Need help with a Christmas present

Hubby has a Sony alpha 300 from quite a long time ago. It has started flaking out and his telephoto lens is having problems too. I made this choice because 1. His old lenses from his semi automatic film camera would still work and 2. The price point was good for the sat stage of our lives.

He sometimes gets tired of carrying so much, but the fact is, he loves framing great shots and getting that awesome wildlife photo that the rest of us can't get.

He doesn't think he'll get enough use out of it to spend more then 1.5k or so, but I want him to have something he likes.

Besides great photos, weight and ease of switching lenses are important.

I thought about a higher end point and shoot, but he wants a view finder and I really don't think he'll be happy with that.

Thanks for any and all help and suggestions.

Hubby has a Sony alpha 300 from quite a long time ago. It has started flaking out and his telephoto lens is having problems too. I made this choice because 1. His old lenses from his semi automatic film camera would still work

Besides great photos, weight and ease of switching lenses are important.

You should consider continuing on the Sony Alpha line.

The A6000 is very good as is the A6000. I believe (but not sure) that his lens from the A300 are e-mount lens and would fit. The Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals are still around and the A6000 can be bought with the kit lens including the 70-200mm if his old telephoto is giving him problems. And yes, it still has a viewfinder and quite light.

You should consider continuing on the Sony Alpha line.

 

The A6000 is very good as is the A6000. I believe (but not sure) that his lens from the A300 are e-mount lens and would fit. The Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals are still around and the A6000 can be bought with the kit lens including the 70-200mm if his old telephoto is giving him problems. And yes, it still has a viewfinder and quite light.

Thank you for the info. You pulled one of my tricks and put the A6000 twice. What was the other one you were recommending? I will look at both.

His wide angle is still OK, so this would probably be a good way to go if Sony is still a recommended camera.

Thank you for the info. You pulled one of my tricks and put the A6000 twice. What was the other one you were recommending? .

Sorry - it would be the Sony A6300 which is an upgrade on the A6000. There is the "latest latest" which is the A6500 but I have not really looked into it.

Dave Pierce, who contributes often to this blog, has a review on the camera. Just click on his name to get to this blog - and you can admire his photos as well!

I’m going to count on Dave, but I believe the a300 cameras used the Sony/Minolta Alpha mount, where the a6000 use the Sony F/FE mount. Which would mean you’d need an adapter to use the older lenses.

The good news is the newer lenses for the a6000 series cameras are smaller and lighter. The bad news is his existing lenses will require an adapter.

I’ve had the a6500 for just over a month and love it.

Thank you all. We did find the info about the A vs E mounts as we were looking.

He thinks his old camera is still OK, that it is just his 70-300mm lens that is having problems, so I took a change and purchased a new zoom lens, hoping the old body will continue working for him.

Most of the lenses that came in the sets were only 200mm at the top end.

I appreciate all of the help. You all got me looking in the right places so that I could find this new lens.

The A300 predates the E-/FE-mount cameras and uses the Minolta/Sona A-mount. The lenses will not work on the A6000 without an adapter. Since the earlier A-mount lenses used a screw-drive focusing system, only the LA-EA2 and LA-EA4 adapters will work. With both these adapters costing as much as a decent kit lens, buying an A6000 with the two lens bundle makes a lot more sense than adapting older lenses, unless you have a collection of high-end glass.

The A6000 two lens kit is one of the best bargains in cameras right now with the camera body, the 16-50 power zoom (my favorite compact travel zoom) and the surprisingly good 70-210 zoom for under $700. There is a reason that Sony has retained the A6000 in their lineup with two models released since it came out. It is still a remarkable performer and offers just about the best bang for the buck of any camera out there today.

I used to shoot with both the 6MP Minolta 7D and the 12MP Sony A700 and while I was very pleased with the images they captured and their performance, neither of those cameras comes close to the A6000.

Hope this info helps.

Dave

The a300 is quite dated by today’s standards.

Based on your preferences, and your consideration of p&s, I’d consider the rx10iv.

Not cheap at all— it is an ultra high end point and shoot. It does have a viewfinder.

For several reasons, it should easily outperform the a300+70-300 all around, while being more compact.

The a300 is quite dated by today’s standards.

Based on your preferences, and your consideration of p&s, I’d consider the rx10iv.

Not cheap at all— it is an ultra high end point and shoot. It does have a viewfinder.

In consideration of a P&S, Havoc315 has picked one of the best P&S.

You should go down to your nearest camera store and try them out. That being said, you should take into consideration that the Sony P&S is much heavier than the Sony A6300 - about 2.4pounds as oppose to the A6300 which is less than a pound. The A6000 is a tad lighter than the A6300.

On the other hand, the Sony does have a zoom lens which should cover 99.9% of all your shooting requirements - unless you want something further than 600mm!

We bought a Sony HX400V point and shoot and just got back from the southern caribbean. I used to carry around a Nikon D40 but the Sony was so much easier to use and also shoots video. It has 20mp and takes great pictures.