I'm at this weird point where I want to get a full frame camera. Photography isn't my main hobby, but as I find myself doing more and more I'm beginning to think that it might be a good idea to invest in something better than my Sony a6000.
All the research I've done so far is pointing me to a used Canon 5d iii. I guess my main fear with the a6000 is that I want to do macro photography. I want to get a 70-200mm lens. And so far the options for Sony are all for the full frame cameras, not to mention they are more expensive than the equivalents on the Canon side.
What do you guys think?
I'm a macro guy.
Let me start with my recommendation, and then I'll go into the why's. It's just easier that way for me haha.
An a6300 or a6500, with a vintage macro lens or Samyang macro lens.
Okay now the why's.
Lens choice -- you want manual. Manual manual manual. Period. Macro doesn't like AF, because your DOF is tiny as shit. So you'll need to use manual focus. Why do anything other than a lens intended for MF, if you're going to use MF, right?
I personally use the Canon 50mm 3.5 Macro FD. This is like a 40 year old lens or some shit. It does this:
20160512-20160512-DSC03458.jpg by
Hunter Mauro, on Flickr
20160512-20160512-DSC03475.jpg by
Hunter Mauro, on Flickr
40 years old! $80. Mmmmm tasty
I also use the Samyang 100mm Macro. Your DoF will be tinier than a spider's asshole.
Trust me, I know.
But it's a stupid sharp lens that lets me be a tiny bit further away from my subjects. I'd show some photos from it, but I use it more with my figure photos and MEH you can find those of mine yourself >.>
Now, camera choice. You're using a manual focus lens, so you need to do everything you can to enable that. Mirrorless cameras reign supreme here, since when something is in focus, it can highlight so you can see what the hell you have in focus. Also faster bursts, which help you compensate for the movement that your heartbeat causes in your camera, because Macro is a dick like that.
Mirrorless also has the advantage that it can brighten or darken the viewfinder, or in this case definitely brighten. An OVF will be dark as shit, even wide open, when shooting macro. That might fly for AF, but AF doesn't work on macro anyway.
BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM! The a6000 in particular is in that annoying gap where while it's good enough for macro photography, Sony actually managed to improve in regards to this area A LOT with the a6300, a6500, and a7II and beyond. Why? EVF lag. When things get dark to the sensor, the a6000's EVF gets kinda laggy, and that can make macro a bit of a pain, though it's certainly possible. I use my A7II now, which has a bunch of improvements that make using the EVF that much easier (and like hell will I use a dark ass OVF for this).
So why not just recommend an A7II? Well, I *could*, but honestly, if you're going purposefully for macro, I think that APSC has a lot of advantages. It'll let you get "closer", since 1:1 on an APSC sensor will make a subject larger (since the subject will be larger in comparison to on a FF sensor). Also, lighter, and you'll have a giant honkin ass flash setup, so unless you're rambo you'll notice the weight.
tl;dr, save your money, get a cheap vintage macro that's still good, and go shootin. If you want to change cameras, get the a6300/6500. IMO.
EDIT: I'm sure there's other opinions out there but I dunno about you, I work out. And even my A7II with my flash and my honkin ass 100mm gets tiring when you're holding it as still as you possibly can't for 15 seconds trying to wait for the wind to stop blowing for just one damn second and fuck there goes the bug time to try again.
I would absolutely not want a Canon 5D for that. Hell I don't want a Canon 5D to put on a shelf, I'd be worried it'd break the thing.