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Sony A6500 wide zoom questions


Alex

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After close to 30 yrs of shooting exclusively with Canon I cheated and added a Sony A6500 to my bag.

I purchased the camera with a Sigma Mc11 adapter ( don’t have a cable for it, I can’t update the software and I can’t seem to find what cable I need for it) and the camera came with the Sony 18-105mm f4.

I own a Canon Ef-s10-22 for my crop sensor but It doesn’t fit the Sony and i truly like that focal range. Short of buying the Sony 10-18mm for $850 what other zoom alternatives are out there with auto focus within that focal range that cost less than that?

One last thing. Can you anyone recommend A small capable flash to mount on the hot shoe as bounce/fill flash? My 580’s exII speedlites are only functional on manual mode and are kind of too big anyway.

Thanks for any info and pointers. I’m quite lost with this new toy.

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If you want to see Sony's native E-mount lens options, Michael Hohner's website is a great resource:

Minolta/Konica Minolta/Sony Alpha lens data

It doesn't have price information, for good reasons, but it's easy enough to get an idea of prices from a site like B&H or eBay or something.

B&H is also a great resource for seeing what lens options are available from other manufacturers.

 

I can't really help with adapted lenses though, or flashes. I'm not sure what lenses the Sigma adapter allows you to use, nor whether it facilitates using a lens to its full capabilities. With adapted lenses, you obviously have an order of magnitude of more options.

 

If you are used to using a crop-sensor Canon, and you now have a crop-sensor Sony, at least the angle of view for any given focal length will be comparable and shouldn't add any confusion.

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Can you anyone recommend A small capable flash to mount on the hot shoe as bounce/fill flash?

 

- 'Small' and 'capable' are polar opposites in a flash. Anything small enough not to unbalance the camera is going to be barely more powerful than the built-in popup.

 

Metz make some lightweight and compact-sized flashes with a reasonable output, but they're not cheap. In fact anything with Sony-compatible TTL isn't going to be cheap. So, personally, I'd forget TTL and get a flash with Auto Aperture mode (sometimes called 'Auto Thyristor' control). In my experience this works as well as, or better than, any TTL.

 

I have an old Metz 40 MZ-1i. It's a squat design that sits fairly low on the camera. It's powerful, quick to recycle and supports AA mode. However it's still quite heavy and bulky, but the weight distribution doesn't unbalance the camera - too much!

 

I think if you want sufficient power to bounce a flash, while keeping the ISO speed reasonable, then you have to make compromises on size and weight.

 

As far as lenses go; I'm not sure what Tokina offer in Sony fit, if anything. I'm impressed with their 11-20mm f/2.8 zoom on a Nikon though.

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Colin and Joe, thank you for taking the time to reply. I went to the site you referenced and seems quite resourceful but it seem to mainly deal with Sony lenses. I just can’t seem to find what alternatives are out there for a while zoom that will not set me back $800.

I’d love to use my Efs 10-22 mm since I already have it. I wonder if there is an adapter that would Take the efs mount of that lens and allow me to use it on the A6500 maintaining autofocus and other functions.

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Yes, as I said, Michael Hohner's website is a great resource for native lens options from Sony.

 

There are certainly adapters you can use for your Canon lens. I'm not familiar with them, but some maintain at least some (if not all) electronic communication between the body and the lens. As I suggested, take a look on the B&H website. Even if you ultimately don't buy there, it's a great resource. Maybe others will chime in here with more specifics for you.

Lens Mount Adapters | B&H Photo Video

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Well, it won't get you autofocus, but Voigtlander makes some very small, very wide lenses for Leica M mount usually (maybe some Sony mounts too) and I've used Leica M mount lenses on the Nex 7 with good effect. Sony's crop lenses seem to be something of a disappointment so far, though their full frame lenses are said to be very good. But those are awfully heavy. Might as well have bought an A7 right? Just remember that part of the fun of a camera like that is that you can adapt anything you might already have, and that's free (or just the cost of the adapter) so try that first. I've even used old contax rangefinder lenses on my Nex 7.
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I've heard there's an issue with Leica-fit wideangles on MILCs. Their non-retrofocus design means that rays from the lens hit the sensor at a sharp angle and cause colour fringing and other artefacts.

