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Comment by amelius | Hacker News Reader

> the lens should be as centered as possible. I wanted to avoid that horrendous look of cameras with the lens as close to the left edge as possible (Sony a6000, I’m looking at you here).

Funny, the things some people obsess about :)

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The loveliest part of making your own gear is picking all your nits.

The only thing really wrong about the Sony a6000 is the lack of weatherproofing. With even a 55-210 kit lens and maybe a good filter, you can still get amazing quality from far away - such as being able to pick apart finer architectural details of a monument that’s about 5-6mi away.

a6000 is APS-C, so 1.5x crop factor, 55-210 therefore is equivalent to 72.5-315 full frame. At 5-6 miles away that would mean each of your pixels (24mp sensor I think?) are something like, a 16-19cm square. I don't know if it's enough for architectural detail. I feel like it wouldn't, I have a cathedral I often take pictures of, at 1km it's okay, kinda fills the frame on the 55-210, at 3 miles (~5km) it's really small in the frame.

Practically and ergonomically I prefer a centered lens. Your hand has to reach less far to reach the focus ring and aperture control. Most slr cameras have buttons on both sides of the lens, so developing muscle memory is easier when those actions are split between each hand. Rotation of the camera is also much more natural. It also centers the lens' pov between your eyes, matching their parallax, which is really important for composing the photograph outside of the viewfinder.

Huh? You reach towards the lens from the bottom left and thus a centered position puts a corner of the camera body in the way.

I had my directions reversed, so the extra reach doesn't really apply, I suppose, but I think aligned to the right side (when looking into the lens) is even worse. I maybe see what you mean about your hand hitting the body, but i actually want that; my grip has me resting the body along much of my left hand and cradled in my palm. That is really important to stability for me, it gives me an extra stop to work with.

All personal preference I guess!

> It also centers the lens' pov between your eyes, matching their parallax, which is really important for composing the photograph outside of the viewfinder.

The compact sonys have the viewfinder in the top-left corner, so having the mount to the side improves the paralax situation, although doesn't remove it.

When I was shopping, I was comparing the Sony Alphas with the Fujifilm XT line.

And in reviews, complaints were made that the lens (and view finder) being centered in the XT means you squish your nose against the screen in the back.

But... I just liked the look and dials of the XT-5 so much more than the barebones boxy look of the α6700.

(Sony has meaningfully better autofocus too, I'll be sad, but I wanted the nice looking body...)

And yes my nose squishes against that back screen.

A6000 and A6600 owner checking in : I love the boxy look! The viewfinder on the left makes lining up long shots kinda hard though. I have to zoom out to 50mm find my subject (birds) then zoom back to 400mm+, so I have been eyeing the more expensive models just to have it in the center. Idk if it would even help lol.

I just got the XT-5 too - not for the form but because the feature set is so good. However, I don't get this obsession on centred viewfinders - they could be anywhere on the camera body now they are digital; they may as well be on the left side where my nose isn't going to be smudging the screen.

The camera is fantastic, though.

My only camera is a Sony a6000 and I bought it partially because I thought it looked great. If it causes some issue I wouldn't even know it because I've never tried something else.

Also funny the opposite preference, I like the offset lenses looks cool

Going from mostly centered lenses on dslr and m43 cameras to Sony with lens on mostly left side, I do prefer the offset lenses. Ergonomically and looks-wise both.

It only makes sense if one wants boat a left and right handed camera st the same time. But then it's got the dials on the wrong side.

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