Sony a6400 Lenses

[Lrodrg11]

I am going to be getting a Sony a6400 here soon mainly for photography. I plan to be taking pictures primarily of automotive stuff, random landscape, and maybe some street photography. So I need to know what the best lenses are for these things, keep in mind I don’t want to spend over $400 on a single lense for anything of these things since I’m just going to be started out and getting a feel for it. Ohh and also where is the best place to buy lenses (I live in the U.S)?

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, I would suggest the Sony E 18-135mm though it is a bit above your budget price.

 

[Derrel]

What makes for "the best place to buy?" In terms of across the USA big box retail for Sony A-series cameras, I would suggest you look at Best Buy, which has an amazing return option. The good thing is that you can actually go in there and see and feel and examine the lens that you are interested in otherwise you're buying online, sight unseen, and basically just going by the specification sheet.

I know it might seem like a lot of money, but $400 in today's world is not a lot of money for a good lens. I would strongly suggest that you look into buying used lenses, from a dealer which has a good return policy. Used camera lenses are not like used cars. I have been involved with photography for 45 years and I have purchased about 75 or so used lenses. I typically buy three or four lenses every year. Last year I bought four lenses, all of them used.

I believe your Sony could use a number of manual focus, Legacy 35 mm system lenses with an adapter, but you would not have autofocus, as I understand it.

AN 18 to 135 mm zoom lens is a zoom that can do it all for general-purpose photography.

 

[ac12]

Hmm, I would suggest the Sony E 18-135mm though it is a bit above your budget price.

That is my recommended GP lens for both Nikon (18-140) and Canon (18-135) APS-C cameras.
At school, we use the 18-135 as the GP lens for the yearbook cameras.
With the 18-55 you likely needed a longer lens, with the 18-135 you don't need that longer lens for most stuff. So you save $$$.

 

[photo1x1.com]

That Sony a6400 is an awesome camera! When you say automotive stuff, you are not talking about car races, are you? Because that would usually require fairly long focal lengths.
For landscape I prefer ultra wide angles. For street photography, a smaller lens with a wide aperture, like a 50mm f/1.8. So getting all that in one lens is not really possible and you need to make compromises. So what lens to buy is a difficult question and buying used as Darrel suggested a good idea.
In regard to focal lengths, maybe my video can help you. You have to consider that the a6400 is a crop sensor camera, so check the smaller focal lengths written below that for full frame.

I hope that helps!

 

[Lrodrg11]

When you say automotive stuff, you are not talking about car races, are you?

I’m the future yes, but starting out it’ll be car shows and stuff like that.

 

[Lrodrg11]

You have to consider that the a6400 is a crop sensor camera

I knew it was a crop sensor and not full frame but is full frame something worth considering for just starting outcome, or is it not that big of a deal?

 

[photo1x1.com]

For car shows, you won´t need a long focal length. Regarding the crop sensor: yes and no. In the beginning, the lenses available for crop sensor cameras weren´t all that great. But things have changed. Both have their advantage. With full frame you get a better low light performance and more background blur e.g. for portraits (considering everything else is pretty similar). With crop, you get a better reach (bigger magnification with the same lens). There are also a few other minor differences.

 

[Lrodrg11]

For car shows, you won´t need a long focal length. Regarding the crop sensor: yes and no. In the beginning, the lenses available for crop sensor cameras weren´t all that great. But things have changed. Both have their advantage. With full frame you get a better low light performance and more background blur e.g. for portraits (considering everything else is pretty similar). With crop, you get a better reach (bigger magnification with the same lens). There are also a few other minor differences.

What’s a good similar full frame camera compared to the a6400?

 

[photo1x1.com]

Price wise probably the a7II, same price but without the lens and you have to consider that full frame lenses are often more expensive than crop lenses.
But technically (particularly regarding focus, frames per second), I think the a6400 is slightly better than the a7II.

 

[Lrodrg11]

Price wise probably the a7II, same price but without the lens and you have to consider that full frame lenses are often more expensive than crop lenses.
But technically (particularly regarding focus, frames per second), I think the a6400 is slightly better than the a7II.

Ok thanks.