Sony A6000 visits Bratislava
Sony A6000, the ideal street photography camera
The Sony A6000 is the ideal street photography camera: fast AF, beautiful range of lenses and inconspicuous. So I took it along on a visit to the Slovakian capital Bratislava.
This city is known for being a bit of a Bohemian magnet, but I was mainly looking for remnants of the Soviet occupation that ended after the Berlin wall fell in the nineties. Unfortunately, the locals don’t get this interest in cold war relics, and most prefer to forget it I think. Indeed now it is a modern city, with lots of hip and trendy shops and restaurants. About the only thing still left is the UFO bridge connecting the two parts of the town across the Donau river.
Zeiss Touit 12mm
In order to capture the vibe of the city, I mainly used the wide angle Zeiss Touit 12mm, that focusses quite fast on the Sony A6000, although it does not at this point use the full PDAF capabilities. Make sure to turn OFF Pre-AF as it bleeds the battery dry very quickly with the Touit lenses.
I had Sequential Shooting on Medium, but next time I do something like this I decided just to set it to single shot, I’m in that phase where I’m tired of having to go through 20 images of the same scene it order to find the one I like best. As opposed to the “I don’t want to miss that one split second” phase. You probably know what I’m talking about…
PlayMemories Long Exposure
I also stumbled upon a wedding shoot in the old city centre, and used the PlayMemories Long Exposure app to capture the scene. Although this iPhone and Android app does not replace a long exposure with a good ND filter, it’s still useful for that unexpected creative impulse like this one I think.
It’s really easy to use, you just need a tripod or even surface to stabilise the camera, and luckily I always carry my Gorilla flexible tripod (really handy and small).
DXO Optics Pro 9
This piece of software by French company DXO is my preferred go-to initial editor. It has profiles for the Zeiss Touit and A6000, and does a lot more than just fix barrel distortion, possible purple fringing, etc.
My favourite feature is the increase micro-contrast slider, that can give your images that extra pop. Besides that, it’s really good at recovering blown highlights and blacks, a feature often needed to improve that one great shot that isn’t exposited to your liking in fast sequential shooting scenarios with the Sony A6000.
I have been considering this camera for travel….But, I have looked at the above pictures – and…forgive be, they appear to be very soft.
Is this a function of processing in order to remove jaggies, fringing, etc? I assume these are shot as raw?
Your composition, and obvious photographer’s eye is fantastic. So, my remarks are not a criticism of your craft. But….I am curious if – though it has a relatively HUGE sensor – does the Sony a6000 make “compromises” which soften the appearance of the image?
Again – these are pleasant to look at, from the artistic aspect. But, the lack of sharpness is something that I am curious about…..
Hi Tim, yes the A6000 has an APS-C sensor, so that is just a step below full frame. The Zeiss Touits are quite sharp (as are most Zeiss lenses). Can you tell me what system you are coming from? I must admit that I personally find my Fuji system system & lenses to generate sharper images, but than again others find XT1 images ‘flat’ and without ‘3D pop’. So, to a certain degree it comes down to personal preference.