Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera 24.3MP SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD - Body Only (Silver)

I'm not sure I could more clearly love this camera. I purchased this camera after looking for an excuse to buy a nice camera for a long time. When the opportunity arrived for me to teach our school yearbook class, it was time for me to learn how to take good photos. There are plenty of comprehensive reviews on here... so I will just addressed why I pulled the trigger on this purchase, and why I'm so happy with it. For starters, I FIRMLY believe this camera is the best bang for your buck you can possibly get in DSLR or mirrorless at the time of this review. In fact, I've noticed the price just dropped this month. Like many of you reading this, I've spent COUNTLESS hours doing research to be sure this big purchase was the right one. I knew I'd use the camera semi-professionally, and needed it to meet criteria that allowed it to be effective in low light and take rapid shots to capture the action of the kids I work with. The a6000 was the clear winner despite a suggestion from a family member who has a cheaper model Sony mirrorless. After comparing the two... I'm FIRMLY convinced I made the perfect decision for me. I use this camera primarily to take pictures of the kids at our school, and that includes our middle school sports program. At 11 shots per second... I don't miss a beat. I've caught some incredible photos of our kids, and the parents and school community are buzzing about the awesome impact these cool photos have on our ability to create a buzz around campus. One of the parents on campus is a professional photographer, and when she was taking photos next to me at our annual winter concert she looked at my photos and was stunned that I was not only getting photos on par with the quality of her pro DSLR setup, but that some of the low-light photos even came out BETTER. I'm using nothing so far besides the kit lens and 50-210mm lense. Though I plan to upgrade to a strong fixed lens soon. Quick heads up... the Wasabi battery pack isn't just important, it's ESSENTIAL. This camera sucks battery like crazy, but you should be able to go three to four hours of HEAVY shooting on 2 or 3 batteries. With that said, the Wasabi batteries also have a larger capacity than the Sony batteries, so I use them more often anyways. The only other minor gripe I have about the camera is the sensor that detects your eye at the viewfinder (and shuts off the LCD display) is crazy sensitive. But that's super minor compared to what feels to me like the best big dollar purchase I may have ever made. Get a good book to teach you this camera, spend a small amount of time on it, and you won't believe the quality photos you get out of it.

Professional photographer MASSIVELY IMPRESSED! I purchased this camera as our "family fun" and vacation camera (when do not want to lug around our heavy pro bodies and lenses). Highlights: The AP-C sized sensor is really amazing. The image quality is fantastic. The viewfinder is appreciated and functional! Pro's: -Image quality rivals my old D7000, which was far heavier, bigger, more cumbersome and more expensive -Wifi is a GREAT feature! I can now take professional quality photos and send it to my smart phone for immediate posting to Facebook. -Digital viewfinder is great because it shows in real-time what your manual adjustments will look when you take your photo (as opposed to the snap/review process with pro bodies). It also turns the screen on/off automatically to conserve battery power. -Size and weight, I cannot believe they crammed so much tech into such a small body at such an affordable price! -Great lenses available (sold separately) for more advanced users or those looking for pro quality photos. #1 recommendation SEL35F18 35mm f/1.8 prime lens (becomes a fast 50 for this crop sensor, with stabilization) Cons: -In camera processing not as advanced as the older and lesser qualified Nikon J bodies -Not as weather sealed as Olympus or other mirrorless bodies (I was originally going to get another Nikon 1 series the AW for all weather, but the image quality wasn't nearly as good... still, if I'm shooting in the snow/rain I'll be paranoid this camera will break if getting wet or super humid as opposed to many other weather sealed options out there). -Raw quality isn't easily compatible with Photoshop and RAW's aren't as impressive of an improvement/versatility as my Nikon bodies. Net, if you get this camera, just use it as a JPEG shooter and save on the card/computer memory. Some background on me; I shoot professionally and use Nikon bodies. My previous mirror less was a J3, but the image quality was too poor in low light conditions which led me to find an alternative. I am incredibly impressed with the Sony! If you want a camera you can take snowboarding or surfing I suggest the Nikon AW1 (more expensive and less image quality, but water/shock/freeze proof), if you take your camera in less harsh environments but still feel the in camera processing is important or would like a camera which handle the rain I suggest an Olympus, for a cheaper camera the Nikon J's are great. If you want one of the best quality mirrorless cameras, and image quality is your priority, this is it.

