Sony A6000 review: Simply dashing

SINGAPORE — If you are looking for the perfect tool for action and sports photography, the unassuming-looking Sony A6000 interchangeable-lens camera will not only get the job done — it will exceed your expectations.

The compact mirrorless camera’s simple, angular body comes in two colours — black and titanium. It is solid and sturdy, but what surprises is how light it is, as it weighs only 344g without the lens.

The A6000 has features beyond those of a basic camera, such as a viewfinder that is situated at the upper left corner. It makes a big difference, making it comfortable to look through the viewfinder when using the camera.

Still, there could have been design improvements. Sony could have switched the positions of the mode dial and the main control dial, which are both located at the top right hand corner. While it is easy to access the mode dial, the main control dial is a little harder to reach.

The A6000 features a 24.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and the ISO ranges from 100 to 25,600. Noise artefacts become visible only when ISO hits 6,400.

The interesting creative filters and picture effects that come with it also allow you to enhance your photography experience.

Powered by Sony’s advanced Fast Hybrid AF system, which pairs a 179-point focal plane phase-detection AF sensor with high-precision contrast-detection autofocus, the A6000 can capture precious, fleeting moments with accurate autofocus tracking, and even at an outstanding 11 frames per second in continuous mode.

However, while the A6000 is great for taking stills, if shooting videos is your priority, you may want to give it a miss.

Zooming while filming can be triggered either by a button at the slide, which is slow but steady, or the control dial. The latter option is fast, but the noise will be recorded by the camera.

Sadly, there is no good middle ground. Furthermore, the A6000 also does not come with an external microphone input.

And in a time when most cameras have a touchscreen, the A6000’s 3-inch screen is not touch-capable, which can be a problem if you are used to swiping the screen to preview your photos.

Nonetheless, the Sony A6000 is a user-friendly interchangeable-lens camera that delivers astounding performance when it comes to image quality and speed.

However, at some point, the A6000 did feel like an old-school model bereft of several features that modern cameras promote relentlessly.

In spite of that, it deserves accolades for being unique and is worth every cent, racing past strong competitors both in speed and price.

The Sony A6000 (inclusive of an SELP 16-50mm kit lens) retails at S$1,099.