Sony A6000 Comparison Review

The Sony Alpha A6000 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that was officially introduced in February 2014 and is equipped with an APS-C sensor. It offers a resolution of 24 megapixel.

Body comparison with a credit card

The physical dimensions of the Sony A6000 relative to a credit card are illustrated in the side-by-side display below. Three consecutive perspectives from the front, the top, and the back are presented. All width, height and depth dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Sony A6000 alongside a set of comparators. If you want to review a camera pair side-by-side, just select a right-side comparator from among the camera models in the table. Alternatively, you can also move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Sony A6000 was launched in the US market at a price of $599. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The imaging sensor is at the core of digital cameras and its size is one of the main determining factors of image quality. All other things equal, a large sensor will have larger individual pixel-units that offer better low-light sensitivity, wider dynamic range, and richer color depth than smaller pixels in a sensor of the same technological generation. Further, a large sensor camera will give the photographer additional creative options when using shallow depth-of-field to isolate a subject from its background. On the downside, larger sensors tend to be more expensive and lead to bigger and heavier cameras and lenses.

The Sony A6000 features an APS-C sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 1.5. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Sony A6000 among the medium-sized sensor cameras that aim to strike a balance between image quality and portability.

Since 2007, DXO Mark has published sensor performance measurements that have been derived using a consistent methodology. This service is based on lab testing and assigns an overall score to each camera sensor, as well as ratings for dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), color depth ("DXO Portrait"), and low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports"). The table below summarizes the physical sensor characteristics and sensor quality findings and compares them across a set of similar cameras.

Feature comparison

Beyond body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. The following table reports on some other key feature differences and similarities of the Sony A6000 and comparable cameras. The full specs-sheets can be found in the camera manual or, for example, in the dpreview camera hub.

Expert reviews

While the comparison of the spec-sheets of cameras can offer a general idea of their imaging potential, it says nothing about, for example, the handling, responsiveness, and overall imaging quality of the A6000 in practical situations. User reviews that are available, for instance, at amazon can sometimes shed light on these issues, but such feedback is all too often partial, inconsistent, and inaccurate. This is why hands-on reviews by experts are important. The following table reports the overall rankings of the cameras as published by some of the major camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, photographyblog). The full reviews are available by clicking on the site logo in the table header.

Review scores
Camera							Camera Launch (year)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (amazon)	Used Price (ebay)
	Sony A6000	Rec	80/100 Gold	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	2014	599	discont.	check
	Sony A6300 (⇒ lft | rgt)	Rec	85/100 Gold	5/5	5/5	5/5	2016	999	discont.	check
	Sony A5100 (⇒ lft | rgt)	Rec	-	4.5/5	4.5/5	5/5	2014	549	latest	check
	Sony A5000 (⇒ lft | rgt)	Rec	-	4.5/5	reviewed	4.5/5	2014	449	discont.	check
	Sony A3000 (⇒ lft | rgt)	Rec	-	4/5	4.5/5	4/5	2013	329	discont.	check
	Sony NEX-3N (⇒ lft | rgt)	-	-	4.5/5	4/5	4.5/5	2013	499	discont.	check
	Sony NEX-5T (⇒ lft | rgt)	-	-	4.5/5	-	4.5/5	2013	699	discont.	check
	Sony NEX-6 (⇒ lft | rgt)	HiRec	78/100 Silver	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	2012	999	discont.	check
	Sony NEX-F3 (⇒ lft | rgt)	-	74/100 Silver	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	2012	599	discont.	check
	Sony NEX-7 (⇒ lft | rgt)	HiRec	81/100 Gold	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	2011	1,349	discont.	check
	Sony NEX-3 (⇒ lft | rgt)	-	70/100 Silver	4.5/5	5/5	4/5	2010	599	discont.	check

Care should be taken when interpreting the review scores above, though. The ratings were established in reference to similarly priced cameras that were available in the market at the time of the review. Thus, a score needs to be put into the context of the launch date and the launch price of the camera, and rating-comparisons among cameras that span long time periods or concern very differently equipped models make little sense. Also, please note that some of the review sites have changed their methodology and reporting over time.

Camera to camera comparisons

If you would like to see a side-by-side review of this and another camera, just make a corresponding selection in the search boxes below. Alternatively, you can follow any of the listed hyperlinks for comparisons that others found interesting. If the camera you are interested in is not available, please send me an email, and I will try to update the database with the necessary infos.

You are here:  Home  »  CAM-parator  »  Sony A6000 Review