I've owned every Sony mirrorless camera since the Nex-5N. I've also owned every Sony A7 full frame mirrorless camera except for the A9. I'm currently shooing with the Sony A7riii professionally. The Sony A6000 was my first advanced semi-professional camera in the Sony mirrorless line and it was a game changer for me. I have since upgraded to the A6500 but in 2018 this is viable camera for those wanting to get into more serious photography and those who want a small compact travel camera that can change lenses. Many professionals also keep one of these as a backup for equipment failures. The A6000 went down in history in the Sony line as a legendary camera. Pros: Price. When I first purchased this, this was $800 with a 16-50mm kit and $650 for just the body. The price has come down a lot now to $500 for body and kit and $450 for just the body. In the used market you can find them for just a little over $300. This is an amazing deal for a camera of this caliber. When I purchased this camera, it used to be the top of the Sony mirrorless APS-C line. It was a replacement for the NEX 6/7. Nowadays there is a an A6300 and A6500 so it's become the low tier product. But at this price it's still viable as a entry-level camera. Size. There's very few cameras that are as compact as the A6000 that packs a punch. The A6000 with the kit 16-50mm lens is small enough to fit in purses and cargo pant pockets. It will also fit perfectly in compartments in backpacks and other bags. It is significantly smaller than most entry level DSLR cameras from Canon or Nikon. FAST. This camera shoots continuous bursts extremely quick. I normally shoot on continuous mode (hold shutter down) so not to miss a shot and pick out the best one later. With this camera I need to be wary of how long I hold it down for because after a few seconds I have 20+ photos in my camera that are all essentially the same. I've tried and I can't shoot less than 3 shots with one push of the shutter. If you shoot moving objects you can almost make a flip-book or stop motion movie with this. Amazing speed. Fast autofocus. The AF of this camera is PDAF and Contrast Detect. PDAF is much quicker and contrast detect is used for fine-grain adjustments. It's the same kind of AF system used in the A7 line of professional cameras. The AF is competent enough to track fast moving subjects well and should be more than capable for most people's needs. Lens Compatibility. Even though this is an older Sony E mount camera, it is fully compatible with the entire lineup of Sony E and FE mount lenses. This means you can attach a professional fast 1.8 or 1.4 lens for great low light photos and beautiful bokeh photos. Upgrading a lens is always more bang for buck than upgrading a body. Construction. Overall the camera seems well built and sturdy. It's not waterproof but good enough to handle everyday use. It would not handle serious drops however. Wireless. The wireless feature is an added bonus that most entry-level DSLRs don't have. Download the Sony Playmemories App and you can use your phone to wirelessly transfer files, use your phone as a remote, and as a secondary screen. Improvements in the Sony app has seen much better features and speed over the years. Apps. The apps on the camera are something mostly exclusive to Sony Mirrorless. They're a welcome addition. Some of the best ones are the remote shooting app, the touchless shutter, and numerous time lapse apps. Cons. LOW LIGHT. The main problem with this camera is the ISO quality has been superseded by its competitors due to the sensor's age. The photos become noisy at ISO 800 and above, which is a common ISO used in indoors situations. In low light you absolutely need some flash to fill in the light. Even in RAW shooting the low light, you'll deal with noisy photos. You can always correct some of it in post but the camera's age and limitations do show. The A6300 and A6500 are improvements in the ISO and image quality. The camera is still good for hobby and non-professional work but the A6000 is definitely not good enough for paid or professional work! Battery life. The battery life on all mirrorless cameras are still abysmal, the A6000 included. Sony has upgraded the battery capacity in the newest gen 3 A7 cameras however they have not made it over to the APSC line. The problem is, without a reflex mirror, whenever the camera is on, the sensor is on. The sensor not only takes the photos, it lets you "see" through the viewfinder or LCD. The consequence is the camera is constantly sucking juice when it's on. With regular SLRs, the sensor is only on when you shoot and a SLR will last you several days without charge with normal use. I always keep a spare battery and an external charger around. If you buy this camera (or any other mirrorless camera), I suggest you do the same. Lens compatibility. Even though this works with Sony lenses, unlike the A7 series, the A6000 is not great with many Canon to Sony mount adapters. The performance of non-Sony lenses were always a toss up even with the A7 series but as the A6000 is not a professional camera, most companies like Metabones and Sigma won't be updating their adapters to work well with this camera. If you have Canon or Sigma lenses, expect only partial support with the A6000. Overall this is a fantastic camera. In 2018, it is a bit dated by its competitors and newer versions from Sony. However its role has changed to an entry-level camera and your expectations should match as such. For the price, it is fantastic for a beginner who wants more serious higher quality photos than cell phone cameras. Additionally, professionals regularly use this camera for personal work, or as a backup camera since it can accept professional Sony lenses. Finally, the size is perfect as a travel camera.

