The 2014 model Sony Alpha A6000 has been superseded by the early-2016 model A6300 (most notably with 4k video) and the late-2016 model A6500 (with 5-axis stabilisation and touchscreen). It is still available quite widely. The sad news is that the price has not changed since end of 2015 despite the release of the newer bodies, and the European pricing is therefore quite the rip-off as long as we consider life in Sony land. The camera should however remain extremely competitive against some of the alternatives by Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic.
I purchased one about a year ago for $400. You could not get a better-specced new camera for the price, and this may remain true even today.
Was this a smart buy? In many ways, yes. I certainly needed a replacement for my Sony NEX-5N, which had become largely unusable. My original plan however was to get a replacement with 4k video, and I am now stuck with this 1080p model. On the other hand, I don't see enough value in the A6300/A6500 cameras beside the 4k support to pay the premium.
It's not all good, though. Here's a list of key usability issues that I pretty much hate on the A6000. They seem not very well addressed on the newer bodies either.
Main issues:
- Auto-ISO implementation. This is a long-standing issue with Sony. You have very little control over the feature, which is unforgivable on a camera with this much customisation options and a menu system that makes many a novelist doubt their productivity.
- Eye-sensor. It kicks in too easily when you turn the camera for a difficult angle and/or tilt the screen resulting in missed shots or just general annoyance. The EVF is slow to wake, too, which is probably part of the reason the eye-sensor is so sensitive.
- Out-of-focus pictures with AF confirmation. This is a problem with all AF cameras to some degree, but Sony continues to knock it out of the park with every new model. I'm pretty sure they have a department dedicated to implementing this problem in otherwise fairly good AF systems. The lesser evil is the AF focusing on some tiny high-contrast spec in the background, when about 99% of the AF box covers the intended subject with good contrast and which looks to be in focus. Annoying yes, but sometimes you can blame yourself, too. The bigger evil is the "nothing in focus" phenomenon. I had this problem with the NEX-5N, I have this problem with the RX1R, and I now sure have it with the A6000 as well. Many pictures come out with nothing in focus, although the focus confirmation is there and the picture looks fine on the screen or in the EVF when you take it. Then something just happens, and you get an unusable file. I have no explanation for this. It is a focus issue, it is not a shutter speed, camera shake, or IS issue.
- Settings changing on their own. This can be a rather fine camera, when you keep it in your hand. It becomes a machine for applying random settings, when you fling it over your shoulder. When you grab the camera again and need to shoot fast expecting to use the settings you left on the camera, the aperture, the shutter speed, the exposure compensation, the ISO setting, and on a few occasion even the drive mode may have changed on its own. You miss the shot or it comes out very different from what you intended. It's ridiculous how often this happens for me. I seldom had a similar problem with the NEX-5N (which of course didn't have too many wheels and buttons to move inadvertently). There is a wheel lock function that I use sometimes to avoid the problem. It however takes too long to switch on and off to be really useful. Give a faster lock, Sony, and this becomes a minor complaint.
Minor issues:
- Battery life. It's poor. I need a minimum of three batteries for a day-hike when no video is shot. I would be happy with needing a maximum of two. Three with heavy video shooting. With better battery life, you could use features such as Pre-AF.
- Manual focus assist (with AF lenses). The minimum two-second limit is too high for confirming framing in dynamic scenes. Give some control over this, Sony.
- Video button placement. I know many people had problems with the NEX-5N, where the camera would start recording video on its own. I used the camera for several years, and it never happened. After it happened three or four times on the A6000, I set the video button off by default.
The good:
- Face detection. When face detection kicks in, I have never had a grossly out-of-focus picture. It's fast and seems to follow subjects relatively well. And it's only improving on the newer bodies.
- Fps. Simply fast enough for general use. Three settings for continuous drive.
- Image quality. Sometimes matches the Sony RX1R which is my personal reference camera for the high end. Often produces better objective image quality than the Leica M8. The latter was seldom the case with the 5N, despite what the Internet says. 24 megapixels is good, and the sensor ain't bad. Of course, a lot depends on the lens choice.
- Tilting screen. Basically a must for general use video-capable camera. The implementation is good, but the screen should tilt more downwards. Selfie crowd would love tilting all the way to face front, and this should not be too complicated to add on this level camera. I think some lower-end Sony models do this.
- Video implementation (although no 4k). If you care about video, look at Sony and Panasonic. The stupid part on the A6000 is that you need to actually engage the video mode every time, as the video button needs to be killed by default on this camera.
Improved over NEX-5N, but still nothing to write home about:
- Build quality/design. It's good, perhaps great considering the current price point. Seems much heftier and overall better built than the 5N. The flimsy battery door remains. I expected it to break on my 5N, and it did develop some issues. I hear the A6500 provides an improvement here. Something should be done about the wheels and buttons having a life of their own.
- EVF/Handling. The handling is much more like a real camera than the 5N, which was fine for a waist/chest-level video shooter. The integrated EVF plays a big role here, and the larger size of the body and the button placement also helps. The EVF is usable, but it's not excellent.
- Customisation. I have already forgotten if there was any real customisation on the 5N. The A6000 offers quite a lot, but accessing many fairly useful features remains complicated regardless of how you set the thing up. You may arrive at a fairly usable compromise when you simply decide to not use certain functionalities, and set up the key ones as well as possible. I know this is sufficient for many people, but I want to have something better. Can't complain too much at the 400-dollar price point, though.
Your mileage may vary and all that, but perhaps there are some points here to consider for prospective buyers of the A6xxx range. For current 5N users, my suggestion is to make the switch. There are only two things that make the 5N more desirable in my books. Well, one thing and one unknown factor. There is obviously a size advantage with the 5N. The A6000 is larger, and that may be a problem for some. The unknown part is performance with rangefinder lenses. The 5N was pretty good, the A6000 I have actually not properly tested yet, although I have owned the camera for about a year.
