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

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.

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 screenCONS---------- 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.

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