[ Nikon D40x ] Yongnuo 50mm F1.8 F-Mount Prime Lens Review

Shortly before picking up my Sony cameras, I bought a cheap Yongnuo 50mm F1.8 lens off of Amazon. Having read a lot of the benefits of using fast prime lenses, I wanted to experiment with a cheap one before investing too much in a Sony E-mount-compatible prime lens which are much more expensive. At only about $65 USD, I had little to lose in the purchase.

If you’re interested in checking it out, you can find it here on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.jp

Design
For the price, I definitely had low expectations. The housing is fully plastic, but seems otherwise durable enough. The ring is a bit on the rough side, but is still more than acceptable for minor adjustments. The end of the lens is also 58mm threaded for covers and filters.

The AF / MF slider on the side makes it easy to decide when you need to switch between manual focus and autofocus...

Features
...which is one of the most surprising features about this lens: it really, seriously has autofocus! At this price, I would only expect manual adjustments, so this was a huge bonus. In reality, though, the autofocus is not actually very fast and definitely is not as accurate at focusing on subjects as the kit lenses. At times, it even seems to get confused and refuses to focus unless the shutter button is released and re-engaged. However, for ease-of-use in many situations, it does the job adequately.

The biggest drawback of the lens is that at any wide aperture opening, the infinity focus is miserable and cannot focus well at all, even manually. Mildly close objects more than a dozen meters away are blurry and uncrisp.

For such a cheap lens, the focused images actually look great. Here are a sample of some photos I took last fall with the lens.

At full F1.8 aperture opening, there is some chromatic aberration.

Stepped down to 2.8, though, and the results are still quite stunning.

The amount of light the camera gathers is pretty amazing, creating a gorgeous depth of field.

The background boke is quite lovely.

Conclusion
As expected at this price, this is not a serious lens for a serious photographer. For my amateurish needs, however, this $65 lens is a steal. It is a great addition for any beginner to play around with and get gorgeous shots with little effort.

After using the lens for a few weeks last fall, I found that the 50mm, while acceptable for portraits, was way too close for other work such as my food porn shots. This solidified my decision to pick up a 35mm as my next prime for my Sony bodies, look forward to a review next time.

This was my last accessory purchase for my Nikon, as just recently my old beast finally gave up the ghost. RIP…

[ Photography ] Prime Lens

For nearly 9 years, I used two kit lenses for all my photography needs, as they provide enough focal ranges for all the pictures I needed. In the past year or so, I’ve started to slowly realize that my pictures lacked a certain quality that separates great photos from my mediocre ones. My photos, while not terrible IMO, weren’t “special.” Not to mention numerous photos taken inside dark gyms always were a little noisy, dark, or blurry, tripod or not. I don’t know how I used my camera for so many years strictly on “automatic” without knowing more about what other dial options, ISO, shutter speed, or f-stop meant.

When my Nikon started to have shutter issues a bit longer than a year ago (has it been that long already?), I did a bit of research on cameras and fell deep (...so deep…) into the rabbit hole of photography. I essentially had to start from scratch, trying to make sense of all these terms and most importantly, how I can take better pictures.

The world of photography is quite vast. Even with months of reading, researching, and a bit of experimentation, I realize I am an absolute amateur and I still know nothing. It is exactly the Dunning-Kruger Effect; the more you know the more you realize you don’t.

Nikon D40 / Yongnuo 50mm F4.5

Wading through this information, time and time again, I heard an oft repeated recommendation to start off with a “prime lens” in order to truly learn how to take great pictures. Prime lenses only have one focal length, forcing the user to move closer or further to reframe the shot. This might help in understanding positioning, getting better angles and more interesting shots. Though honestly, this sounds like more work to me.

Nikon D40 / Yongnuo 50mm F6.3

So why would one bother? Prime lenses can capture that elusive, beautiful blurred boke / bokeh.