Let me start this review with some background of my photography experience. (Short story, I am an amateur, skip to “PROS” section) I bought a Nikon D40 and had it for several years before selling it in college and I was short on cash. Ever since then I’ve been relegated to my various cell phone cameras. I always had intentions of buying back into the hobbyist camera space at some point, and with an upcoming trip to Europe this summer, there was no time like the present to make a purchase. I had set a budget for myself that basically put my sights on the OM-D E-M10 and the Sony A6000, sans kit lens and spending the money (well worth it, we’ll get to that in a bit) to get a fast prime near the 50mm equivalent range. I never got a hold of an E-M10, so I will not compare the two, but will say that the APS-C sensor size of the A6000 was a key point for me. Without stirring the micro four thirds vs. the world debate, for me, sensor size still means something. Reality is that for the hobbyist, honestly, I don’t think you can choose incorrectly. The purchase was an A6000 (body only) with the well-reviewed SEL35F18 lens. I am forgoing the kit lens and intend to fill out my lens set (eventually) with the SEL1018 and another mid-range zoom. I cannot emphasize enough how great the SEL35F18 lens is. I am in love with it, and I think that it will really teach me to shoot correctly, rather than lean on the “zoom” crutch. If you have the extra cash, I would highly recommend this kit as a great starting point. I am not a professional, I have not taken photography courses, so I will cover the camera from the perspective of a guy looking to take photography to the next level. Let’s dig on in… PROS: -The A6000 is small. Coming from a rather chunky D40, I was pleasantly surprised by this. With the relatively small lens, a 35mm prime, it feels very well weighted, if just a tad plastic-y. Large lenses could upset the balance of the camera, but you wouldn’t have a 70-200 mounted for walk around use, anyways. -Controls…plenty of them. Spend some time while laying it bed to just mess with the settings and feel the camera out. DO NOT let your first experience with the camera be something special, such as a graduation or wedding. There’s a lot of options and flexibility here to make your photos shine, and keeping it in Auto or Superior Auto means you’re missing the point. That said, Sony does a good job of catering to the new photographer as well as those well versed in photography (and everyone in between). The controls allow you to grow and take more and more control as you learn (and less while you’re still figuring it out). -Menus: They go hand in hand with the controls I mentioned above, there’s a lot to them, but the layout is simple. Take some time to understand them, and you’ll be A-OK. -Viewfinder: You’re not going to mistake it for a traditional mirror box, but it gets the job done and it plenty functional. It’s not grainy or low quality by any means. Being my first OLED viewfinder, I have no comparison points but I’ve come away impressed so far. Though, the sensor that enables it is a bit too sensitive, can’t find a way to adjust that. -Focusing: Lightning fast. Allegedly a huge improvement over older compact system cameras, and for that I am grateful. Haven’t done any serious continuous AF shooting quite yet, but its done what it hasn’t skipped a beat. -Image quality: Given that I am an amateur, I am by no means a pixel peeper. So I think the IQ is fantastic. I think the JPG engine turns out somewhat dull images by default, but with a little tweaking, that can be easily fixed. We’re getting to the point where most any compact ILC can pump out decent images, and for me the A6000 certainly doesn’t disappoint. CONS: -I almost wish the grip was slightly bigger. I’ve got bigger hands, so things get tight after awhile. With a larger lens on the camera, I worry that the small grip won’t be sufficient to support the setup, forcing me to a 2-handed shot. The other benefit to the bigger grip would be an improvement in… -BATTERY LIFE. Through my use so far, I’d say it’s around ~300-325 shots. That’s not a lot. When I unboxed the camera I was shocked at how small the battery is. A slightly larger grip to fit a bigger battery would be a wise decision. A fine line between keeping the setup compact and improving the shooting experience, but I think Sony has some room to tip toe further towards that line, especially when you move beyond the tiny kit lens. -The Screen: To start, it’s a 16:9 screen and the sensor is 3:2. When reviewing images the on-screen image is pretty darn small. The screen itself is functional, bright, and effective; but the aspect ratio is a head scratcher. Also… -NO TOUCHSCREEN: The camera has nearly 200 AF points, and to pick a spot focus you use the tiny D-pad to the right of the screen. It is, to say the least, not intuitive, and slows down the act of taking a shot. -RAW+JPG Shooting: When shooting in JPG mode, you get the option to use