Announced: | 23 Apr 2014 |
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Sensor Resolution: | 24Mp |
Sensor Type: | APS-C CMOS |
ISO: | 100-25600 |
Weight: | 344g |
Physical Dimensions: | 120 x 67 x 45 mm |
Viewfinder: | Electronic |
Screen Type: | 3" Tilting |
Video Resolutions: | 1920 x 1080 |
50
47
56
65
67
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When it was launched at the beginning of 2015, Sony a6000 was a very innovative mirrorless. Five years later, many things have changed but this camera is still a respectable APS-C for many reasons. Sony a6000 was the model that legitimized Sony as one of the most competent companies in terms of mirrorless once and for all.
The nomenclature with the alpha comes from the acquisition of Minolta and at first it was used for reflex models. Not produced since 2010 anymore, the “prefix” moved to Mirrorless models, which differ from the compacts called Cybershot. Sony a6000 (“a” is actually a Greek alpha) was for years the Mirrorless model by definition of the Japanese company.
Over the years came out Sony a6300 (with 4k videos and improved AF) and then Sony a6500 with stabilizer and touch screen. This review will help you understand how this model is still great, five years after its launch. Or not.
Like all Mirrorless, Sony a6000 has a quite small and easy to carry camera body, sized 120x66.9x45.1 mm. Almost a compact, to be clear. Including battery it weighs less than 3.5hg! With the kit supplied lens – 16-55 millimeters – the weight reaches 460 grams… a joke compared to reflex cameras. But the good news isn’t over: Sony a6000 needs only a USB cable to recharge, no battery charger… the best travelling companion, then.
Talking about design, Sony a6000 looks very austere and simple: essential lines, typical Sony squaring. Not a soft look. The grip is deep enough also for quite big hands. The viewfinder is not central but is placed on the top-left area.
The buttons are reachable without any particular effort and are customizable for a faster and personalized workflow.
Sony a6000 has 24 megapixels Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor, APS-C format. Together with Bionz-X processor, it is really fast in recording and processing images. Consequently, the Autofocus is precise and quick both with photos and with videos.
Still very good, despite its age, the Autofocus of Sony a6000 is a hybrid system (contrast and phase) based on 179 phase detection points with 92% image coverage. When it was launched, Sony defined it as the “fastest autofocus in the world”. Now it certainly isn’t anymore, but it still stands up well. In fact, the continuous AF and the look detection are very timely features.
Also burst mode (11 f/ps) is still up to it. Same thing goes for the very capacious buffering, which can shoot for 5 seconds at 11 frames per second.
The 3 inches LCD display has some limits, instead, because it is not touch-screen and can be reclined only vertically. Of course, when Sony a6000 came out, this wasn’t a problem. But now that we’re used to lightly touch the display to select the AF point we want, using the settings to do it is a little annoying. Technological laziness. The format is 16:9, with 920k definition dots.
Unlike many other Sony models, the menu is not that bad, divided into different pages, each with 6 items, visible without scrolling. The image quality is more than decent, thanks to a dynamic range that works perfectly also on light and shadow. In low light conditions – and this is a limit of Sony – the quality decreases significantly and, beyond 3200 ISO, digital noise is quite impairing. In these cases, manual focusing is always the best choice.
With the same weight of compact cameras but with definitely better performance, Sony a6000 is the ideal travelling companion. Small and easy to handle, it is satisfying also for Street photography, where discretion is priceless. Its autofocus, then, is still very good and captures the most animated situation perfectly.
The focus hybrid system is useful during video recording too, providing total control of the aperture and of continuous focusing. There is also the auto peaking mode, an actual assistant in case you choose manual focusing. Then, there are several effects to customize video photography: rétro, pop colors and soft focusing are those who amused me more.
Definition is not 4K yet, unlike its more recent sisters a6300 and a6500, but is a good quality full HD (1920x1080).
Sony a6000 has integrated microphone. As usual, it is not the best so I suggest you to get an external device to connect through the mount, since there is no 3.5mm jack.
On continuous focusing are based all performances of Sony a6000. It’s the first reason that makes me still say this is a mirrorless in all respect, despite the years passed since its launch. The price is also absolutely affordable for this camera range.
