Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Lens, Graphite (ILCE-6000L/H)

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.

PROS --------- - Dynamic range is better than Canon's cameras; comparable to Nikon's cameras since Sony makes the sensors for most Nikon bodies. - Better color accuracy than Canon cameras. Canon sensors process the infamous and very slight red hue. - Great continuous shooting rate: 11 frames per second! - Portable - Light - Extremely fast autofocus speed. Sony boasts the world's fastest auto-focus for their mirrorless lineup. - High ISO performance rivals full frame cameras. - Built-in wifi - Built-in NFC - Ability to directly install camera apps via Sony PlayMemories via wifi. - View finder displays how photo will look depending on settings. - Awesome video recording capabilities compared to Canon and Nikon - In-camera HDR feature - Articulating screen CONS --------- - Short battery life compared to traditional DSLR's (However, spare third party batteries are very affordable) - Changing some settings seems to require a couple more steps compared to Canon and Nikon platforms - NFC feature does not appear to work on iOS as of 3/2016; works perfectly on Android platform - Sony PlayMemories mobile app is required for NFC transfers - In-camera HDR feature only works when shooting in JPEG - 1.5x crop factor compared to full frame cameras (explanation below) PERSONAL TESTIMONIAL ----------------------------------------- I vowed I'd never return to cropped sensor (APS-C) cameras after purchasing a Canon 6D full frame camera. However, I did my research on the mirrorless platform, and I was sold on the Sony a6000, so much that I sold my Canon gear to fund the purchase of this camera body. The weight difference between the 6D body and the a6000 body is like night and day, and my neck will thank me later. Upon taking my first photos with the a6000, I instantly noticed the difference in color reproduction and dynamic range over my former camera. Then, I tried continuous shooting and I was floored--11 frames per second, which now allows me to take much better action shots. That, along with the a6000's extremely quick auto-focus resulted in some great photos of my daughter's very first soccer game. High ISO performance on the a6000 rivals that of a full frame camera. Now, it will be better on full frame, but the a6000 comes very close. With my Canon APS-C cameras (t3, t4i, and 60D), noise level was quite prominent above ISO 1600. With the a6000, photos at ISO 6400 are usable, and in some cases, even up to ISO 12,800. The built-in wi-fi has been helpful in allowing me to download apps directly to my camera. I've tested NFC on an Android phone, and it works perfectly (after downloading and installing the Sony PlayMemories mobile app). However, I have been unsuccessful in getting it to work on my iPhone 6S. I was never able to record acceptable video with my Canon bodies. I soon learned that Canon DSLR's are notoriously awful at video recording. I no longer have this issue with the a6000. Its quick autofocus does wonders on video as much as it does on stills, and it can record at 1080p, 60 FPS. The a6000 does have an in-camera HDR feature that's pretty decent, but since I mostly shoot RAW, I prefer shooting bracketed exposures and merge them later in post-processing as the in-camera HDR only works with JPEG's. The camera's articulating screen also comes in very handy when shooting at extreme angles, although it cannot be flipped all the way out for selfies. A smaller camera body obviously results in a smaller battery footprint. Since the a6000 packs so much power in such a portable body, battery life is unexceptional. The average battery life on the Canon 6D is rated at about 950 shots per charge, whereas the a6000 is rated at 310 shots on the view finder and 360 in live view. Fortunately, third-party batteries for the a6000 are very inexpensive. The trade-off was worth it in exchange for actual video recording ability, better quality photos, and significantly better continuous shooting speed. Now for crop factor. A full frame camera sensor is the same size as a 35 mm frame of film. The Sony a6000's APS-C sensor is 1.5 times smaller, so photos will have a narrower field of view. For example, a 14 mm lens on my Canon 6D has a 14 mm field of view since the 6D is a full frame camera. On the a6000, the same 14 mm lens will actually give me a field of view equivalent to 21 mm on full frame (14 x 1.5). Although the focal length is the same, the a6000's field of view will be tighter because of its smaller sensor size. This is a disadvantage to some, but for me, it was another trade-off I was personally willing to make because of how awesome the a6000 is. Just like I had no regrets buying the Canon 6D as it is a great camera in its own right, I have no regrets selling the 6D for the sake of adapting to the future of photography. My a6000 is pumping out better quality images and performing nearly as good at high ISO than my former camera body. I've yet to use it in more real world scenarios, but so far, I'm very impressed despite trading off battery life and crop factor. For over half the price of my previous setup, I couldn't go wrong. This is the perfect camera for the enthusiast and professional alike. In the case of the Sony a6000, big things really do come in small packages.

Sold my 'old' RX100V to get this one. Very happy with my decision! Dont really do filming so didnt feel the need to spend the extra dollars on the 6300/6500. Takes great photos with my SEL35F18 and SEL50F18. Highly recommend!

Pequena, configurable, para ser una cama basica muy bien que se comporta. El unico detalle que le veo es que el sensor del visor se auto engana con las sombras y produce que se apage la pantalla. fuera de eso, me ha encantado!

This camera is the real deal. With a good lens, the photos it produces are stunning! I heard the kit lens wasn't very good so I just ordered the body and then a few prime lenses. Overall, the camera is a speed demon. Burst speed, focus - just about every aspect of the camera is fast. It's also loaded with many options that are sure to please beginners, and the more advance photographers. Some people complain about the menu system, but I like it! I find it easier to navigate through over my Fujifilm. There are also many great third party accessories including hand-grips, metal cages and more!

I have this camera for more than two weeks (as of now, when writing this review). I own two other "point-and-shoot" cameras from Sony, but always wanted to have camera of type "semi-pro", so advanced amateur or aspiring-pro range. One where I can setup the camera and all the picture settings manually. This camera gives you all the control, or you can choose also automatic mode, where everything is set for you. It takes amazing and quality pictures in very high resolution (24 Mega-pixels), also even when the light conditions are not that great/optimal. This is not full-frame camera but ASP-C type/size chip which is a little bit smaller than full frame, but still much bigger than regular point and shoot. Because of this the camera is much smaller than any regular full-frame and you can easily carry it with you or put into the luggage, when travelling. That is true for basic lens (16-55mm) which comes with the camera if you do not purchase just camera body, like in case if you already own set of lenses which you would like to use with it. Camera can store images also in RAW format, not only JPG and has many convenient features like Wi-Fi, so you can connect it directly to your compatible TV and play slideshow without uploading pictures to your computer. The camera is easy enough to use right out of the box even if you do not know much about photography and picture or digital camera itself, but as you begin to learn you will see that there are countless options and settings to your disposal and experimentation with the picture to be taken...

First time using this camera l must it's pretty awesome,l previously owned a Canon SLR and will not go back.The images off the sony are clear and very sharp as well this camer is very light weight aND more manageable to use...l love it...thank you.