Sony A6000 / 35mm F2

This also means it lets in a lot of light allowing for brighter pictures with lower ISO, generating less noise and sharper images. Who knew that f-stop meant so much?

So all these benefits of prime lenses are great to be sure, but the lower cost APS-C ones, around $200 USD or less, are often manual focus, manual aperture, and often lack electronic sensors for file data. From there, lenses around $200 and up may have auto-focus, but sadly, often lack any lens built-in stabilization with cheaper third-party lenses. For hand-held shots, this can make a big difference, worth a couple of stops. And, again, they only have one focal length!

Sony A6000 / 35mm F2.2

But when shots are this beautiful…

Sony A6000 / 35mm F2.2

…nothing else matters.

[ Sony Alpha ] SmallRig 1889 Cage & Andoer Cage Comparison & Review

One of my minor complaints thus far with my Sony A6300 is the tiny grip, as I mentioned in my initial review. As I have rather comparatively large hands and having used a DSLR for many years, I wanted to make the Sony much more comfortable on long shoots. I considered a Meike battery grip extension for around $60 or various leather grips for a bit more. The leather grips are rather ugly and bulky, giving the camera an old feel which isn’t necessarily appropriate for the modern look of the camera. (If I had a Fujifilm or Leica, it would look pretty great.)

The Meike battery grip extension offers a few benefits, namely that it increases the grip length for my loose pinky and holds two batteries for extended shooting time, potentially also keeping the camera cooler during long video sessions. There is also a “portrait mode,” which uses the shutter trigger button on the side of the grip for using the camera vertically. Personally, that is a bit dubious of a function for me, as I doubt I would ever need that. One issue with increasing the height of the camera is that it will be more difficult for it to be stored, drawn from a backpack, and generally carried on a strap. As much as I would like having longer battery life, I can’t think of many situations where it would be preferable to have longer run time than ease of changing memory cards, since this battery grip blocks the memory card access.

In the end, I decided on something that could not only offer a potentially better grip, but adds protection for the camera body itself. Seeing plenty of reviews scattered all over the internet, I looked into camera cages.

Camera Cages
At first, I thought it would be silly to add a fairly weighty chunk of aluminum around the camera. Why would anyone want to do that? With a bit of research, I realized they are practical and add some extra functionality at the cost of additional weight and bulk.

The primary use for a camera cage is to expand mounting options on a camera. Most cameras only offer two mounting solutions, a hot shoe on top for flashes, microphones, etc. and a bottom tripod mount. To expand these options, some have used a cold shoe mount splitter, which expands the top to offer two or more mounting points. Some attachments at the bottom expand other mounting solutions. However, if you want a solution that can do it all (and then some), cages are the way to go, as they have multiple ¼” and ⅜” mounting threads and some offer extra cold shoe mounts, NATO-spec rails, rod mounts, or ARRI mounts. This exponentially increases the options you can add.

Why is all this expandability so important? For most photographers, these features are rather moot, since usually only a handful of accessories are needed. For videographers / vloggers, those two items are not enough. Some need to add a plethora of additional accessories, namely a microphone, monitor, video light, handle grip, and perhaps even an external audio recorder or battery.

Smallrig 1889 A6500/A6300 Cage and 1970 Wood Grip (sold together as the $55 Smallrig 2097 Kit)
With ¼” threaded mounting points, two NATO-spec rails, a cold shoe mount, and an Arca-Swiss mounting plate built-in, the Smallrig 1889 cage can mount almost everything you would ever want. It is made out of one piece of anodized, machined aluminum with a small laser-etched logo on the left side, so it is fairly lightweight and the finish appears to be quite durable. The one additional feature this camera cage has that most other competitors do not is that this one has two attachment points securing the camera to the cage: the bottom bipod mount and a side screw at the camera strap eyelet, requiring the removal of the stock triangle clip. (A strap loop is cut on the side of the cage as a sling attachment point instead.) This makes the camera much more secure to the cage and very unlikely to loosen without me noticing it.

