Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera 24.3MP SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD (Black) w/16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Major update:

I made my first long backpacking adventure in the Ansel Adams wilderness with the Sony A6000 camera. Wow, what a beautiful place! 8 days hiking and about 800 photos – well actually 1,700 but many of them are bracketed pictures. Anyway a great test in real world conditions.

Most importantly I was able to capture great photos! I shifted between manual, aperture, shutter, auto ISO, bracketed exposure and all the other settings seamlessly. I even switched between two lenses while on the trail! A fixed 19mm to the 55-210mm lens (I did not bring the 16-50mm Sony lens since it seems to be too fragile for trail work.) It took a while to learn where the controls are located, but once understood easy to use. I used a cheap IR remote and that worked well too. I brought a tiny tripod and that was handy – no need for the bigger tripod. The way I use it is not a point and shoot camera.

Ok so it works, but what else? The sensor is not as good for dynamic range as the Canon 5d so getting full dynamic pictures requires a bit more effort. It is much harder to get proper exposure. My solution was to use the bracketed feature – what a great feature and easy to select. It ended up that most of my shots are bracketed which triples the number and size of the files. Big deal – memory is cheap. I pick the exposure I like, then can do an HDR pass if I like. (All photos are in RAW). It works.

The camera has a panoramic setting for really wide shots. Much easier for getting those big vistas quick and dirty. I sometimes also capture for after the fact stitching, but the panoramic setting works OK – not always successfully – the feature is fussy and fails on occasion (like when there is a waterfall in the scene). But in general it’s OK

I was worried about dust, but no problem. I changed lenses about 10 times and cleaned the sensor twice. I don’t see any artifacts.

But then the battery – it eats batteries like crazy!! I went through a full charge in a single day. I carried two batteries and a solar charger. I was OK for the 8 days, but add the weight of the charger to your backpack! (I needed the charger for my iPad mini as well and was the local “power broker” for others on the hike to re-charge their iPhones – I traded charges for chocolate 🙂

I am still looking for a better manual for the camera. I still don’t some of Sony’s control names and what it does.

Still very pleased!

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Original Posting: The usual background: I normally use a Canon 5D Mark III DSLR camera (5D) as a recreational camera – not professional, but I sure like to take good photos. I had upgraded from a Nikon D80 a few years ago and really appreciated the full sensor size and the much better low light on the Canon. I also have a Nikon Coolpix AW100 underwater camera when I need something rugged and really water proof.

But taking a 4 pound camera on backpack adventures was too much, so I have been looking for a light weight camera that could give me as close to the same capabilities as the Canon 5D – a high standard.

I have purchased and used a dozen or so of the point-and-shoot cameras. Canon Elf, Powershot, Nikon, Lumix, etc. They are not good enough for any of my serious photos – due to both the lack of viewfinder in bright scenes, the crappy controls for exposure/aperture/ISO shooting, and the compression artifacts on the captured scene. The Nikon Coolpix AW100 doesn’t take great photos, but better than an iPhone. They just don’t do raw. And you need real glass to take good pictures. I will continue to bring my waterproof Nikon camera with me for those really wet experiences, but I wanted something more than a point and shoot and less than a 4 pound professional camera.

I wanted a camera that gave me a viewfinder – outside the LCD screens of all cameras just doesn’t work (additionally I need glasses to see up close and it was not easy taking outdoor shots and needing to put on my glasses to see the silly screen – or not see the screen in bright sunlight). I wanted light weight, RAW capture, full manual control in addition to shutter priority/aperture priority. I wanted one that could do decent video and focus during the shot while zooming.

I wanted one that I could recharge via USB (I bring solar power with me for iPad GPS use – I have power to spare).

I wasn’t sure if interchangeable lenses was important. A good built in would have been OK. Flash? Well OK if it was there – most built in are marginal at best, but in the back country it might be the only thing I had.

So I settled on the Sony A6000. I went ahead and got two lenses – the starter lenses (16-50mm and a 55-210mm). I also got an extra Sony brand battery (more on this later).

Canon 5D: 3.75 pounds (70-300mm lens, one extra battery)
Sony A6000: 1.7 pounds (55-210mm lens, one extra battery) – but I will probably bring both lenses which brings it to 2.0 pounds and I will also have 16-50mm lens.

So a 2 pound saving in weight – an expensive 2 pounds, but you also get the flash, a wifi remote control to an iPad, real video, and with an app the ability to do time lapse capture. And it is smaller. Much smaller.

