With Sony's announcement of their newest mirrorless camera, the Sony a6300, a massive quality increase is coming at an affordable price.
Sony a6300 w/ 16-50mm kit lens (Image courtesy of B&H Photo/Video)
4K video internally with Sony's S-Log 3 Video providing for 14 stops of dynamic range in a mirrorless body, 24 megapixel stills, a magnesium alloy body, and the (current) worlds fastest autofocus, all for $998 (body only) or $1148 (with kit lens.)
Seeing this massive update coming out over the Sony a6000, and my current older Sony FS100, I've decided to bite the bullet and sell my FS100 looking to upgrade either to the a6300 or something similar (like the Sony A7 series cameras.) To sell my FS100 I went to B&H photo/video in New York City, on 9th Ave.
The trade in process with B&H was pretty self explanatory, they have a quote process online that you can utilize and then drop off your equipment, it gets reviewed, and you get paid in a few days. (Note you can choose between store credit and cash [rather, a check,] and both options are the same quote.)
Here's where the real fun begins. After the trade in process, I decided to go into the B&H superstore. On the first floor, yo're greeted by a great camcorder/cinema camera section with sliders, rigs, on camera monitors and much, much more. Proceeding on, you flow from audio, to general electronics, to lighting, up the stairs, to the used section in store, to security, to home theater, to photo. The photo section on the second floor sports somewhere around 100-200 foot of counter space full of employees and a wall of cameras, lenses, accessories, and more spanning the entire wall ahead of you. A line forms to meet with an employee and you are free to try any cameras and lenses your heart could imagine.
Since the Sony a6300 isn't available still as of the time of writing this, I wasn't able to test it out, however the Sony A7R Mark ii is out of course. I tried out as many lenses as I'd ever want to put on a great camera like the A7Rii. From some of my own lenses to the likes of the Sony 70-200mm f4, the 24-70mm f4, the Sony 10-18mm, and a few more.
There were 2 lenses that I was incredibly impressed by, 2 Leica lenses. I had the pleasure of trying the 35mm Summilux-M and the 50mm Summilux-M. All I can say is that the Germans make some incredible (and incredibly expensive) lenses. If you ever find yourself on 9th Avenue, you absolutely must stop in and try out some great cameras and lenses.
From B&H, I decided to roam around town, I reparked my car at the Port Authority parking garage which lets out right around 42nd Street, Times Square. From there on out it was roaming and relaxation. I stopped at a store named MUJI which has some very minimalist office supplies, clothing, and kitchen-wares. I found some nice drawer organizational pieces there. Following thereafter was a slew of stores from the Disney Store, to M&M's world, to Oakley's, then I was off to Rockefeller Plaza.
Rockefeller Plaza itself isn't incredibly interesting on it's own apart from the ice skating rink in the center. The ice rink was thriving with skaters and onlookers alike, and some of the skaters were pretty talented! Thereafter was a bit of strolling along uptown.
You really have to appreciate any place you are in New York City because the whole city seems like a film set with timeless buildings abound. My main attraction uptown was Lee's Art shop, right around the southern border of Central Park. I stopped for an early dinner at Chipotle on the way, having a delicious set of chicken soft tacos. As for Lee's, they have a wide selection of art supplies, such as pens, paper, brushes, paints, canvases, and just about anything else you'd need, it's an artist's paradise.
By the time all was said and done, I wandered the streets back to the garage taking some shots on the way, watching the city come alive around me as night rolled in. With a 90 minute drive ahead of me, I eventually wandered back to the parking garage and drove back on home.