Obviously the excellent Autofocus is not the only reason why you should buy Sony a6000: 24 megapixels definition, WiFi connection and many apps for images download are features that make this mirrorless still up-to-date and competitive on this market segment.
Personally, I think that the greatest limit is the non-touch screen. But if it’s not an insurmountable limit for you, then I can say – without hesitation – that Sony a6000 is still a valid APS-C mirrorless, five years after its launch.
Review | compare Sony Alpha a6000 with | overall score | Portrait | Landscape | Sport | Street | Everyday | |
SonyAlpha a6000 | 58 | 50 | 47 | 56 | 65 | 67 | $613.00 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NikonZ7 Mark II | 70 | 69 | 68 | 68 | 70 | 71 | buy on | |
CanonEOS R8 | 68 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 68 | 70 | buy on | |
NikonZ5 | 66 | 65 | 65 | 60 | 67 | 69 | buy on | |
FujifilmX-T4 | 65 | 52 | 50 | 68 | 72 | 74 | buy on | |
SonyAlpha a6600 | 65 | 51 | 50 | 67 | 72 | 74 | buy on | |
PanasonicLumix DC-GH6 | 62 | 47 | 46 | 70 | 64 | 67 | buy on |
The Sony Alpha a6000 is a mirrorless camera launched on 04/23/2014.
Technically speaking, the Sony Alpha a6000 ranks in the average of its category, scoring 58 overall. The Sony Alpha a6000 weights 344 gr and spans 120 x 67 x 45 mm. This means that it is particularly light and small, indeed one of the most handy options within its category.
Going into details, the Sony Alpha a6000 behaves better than average in its category for:
On the contrary, the performance of Sony Alpha a6000 is below the category average in:
However, the technical performance of your camera should be put in context. Indeed, depending on the type of photography you are interested in, each individual camera feature can impact your pictures to a different extent. This is the reason why we developed the iCamRank. iCamRank has been designed to weight all the individual technical specifications of each camera in the camerarace database, depending on different shooting conditions. Thus, here is what we suggest, depending on the photography type you like most:
Last but not least, the price. You can find the Sony Alpha a6000 sold on Amazon for a price comprised between 613.0 USD and 1034.95 USD, which is in the average for this camera category.
Overall, Sony Alpha a6000 is a great value for money. If this is the kind of camera you are looking for, you should definitely consider buying it.
Sensor Type
CMOS
Sensor Size
APS-C
Sensor Dimensions
23.5 x 15.6 mm
Sensor Area
366.6 mm2
Sensor Resolution
24 Mp
Max Image Resolution
6000 x 4000
Max Native ISO
25600
Min Native ISO
100
RAW Support
Manual Focus
Lens Mount
Sony E
Number of Lenses
73
Focal Length Multiplier
1.5
Screen Type
Tilting
Screen Size
3.0"
Screen Resolution
922Kdot
Live View
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Electronic
Viewfinder Resolution
1440000.0
Viewfinder Coverage
100
Viewfinder Magnification
0.7
Min Shutter Speed
30s
Max Shutter Speed
1/4000s
Continuous Shooting
11fps
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Exposure Compensation
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization
Built-in Flash
Flash Range
6.0
Max Flash Sync
1/160s
Flash Modes
Flash off auto fill-flaw slow sync redeye reduction hi-speed sync wireless control
External Flash
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
DxO Overall Score
82
DxO Color Depth
24.1
DxO Dynamic Range
13.1
DxO Low Light ISO
1347
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF MultiArea
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points
179
Number of Cross Focus Points
0
Video Resolutions
1920 x 1080 (60p 60i 24p) 1440 x 1080 (30p 25p) 640 x 480 (30p 25p)
Max Video Resolution
1920x1080
Video Formats
MPEG-4 AVCHD XAVC S
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Wireless Connectivity
Built-in
HDMI
USB
USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
Environmental Sealing
Water Proof
Dust Proof
Shock Proof
Crush Proof
Freeze Proof
Weight
344g
Physical Dimensions
120 x 67 x 45 mm
Battery Life
360
Battery Type
Battery Pack
Battery Model
NP-FW50
Self Timer
Yes (2 or 10 sec, continuous (3-5 shot))
Timelapse Recording
GPS
Storage Type
SD SDHC SDXC, Memory Stick Pro Duo Pro-HG Duo
Storage Slots
1
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