Excellent for architecture and landscape, good for family photos or reportage

Excellent for architecture and landscape, good for family photos or reportage

Sony Alpha 6000 system camera (24 megapixels, 7.6 cm (3 ") LCD display, Exmor APS-C sensor, Full HD, high-speed hybrid AF) black (Camera)

Customer Review

By a happy circumstance I got this camera a few days before the official release date and have therefore able to report first experiences very early. I have the review continues to improve over time and expanded. Thank you to this point at all commentators who have given excellent advice.

Overview in brief:

Anyone who wants to take pictures of still subjects, gets a great camera. The colors and the contrast ratio are amazing, the extra resolution brings astonishingly real added profit (excellent lenses provided - the 16-50 kit lens is simply overwhelmed by this camera).

For images of people on the move or even in children, I was a bit disappointed, but I now find settings that work very well for me. With this, the A6000 plays now actually in the League of (simple) SLR, although my rejection rate even after many thousands of images of experience still remains significantly higher than SLRs.

The long version:

Autofocus:
I also have a NEX-5R. This moving subjects were practically not be photographed because the auto focus was much too slow and too inaccurate for the sensor size. In the first few days with the A6000 I have therefore initially used settings that were needed at the 5R to compensate for their weaknesses. So I brought the A6000 but apparently accidentally to some of their options. In order to save the other, I describe my attitudes here in more detail. I am now working in fast image situations with the following settings:

Focus Mode: AF-C (tracking) or AF-A (automatic choice of AF-C and AF-S). The AF-D mode (in which readjust manually can) is less suitable, even if one does not intervene manually for fast scenes.
AF I leave only by the AE lock button to activate, no longer by the timer (that is the configuration that is often used by sports photographers, but it is not for everyone).
On a function key is the AF Focus Area.
On the other function key eye-AF.
Face Detection on, except when it comes to a particular person among many, because otherwise the danger is too great that the camera focuses on the wrong face. That is the situation in which you particularly missed the touch screen (more on that below).

So now I succeed even with fast-moving objects a lot of pictures that are exactly in focus. However, anyone who has faith, to get a Nikon D4 at a fraction of the price that I have to disappoint. My rejection rate remains even significantly higher than in a Nikon D300, which is hard to say what exactly lies. But I can give you some hints: 1. My A6000 has a distinct front Focus, ie the sharpness level is a little too close to the camera. Actually, that's a quirk, not have the cameras with contrast AF, but this seems to be a side effect of hybrid AF. 2. The AF provides the focus tracking only when the main subject only accounts for a maximum of about 20% of the image. The runners down the stretch gets so hot, a frame-filling dog which moves in camera direction, but not - even if the Sony likes to show as an example motif in advertising. Overall, the AF is very good for a camera of this type, but it is still significantly worse than at an average SLR.

In low light, the AF is naturally slow and pumping a bit, but is quite usable. At very low light is flexible spot AF no focus, but then it helps to switch to area focus. As with the NEX 5R have to turn off the AF illuminator, so that it is better (that's not a typo: without auxiliary light, it will be better).

It is a pity that there is no touch screen, but with the above settings I can deal with this problem to a large extent.

Flash: The flash can be activated by pressing a button and not annoying by high-handed unfolding. Very good! Fill flash works now at least somewhat, although the overall picture impression still does not reach by far a Fuji X100s. In low light the flash kills the subject. I set it by default to -1/3 and often long-term Sync, then it's good and right. The white balance is still quite wrong, because the A6000 apparently not quite can choose between flash and ambient light. Clearly, the light color of the flash is different than that of incandescent light, but again: Fuji is the significantly better compromise. Perhaps some have patented technology that Sony can not accept.

Battery: The good news is that the old NEX batteries continue to function. The even better is that it works well with my non-original batteries. And the very best that the battery can now even load if you use a USB charger from Apple or Samsung (which went namely both 5R not). The bad news is that the battery is really quite fast empty. Fortunately that's not so bad because you occasionally transfers generally the pictures to your computer and then the camera can be plugged in, then it is in the way again fully. When traveling or a longer shooting but you should have enough spare batteries here. In the first days of use of the battery for an estimated 250-300 images held, but now I'm also on more than 600 recordings to pull completely empty without the battery. It seems like when the camera and battery would only have to get used to each other (this also applies to my original battery from the 5R).