While I continue to think that the pictures from the 5D are better (especially in low light), the A6000 gives it a run for the money. The 5D can do spectacular video, but the 5D doesn’t do autofocus while capturing and I can’s see the back panel in daylight making the 5D almost useless for amateur event capturing. A6000 wins hands down for video for me – I focus on still images with an occasional video thrown in.

I was concerned about not having through the lens SLR viewing, but honestly I like the A6000 just as much. The on-screen viewing and information is all I need to know the framing, the expressions, if I have focus and how the exposure is going to turn out. The resultant pictures are always much better than what I see through the viewfinder. This is a big win for me. (I do wish there was an easy control to turn the big screen on/off – I want to conserve power so I use viewfinder only, but there are times I want to see the screen – the menu seems to be the only way to get there. Minor bitch. If Sony cares they could fix it in software.)

The A6000 has a reasonable number placement and number of on-camera controls. Menu keys and quick access seems OK – not perfect, but nothing is. I don’t use it in auto mode – strictly A, S or M mode and they work just fine. I didn’t buy it to be a point and shoot. Pictures have been stunning so far. I will know more after my extended hike, but so far I’m pleased. WAY better than any other point and shoot I have owned.

So there are some short term problems – I am an Apple Mac user so the software from Sony does not work on the latest operating system so I need to remove the SD card. So what — it’s what I do most of the time with all my cameras. Apple has not released the software to read A6000 raw images so I only use the fine compression JPEG. Actually better than I expected, I will go to raw when the Mac software is upgraded.

The A6000 does seem to really drain batteries. My 5D lasts a good week on a single charged battery and I don’t think A6000 will make it through a full day – but again I will know more after my extended trip. I purchased some spare cheap batteries, but the A6000 rejected them with a menu screen saying they were incompatible. I paid three times more for the Sony official battery – it worked. I also got an external charger – a good purchase.

The A6000 has built in WiFi (no GPS) for communication to iPad/iPhones (and probably other devices). It’s cool to control and see what the camera sees and move pictures to a better display. Of course you can also take pictures with the iPad. Could just be a toy, but I like it. It is not that easy to set it up – but OK. It’s an ease of use thing…

I am not impressed with the placement of the SD card in the battery case. It is right against the door so my fat fingers have trouble grabbing the card. I fixed it by putting a tag on the card so I can pull/hold it. That fixed it. Just a design flaw with an easy fix.

I have noted that the sensor seems to attract dirt. I have needed to clear the sensor more than once. (I could see the dust footprint in images.) I don’t know if the static properties of the sensor are not resistant to dust or the placement of the sensor or I’m just a dirty person. I have not had this problem with the 5D. I’m going to the dusty grand canyon next week and it will be a real test.

I’m pleased with the two lenses. I might get another prime lens, but I’m a bit worried about the dirt aspects. I am pleased the A6000 has interchangeable lenses. I do wish the A6000 was a bit more weather resistant, but I would trade light weight for the weather aspects. I would like to get rid of the back display – the viewfinder works just fine for me. I turn the back display off anyway to save batteries – and put it in airplane mode.

I have not tested the flash.

I really like the time lapse application that you can buy from the Sony App store. That looks like fun. I wish it could do 2fps capture, it seems to be minimum of 3 seconds per capture. It claims 1/second, but that didn’t work for me. I probably have some setting wrong.

Sony uses strange language on their menu items. Probably all camera manufactures use non-standard language – so I will need to buy some book to explain what they mean. The users guide is useless IMHO. (i.e. DRO/Auto HDR — Compensates automatically for brightness and contrast. – so what does THAT mean?)

All in all I’m very pleased with the A6000. I will continue to bring my 5D and my Nikon Coolpix AW100 underwater camera when I don’t need to go super light weight, but the A6000 can capture great images.

If I learn more after a few hiking adventures I’ll share that in the future.

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Update: I took the A6000 on a 10 day Grand Canyon adventure – three days off the grid with no power-up. It’s not a fair test since I had both the A6000 and a 5D. I primarily used the A6000 for video and time lapse capture. The 5D became my primary camera for still pictures – I really like that camera. [I will update this again after a 7 night off the grid hike in July with ONLY the A6000.]

Battery Life: What I learned is that the A6000 in time lapse mode is power hungry. It will record about 2 to 3 hours of time-lapse and the battery will be drained. Good news is a 10W solar panel brings it back to life in a short time – few hours. I never ran out of juice with this combo while taking MANY time-lapse sequences. Your battery mileage may vary, this is NOT the reason I got the A6000 – I got it for still photos in the back country. I will really test that on the next hike.

