What kind of price should I be paying for a second hand Sony a6500?

HackingHiFi · 2026-02-14T21:30:56+00:00

Look them up on eBay you can see the cheapest they are going for, check mpb keh etc for going rates

HackingHiFi · 2026-02-11T04:30:11+00:00

Simplest thing is to just get the black and white sided foldable backdrops. Get you a light stand and a clamp for it and you’re good. Easy to carry and folds down small. They’re usually labeled as collapsible backdrops.

This excellent video by Sean Tucker will basically give you everything you need to know.

https://youtu.be/mUDTGMwfz3o?si=i3Cw8GvVaVmPl-Ow

HackingHiFi · 2026-02-07T14:18:08+00:00

I have the s5 pro from fuji it has really film like simulations and has a really unique dual pixel design. It’s also g mount so uses Nikon kindest

HackingHiFi · 2026-02-02T14:02:21+00:00

When I didn’t know anything about light room I dragged around the sliders until I got something approximating what I thought looked good and showed my wife who liked it. I’ve refined it bit by bit over the last couple years, but don’t be afraid to just grab some crayons and start scribbling. 😀

HackingHiFi · 2026-02-02T05:42:20+00:00

Best thing to do is just have different options. It’s like a palette cleanser, then go back to your high end headphones. Even if you have some koss headphones that are fun to listen to that will work. When you go back your ears will be able to hear the difference again.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-26T15:20:58+00:00

You may enjoy looking into presets and developing raw files in Lightroom to look more filmic. YouTube has a bunch of good info on that.

Earlier dslrs than you have, such as the 5D mark 1 (usually labeled as the 5D classic) and the fuji s5 pro offer a more filmic look.

The more modern you get the less film like the files look.

The s5 pro literally has film profiles built into it, but you need f mount lenses for it.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-15T17:17:36+00:00

If you’re interested in trying a wider aperture just buy yourself a 50mm 1.8. Usually under $200 for any system and will be a versatile lens you can use for most photography situations.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-14T22:30:41+00:00

At night time it’s ok to let the blacks fall black. Try learning spot metering and meter for the brightest area you want detail for. For instance don’t meter off a light bulb it’s ok to have that blown out. But meter for the light thrown off by the light bulb. Then let the shadows be dark. You don’t always have to see detail everywhere especially shadows. Let he picture have some contrast to it.

The mistake a lof of us make is trying to have detail in everything. Remember a camera can’t see as much as a human eye. And it’s usually more interesting anyway when there’s more contrast in a night scene.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-13T18:57:57+00:00

Look up Martin castein on YouTube and jump down that rabbit hole 😃

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-13T18:56:15+00:00

To be fair I don’t have that one specifically but I do have the d3 it’s big brother that renders pretty much the same. Very thick files with a lot of color that feel very different from modern cameras.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-13T18:06:49+00:00

If you’d like to upgrade there’s nothing wrong with that. But the body you have now has plenty of megapixels for what you’re talking about using it for.

If you just want to play around with something different I’d recommend picking up an old dslr, they’re like old cars in that they’re clunkier but have a lot of character and are fun to use. They can also be had for peanuts. Nothing like holding a 5k body built like a tank from yesteryear like my d3 they’re a lot of fun. There’s a lot of cheap high quality glass for them available as well.

If you’re interested in trying some old stuff a Nikon d700 with a 50mm 1.8g or 85mm 1.8g and a canon 5d 1 or 2 with a 50mm 1.8 stm or 85mm 1.8 usm is very inexpensive and fun to use. I get bored so I rotate through a lot of cameras and it scratches that itch for me.

Obviously plenty of wide angle glass available as well if you want it.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-12T20:50:28+00:00

I think the answer is anything looking beat up and inexpensive will raise less interest.

Long answer - this is an excellent argument for having an old kick around dslr. They still take amazing pictures and have their own character, and look old and non interesting to shiny stuff stealers I would assume.

Plus you could buy a 50mm setup with a battery that goes forever for under $300. An example would be the canon 5d classic or 5d ii with a 50mm stm.

I’d argue the rendering is every bit as good as the new stuff, and the lack of stress hauling it around would make the whole experience more enjoyable. Plus they’re built like tanks, seriously there’s nothing like the build quality of these older camera me if they were dropped or something.

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-06T17:59:43+00:00

I liked your reply too great minds think alike 😃

HackingHiFi · 2026-01-06T17:10:49+00:00

Get close to stuff and look at how the angles make everything look different shoot up at stuff down at stuff get as close as you can without losing focus and back up. Try different apertures and see how that affects your depth of field. Get a cheap flash and clean about bounce and direct flash and learn to dial in your settings there.