some in-camera effects. Some are cheesy, others such as HDR can produce genuinely nice results. If you switch to RAW+JPG shooting, you lose the ability to use those effects for BOTH the RAW and the JPG image. Now, for the RAW image this makes sense, but it would be nice to be able to capture an unmolested raw file while still messing around with the in-camera effects/filters on the corresponding JPG file. From my understanding, competitors such as Olympus handle this much better. The rest is all gravy. Nit picks here and there that are more quirks than true cons. CONCLUSION: This camera rocks. It’s not perfect, hence the 4/5 rating, but it’s probably the best camera money can buy at the current MSRP (body only). It’s got a good size to it, plenty of controls and easy to navigate menus that allow you to grow into the camera, a viewfinder that’s unassumingly tucked away into the body (rather than atop it), a great AF system, and excellent image quality. As for what could be improved, I’d like to see a bigger grip to accommodate larger lenses and a bigger battery to build upon the mediocre battery life. I think a touchscreen was a glaring omission that really slows down the shooting experience. And the fact that choosing JPG + RAW shooting mode disables most all in-camera effects, even for the JPG copy is a bummer. It’s basically Sony forcing you to either act like a professional, or act like a child, but you can’t mix work and pleasure. Competitors handle that aspect better. If you go with the A6000, skip the kit lens and spend some time with a fast prime. If not the SEL35F18, then look at the cheaper Sigma Primes. The kit lens may not be bad, but shooting with a prime really makes you think about your style and understanding of composition. Hope you found this a worthwhile review. Happy to answer any and all questions (Again, from an amateur perspective) in the comments.

The Sony a6000 is by far the best camera that you can get for your buck and a steal if you can get a decent deal like I did. The a6000 is the first proper camera I have purchased in my life. I had dabbled with photography here and there using cameras that were given to me by relatives, and certainly nothing fancy. When phones started having cameras that became my primary tool for taking photos and had always thought that a proper camera was an overkill in this day and age. Boy was I wrong. This camera is loaded with features and has everything that a beginner would want. It is a relatively affordable camera for families looking to take shots of their kids, family gatherings, etc. With the proper lens it can get you truly stunning photos that can be used professionally. The interface is easy to use, and there are plenty of resources available online to learn how to use the a6000 effectively. For me, photography is not my main hobby, so I don't need an expensive full frame camera. The ability to transfer your pictures to your phone via Wi-Fi is a must for relatively quick sharing of photos to Facebook or Instagram. Another thing I really like about this camera is the size and how solid it feels. It won't win any prizes for ergonomics but you can definitely tell you are holding a quality product. A lot of the Pros complain that the focus system is not as good as those found in a DSLR but for me I found it more than good enough. You can track your subjects in motion, quickly assign eye auto-focus to a custom button. I really don't see myself getting more fancy when it comes to Auto Focus. Now the negatives is that the lenses are a little pricier than I would like, and there is a lower number of lenses specifically designed for the APS C sensor. You will see lots of "E Mount" lenses but a lot of them work best in the more expensive A 7 Sony Full Frame cameras. Thankfully the companies Sigma and Rokinon (Samyang) have made some quality lenses that fill the gaps at a more reasonable price. Having used the camera for about six months here is what I recommend in terms of lenses: * Sony 50mm f1.8 with OSS - This should be the first lens that you get after the kit lens. Just incredible image quality for the price. Some people might say that you need the Sony 35mm f1.8 instead. For that one you have to be willing to spend as of this writing $150 more. My only negative comment with the 50mm lens is that it will be hard to take photos in tight spaces. You will run into this issue when wanting group photographs in smaller rooms. However, I found myself taking a lot more pictures outside where the way to solve this problem is to back away from the subject. * Rokinon/Samyang 12mm f2.0 - This is the wide angle lens to get for the a6000. It is incredibly sharp, and very affordable compared to the Sony alternative. With this lens you can get a lot of the room in tight spots. Moreover this solves my primary issue with the 50mm. Overall, I can't rave about the a6000 enough. It is as close to the perfect beginner camera as you can get. Affordable, loaded with features, great image quality.