With the cage installed, all the buttons remain completely accessible. The tilting screen, battery / memory card door, and cable connectors are also accessible. As a side benefit to having the camera surrounded by a metal cage, I feel the camera body will be more protected from the occasional bump. Of course, I will continue to be careful with my pricey equipment (and lenses) as always, but accidents are inevitable and this may save my camera from getting too damaged. No one ever plans on dropping or bumping their camera, but I’ve had a few close calls with my Nikon, after all.

However, those are not the reasons I bought the camera. I heard about the benefits of a better grip, so of course I picked up the Smallrig 1970 wooden grip to add additional handling surface for my fingers. The wood looks fairly well carved and polished, with a smooth surface and no obvious burrs to snag or splinter. I’m not quite convinced yet on how well the wood complements the look of the Sony’s modern design, but it definitely adds distinction and class.

The first time I wrapped my wrapped my fingers around the front of the camera with the wood grip installed, I absolutely fell in love. This is how ergonomic the camera should’ve come from the factory, compact size and light weight be damned. I feel much more secure about handling the body now, inspiring much more confidence and comfort in daily use. While it isn’t absolutely perfect and without flaws, it certainly feels much better than before.

This isn’t the first time discovering how great wood works in the right setting. I really hated wood steering wheels before, mocking them for being too old fashioned. Once I put it in my own MX-5 Miata, I realized it has quite a certain retro appeal.

Andoer A6000 Camera Cage $35
After having also picked up a used A6000 shortly after buying the Smallrig cage, I wanted to protect and add comfort to it, as well, but I wanted to try something different. At first, I considered a Camvate half cage, but it wouldn’t add a grip. I came across the Andoer on my search, which looks essentially like a knock-off of the Smallrig 1661 at a lower cost (Smallrig’s cage and grip kit 2082 is about $55).

The Andoer is also made out of one piece of aluminum alloy and anodized, so it is lightweight and appears to be quite solid. It is versatile, featuring ¼” threaded holes and a cold shoe mount for accessory mounting. I opted for the full kit, which includes a black aluminum machined grip and HDMI / USB cable side clamp.

As a side note: Even though I don’t have a lot of budget to spend, I do my best to not support intellectual theft with my dollars (or yen), buying the “original” whenever possible. But since I have more or less the “original” design cage, I justified buying this one to compare the difference and quality, to see how the older design feels, for the black grip which Smallrig doesn’t offer, and for the included HDMI cable clamp.

Much like the Smallrig cage, the Andoer feels really solid. The black aluminum grip has a great, smooth finish and looks really good on the camera. One minor issue with this design is the shutter button lies really close to the cage, so fat fingers or long nails will hit that edge. All other buttons, battery door, and connectors are readily accessible.

Speaking of connectors, the HDMI connector looks like it’ll work great to add support and protection.

Comparison
The Andoer cage is more comparable to the older Smallrig 1661 cage, so it lacks the Arca-Swiss baseplate and the two NATO-spec rails. The biggest difference for me is the fact that the Andoer also doesn’t have the additional right side eyelet mount. There is some very minor movement if pressure is applied. As a result, the Smallrig 1889 cage appears to be much more secure.

The black aluminum grip is more squared off, as it is based on the older Smallrig grip which was less rounded as well. The general finish of the Andoer is not quite as lovely, having a rougher, slightly uneven texture. Some screw holes are not also as cleanly threaded out if you were to nitpick details, but otherwise not quite as noticeable.

Does it fit?
Just to fulfill my curiosity, I wanted to see if my A6000 would fit in the A6500/A6300 cage and if my A6300 would fit in the A6000 cage and how well each would work, keeping in mind button, switch, battery, and memory card accessibility.

Surprisingly, both seem reasonably interchangeable. There appear to be no issues with battery doors or connectors on either cage with either camera.

Does the grip fit?
Since we’re making the comparison, I wanted to see if the Smallrig wood grip would fit in the Andoer cage and if the Andoer aluminum grip would fit on the Smallrig cage. Happy to note that both are interchangeable as well.

