Overview

Features and specifications

Even in 2018 the Sony a6000 packs in features that not even newer cameras have:

• The 24MP and APS-C type sensor packed in a camera weighing less than 500 grams with lens and battery included

• 11 fps continuous shooting with AF tracking with 179 phase detection AF points for accurate subject tracking that cover nearly the entire area of the screen

• Blazing fast auto-focus performance with 0,06 seconds focus time

Build quality

The body has both plastic and metal parts that inspire quality and resistance to both the environmental conditions and user.

Until now, no issues have been observed with the functioning of this camera even though it was being tested in rough conditions: dust in the countryside, rain and even sea water when a wave rushed over me and the camera. The buttons have maintained their precision and the print is still there with minimum wear. The dials have maintained their stiffness until now which  for the Mode Dial I find a little bit too rough.

The main point to be made in my opinion about this camera is that it can be handled with only one hand, the right hand having the possibility to reach all the available buttons without problem.

The 3 customizable buttons are also a plus with multiple options that can be set via the menu.

Photo

Before we start it should be mentioned that all the photographs were shot without any post processing.

Autofocus

The autofocus feature is among the best we have ever tested on a camera with both accuracy and precision. Covering almost the entire screen enhance the capabilities of this camera.

AF points depiction

We were able to use this feature intensely along with the 11 FPS capabilities, rarely missing the focus. This has a competitive advantage to a lot of DSLR which typically handle under 10 FPS.

The power of 11 FPS

Landscape

While taking photos of nature and landscapes the camera behaves very well allowing for natural color reproduction and high accuracy white balance while being set to auto.

Romanian Mountains

Zakynthos, Greece Mediterannean sea.

Shipwreck Beach Zakynthos

Portrait | Bokeh

Coming with a stock 16-50mm lens with 3.5-5.6 aperture it takes good portraits with quite a strong bokeh effect as seen below:

Low light photography

The pancake lens cannot gather enough light for crystal clear low light photography but for the price it is good enough. The camera excels during long exposure shots as seen during a storm in the city below.

Bucharest evening

Barcelona Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, crowd included

30 seconds long exposure during a thunderstorm caught some spectacular imagery

Barcelona Magic Fountain of Montjuïc contrasting with the crowd

Macro photography inside the Barcelona Aquarium

Video

Sony a6000 can film in 1080p at 24 and 60 FPS and the video quality is quite decent when the camera is not moving. Though, when the user starts moving the lack of in body stabilization can be obvious with camera shakes even when walking while trying to keep the camera stable.

If using the video mode to create some slow motion videos for your vlog/professional material or just film in 60 FPS make sure that you select Camera Menu, Second page the option 60i 24M(FX) and not the 60i 17M(FH) as that is the interlaced option made for televisions.

Some drawbacks

The menu

To be noted that the menu on this Sony Camera is very hard to go through to find the desired option to change. For example each big settings category has at least 5 pages, to scroll through, each with its 5-6 settings.

This could have been avoided if Sony would have named each page accordingly and categorized the settings based on features.

The lack of in body camera stabilization

As explained above in the video section, the stabilization is quite missing having stabilization only inside the lens. Trying to film while walking during my vacation I was constantly struggling to keep the camera steady even with some tricks meant to lessen the shocks at each step such as tensing the strap around the neck all without any improved results.

This meant that if I were to get a  good shot I would have to resort only to panning and and tilting motions.

Lack of audio jack input

If you were trying to add some professional audio to this device you will be limited to using the Multi Interface Shoe. This means that you cannot use both an external microphone and a flash at the same time resorting only to an external flash and a separate audio recorder or a lavalier.

Overall

These being said, we would recommend this camera for people that would like to become professionals in the field of photography and vlogging and their budget allow for around 700 dollars, with the mention that the screen cannot be fully turned around to actually see yourself while filming. If you can come over that, then this camera is for you.

As a side note, in the case you would like to take movie making to another level with this camera a Gimball is a great piece of gear which looks like a selfie stick and acts like a stabilization device that helps reduce the shakes and tremors while moving.

The Sony a6000 with its good build quality, the fast autofocus and its lightweight is still a good camera for 2018 especially for people that are just looking to start photography.