Mirrorless always made sense to me. Let's face it, if you were designing a digital camera from scratch, why on earth would you put a mirror box in it? DSLRs were always a transitional idea. This is a great camera, on several reviewers best in class lists, and deservedly so. I won't live long enough to figure out every feature, but fortunately, I won't have to. I took it out of the box a few hours ago and already taking perfectly good pictures (after waiting most of that time for the battery to charge). It helps that I already have a good Sony point-&-shoot. This is a lot better camera, but the concepts and terminology are similar, I can see where they improved and built on what I'm used to - but it wouldn't be hard for a beginner either, just put it on 'intelligent auto,' start shooting, and progress at your own pace. One change over the point-&-shoot is the panorama mode, which flows better and makes better pictures, but doesn't go as wide, and isn't as sharp in the details. There is also an 'intelligent auto plus' mode, which I guess is better. I got the kit lens, which will be fine for everyday daylight stuff, and the 50mm / 1.8 portrait lens, which I highly recommend. The camera uses an APS-C sized sensor, so if you grew up with 35mm as I did, multiply by 1.5 - the 16-50 kit lens will be what you'd expect from a 24-75, and the 50mm is like a 75 in the 35mm world. With my old Canon film gear, I used my 85/1.8 as much as anything, so I plan to get a lot of use out of the Sony 50mm. The attached pic is with the 50mm lens at f2.0 (reduced, the original was 3008 x 2000, which is the smallest 3x2 pic the camera will take). The camera can be set to automatically soften ('defocus') the background by various amounts, which as you can see works well with the 50/1.8. It didn't work nearly as well with the kit lens, which only goes down to f3.5 at the wide end, and f5.6 when zoomed to 50mm. An enthusiast-level digital camera that can compete with 1970s-era 35mm gear in portraiture is great if you ask me, and a long time coming. I didn't get one of the bundles, I bought only the chinese knock-offs I wanted separately, including a spare battery and desk charger, and UV filters to protect both lenses. The camera kit includes a tiny 1.5 amp charger, with a usb cable to charge the battery in the camera, but no way to charge a spare battery out of the camera. I also bought a class 10 SD card (recommended by Amazon) before seeing that the manual says class 4 or better is fine. I download to the computer often, so don't need a huge card - a 16 Gb card will hold about 900 pics at largest size (24M) / RAW+JPEG, about 8,900 at 6M (3000 x 2000) 'fine' quality JPEG, and over 10,000 at 'standard' quality. Panoramic shots will consume more space, movies a lot more. 3000 x 2000 will make decent prints on letter size paper. Brightness, in-camera processing, color, and just plain 'camera-smarts' are just about perfect, and I can't imagine anything you can't control or reset if it's not right for you. Very nice. UPDATE - Still learning. There are many tutorials on youtube, and some topic-specific user manuals (one, for example, on what the various auto-focus modes do) that will turn up in internet searches. Explore. Have fun.

