July 16, 2022

Sony Mirrorless Cameras - upgrade my A6000

There is nothing wrong with my A6000 and it is still taking great pictures. It is always worth at least looking at what has been going on in the Camera world, so here we are.

This study began in mid-July and culminated in mid-September with the purchase of a Sony A6600. For details, see here:

It is worth pointing out that Canon is now making a variety of mirrorless cameras, and it might be worth taking a look at them. I have Canon DSLR cameras and hence I have quite a number of EF mount lenses that could be used on a Canon mirrorless. I have not yet done this piece of homework.

In the Sony world I have to consider whether I want to get into the full frame "A7" camera family. These have incredible pixel counts, big price tags, and get big and heavy. The big and heavy strongly influences me. I purchased the A6000 because I wanted a lightweight camera to take backpacking (in lieu of my full frame Canon DSLR). The A6000 has worked out wonderfully in that regard.

So I am going to examine the A6xxx series. The only camera missing is an A6200 in the lineup from A6000 to A6600.

The A6000 was released in 2014. I bought mine used from a friend in 2017. I have used mine up to now (2022) and used it a lot with general satisfaction.

Interestingly, all of the A6xxx series cameras have nominal 24 megapixel sensors. I find it surprising that Sony has not been bumping up the pixel count with newer models. I actually find it kind of refreshing. All of these cameras are APS-C (i.e. "crop" cameras).

They all have a 24.3 (or 24.2) megapixel sensor. Apparently all the cameras (except the A6000) use the same sensor. The 24.3 versus 24.2 pixel count is certainly a clue. The processing of data from the sensor seems to be the big (and only) difference once the jump was made from the A6000. The following article describes the introduction of a new sensor with the A6300

Since weight is important, let's look at the weight (and price) of camera bodies. 

A6000  350 grams $500
A6400  403 grams $900
A6600  503 grams $1400
A7 III 650 grams $1800
Note that the weight is creeping up towards the weight of a full frame body. That extra battery life in the A6600 accounts for the extra 100 grams I betcha.

My A6000 has a "peak designs" bracket glued to the camera, so it is a bit extra heavy. With the 18-55 lens mounted, the system is 582 grams.
If I get an A6600 and put the 16-70 lens on it, it will be 800 grams.
If I go full frame, I am at 1080 grams with the 24-70 f/4.

Note that we have jumped up 200 grams from the A6000 to the A6600, another 200 grams and we could be carrying a full frame camera (but I have a full frame DSLR!?) We are coming full circle; this was supposed to be a light camera for backpacking!
Well, an extra 200 grams we can live with, and with that bigger battery we don't need to carry a "battery per day" like we do with the A6000. Each A6000 battery is 44 grams, so we may have to carry 40 grams of battery per day one way or the other, regardless -- maybe. The bigger NP-FZ100 battery for the A6600 is 85 grams, indeed twice the weight for twice the life. However that is a bump up of 40 grams over the A6000 battery and doesn't account for the entire 200 gram increase. 

18-55 lens 224 grams
16-70 lens 300 grams
24-70 f/4  426 grams (full frame $800)
I have only found two important differences between the A6400 and the A6600 (other than price) - The bigger battery give something like twice as many still images (700 rather than 350). I am sure that video shooters appreciate the bigger battery, and frankly I think I will also.

Since the A6600 is becoming my top candidate, I find this "manual" by Ken Rockwell interesting. A nice thing is that the product photos are clear and gigantic. I find his tips on how to use the camera interesting.

Either of these cameras has many advantages over the A6000, as follows:

All of these use E-mount lenses, but note that some E mount lenses (like the 16-70) are "crop" lenses. They will mount on a full frame camera, but the camera will detect them and switch to using a cropped subsection of the sensor. So don't think that you will someday upgrade to a full frame body and happily be able to use your lenses (you can use them, but perhaps not happily)

Historical overview

So here is a chronology, with current pricing (2022, body only) and perhaps a comment of what that model adds to the lineup. 
A6000 ILCE-6000 April, 2014  $610 179/25 focus points, 24.3 sensor, 1.44m dot viewfinder
A6300 ILCE-6300 March, 2016  $725 425/169 focus points, 4K video, improved 24.2 sensor, 2.359m dot viewfinder
A6500 ILCE-6500 June, 2016  $1200 425/169 focus points, IBIS, 6400 ISO
A6400 ILCE-6400 November, 2019  $900 425 phase focus points, no IBIS, 2.359m dot viewfinder
A6100 ILCE-6100 October, 2019  $750 425 phase focus points, no IBIS, 1.44m dot viewfinder
A6600 ILCE-6600 October, 2019  $1400 425 phase focus points, IBIS 2.359m dot viewfinder
The touch screen (for the modern cameras that have it) is described as "touch to focus". There are no touch menus.

It looks as though the A6100 is the "economy" model, slated to replace the A6000. The A6000 has been a "best seller" with the odd aspect of having the old 24.3 sensor. It is surprising that Sony has been making that old sensor just to put into the hot selling A6000, and perhaps the A6100 indicates that they figured it was time to be done with that.
I found this swell chart showing the 3 models from 2019 side by side.

Something to consider. It is now 3 years since these 3 cameras were introduced. Isn't it time to expect something new from Sony? Maybe they are ready to break free from the 24 mpx sensor for APS-C? Indeed there is talk along these lines, expecting a 32 mpx sensor in an A6200 and A6700. The expected date is late August of 2022.

