Sony A6300 with mf lenses: observations

Sony A6300 with mf lenses: observations

12mmf2wideopen_0019_

I am assuming mf/magnifier behavior hasn’t changed since the A6000, I am comparing it with the A7rII and noticed you have to press a designated button to activate the mf zoom window, you will have to press the button once or twice to get back to full view again. On the A7rII, when in mf mode, any button assigned to af will activate the mf zoom and half pressing the shutter release will take you right back to full view (same behavior on the first gen A7series).

Half pressing the shutter release on the A6300 doesn’t take you out of the zoom mode, a workaround, set it to 2 or 5sec.
I have tested the Sony a6300 with the following lenses:
Nikon 75-150mm f3.5 (insanely cheap on Ebay)
this is the only lens I have tried where focus peaking (weakest level) worked effectively.
No need for zooming in, due to the shallow depth of field I felt comfortable focusing maintaining full view.
This is probably the most useful bargain lens you can get, esp if you are shooting close ups and have time to mf. Excellent optical quality.

rokinon12mm
Rokinon 12mm f2:
this is a lovely lens, small, well made, perfect match for the A6300.
Tack sharp corner to corner, provided you get a lens without de-centering issues.
Mine is going back, the left side is noticably softer then the right side.
Focusing with this lens is a mixed back.
If you are shooting 5.6 or 8 (found this to be the sweet spot) you won’t run into problems when guessing the distance. Plenty of depth of field has you covered.
At f2, you will need to take the time and focus precisely. Focus peaking won’t be helpful, you will need to zoom in. This is my favorite mf lens for this body.
16mm
Rokinon 16mm f2:
Love the way this lens renders images, beautiful bokeh, even at f4 when focused on closer subjects, however, this lens is a huge, heavy monster, kind of defeats the purpose of having a small body. Works best with the A7 series and battery grip.

As for image quality the sensor in the A6300 appears to be further optimized for better edge/corner performance with wide angle lenses. Too bad it lacks IBIS.
If you already have a few mf focus lenses, you should be happy with the files from the A6300, esp on wide angle lenses, the corners look clean and sharp, provided you have a sharp lens. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going out and buying mf lenses, except for the 12mm f2, af performance is so good that you are better off saving for a lens like the Sony 10-18mm, which will stay on my A6300 body for most of the time. Share your thoughts, questions and findings in the comments below.

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One thought on “Sony A6300 with mf lenses: observations

  1. n3pous

    another work around to exit focus magnifier after half pressing the shutter button is to turn off the AF in Focus Mag.

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