Dirt: I was pleased that with all the dust encountered I did not have a serious problem with sensor dust. After coming back I did a quick test and found a few dust areas, but within acceptable range. I will bring either a small can of air or a air duster with me to clean the sensor after a few lens changes. There is a sensor cleaning mode – hard to find in the menus – but I can’t tell if that or the air duster is cleaning the sensor. I think it is a problem for Sony to address in the future.

Ruggedness: This is not a really rugged camera. The camera was mounted on a tripod and a wind gust slammed the camera into the ground – an area with small rocks. The lens hit first and was damaged beyond repair. Just a slight bending of the adjustment rings and it was history – no glass damage. The little motors that move the lens in/out just can’t overcome the -now- oval (not round) rings. I now have a nice paper weight for home (PS I registered the camera with my homeowners policy after purchase and was given a full replacement – no deductible. Thank you State Farm.) The body was not hurt. Bottom line, these are more delicate lenses than you find on a good professional SLR. I suspect the same for water / moisture – not that rugged.

Viewfinder: The viewfinder is very acceptable. No where near as good as an SLR, but still acceptable. Framing and focus works great (my biggest concern) and the exposure information is better than an SLR (Sony calls it a zebra display). It is hard to see very dark regions of the scene and it does blow out the highlights – not like looking through glass. I would like image review to be on the screen and not in the viewfinder. It looks like I’m going to turn off image review in order to keep the viewfinder live between shots – I will miss this confirmation review – but turning off the viewfinder for 2 seconds after each shot means I might miss the next shot.

Manual Controls: Hey, it works! I can quickly get to all the needed settings – ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed, exposure, manual/shutter priority/aperture priority, etc. in a quick and simple way. Yes, it takes some use to learn where they are, but it works. This was one of my big concerns – I wanted a real camera that can take the difficult and challenging exposure shots. The A6000 meets my needs!

Image quality: This is the reason I got the camera. The sensor is not as good as the 5D by a long shot. At ISO6400 there is noticeable grain. Not unacceptable, but not the clean low light performance of a full frame camera (that costs 4X). I also notice color fringing – well the lenses are not prime. [Note to self – get a prime lens.] I’m shooting RAW again (Apple updated the software) so I’m pretty pleased with the image quality. I don’t hesitate bringing the A6000 when I want to get good pictures – especially given the light weight/size of the camera.

Bottom line: I’m still pleased. It is head and shoulders above any other point-and-shoot I have used. It does what I want for exposure control. It’s not as good as a full-frame sensor SLR, but fits a great spot in my image capture tool lineup.

Someone asked an interesting question “Is this a good starter camera?” I think the answer is yes, but only if you are planning to learn about photography and plan on spending significant time to grow into the camera and what it takes to capture complex images.

More to come after 7 days of backpacking end of July…

Superb little camera! I’ve owned this for 2 months now and took this to on a 3 week trip around Japan and South Korea. I normally shoot a full frame Canon 6D with 4 lenses, but the thought of lugging all that heavy gear around Japan and Korea for 3 weeks was just too much. So I decided to go for a compact mirrorless. I picked the Sony a6000 based on 1) industry reviews and 2) competitive price point compared to Fuji mirrorless.

I love:

Size – so small compared to the massive full frame DSLRs. it fits in a large coat pocket.
Weight – can hand around your neck no problem. In a backpack you barely notice its there.
Auto Focus – lighting fast. Also great at tracking moving objects
11 frames per second – great fun if you’re capturing sports or anything action.
Control dials – I set on dial to aperture, another to shutter speed. ISO is located with one button.
Image quality – look at my photos on this review. Yes. I’ve tweaked and played around with them in Lightroom but the sharpness and quality to begin with is there. (Shooting RAW, of course)

I don’t like:

Battery Life – The battery drains even with the camera turned off. Battery seems to depend how long the camera is on for instead of how many frames are taken. However the easy solution is to buy the secondary battery and wall-socket charger. Speeds up the charging time and allows you to keep shooting with a new battery.I bought both at same time on amazon and was very glad I did so.
Electronic Viewfinder – it’s simply not the same as looking through the viewfinder on your DSLR. You can tell its computer generated and not looking down a mirror of a DSLR. At night or in low light conditions the you can see graininess in the viewfinder. Using the – LCD screen is also handy. However I like the way the camera senses when the camera is brought up to the eye and the LCD switches off and switches to the viewfinder.
ISO Noise – you can start to see it at ISO 800. If you’re using Adobe Lightroom/photoshop or equivalent this can be easily cleaned up.

