Sony NEX-6 Mirrorless Camera Review (Part 17)

General conclusion

While it does not break a lot of new matters, the Sony Alpha NEX-6 offers two features that E-mount enthusiasts have requested: a mode wheel dial, and an ISO standard hot shoe. Plus the beautiful OLED electronic viewfinder from the NEX-7 and Hybrid AF System and Wi-Fi features from the NEX-5R to Sony’s actually impressive offerings, and you've got a relatively appealing product.

The NEX-6 brings up solid build quality and is easy to handle. The camera has an extra good-sized grip for your right hand, with most of the controls within each reach of your fingers. The one exception is the movie record button: starting and stopping recording has moved from too easy on the NEX-7 to too difficult on the NEX-6. While the 920k dot articulating LCD screen is relatively standard these days, the 2.4-million dot EVF is not, it is one of the best things that you will find. However, the frame rates of the LCD and EVF - 16:9 and 4:3, respectively - mean that you will always have the margins around the picture you have just taken (this is particularly noticeable on the LCD). The camera is very responsive, compensate for slow boot times with the 16-50mm power zoom kit lens; and battery life is well above average. Although there is the new mode dial, the NEX-6 still remains largely menu-driven and is said that the menus can be very annoying to navigate.

Feature-wise, the NEX-6 has all of the other additional features found on other Sony cameras - such as Auto HDR, Hand-held Twilight, and Sweep Panorama – adding a competitive suite of manual controls and customizable options. The new Hybrid AF system of the NEX has well fulfilled tracking moving objects in the decent light rather than on the NEX-3N (there is only contrast detection), though it does not enhance overall autofocus speeds. The camera can capture at 3 or 10 fps with continuous autofocus, which is something that most of the opponents can't keep up with. Movie enthusiasts will be impressed with the 1,080/60p quality setting of the camera and the ability to adjust exposure, ISO, and focus while filming. They may, however, will lament for the lack of an external mic input.

Another major feature on the NEX-6 is its integrated Wi-Fi system, which comes with a new PlayMemories App Store. Wi-fi is likely to be used to transmit images to your smartphone, computer, or Facebook, and your phone can be used to control the camera remotely. There are currently eight apps in Sony’s store, with the prices from free to $9.99. Plenty of the apps are for editing photos (though no RAW files); while many other folks add features such as time-laspe and Multi-Frame noise reduction that they arguably should have been included right from the beginning. Another fairly evident shortcoming in the app store is something to e-mail your images.

Image quality

Like the other NEX models that have the same versions of its 16 Megapixel CMOS sensor, the NEX-6 generates very decent quality images. Exposure is accurate, with the D-Range Optimizer giving the appropriate amount of contrast. Colors are vibrant and will be satisfying the target audience of the NEX-6. The images do not show much 'grainy' luminance noise, though that is the price level that has to pay to have the small details, such as hair or grass (even at low ISOs). For best results, you'll need to shoot RAW, which not only brings back some of the details, but also allows you to approach the dark and bright areas if they were not lost. The NEX-6 automatically declines lens issues, such as chromatic aberrations, distortion, and dark areas at the corners.

Until the major systems are involved, the NEX-6 opted for the appropriate exposure mode in almost all of the real-world models, so we did not need to reach for the level of exposure compensation or bracketing mode regularly. The camera’s Auto DRO system of camera, which is open by default, does a very impressive job of brightening shadows and creating a pretty, balanced photo. If you want to bring back highlight detail, you are able to do so by using the NEX's easy-to-use HDR function, or shoot RAW.

The last word

The NEX-6 is a mirrorless camera that can change competent lenses and is enough interesting to use. It works as well or better than other mirrorless cameras on the market, and offers several unique features that are really useful. With the addition of Wi-Fi features, the NEX's feature suite is supposed that is the best in its series. The new mode dial and hot shoe make it a little 'traditional' than its predecessors, although the clumsy, menu-driven interface remains largely unaffected. If you feel comfortable with how the NEX-6 performs, you will not be disappointed by its performance, image and video quality, and features. The NEX-6 is definitely going to get a silver medal and just miss out on the gold one. While some of our grievances were able to be resolved with a firmware update, other issues, such as the lack of the direct controls and location of the movie mode button, will have to wait for the amendment of the NEX-6.