 

Several people have warned me off buying Leica-fit wide lenses to use on my a6000. I'm inclined to believe them and haven't 'invested' any money in such lenses.

 

Besides which, I don't think those Leica-fit lenses go much below 20mm FL, and they're pretty expensive to boot.

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The Metz Mecablitz m400 is great - capable, bounce/swivel, manual controls, and it fits and balances great on the a6500. I picked one up using Amazon reward points in early September this year, and I'm really happy with it. None of the Sony offerings seem to fit the a6000/6300/6500 as well.
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If you're prepared to go with less familiar brands, the Godox TT-350S is liked by some and offers all the usual controls and compatibilities, including HSS.

 

This UK price comparison web site (link) suggests there are very few third-party zoom lenses out there. And Sigma's chart of lenses compatible with the MC-11(link) suggests they have only a 17-70mm that meets your price criteria.

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The Metz Mecablitz m400 is great - capable, bounce/swivel, manual controls, and it fits and balances great on the a6500.

 

- Hmmm. Metz's stated GN for the M400 is only 28 (m/100 ISO) at the 50mm zoom setting. That means its real and measured GN will only be around 20. That's not enough for any useful bounce power IME.

 

With one of the most powerful hotshoe speedlights available to me - true and measured GN 28 (m/100 ISO@50mm) - I have to pump the ISO up to 400 to get a useful aperture of f/8 in a domestic living room, bouncing the flash from a fairly low white-painted ceiling of 8' 6". The total bounce 'round trip' being only about 5 metres.

 

The maker's stated GN for that flash is 56 @ the 105mm zoom setting and 44 @ 50mm. All lies of course, just like every other maker's GN ever published.

 

So, assuming that Metz M400 is 1.3 stops less powerful than my flash (as is advertised), you're looking at using around f/4.5 @ 400 ISO with bounce flash and a subject only 2 to 2.5 metres in front of the lens. That's in an average domestic room. Not very 'capable' in my view.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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And Sigma's chart of lenses compatible with the MC-11(link) suggests they have only a 17-70mm that meets your price criteria.

 

Sigma's site only shows Sigma lenses, but the MC-11 adapter is compatible with Canon EOS lenses. So maybe the OP doesn't need to buy anything lens-wise since he's happy with his existing Canon 10-22mm lens. However, as far as I am aware, Canon doesn't licence its mount specifications to anyone, so in order to make a working adapter, the mount specs and electrical contacts, etc all have to be reverse-engineered. That's why I said that some adapters maintain at least some (if not all) electronic communication between the body and the lens. I'm just not sure which ones have done a better job of the reverse engineering. Alex, what happens when you try to use your Canon lens with the MC-11 adapter on the Sony body?

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Thank you all for your kind replies. So far o believe I will try buying a used metabones mark IV. Seems like for around $200 they can be found and that it’s likely to adapt to some wide zooms. When I get it I’ll report my findings.

So far the sigma mc11 seems decent with the ef 100mm f2.8 macro mark1,

ef 85 f1.8,

ef 50 f1.4,

ef 24/70 f2.8L mark I,

ef 70-200 f2.8 is markI

Since I’m not yet familiar with the camera I’m not 100% sure what feature might not be operating but for the quick test I did they all seem to focus well.

The Ef-s mount is physically impossible to fit on the sigma mc11 unless the lens is modified. Meta bones will accept ef-s

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The Ef-s mount is physically impossible to fit on the sigma mc11 unless the lens is modified. Meta bones will accept ef-s

 

Isn't it the case that EF-S lenses mount fine on any EF-Mount body/adapter, but that they project an image circle only large enough to cover an APS-C sensor? That was my understanding.

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Colin.You are on the right path but not quite correct. I own a canon 7D Mark II AND A 5D Mark III (full frame and crop) and I can use all the lenses I mentioned above on either body quite alright with the exception of the canon Ef-s 10-22 on the full frame, since the mount it a bit longer (it protrudes further) thus rendering the lens unusable on the full frame canon camera and although the 10-22 is the only Ef-s lens I own it think they all have the same physical limitations (unless of course one modifies the lens by chopping that protrusion off)

The sigma mc11 does come with the sigma or canon ef mount, but it will not accept an Ef-s without modification. The metabones for canon to Sony will physically accept both ef and ef-s lenses due to the larger internal diameter compared to that of the sigma mc11. Now whether or not the electronics are compatible with all lenses, that is a different story. Some lenses might fit but not operate as expected or at all I would think.