Viewfinder: that there is one, is good. It is well lit and noise is also fast and available-light photography. However, the resolution is not great and you can clearly see the individual pixels. The sharpness evaluation is therefore limited. He sometimes jerky clear and he limps slightly, what one has to get accustomed to not pull the trigger always a bit too late.

Image Quality: With static subjects (eg landscape or architecture) is the A6000 a sensation. I put them on like Vivid with saturation and sharpness +3 +1, then come directly as jpg out incredibly good pictures. Try it, even if it will not meet every taste. Who sees landscapes from this camera will go there. I appreciate it when a camera is able to deliver out of cam "perfect pictures -. And that may A6000 Here the Sony makes the Fuji far behind (I myself have also X100s) This applies to landscape and. architecture especially, but also in people when you get them because really sharp (which goes with models, because they each hold short silent in motion). Then I like the skin tones of the Sony way better because they are more intense and the whole more detailed image appears (I rätsele still, what exactly is). The setting is Portrait incidentally also very good usable, especially in cold light (sample saturation and sharpness +1).

Available Light: Despite the high resolution, the behavior is very good in low light. The noise is very well corrected, but the details are clearly lost in dim light. Nevertheless, the images are usable without restriction, just only with lower effective resolution. The white balance will also work very well, but in artificial light to yellowish, but rather weaker than in most other cameras. For mixed lighting, auto white balance is often very natural-looking Voters, if you used no flash.

Objective: Although it is not part of the camera, some notes on the lenses. In order to exploit the A6000, the little kit lens front and back is not enough. One should view the 16-50 rather as a bonus, with which you can try out the camera. It's a little loose box whose resolution simply can not keep up with the sensor and that is almost always badly decentered and thus on an image side has distinct blurring. You can use it if you want to connect the camera as a pocket camera in your pocket (for I like it), but more is not in it. . If you want to exploit the image quality of the camera, then you need lenses, each of which is single more expensive than the camera itself is magnificent, the Zeiss 16-70 (do not be put off by negative reports on the Internet of it: the most criticism arises because It has a field curvature, resulting in standard test methods to incorrect measurements). For Available Light Portrait and the SEL50F18 is outstanding, for the sharpness fanatics Touit lenses from Zeiss, but unfortunately do not have image stabilization.

Some minor observations:

The pet peeve of all Nexen remains: Sony has the function turned off, that you can combine Auto HDR or Exposure Bracketing with time triggers. However, this is not so bad, because looking at the camera in the HDR mode can trigger with the wireless remote control, if you have enabled this menu (menu "suitcase", 3. submenu). That can also be switched on permanently and can operate alternately with remote control and timer. So I can live very well, but I would still be happy if Sony in a Firmwarupdate also combining HDR and timer activates.

The foldable monitor remains top. One can order the camera like a Hasselblad operate from above or upholding with one hand and take pictures over a crowd. He is in the sunlight unfortunately hardly usable, but that's what the viewfinder. Too bad that the old auxiliary viewfinder of NRX 5R is not usable, because the can be folded. Very annoying this is that there is no more artificial horizon.

The bottom is now smooth and has a sufficiently large bearing surface for a tripod mount.

The continuous shooting function is really very fast and can be adjusted to happiness in three stages. I take only the average or the slow, because it is useless to recreate not only the Blinzen a person, but also a number of phases thereof. For sports photography, the high speed may be useful, but I do not mind that this will be a more common application of the A6000. Incidentally, the A6000 is the attribute fastest camera "already going on before it was available, because the Nikon 1 V3 should do 20 fps with AF tracking Whether that works I can not judge, of course,. But you have to remember that the Nikon because of the smaller sensor has fewer demands on the precision of AF and thus may provide more sharp images.

