Andy Collins

<p>Beautiful colors, Gene!</p>

<p><strong>Louis</strong>, I love the Flossmoor shots! If you haven't already done so, be sure to stop at the Flossmoor Station and sample the incredible IPAs and other brews they make in the brewery located in the station's restaurant. Their ribeyes are also superb! Thanks for sharing such beautiful, colorful pics. It's a really nice place that I'm sure you'll enjoy.</p>

<p>#2</p><div></div>

<p>Here are a couple more Fall shots before the color begins to fade away...</p><div></div>

<p>Wow, <strong>Rick</strong>! Those are very nice shots from a couple of beautiful cameras. I, too, am most thankful for <strong>SP</strong> and the amazing amount of knowledge he has to offer, not to mention the wonderful photography he shares with all of us.</p>

<p>While the FF Canon mirrorless camera is certainly interesting, I'd be interested in seeing a true, serious APS-C mirrorless camera from Canon. I'm still not sure about committing to mirrorless yet, and I'm not ready to spend as much on a FF body as I know it would cost. I've owned both the M and M2 and have sung the praises of those cameras for the strengths that they have, but the weaknesses became enough of an issue for me (the shutter lag being one, and many other minor annoyances) that I chose to try Sony, specifically the a6000. This camera has been a real eye-opener in demonstrating what can be achieved in a compact mirrorless camera if a serious effort is made to create a versatile and capable tool. While I truly love my M2 (it's so small but produces really nice images!), the a6000 is a far more versatile and useful photographic tool that affords me a lot more options to create the picture I want; the degree to which you can configure this camera to meet your specific and individualized needs is really impressive. I considered the M3 but it seems like a half-hearted effort to compete with the a6000 and falls short. I hope Canon does become serious about mirrorless cameras. I'd love to see the M4 with a built-in EVF with high resolution, a much higher frame rate, even faster AF, the ability to change the size of the focus point, a panorama mode that stitches the shots in-camera, RAW processing in-camera like the 7D...I could go on. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the a6000 immensely. It's really a pretty amazing camera!</p>

<p>Congrats on your new purchase, Christopher! Those are some very nice looking pictures you've taken with it, and it looks as though you're off to a great start. I bought my a 6000 about 6 weeks ago and am still learning the camera. So far I really like it a lot, but it has taken quite a bit of getting used to. The amount of capability and customization built into it is impressive, but being a long-time Canon user, the layout of the menus is different and as a result I often am confused as to what feature or function is where. The power zoom has also taken some time to get used to, but I actually like the lens itself quite a bit. I must have gotten a sharp copy as I'm happy with the images I get with it. I wish it were a longer zoom range, like 16-85 for instance, but this range works for most of what I'm shooting while I'm learning the camera. I've mostly shot jpegs with it so far and as a result haven't had any issue with the lens vignetting, since the correction is turned on "Auto". I will work with RAW soon to see how much more I can get from the camera. I'm very happy with the camera and find it to be quite an impressive tool. I moved to the a6000 from the EOS M/M2 and while I loved the compact size and build quality of those cameras as well as the impressive image quality, the a6000 seems light-years ahead in performance overall, especially in the area of AF, but also in terms of what features are available to the photographer and the number of adjustment parameters also available. You might take a look at David Busch's guide to the Sony a6000, as it's a <em>very</em> comprehensive guide to every part of the camera, and a much easier read than the downloaded instruction manual. This book has been of immeasurable help to me in learning the camera. Enjoy your new a6000, and I look forward to seeing more pics soon!</p>

<p>Another vote for Mark Hama. He fixed a Yashica rangefinder for me, but he also serviced my Canon 7 rangefinder. He is a miracle worker indeed!</p>

<p>Thanks <strong>Louis</strong>. I really like the a6000. It has been a bit difficult adapting to a completely new user interface but I'm becoming much more accustomed to it. There are so many features built into the camera that it's easy to get caught up in all of them and not connect with the camera at all, leaving it feeling a bit like a very capable but lifeless tool. I have really been working on paying more attention to what I want to create with the camera and learning which features I'll commonly use to create what I envision. That makes the features a lot more meaningful and the whole photographic process a lot more fluid. That sounds like common sense but for a gearhead like me it takes a lot of discipline to not focus so much on the gear itself. Besides, my significant-other's eyes wax over with a look of supreme boredom whenever I begin to talk to her about the camera, which has also helped me to work on actually using the camera rather than fawn over it. But I do like it a lot. It really is an amazingly capable camera, <em>much</em> more so than the EOS M and M2 I was using before. It seriously gives my 7D a good run for its money as well!</p>

<p>Great shots Tony, all of them. "Resting" is my favorite, but all of them are very nice.</p>

<p>Still playing around with the kit-lens on the a6000...</p><div></div>

<p>Very nice, Steve. I especially love the reflection!</p>

<p>Some of the foliage is well on its way to full Fall glory!</p><div></div>

<p><em>"Fall Watercolor"</em>...this is a completely frivolous shot, but it was kind of a fun feature to play around with.</p><div></div>

<p>Great shots, everyone! Nice weather today, so I had a chance to be outside for quite awhile. Here are a few with the a6000...this first is with a Canon FD 50/1.4 S.S.C. mounted.</p><div></div>

<p><em>Wow!</em> Thanks for all of the most encouraging responses! <strong>SP</strong>, I was hoping that you would offer some tips and advice (and your blessing!) and I thank you for all of your comments. As Tony said, you're the man when it comes to Prakticas and a whole host of other cameras. I happened to find that same site and have it bookmarked. <strong>Rick</strong>, I will definitely post pics when I finish the roll I've loaded. <strong>Winfried</strong>, thanks for your comments. <strong>Chuck</strong>, yes, my eye is on the prowl again and this is an exciting find for sure!<strong> Tony</strong>, I love reading SP's responses on all things photographic <em>period!</em> I wish he'd write a book because I'd read it from cover to cover and then begin again! <strong>Michael</strong>, the camera isn't capping at all, so hopefully everything is good to go!</p>

<p>Here's one from this weekend, just as the sun was about to set...</p><div></div>

<p>I found this Praktica Nova at a flea market/consignment shop last week, and it appears to be in great condition, but I have a few questions about it that I hope someone can answer. First of all, which model of Nova is this? I think it's a B (the name on the faceplate is hard to see and is partially obscured), but I've read that there are several variations of the Nova B. Second, how do you set the shutter speed? Is this camera like the Zorkis or Kievs where you have to cock the shutter first and then change the speed, or do you set the speed first? Third, the lens is an A. Schacht Ulm Travegon...what kind of quality does this lens consist of, or is it a cheap substitute for the nicer Carl Zeiss lenses? Any information on this camera would be greatly appreciated. It seems as though it will be fun to use, and seems to be in working order, including the light meter which responds smoothly to changing light. Thanks in advance for any help!</p><div></div>

<p>If you want to spend under $200 and get a very compact camera that fits easily and comfortably in your pocket, look for a Canon PowerShot Elph 330 HS. It's 12.1 megapixels and delivers excellent image quality. I foolishly sold mine and now am looking for another one to buy. Its image quality is much better than you would expect from a camera in its price range, really quite impressive. Read the reviews online...they're all quite positive!</p>

<p>#3</p><div></div>

<p>#2</p><div></div>

<p>A few from the country with the Sony a6000...</p><div></div>

<p>#3: Retired wagon</p><div></div>

<p>#2: Soybean field</p><div></div>

<p>Here are a few from this weekend...#1: Fall leaves, a few days early.</p><div></div>