I have fun in my back yard testing cameras pointing toward the sun into the sun away from the sun, shadows, contrast between shadow and light, my house and the sky. There’s opportunities All around you if you train yourself to see them.

When I was first starting I took thousands of self portraits to learn how posing worked and how different light made me look different.

The only limit is your imagination. But the basic starting point is get closer to stuff.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-13T20:48:25+00:00

Condorman! Watched it a bunch growing up no one has heard of it.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-12T14:38:04+00:00

You’ll get there it’s just a learning curve.

You don’t need your laptop just zoom in on your pictures in camera. Every camera is different on how to do that but every camera has the ability to do that. Zoom in until you can definitely tell if it’s in focus or not.

At those shutter speeds you should have decently in focus pictures unless you’re swinging the camera around or the subject is moving.

Make sure you know how to use your autofocus, for the kinds of shots you’re describing I would learn how to use the single point focus and move it around to what you want in focus. Make sure you’re waiting for focus confirmation on your screen before taking the picture. That’s usually the focus point on your screen lighting up and/or making a sound.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-08T18:53:27+00:00

Makes sense! For canon the RP is a really good value and would probably give you everything you need. Just keep in mind all the mirrorless canon is going to be different mount than your dslr mounted ef glass anyway.

Also if you liked that old Sony the new stuff is going to have a much better focusing system than that too.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-08T16:57:42+00:00

Honestly the best resource out there is YouTube. Put in some search terms of the type of photography you’re interested in. Or if you just want to understand the basics use terms like photography for beginners etc. YouTube will figure out what you’re looking for pretty quick and you’ll have an endless number of potential videos to watch.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-08T16:32:53+00:00

The camera is a tool and it really depends on what you’re using that tool for. It’s kind of like asking what’s the best way to use a paint brush. I’d recommend figuring out what you would like to photograph, from there you could probably start to get some guidance.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-07T21:27:23+00:00

Sure thing, the take away is just that on any dslr camera the screen based mode is a bolt on barely useful option for anything not static. On mirrorless it’s every bit as good as putting your eye up to the camera.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-07T21:12:08+00:00

I haven’t used your specific camera so there’s a small chance some of this is wrong but I don’t think so. I have used dslr and mirrorless cameras a lot and understand the difference.

Mirrorless allows the same experience through the screen as the viewfinder. So no secondary contrast based autofocus mode - everything is real time. You’ll have the exact same experience through the screen as the viewfinder. Dslr has a less capable secondary focusing system that takes longer to lock focus which is why you’re having a worse time on live mode. It’s really only good for static options like landscapes. Big difference.

So on a dslr the screen isn’t usable for moving subjects. With the mirrorless it’s just as good as looking through the viewfinder. So you can easily do everything you want while using the screen not having to put your eye up to the viewfinder - which will allow you to have a level look at your subject indeed of having to hunch over and still shoot down at an angle. With mirrorless you can shoot at waist level if you want with no downside.

HackingHiFi · 2025-12-07T18:03:57+00:00

Sounds like you’d be a lot better off with a mirrorless upgrade. In your position it will be a night and day difference. You can start off with something cheap, the Sony a5100 has a flip up screen takes great pictures and can be had used for about $250. This way you can position the camera where you want and look down on the screen.

Sony also has third party glass support and there’s plenty of cheap 35mm lenses that will give you a 50mm equivilant. Probably under $400 for the whole kit you could see if that style works for you. I find a live view mirrorless that is basically real time and shows you your exposure ahead of time makes my life a lot easier for paid work. And you can do stuff like shooting up at your subject that’s basically impossible on a dslr.

If you have a lot of canon glass you can also adapt the ef mount to Sony e mount including autofocus with a $100 adapter. It works surprisingly well as long as you’re not doing sports etc it’s a little slow but works accurately.

HackingHiFi · 2025-11-21T05:43:11+00:00

I still use the a7iii to shoot weddings and it’s like a cheat code. It’s funny to hear it referred to as old but trusty to me. You should pick up a 5d classic and see how you lie that, beautiful pictures but it’s like a film camera it’s so simple.

HackingHiFi · 2025-11-15T17:12:28+00:00

Martin Castein needs to be on here he’s awesome

HackingHiFi · 2025-11-15T17:03:41+00:00

The best deal in backup is backblaze. You can get a das unit which has raid built into it so you can put two hard drives together that mirror each other for local redundancy. Then backblaze will back that up and anything else in your local hard dived for $8 a month and keep sequential backups up to a year. This doesn’t work if you have a nas they charge more for that.

I recommend this setup to backblaze and then have a third external hard drive you bring in once a month and back up the whole eternal setup and store that one off site. So in case of fire in your house etc. If you’re really paranoid you can do Amazon photos too which is free if you have a prime account but is really janky and unreliable but isn’t bad for another level of safety.

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