Does the cable clamp fit?
One awesome thing the Andoer came with is the cable clamp, which sold separately by Smallrig goes for $24. That accessory bonus alone makes the price of the Andoer quite well worth the money. Knowing the unlikelihood of me using the A6000 for filming as it lacks 4K and a microphone input, I wanted to know if it would fit on my Smallrig cage. Also glad to know there are no issues.

Impressions
Over this past winter holiday, I’ve put several weeks of use traveling around Japan with both of these cages, the Andoer mounted to my A6000 and the Smallrig mounted to my A6300. I have used them on occasion with an LED video light and my iPhone as a “budget” monitor, but I don’t have any other accessory necessitating a cage at this time. Therefore, my impressions will be focused on how the cage feels while being used for photography, slung over my neck, and mounted on my Peak Design Capture Clip. My Sony A6000 had the Andoer cage with my lighter Sony 35mm F1.8 prime lens and my Sony A6300 had the Smallrig cage with the heavier, but more versatile, Sony 18-105mm F3.5-F5.6 lens. (Look forward to a further review and comparison on those lenses, as well as a Capture Clip review later.)

When I found myself using the cameras often, I had the cameras on a sling around my neck. I did not find the additional bulk of the cages to be of any issue, since I was already used to a larger, heavier DSLR. The fatter grips made me feel very comfortable holding it and taking photos. My one minor issue is the bottom right metal corner dug a little in my palm after a long day of shooting, so I wish it was a bit rounded off at the edge there. However, it is only a minor concern after a full day and the better overall grip justifies its use.

Results
The cage makes reaching the focus ring on the prime lens more difficult. If the focus ring is further out like on the other kit lens, then issue is not noticeable. I can see this be an issue for manual prime lens shooters, since many aperture or focus rings are near the lens. The kit pancake 16-50 lens also looks like it will be difficult to manipulate. (This is purely speculation since I don’t have one on hand.)

Another drawback is that both cages make swapping lenses a more difficult affair, since the button is now slightly recessed and my short prime lens was harder to rotate, especially on the A6300. (The mounting ring is much tighter in tolerances than the A6000 is, perhaps as part of the weather-sealing.) This is not a huge issue for me at this time since I have two camera bodies and I don’t plan on swapping lenses often.

My biggest gripe with the Andoer cage turns out to be the aluminum grip. As Sendai is quite cold in winter, the metal was absolutely freezing against my bare, ungloved hands. It became so uncomfortable to use that I ended up putting the A6000 away when I was outside. Definitely not recommended for winter and now that I think about it, in summer, under direct sunlight, it might be too hot to use.

Conclusion
Both are great but only if you have a need for them, such as the bigger grip or added accessories. They add bulk and weight. Between the two, the Smallrig 1889 cage by far feels better, is more secure with the additional eyelet screw, and offers more mounting options. Cost-wise, the Andoer is a great value that can’t be beat. With the exception of the look of the black grip, I probably wouldn’t buy it again, however. The grip doesn’t feel as nice as the newer Smallrig design, the shutter button is uncomfortable to click, and the fact that it may prove unusable in extreme temperatures makes me reluctant to continue using it.

Update 6/7
Added a few pictures with my Meike flash and some dimensions to the space around the hotshoe.

[ Nikon D40x ] Shutter Issue

I mentioned briefly my Nikon D40x had a shutter issue a few posts ago, spurring my need to buy the A6300. Let me rewind a bit and talk about what actually happens.

When taking photos, a message comes up on the rear screen: “Error. Press shutter release button again.” This error started appearing a few months ago, but it was not often enough to warrant alarm. It seemed to go away simply by ejecting the battery, removing, and reattaching the lens. However, there was a local sporting event in September where I volunteered to be one of the principal photographers and that was the day I decided to buy a new camera. The error appeared several times during critical moments of the day, temporarily halting my shooting and causing me to miss potentially dozens of great shots. Perhaps this is why all serious photographers carry a separate body for cases like this.