(1) The Sony A6000 has the WORST INSTRUCTION MANUAL of any camera I have ever bought. Other than telling the buyer rudimentary things such as how to insert the battery, put in a memory card, and set date and time (which are the same for all digital cameras), the A6000 Instruction Manual is 100 PERCENT USELESS. The 44-page Instruction Manual merely lists the numerous features of the camera, but GIVES NO INFORMATION ON HOW TO ACCESS THOSE FEATURES, and gives zero information on how to use them. I wasted 30 infuriating minutes trying to find 'Focus Peaking' and 'Focus Magnification' in the Menus of the A6000 - but they are nowhere in the Menus (where they can be found on my Sony A65), and ZERO INFORMATION on how to find, or use, these features is given in the Instruction Manual. When I got the ultra-complex Sony A6000 with its useless 'Instruction Manual' which provides no information, I was ready to return it after 2 days. Without far better information than is given in Sony's cheap, shoddy, inadequate 44-page Instruction Manual, the features of the Sony A6000 are unusable. (2) SLOW AUTOFOCUS. Using the Factory Settings (Default Settings), the Autofocus on my A6000 was ultra-slow, the camera 'hunts' back and forth for a full second - and often ends up completely out of focus! My much cheaper Panasonic Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS19 Digital Camera- Black point-and-shoot camera unerringly and accurately autofocusses in a fraction of a second. With the Sony 55 - 210 mm telephoto zoom lens, Sony's autofocus system in the A6000 will often take a nearly-correct focus setting and change it to totally-out-of-focus, and then 'hunt' for focus. Sony's autofocus firmware for the A6000 desperately needs replacement (see UPDATE below). The Sony A6000 autofocus is slower than the earliest Autofocus cameras of the 1980s and 1990s. (3) NO BATTERY CHARGER. The A6000 comes with no battery charger, but instead with a cable to allow the battery to be charged (slowly) from a computer's USB port. The battery must be in the camera, the recharge time is 310 minutes. This is Sony being cheap, and it's ridiculous. If the battery runs down, you cannot take photos for 5 hours 10 minutes because the camera must be used to recharge the battery. For a better alternative, you will need to invest $26.99 in the Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Charger for Sony NP-FW50 and Sony Alpha 7, a7, Alpha 7R, a7R, Alpha 7S, a7S, Alpha a3000, Alpha a5000, Alpha a6000, NEX-3, NEX-3N, NEX-5, NEX-5N, NEX-5R, NEX-5T, NEX-6, NEX-7, NEX-C3, NEX-F3, SLT-A33, SLT-A35, SLT-A37, to get what Sony prefers not to provide. On the positive side, my Sony A6000 (Silver, not black) is nicely made. I had been looking at the Sony NEX 7 whose 'Build Quality' was praised as 'superb' by DPReview, but the fit and finish of my Silver A6000 is very nice, it exceeds my expectations. The workers in Thailand who make the camera have done a good job, and it is not their fault that incompetent Sony management decided to include a 44-page throwaway Manual which insults the buyer. A possible remedy is: (4) REMEDY - A MANUAL WHICH PROVIDES INFORMATION: Investing $41 in The Complete Guide to Sony's A6000 Camera (B&W edition) provides the basic information which Sony is too lazy to provide. Unlike Sony's Manual, this book actually tells you how to find and use the camera's features, and this may make the Sony A6000 usable. The mis-named 'Instruction Manual' for the A6000 is really just a 'Quick Start Guide,' telling you how to put a battery in the camera, put a memory card in the camera, and set time and date. This is followed by a listing of other functions, but no information is given on how to find or use the other functions. The 'Instruction Manual' fails to give 95 percent of the Instructions the user needs to operate the camera. It's really just a 'Quick Start Guide.' UPDATE, April 2016: . (1) AUTOFOCUS NOW WORKS, AFTER UPDATING FIRMWARE AND ERASING DEFAULT SETTINGS. My review above, written in February 2015, referred to an early version with its factory-default settings, and with Firmware Version 1.0. Its autofocus behavior was bizarre: the camera could be close to correct focus, but depressing the shutter release made it move way off focus. The camera was literally unusable. Consulting the The Complete Guide to Sony's A6000 Camera (B&W edition) , I discovered that the camera has five (5) Focus Modes, a fact which Sony's totally useless Instruction Manual doesn't tell you. The default setting was AF-A (Automatic); which makes the camera switch, out of control by the user, between AF-S (Single-shot) and AF-C (Continuous). I cancelled the default AF-A, and set it to AF-S. I also noticed that the camera kept focusing on whatever it was pointing at, even if I did not touch the shutter release. thus draining the battery. This feature is called Pre-Autofocus, and it's enabled by default. It's not mentioned in either the Instruction Manual or the Help Guide, and finding out how to disable it took me several hours (the disable switch is buried in a third-level submenu). I disabled Pre-AF. With these two default settings disabled, the AF became tolerable, but still slow.. Checking further: Sony had issued two successive Firmware Updates since Version 1.0. With the online assistance of a very helpful Sony technical support representative I installed Firmware Version 2.0. The new Version 2.0 gave a marked improvement in AF performance. With both the 18-55mm lens which I prefer (the earlier 18-55mm lens has the superior manual zoom, and much less distortion than the newer 16-50mm), and the excellent 55-210mm telephoto, the camera now focusses quickly and accurately.. In summary, getting rid of the default Focus Mode settings and updating firmware to Version 2.0 greatly improved the AF. (2) INSTRUCTION MANUAL. The Instruction Manual supplied with the a6000 is useless, you need the 'Help Guide.'. Go online to 'Sony - eSupport,' choose 'Alpha Cameras,' 'Manuals, Specs and Warranty;'enter the 'Model Number' which is: ILCE 6000, then ignore 'Instruction Manual' and instead download the 'Help Guide (Printable PDF).' It's not an expository guide, and makes no attempt to explain things to the uninitiated..But it does list most (but not all) of the camera functions, none of which are mentioned in the Instruction Manual. This is is now a pleasant and usable camera. Battery life is not long. You will need extra batteries and a charger, especially if you travel. The Wasabi Power set: Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) and Charger for Sony NP-FW50 and Sony Alpha 7, a7, Alpha 7R, a7R, Alpha 7S, a7S, Alpha a3000, Alpha a5000, Alpha a6000, NEX-3, NEX-3N, NEX-5, NEX-5N, NEX-5R, NEX-5T, NEX-6, NEX-7, NEX-C3, NEX-F3, SLT-A33, SLT-A35, SLT-A37, is a no-brainer

Criteria: The evaluation of this product was based primarily off of user friendliness, durability, image quality, video quality, the system, and speed. Review: The Sony a6000 camera is my first journey into the mirrorless camera world, and so far I have been nothing less than pleased with its’ performance. I am not an expert photographer, so it was important for me to find a camera that it was high quality, but also approachable. With this in mind, the first major criteria I was looking for were user friendliness, durability and a good system working behind the scenes. The top dial makes it easy to shift between operating modes that include aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, two auto modes and video or panoramic. The a6000’s ‘auto scene’ modes have produced very nice pictures if I am looking for a quick snapshot and don’t have time to mess with any settings. The viewfinder is very useful for sunny days where the standard viewing screen may be hard to see. The viewing screen, however, also is very handy with adjustable angles for flexible viewing of the pictures you’re taking. The only knock on the screen is the lack of touch screen, which is becoming more common in higher quality cameras. The overall layout of the camera is very user-friendly and never felt overwhelming to me. I was a little concerned before ordering of how durable it would be, however it feels solid and I don’t anticipate problems with it holding up with responsible use. The camera’s system and default settings are nice out of the box, but prepare to do a bit of tinkering to figure out which settings work best for you. It’s not always easy to scroll through all the menus to find what you need, however Sony gives you tons of control over your images if you are willing to take the time to make the adjustments. The system and camera layout would be useless if the end result was a bad image, however I can assure you compared to any cheaper cameras you may have used before, it will certainly impress. The autofocus on this camera is blazing fast and allows for great images at a high shutter speed. Just be sure to warn anyone taking a picture for you not to hold the button down too long, or you’ll end up with tons of duplicates in no time. The cameras sensor is 24.3 megapixels and allows for superb quality for the price range. The provided lens (Sony E 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 PZ OSS) is decent, but you’ll want to consider adding others to your arsenal down the road. This isn’t a big issue however as the E-mount system is easy to find adapters for nearly any lens that you may want or already own. The image/video quality paired with the lens versatility that the a6000 offers was a major selling point for me. The bottom line is the Sony a6000 provides very nice image/video quality, versatility, user friendly physical layout and a customizable system for whatever your needs may be. I still haven’t had a chance to do anything with longer exposures or a ton of video, but I have been encouraged by the quality of the camera and its’ pictures so far. If you are looking for really nice quality at a price point that may be less cringe-inducing than a lot of DSLR’s, this is certainly one you’ll want to consider. Overall Rating: 4.5/5