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.

Is the Sony A6000 a good camera? The A6000 has a Camera Elo of 2124. This rating puts the A6000 below average 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 earns a 3-star performance rating.

Headline Specifications

Sony A6000
Mirrorless system camera
Sony E mount lenses
24 MP, APS-C Sensor
1080/60p Video
ISO 100-25600 (100-51200)
Electronic viewfinder (1440k dots)
3.0" LCD, 922k dots
Tilting screen (no touchscreen)
11 shutter flaps per second
360 shots per battery charge
120 x 67 x 45 mm, 344 g

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

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	4.7 in	2.6 in	1.8 in	12.1 oz	360	n	Feb 2014	599	-		Sony A6000
	Sony A6300« »	4.7 in	2.6 in	1.9 in	14.3 oz	400	Y	Feb 2016	999	-		Sony A6300
	Sony A5000« »	4.3 in	2.5 in	1.4 in	9.5 oz	420	n	Jan 2014	449	-		Sony A5000
	Sony A5100« »	4.3 in	2.5 in	1.4 in	10.0 oz	400	n	Aug 2014	549			Sony A5100
	Sony A3000« »	5.0 in	3.6 in	3.3 in	14.5 oz	470	n	Aug 2013	329	-		Sony A3000
	Sony NEX-3N« »	4.3 in	2.4 in	1.4 in	9.5 oz	480	n	Feb 2013	499	-		Sony NEX-3N
	Sony NEX-6« »	4.7 in	2.6 in	1.7 in	12.2 oz	360	n	Sep 2012	999	-		Sony NEX-6
	Sony NEX-F3« »	4.6 in	2.6 in	1.7 in	11.1 oz	470	n	May 2012	599	-		Sony NEX-F3
	Sony NEX-7« »	4.7 in	2.6 in	1.7 in	14.1 oz	430	n	Aug 2011	1,349	-		Sony NEX-7
	Sony NEX-3« »	4.6 in	2.4 in	1.3 in	10.5 oz	330	n	May 2010	599	-		Sony NEX-3
	Sony NEX-5« »	4.4 in	2.3 in	1.5 in	10.1 oz	330	n	May 2010	699	-		Sony NEX-5
Convert to Metric
Note: Measurements and pricing do not include easily detachable parts, such as interchangeable lenses or optional viewfinders.

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.

Many modern cameras are not only capable of taking still images, but can also record movies. The A6000 indeed provides movie recording capabilities. The highest resolution format that the A6000 can use is 1080/60p.

Feature comparison

Beyond body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. For example, the A6000 has an electronic viewfinder with a resolution of 1440k dots. The viewfinder offers a field of view of 100% and a magnification of 0.70x. The following tables report on some other key feature differences and similarities of the Sony A6000 and comparable cameras.

One convenient feature of the A6000 is the presence of an on-board flash. While this built-in flash is not very powerful, it can at times be useful as a fill-in light to brighten deep shadow areas.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Sony Alpha A6000 and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

It is notable that the A6000 offers wifi support. Wifi can be a very convenient means to transfer image data to an off-camera location.

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).

Review Scores

	Camera Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Sony A6000	+	80/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2014	599	-		Sony A6000
	Sony A6300« »	+	85/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2016	999	-		Sony A6300
	Sony A5000« »	+	-	4.5/5	o	4.5/5	Jan 2014	449	-		Sony A5000
	Sony A5100« »	+	-	4.5/5	4.5/5	5/5	Aug 2014	549			Sony A5100
	Sony A3000« »	+	-	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-6« »	+ +	78/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2012	999	-		Sony NEX-6
	Sony NEX-F3« »	-	74/100	4.5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	May 2012	599	-		Sony NEX-F3
	Sony NEX-7« »	+ +	81/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Aug 2011	1,349	-		Sony NEX-7
	Sony NEX-3« »	-	70/100	4.5/5	5/5	4/5	May 2010	599	-		Sony NEX-3
	Sony NEX-5« »	+ +	71/100	4.5/5	4/5	4/5	May 2010	699	-		Sony NEX-5
Notes: (+ +) highly recommended; (+) recommended; (o) reviewed; (-) not available.

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

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