No amount of swapping fresh batteries, different lenses, or sensor cleaning would solve the issue. While half-pressing the shutter and releasing it seemed to trigger the issue more frequently, it was not always the case, so even to this day I am not sure it even causes the issue. Researching the issue on the internet came across dozens of posts with people complaining about the same issue, so it wasn’t just me.

Also among the sea of posts were some potential fixes, all involving opening up the camera. If I break the camera or introduce dust or debris on the sensor, I’ll just scrap the camera. In its current condition, I don’t want to use it. Since I essentially feel I have nothing to lose, I figure I should give it a shot.

There are 9 small screws holding the bottom cover on the camera.

Pulling them all off reveals this red internal shutter gear. As according to other sites, cleaning the gear is the first step. It turns out there was some dirt in between the teeth, but worst of all, a few teeth were a bit mangled. I did the best I could with a hobby knife to cut away at the misshapen material and bring them back to usable condition. I suppose after a decade of use, some wear was bound to occur.

Once that was finished, some sites recommended a tiny shim inserted to the side of the gear to reduce side-to-side play. This rather large 1mm movement might’ve caused additional wear. So I used a piece of clear plastic from some packaging to work as the shim.

A dabble of all-purpose gear grease, revolving the gear to coat all the surfaces should be enough to help glide it along.

Buttoning (or should I say, screwing) it back up, I was glad that everything still works just fine. I took the camera out for a short test run to verify operating condition and I could not get the camera to reproduce the shutter error again.

All in all, my camera seems ready to continue on shooting. Even after 10 years of service, a vastly outdated pixel count, and lacking many modern features, the photos that come out of this camera to this day still impress. With a basic set of three lenses, I can still take plenty of great pictures.  If it died today, I would never regret the purchase of this camera, having picked it up used with tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of shots taken by this body. From now, though, it will be relegated for use as my C camera, behind my Sony A6300 and A6000.

[ Sony Alpha ] A6300 Review and A6000 / A6300 "Hacking" Software

After going through a lengthy deliberation and finding a great deal on Amazon Japan, I received my brand new Sony A6300 a few days later… actually more than a few days, but it was perhaps due to the holidays.

Eager to try out the camera, I quickly opened the box and peered through the contents. Branded Sony strap, USB cable, battery, camera, and body… As expected, there is no external charger so I’ll definitely need to pick one up at some later time.

The camera itself appears quite lovely, having a nice heft, quality finish, and feel. But I’ve never handled a mirrorless camera much previously, so fiddling with one now, I am surprised to see this thing is small. Especially after having used a DSLR for many years, this thing is tiny in comparison. Even the kit 18-105mm lens somewhat dwarfs the camera body.

Impatiently, I did not charge up the camera before turning it on; I knew the lithium battery would have a charge on it anyway. Unfortunately, I was greeted with a Japanese menu system. While I could generally figure out the settings by recognizing some kanji, it is not a fun process, especially when trying to familiarize myself with a new camera. I read on the internet and saw on YouTube that it was possible to “hack” the camera and unlock hidden menu options. Since the video was rather old, I accepted the possibility that with the newer 2.01 firmware, maybe it would not be possible to change the language.

Sony A6000 / A6300 OpenMemories: Tweak Software
I didn’t want to risk bricking my new camera, so I made sure to read up quite a bit beforehand and find the software I needed. It turns out “hacking” the camera is only matter of a few steps. I have personally confirmed this to work with the A6000 and A6300. (These pictures following are done with my Sony A6000, but essentially the directions are the same as the A6300.)

Running the PMCA GUI, install the OpenMemories:Tweak on the camera connected by USB.

Once uploaded, run the software on your camera under Application (アプリケーション).

Go to the fourth page, and unlock the protected settings on the phone.

This will allow all 35 languages to be made available…

...as well as disabling the (somewhat) arbitrary 30 minute limit set on video recordings.