NEX-6’s technical specifications

Body type ·         Body type: Rangefinder-style mirrorless   Sensor ·         Max resolution: 4,912 x 3,264 ·         Other resolutions: 4,912 x 2,760; 3,568 x 2,368; 3,568 x 2,000; 2,448 x 1,624; 2,448 x 1,376 ·         Image ratio w:h: 3:2, 16:9 ·         Effective pixels: 16.1 megapixels ·         Sensor photo detectors: 16.7 megapixels ·         Sensor size: APS-C (23.5 x 15.6 mm) ·         Sensor type: CMOS ·         Processor: Bionz ·         Color space: sRGB, Adobe RGB ·         Color filter array: Primary color filter   Image ·         ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600, 3,200, 6,400, 12,800, 25,600 ·         White balance presets: 6 ·         Custom white balance: Yes ·         Image stabilization: No ·         Uncompressed format: RAW ·         JPEG quality levels: Fine, Normal ·         File format: RAW; RAW+JPEG; JPEG   Optics & Focus ·         Autofocus: Contrast Detect (sensor); Phase Detect; Multi-area; Selective single-point; Single; Continuous; Face Detection; Live View ·         Digital zoom: No ·         Manual focus: Yes ·         Lens mount: Sony E Mount ·         Focal length multiplier: 1.5×   Screen / viewfinder ·         Articulated LCD: Tilting ·         Screen size: 3″ ·         Screen dots: 921,000 ·         Screen type: Xtra Fine LCD with Tilt Up 90° and Down 45° ·         Live view: Yes ·         Viewfinder type: Electronic ·         Viewfinder coverage: 100 % ·         Viewfinder magnification: 1.09× ·         Viewfinder resolution: 2,359,000   Photography features ·         Minimum shutter speed: 30 sec ·         Maximum shutter speed: 1/4,000 sec ·         Exposure modes: iAuto; Program; Aperture Priority; Shutter Priority; Manual ·         Scene modes: Portrait; Landscape; Macro; Sports Action; Sunset; Night Portrait; Night View; Hand-held Twilight ·         Built-in flash: Yes (Pop-up) ·         Flash range: 6 m ·         External flash: Yes (Hot-shoe) ·         Flash modes: Auto, On, Off, Red-Eye, Slow Sync, Rear Curtain, Fill-in ·         Flash X sync speed: 1/160 sec ·         Continuous drive: Yes (10 fps) ·         Self-timer: Yes (2 or 10 sec, 10sec (3 images)) ·         Metering modes: Multi; Center-weighted; Spot ·         Exposure compensation: ±5 (at 1/3 EV steps) ·         AE Bracketing: (at 1/3 EV steps) ·         WB Bracketing: No   Videography features ·         Format: MPEG-4; AVCHD ·         Microphone: Stereo ·         Speaker: Mono ·         Resolutions: 1,920 x 1,080 (60, 24 fps), 1,440 x 1,080 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30 fps)   Storage ·         Storage types: SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Pro Duo/ Pro-HG Duo   Connectivity ·         USB:  USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) ·         HDMI: Yes (Mini Type C) ·         Wireless: Built-In ·         Remote control: Yes (InfraRed (optional))   Physical ·         Environmentally sealed: No ·         Battery: Battery Pack ·         Battery description: Lithium-Ion NP-FW50 rechargeable battery & charger ·         Battery Life (CIPA): 360 ·         Weight (inc. batteries): 345 g (0.76 lb / 12.17 oz) ·         Dimensions: 120 x 67 x 43 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 1.69″)   Other features ·         GPS: None