The kit lens is reasonably sharp. I’m sure with more the expensive E mount lenses it just gets better and better. Combine it with a pocket tripod and your all set for some stunning travel photography. I also think it is perfect for beginners to learn the craft in manual mode. Its also reasonably priced if you don’t want to stretch out to top model DSLRs.

Overall, for me, (an enthusiast photographer with some paid gigs under my belt), it’s a perfect leisure and travel camera. It won’t replace my DSLR. But its my “go to” camera if I’m just hanging out with friends or the subject matter does not require the expensive top end DSLR accompanied by the full arsenal of lenses.

I didn’t just wake up one day and say, “Screw it, I’m buying a new camera!” I actually spent quite a bit of time online reading and watching reviews from competent sources, including several who aren’t known as Sony fans. The consensus seemed to be that it is a competent camera that performs well above its price range.

Following are my impressions of my new travel companion.

Look and Feel/Menus and Customization:
While it lacks the brick-like, all-metal build of the NEX-7, it feels solid and the fit and finish is excellent. the controls are enough different from the 7’s to cause me a little fumbling at first but after a day or two, I wish the 7’s controls could be updated. The custom function buttons are very useful and the Alpha-style menu is a huge improvement (NEX-7 firmware update please, Sony!)

The lower resolution viewfinder is listed as a negative on most of the review sites but I have to strain to see a difference and it handles dim light a bit better than the 7 with less color static. The rear LCD is the same as the 7 but here the new menu system is a vast improvement with a Fn button that allows direct interaction with the status indicators on the LCD sort of like the A700 DSLR. Very, very easy to access settings.

The pop-up flash features the same articulated setup as its predecessors that allows for bouncing within it power limits. My only gripe is that Sony abandoned theexcellent Minolta hotshoe for the newer “multi-interface” shoe. I will probably pick up one of the $30 adapters and a new small to medium flash that fits it directly but honestly, I seldom use flash while travelling and I am keeping my A77 (or its successor) for events and studio stuff. Come to think of it, my Alien Bees radio flash commander will fit the new hotshoe without an adapter! Ok…a small plus for the new shoe.

The only NEX-7 feature I miss is the dual rear dials while shooting in manual. Not a big deal since I use A-mode most of the time and I won’t miss the inadvertent exposure adjustment caused by the outer dial when not in manual mode. Since we’re back to controls for a moment, I have to praise the design genius that located a custom button right next to the shutter button. I have programmed it to control focus assist magnification and it has made using manual focus and fine adjustments much easier.

179 Point Hybrid Autofocus:
Wow. The NEX-7 is no slouch but was never noted for its blazing autofocus. The A6000 is noted for its blazing autofocus and rightly so. I shoot with the NEX cameras a lot more than the A77 these days and am always shocked when I pick up the DSLR and focus on something. Pop! it’s in focus! Well, all I can say is that any new mid-range DSLRs had better have crazy-fast autofocus and huge burst buffers or mirrorless hybrid-focus cameras are going to start eroding their market share even more than they are now. Lightning fast with more focus area options than I care to write about. The three-zone multi-point focus like on the A77 has become my favorite but I will be exploring more during the months leading up to our next trip. It does hunt a bit in really low light but no worse than most and better than some DSLRs at and above its price range that I’ve played with. The autofocusing with the 16-50 PZ is pretty amazing and if it is any better with a lens like the 70-200 f/4 FE lens, it may lead to a lot of soul-searching before I spend any money on a new DSLR.

Burst Shooting:
Burst shooting? You betcha! I am used to really fast burst shooting from the A77 and wasn’t disappointed. The A6000 is only 1 fps slower than the A77’s 12 fps speed-priority mode and will maintain autofocus and metering for each frame. The A77 has to “slow down” to 8 fps to match that. The buffer is a lot larger than the NEX-7 and even larger than the A77. Unlike the A77, it needs 15-20 seconds to clear after a long burst (up to 49 JPEG/22 RAW) which may be an issue if you shoot a lot of action. If you only shoot heavy action occasionally or limit yourself to short bursts to catch the peak moment, the burst speed and its ability to track focus performs far above entry-level DSLRs and most-mid-range models.

Image Quality:
The NEX-7 was a incremental step up from the A77 in my opinion, probably due to not having the mirror stealing some of the light. The A6000 is at least one full stop better in low light and in my opinion, shoots acceptable (your mileage may vary) images up to ISO 12,800. At low ISO in good light, all three produce spectacular detail with excellent color. the A6000’s AWB with CFL or incandescent lighting is hit and miss but that is true for almost any camera these days with 1000 different temperatures available in residential lighting. Fortunately, setting a custom white balance is ridiculously easy and the results are spot-on.