This simple “hack” will allow my originally Japanese-only camera to have a new menu option, 言語. This is the language setting and wonderfully, I can change it to English now. While I would absolutely love to learn each kanji for every camera setting, I think learning how to use it right in the first place is more important. Especially given the notoriously confusing menu system in Sony cameras. Now that here is no 30min stop and full language menu options, I can use it freely without restriction.

Update: Confirmed to work with A6000 Firmware Version 3.21 and A6300 Firmware Ver 2.01.

As an aside, I think I can understand why they forced Japanese-only on its domestically sold units, even though the language settings are already on the firmware itself. Even at regular price, the camera is sold in the Japanese domestic market for much cheaper than I can buy the exact same setup in America. This would prevent Japanese units being sold overseas for much less than probably dealers are getting the units for… especially since I essentially paid $350 less than stateside. That’s an incredible 33% off!

As I am still learning the camera and discovering its strengths and weaknesses, most of these shots were taken with generally default and auto settings.

I did, however, enjoy using the pop-up zoom screen when manually focusing. Essentially, the camera digitally zooms an extreme up-close view in the screen, allowing me to adjust for some nice, precisely-focused shots.

Within the short time of using it, I found the autofocus is indeed very fast, much faster with much less wandering than my last camera. It picked up faces very well and with the right settings, it generally picked the objects I wanted to focus in automatically. (By default, it was set to focus only on the closest object, which proved annoying for some initial depth-of-field pictures.)

Sony A6300

Nikon D40x

One thing this camera does excel at is the low-light quality, even on auto ISO settings. These shots were taken on a tripod with the timer, but otherwise straight-from-camera JPGs. Both are at set at the widest 18mm (27mm equivalent) zoom and lowest F-stop, F3.5. As you can see, low light performance is fantastic, even with the kit lens. Much better than my DSLR and kit lens.

Even without the aid of a tripod, freehand with the kit OSS lens, the result is absolutely fantastic. (Zoomed up of course, there is significant blur.)

Beyond the quality of the shots, I want to stress in agreement that most reviews complaining about the enigmatic menu settings are absolutely true. I know I am a photographer newbie, so a lot of terminology is foreign to me, but I know enough that these menus shouldn’t be as confusing and poorly organized as they are here; it would absolutely baffle those who have never used a “real” camera,. As further evidence, there are many websites that have detailed instructions on how to understand the menu system and what settings are recommended. If they were more straight-forward like Nikon (and I assume Canon), there would be little need for such redundancy.

I can’t say much for the video beyond a few sample shots, but the 4K quality is absolutely divine. As echoed by other reviewers, however, the “rolling shutter” effect is pretty bad. Quick panning or profile videos of moving cars result in the appearance of “leaning.” Unfortunately, this appears to be fairly common with many lower-budget cameras at high resolution or 4K with current sensor technology. The trick for smooth video would therefore necessitate awareness of this limitation or fix some of it in post-processing.

One thing not covered in depth by many reviews is the ergonomics of the camera. I feel my hands are not particularly large, though with this camera I feel absolutely gigantic. (I usually wear medium gloves with most US brands.) The tradeoff is the camera is very compact compared to a typical DSLR, fitting in virtually all camera bags and shoulder bags with ease.

However, while it is extremely subjective, the feel of the Alpha series cameras is pretty poor in my opinion. The grip places my right pinky free below the camera and my index finger canted at a somewhat awkward angle to hit the shutter straight-on. My right thumb doesn’t naturally rest in the “thumb rest” designated at the back of the camera and if positioned so, my palm doesn’t have a really solid grip of the body.

This is something I am going to have to consciously be aware of when using the camera. It simply doesn’t hold as naturally as a DSLR with a fatter body and grip, even after the month or so of using it. Luckily, there are several options to alleviate this issue somewhat, which I’ll discuss later.

I can only hope this new camera will give me as much love and use as my (still surviving) Nikon.