Manchester.

[R0b]

Hello all,
Just joined the forum to get some tips on the a6400 which I have just purchased. I have been looking for a compact system and thought this was the best. Coming from a Nikon DSLR, hopefully I will enjoy it. Looking forward to chatting with you all.

Rob.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Welcome! I love my a6400, I take it everywhere with me. What genres are you into and what lenses did you get?

 

[R0b]

Welcome! I love my a6400, I take it everywhere with me. What genres are you into and what lenses did you get?

Thanks for the welcome. I've only had it two weeks, still getting used to it. It's so much better than my old d90. It came with the standard lens but I'll start a new thread asking for some advice. Maybe you could input please. My genre would be animals, mainly dogs, landscapes and looking forward to maybe stars-Milky way.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Welcome Rob and thanks for joining up here! Like Chris said the a6400 is a great compact camera. If you have any questions on it please do let us know!

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Thanks for the welcome. I've only had it two weeks, still getting used to it. It's so much better than my old d90. It came with the standard lens but I'll start a new thread asking for some advice. Maybe you could input please. My genre would be animals, mainly dogs, landscapes and looking forward to maybe stars-Milky way.

Hi Rob,
I'll assume you meant the 16-50 kit lens? I had that lens with my a6000, its light, but not too bright (aperture). I actually got the 18-135 as my "kit" lens when I bought the a6400; it is similarly limited in aperture, but has a very useful zoom range in a lightweight body (my go-to travel lens).

For dogs/pets, something in the same zoom range as you already have might work, but you will want a wider aperture for indoors or shaded situations, so you could look at the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8. Its lightweight, wider aperture, but loses the optical stabilization than your Sony lens has. Tamron's answer to this is the 17-70mm f2.8 which has vibration compensation, but its a bigger lens and takes some getting used to... I had to learn to love mine.

If by animals you meant wildlife... then you're going to want more reach. Something like the Sony 70-350mm. I "want" one, but don't need it since I don't do much bird/wildlife photography.

Any lens can be a landscape lens. By this I mean its more important to get a tripod, practice composition, and master the exposure triangle. Some people will try to sell you on the widest lens possible, like a rokinon 12mm or the Sony 10-18, but don't listen to them. Use what you have, practice and see if you really want a wider lens. You can always take multiple pictures and stitch them together into a panorama using photoshop.

Milkyway photography is something akin to landscape but different. Here you DO want a wide lens and a wide aperture. f2.8 or brighter. I see many people on the facebook group making use of the Sigma 16mm f1.4 with great success. You could also save a few shillings and go with a manual lens (you will be manually focusing anyway) like the Rokinon 12mm f2.0 manual.

Gotta run, baby crying, good luck!