Bottom line? If you are coming from a NEX-7, you will be pleasantly surprised. if you are coming from a “Sweet-Sixteen” camera by Sony, Nikon, Pentax or any other that uses the Sony 16.1MP APS-C sensor, you’re in for a bigger surprise. The detail captured with a good lens and normal care in how you shoot is pretty amazing.

Why I Now Need WiFi on a Camera:
‘Cause this one has APPS! (See below.) Other than that, it is of marginal use at this time since I use a Windows phone. While I prefer the performance, desktop integration, awesome camera and intuitive interface, it’s a bit of a pain to be last on the dev list for things like camera controls and smart home stuff. I will likely dig out my old RAZR Maxx and set it up as a camera remote control just to say I did. In practical use, I seldom (if ever) need a remote in a way the wireless Sony RMTDSLR2 can’t provide.

Why I Now Need Apps on a Camera:
You know that convenient, inexpensive wireless intervalometer you use on your older NEX camera for time-lapse and astrophotography? Yeah…that one. The one that doesn’t exist. Well, now there’s an app for that. There are several apps available with many of them being free. Some of the paid apps have the same functions as those already on the A6000 and seem to be available as upgrades for the web-enabled models that don’t have the option built-in. The Time Lapse app is really pretty cool. In addition to all of the interval settings, it can be set to create a movie automatically at the end of the sequence. There are also Motion Shot and Star Trail apps that look like they have some potential. The Time Lapse intervalometer app was only $10 (cheaper than the wired Chinese knock-off controllers) and has me smiling for now.

The Return of Tethering:
Absent from Sony/Minolta cameras I’ve owned since my Konica-Minolta A2, tethering has returned!

It’s pretty limited but I’m hopeful that it will evolve. Hey, it’s a step forward!

The New 16-50 Power Zoom:
My original SELP1650 that came with my NEX3 was a good walkabout lens with reasonably good image quality and was amazingly compact (for what it is) when powered down and retracted. I bought the A6000 with another 16-50 and a kit because of the sad little reminder sitting on the desk in front of me as I write this. During a recent trip to Disneyland, I snapped a picture in the courtyard between the two parks upon arrival then proceeded immediately into the park. Immediately. Quicker than the time-out setting on my camera. The time-out that would have retracted the lens and kept it from wedging between my hip bone and the turnstile as I went through. BlackRapid is still my favorite strap but I learned a valuable lesson involving strap length, clearance and the fragility of kit lenses. So how much better does the younger sibling of the permanently extended, slightly angled corpse sitting on my desk perform? Can’t tell. My old copy was pretty good and this one seems to be at least as good. Focusing speed seem about the same so I would guess that any improvements were minor refinements. Not as sharp as the Sigma primes but as a travel lens with jacket pocket portability, it is hard to beat.

The Only Camera I’ll Ever need?:
No. That camera doesn’t exist yet. I will not be selling my A77 or NEX7 anytime soon. The 7 is still a workhorse and while it lacks some of the next-generation improvements, it is still the great camera that lured me into buying it a couple of years ago. It will also be a better second body than my trusty little NEX3N. The A77 is still superior in handling long lenses and its battery life with the battery grip is good for any day of shooting. I may replace it if Sony comes out with an A-mount version of the A7 family with Canikon-killer features but for now it still has a home.

That wraps it up for now. Having come from an A77 and a NEX-7, I am not “blown away” by the A6000 but I am very pleased with its performance and not at all regretful of the (reasonable) expense for what now appears to be a decent upgrade of several vital performance points.

I love this camera. If you’re looking for a true clean hdmi feed with no auto shutoff AND continous autofocus — this camera is the bees knees. I’m speaking directly to content creators on YT/Twitch here – you’ll need to be familira with the the use of a dslr to get the best picture, but there are many YT tuts on how to operate this camera specifically.

I would advise that you get a dummy battery, it’s pretty much mandatory – otherwise you’ll kill the battery from constant use. You’ll also likely need a camera cage and hdmi clamp. I went through three diferent micro hdmi cords until I realized that the cables aren’t the problem – it’s that the micro hdmi connection is horrible. The clamp you want is a C clamp with two adjustable screws (not the 1 screw variety). Either way, I put this camera up against the canon rebel sl2 and it totally blew the canon out of the water. The canon cannot be in autofocus mode with a clean hdmi feed – where this Sony can. You will not need another camera even if you hit major streamer status – this thing is ultra high quality. To boot, the pictures it takes are incredible. Best purchase of 2018 and I buy a lot of stuff from amazon; probably 10-15k per year.