The question I now find myself asking with respect to the 3 cameras released in 2019 is "how do you choose between the A6100 and the A6400?" The only difference I see is the EVF resolution. So here it is. The A6400 has a magnesium chassis (versus plastic on the A6100) and is weather sealed. The A6400 can shoot video with S-log and HLG profiles, which might be important if you are a video shooter. My first thought was that this is clearly just a firmware feature, so they could just give it to you with the 6100. But there is more to it, the A6400 has a different (and faster) processor. The A6100 offers a 51200 top ISO, whereas the A6400 extends it to 102400.

Then what about the A6400 versus the A6600. This would seem to be all about getting IBIS (in body image stabilization). Several people mention that the A6600 has "MR on the main dial", and find that very important. Note that the A6600 does not have on camera flash. I consider this a virtue and a mark of a serious professional camera, but not everyone will view things in this way. I like to play with old manual focus lenses, so the IBIS on the A6600 may prove its weight in gold. Another (oddly) missing feature on the A6600 is "sweep panorama" done in camera. I just shoot a series of images and do this in lightroom, so I tend to view this as a gimmick.

Along with the bigger battery in the A6600 comes a bigger grip, which many people enjoy. Like the A6400 the A6600 has a magnesium chassis and is weather sealed.

Some thoughts about weight

My A6000 with the Sony/Zeiss 16-70 f/4 lens is now my standard backpacking and lightweight hiking package. It is 1 pound 7 ounces.
This is a 654 gram package.

What if I upgrade the A6000 to A6600, this bumps the body weight up from 350 grams to 503 grams, an extra 153 grams, taking my package to 807 grams (1 pound, 12.5 ounces)

Part of that weight is the bigger battery (but only about 40 grams). The camera still weighs an extra 110 grams.

The weight of the bigger battery doesn't bother me all that much because I am often carrying an extra 4 or 5 batteries on a backpack trip, or an extra battery on a day hike.

By comparison, my full frame Canon 5D with a little 50mm lens is 3 pounds. The 24-70 f/2.8 lens I often carry is 2 pounds, so the whole package (which I once did carry on backpack trips) is 5 pounds.

The Canon R5 mirrorless weighs 1.6 pounds (738 grams). That is half the weight of the 5D body, but we still need to put a lens on it (and the 24-70 is the likely choice).

It is impressive though that a full frame Canon mirrorless body (the R5) comes in at 738 grams, which we can compare to 503 grams for the Sony A6600 which is an APS-C sensor mirrorless. An extra 1/2 pound gets you a full frame sensor, 45 megapixels, and compatibility with all the Canon EOS lenses.

These mirrorless cameras really do trim a lot of weight, the trick now is the lenses.

Howard has a Fuji XT4. It comes in at 607 grams. It is an APS-C mirrorless with 26 megapixels.

And what about the Canon mirrorless

An attraction for me to the Canon mirrorless system is that I have quite a few EF mount lenses from my Canon DSLR systems, and it would be great to use them with a mirrorless camera. Maybe someday when I get the itch for a full frame mirrorless, I should really look hard at Canon since I have several Canon "L" lenses. The Canon APS-C sensor is smaller than the Sony APS-C sensor. Canon has a 1.6 crop factor whereas Sony has a 1.5 crop factor. This is a small but significant difference.

The Canon M6 II is an APS-C mirrorless camera that is reasonable to compare to the A6400.
The price in 2022 for just the body is $800 (compare to $900 for the A6400). But where is the EVF?
It does not have in body image stabilization.
It does have an excellent 32.5 megapixel sensor.

The real deal breaker is that it does not have an electronic viewfinder. Canon offers one (for $200) that snaps onto the hot shoe (of all things) and works somehow, but seems like a shabby afterthought solution.
What were they thinking? Does anyone actually buy this camera?

As a long time DSLR user, I never use the rear screen on my A6000 and am pretty sure I just have the thing switched off entirely. Well maybe not.

At any rate, the big pluses for this camera would be the ability to use my Canon EF lenses and the 32.5 megapixel sensor. No EVF is really terrible though.

These objections get fixed with the Canon R7. This is currently the flagship APS-C camera from Canon. You get the same 32.5 megapixel sensor, an EVF with 2.36m dots, and in body stabilization. Weight is 530 grams (body only). It has a silly faux pentaprism bump on top. Actually they put the bump to good use and put the EVF in there (so you place your eye in the middle of the camera rather than off to the side as with the Sony cameras). The price is $1500.

The third option is the R10 for $980. Here you get only a 24 megapixel sensor, but you do get an EVF, no in body stabilization.

And what about Fuji and Nikon?

Whew! Well let me say this, and it is pertinent to whatever camera choice you make. It is more about the lenses (or should be) than anything else. If you already have an investment in a good system with good lenses (like Canon and Sony in my case) it is really hard to make a case to switching to another system. And it is absolutely true that you will keep lenses and change the camera bodies that you put behind them. People recommend, if there is a choice and limited funds, putting extra money into lenses and getting a less expensive body in a series.

This said, I already have a number of good Canon DSLR lenses, as well as several Sony lenses for APS-C bodies, so I am not taking a hard look at Fuji or Nikon.

People do say good things about Fuji. The following looks like a good survey article on their APS-C bodies as of maybe 2021 (I will everyone would put dates on their articles):

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Digital Photography Info / tom@mmto.org