I just got a metabones mark IV on eBay and it should be with me this coming Friday. I’ll see then if my canon Ef-s 10-22 lens works with the metabones mark IV adapter or plan B is to find a zoom in that range that works.

I’ll report once I get it.

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Just a quick follow up on the whole metabones mark IV and Canon ef-s 10-22mm deal. The Canon ef-s 10-22 and the metabones mark IV do work well together with the Sony A6500 without any modifications to the lens. I have tried the metabones IV adapter in green mode and advance mode. The advance mode offers just about most focusing options the camera has to offer but interestingly it focus hunt to no avail and at the end it stop trying without locking onto anything at all (useless). On green mode, one can only choose single focus or continuous and it works great, it's fast and no hesitation. I found that to be true with all the lenses I've tried.

Just as an fyi. I have compared the metabones mark IV against the Sigma MC-11 I already have and without making much of scientific job I could not feel any difference in terms of focusing speed or different available options unlocked on the camera. The feel of the actual converter is good on both, the sigma MC-11 being smoother. The lenses mounts like butter on the sigma MC-11 and on the metabones mark IV it's a bit more of a rougher fit when turning the lens in place (not a big deal) now, the connection from the adapter to the actual camera body itself it is a complete different story, the Sigma MC-11 is super smooth, were the Metabones mark IV it's a lot tighter than I like. When I first aligned the adaptor into the camera body and try to turn it in place it was so tight I thought something wasn't right, a firm grip it's required to lock it in place and remove it as well. I was kind of surprised how tight it is, not that one has to fight it and once you know how it is you just deal with it, but quite a contrast compared to the Sigma MC-11.

In any case, I am content with the metabones adapter since the $147 that I paid on e-bay for it kept me from having to buy a new lens and although the Canon ef-s 10-22mm for today standards is not top notch it is still a capable lens for what I need.

Thanks to all for your earlier responses.

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I've heard there's an issue with Leica-fit wideangles on MILCs. Their non-retrofocus design means that rays from the lens hit the sensor at a sharp angle and cause colour fringing and other artefacts.

 

Several people have warned me off buying Leica-fit wide lenses to use on my a6000. I'm inclined to believe them and haven't 'invested' any money in such lenses.

 

Besides which, I don't think those Leica-fit lenses go much below 20mm FL, and they're pretty expensive to boot.

 

Well, I have used the Voigtlander 25 and 15 and I'm pretty sure they have a 12 too. Well, it's possible others are more critical than I am (I'm just an amateur) but I used Leica lenses almost exclusively on my Nex when I bought it because the native lenses were so disappointing. Mostly I used the 35/2 ASPH. Aside from having to magnify and use focus peaking to focus, I was pretty happy. And they're a lot smaller than if I used my Minolta Maxxum lenses or my Contax RTS lenses. Curiously, and mostly for the novelty I also used my Contax rangefinder lenses from the 1950s (not all of them, but the 35 and the 50). It actually worked pretty well.

 

Though given their expense (not so much the Voigtlanders, but certainly the Leicas), I'm not sure I'd buy them solely for a mirrorless. I bought them for my Leica cameras, but since I had them, I used them on the Nex-7. And I think Voigtlander makes some lenses in the E mount too. Never really researched it though.

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This Canon-Sony adapter will give you near full compatibility with Canon lenses. Check the reviews, but I understand auto focus works well, and you have electronic control of the diaphragm.

 

MetabonesCanon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation)

 

You don't need a speed booster to use a FF lens on a DX sensor. Keep it simple.

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Ed. You are correct. The one I have is the previous version of it. As far as I understand the adapter has the same functionality. The version V versus the IV are 1) the new one has a light to indicate which mode is being used 2) it has a weather seal and I believe there might be a third one that I cannot remember what it is. Aside from those it doesn’t work any better nor the is any improvements as to how the lens and camera interact with one another.
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