There are now a memory function for the camera settings in which you can save three settings. That's great to switch between, for example landscape, portrait and Available Light. The operation is not optimal, but ever better than nothing.

Auto HDR is an ingenious function and works better than most other cameras, provided that the have ever. The panorama function can be used, but inferior to operate than a Galaxy phone.

The menu layout is much better than the old Nexen. Thank God! I was once working from left to right and once had a good basic configuration, having to throw the manual without a glance. However, one must know that the settings with about 20 small lever, Schälterchen, wheel, Kläppchen and long near 200 entries menu quite a bit presuppose at camera experience. On closer inspection, it was found that I was still here a bit premature and only at the second or third passage for me very important settings (and especially combinations thereof) have found. It also shows that I sometimes have to search a long time, despite the improved structure to restore functions.

In addition, I still need a couple of functions, most notably the ability to change the file name. Without this possibility has twice as owner of several Sony's filename, which the archiving difficult.

The camera can be connected as a mass storage with the computer and you do not need annoying junk software on his computer. A lucky!

The feel left us with mixed feelings. The right side is very well managed by the shape and by the leather covering, the rest is too plastic moderately. The AEL button is actually one of the main keys, but it is too far right, they can not be sensing and must be actually operated with a fingernail. This smells very strongly after trying to push the dedicated photographers to more expensive models, but is a bad decision, because the A6000 yes replaces the NEX7 and you just sometimes want to have a camera that is small in the first place.

The Quick Menu is a godsend and they used to have improved considerably. It leans now on the Fuji-operation on, so you can make changes directly in the menu of the dial changes. Better than at Fuji is that this menu can be configured free. Very good!

The turn-on time is blameless, and the viewfinder turns off quickly, when approached with the eye. An SLR is more ready, but in most cases you will not miss anything.

The viewfinder switches on and then, if he is close to a wall or the light is incident in a particular way (that is, for example, in bright light from the side of the case). This can sometimes be a pain, because the monitor is unusable then. Therefore, there are situations where I actually now back grab rather be back on my NEX-5R.

The Sony-special department for customer annoyance unfortunately slammed even with the A6000, although in this department apparently some redundancies have been made:

The artificial horizon no longer exists. This is extremely annoying because thus the "hate bath-operation" with insight from above is substantially deteriorated. My urgent request to Sony's nachzuliefern the water level in a firmware update.

The A6000 does not have jack input for a microphone. Instead, should one buy the expensive Bluetooth or plug-on microphone. Here is the link to the plug-on: Sony ECMXYST1M.CE7 stereo microphone for Camcorder with Multi Interface Shoe accessories (it is not used simultaneously with an external flash).

The A6000 is prone to underexposure, presumably out panic that bright image areas could be no drawing. Unfortunately, this is so strong that you can hardly use the fully automatic, because then the look jpgs consistently dull (apart from the fact that these super intelligent automatic makes quite unpredictable things). I work, therefore, only in the modes A and especially P and place (usually in low light situations) the exposure often +1/3.

The fact that the camera does not have a touch screen, is really annoying. Because that could move the AF point quickly and simplify the current very complicated operation. Ideally, you could even use the touch panel when working with the viewfinder would. When playing you could quickly zoom to the desired location in the picture with a touch panel. That was also when the NEX 5R, but here it does not exist. Why not? Probably in order to sell us the successor models.

Conclusion: The camera has a great picture quality and can be configured very freely. That's why I needed longer than expected to find the optimum settings for me, but with this I can now work well in fast image situations. You need very good lenses to ausschöfen the image quality. Most of my criticisms I could eliminate with the help of the tips in the comments and am quite excited. Here actually has a camera with an electronic viewfinder almost caught up with the mirror reflections.

If the enthusiasm does not use the same for you: Give yourself and the camera a little time to get used to each other. In my case it was necessary, but it was worth it.

Satisfied, good protection Rank: 4/5
September 15
Sublime February 1 Rank: 5/5
November 6
Super happy 5 1 Rank: 5/5
September 18
Effective 1605 Rank: 4/5
September 29
Egal himself ... 5 Rank: 5/5
December 17

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