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.

The A6000 has an Elo rating of 2149. The Camera Elo represents a comprehensive assessment of digital cameras, as derived from a large number of pair-wise comparisons of body, sensor, and feature characteristics.

The Elo rating puts the Sony A6000 among the top 50 percent of all mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. In terms of its sensor size category – APS cameras – the A6000 ranks among the top 40 percent. Based on its within category standings, the camera receives a 3.5-star performance rating.

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, and reception by expert reviewers.

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.

Camera Body Specifications

	Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life (CIPA)	Weather Sealing (yes/no)	Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Sony A6000	120 mm	67 mm	45 mm	344 g	360	n	Feb 2014	599	-		Sony A6000
	Canon M3« »	111 mm	68 mm	44 mm	366 g	250	n	Feb 2015	679	-		Canon M3
	Canon G7 X« »	103 mm	60 mm	40 mm	304 g	210	n	Sep 2014	699	-		Canon G7 X
	Sony A6300« »	120 mm	67 mm	49 mm	404 g	400	Y	Feb 2016	999	-		Sony A6300
	Sony RX100 IV« »	102 mm	58 mm	41 mm	298 g	280	n	Jun 2015	999	-		Sony RX100 IV
	Sony A5000« »	110 mm	63 mm	36 mm	269 g	420	n	Jan 2014	449	-		Sony A5000
	Sony A5100« »	110 mm	63 mm	36 mm	283 g	400	n	Aug 2014	549			Sony A5100
	Sony A3000« »	128 mm	91 mm	85 mm	411 g	470	n	Aug 2013	329	-		Sony A3000
	Sony NEX-3N« »	110 mm	62 mm	35 mm	269 g	480	n	Feb 2013	499	-		Sony NEX-3N
	Sony NEX-5T« »	111 mm	59 mm	39 mm	2776 g	330	n	Aug 2013	699	-		Sony NEX-5T
	Sony NEX-6« »	120 mm	67 mm	43 mm	345 g	360	n	Sep 2012	999	-		Sony NEX-6
Convert to Imperial

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 tables report 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 Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Sony A6000	Rec	80/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2014	599	-		Sony A6000
	Canon M3« »	rev	75/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4/5	Feb 2015	679	-		Canon M3
	Canon G7 X« »	HiRec	77/100	4.5/5	3.5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2014	699	-		Canon G7 X
	Sony A6300« »	Rec	85/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2016	999	-		Sony A6300
	Sony RX100 IV« »	HiRec	85/100	4/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Jun 2015	999	-		Sony RX100 IV
	Sony A5000« »	Rec	-	4.5/5	rev	4.5/5	Jan 2014	449	-		Sony A5000
	Sony A5100« »	Rec	-	4.5/5	4.5/5	5/5	Aug 2014	549			Sony A5100
	Sony A3000« »	Rec	-	4/5	4.5/5	4/5	Aug 2013	329	-		Sony A3000
	Sony NEX-3N« »	-	-	4.5/5	4/5	4.5/5	Feb 2013	499	-		Sony NEX-3N
	Sony NEX-5T« »	-	-	4.5/5	-	4.5/5	Aug 2013	699	-		Sony NEX-5T
	Sony NEX-6« »	HiRec	78/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2012	999	-		Sony NEX-6

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.

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