Sony A6000 Review: A Great First Mirrorless Camera

The Sony A6000 was my first Sony camera and my first mirrorless camera. I used it for around two years, after coming from DSLR cameras, and it made photography feel much easier to carry around without losing the control I wanted.

I later moved to the Sony A7R II, but the A6000 remains a camera I remember fondly. Many of my photos were taken with it.

Why the Sony A6000 was such a good first mirrorless camera

It is small, light and straightforward to carry. That mattered to me after using DSLR equipment. The 24.3MP APS-C sensor can still produce detailed photographs, and the electronic viewfinder is genuinely useful outdoors when a rear screen is difficult to see.

The camera is also quick. Its hybrid autofocus system and 11fps burst shooting were a big step forward for a camera at this level, especially for travel, people and anything that does not stay still for long. It is not a modern subject-recognition camera, but it gave me reliable results when I took the time to choose the focus area and follow the subject.

Image quality and low-light use

The A6000 uses a 24.3MP APS-C sensor with an ISO range of 100–25,600. In good light it produces sharp files with plenty of room for cropping and editing. At higher ISO settings, noise becomes more visible, as you would expect from an older APS-C camera, but it is still capable of good results if you expose carefully.

If you are new to manual settings, understanding camera ISO and the exposure triangle will make more difference than chasing a newer body. The A6000 gives you the controls to learn properly: P, A, S and M modes, RAW files, exposure compensation and useful autofocus options.

Autofocus, handling and screen

The 179 phase-detection points cover a wide area of the frame. For normal photography this makes focusing fast and flexible, and AF-C can track moving subjects reasonably well when compared with cameras from the same period.

The tilting 3-inch screen helps when shooting low to the ground or above a crowd. The 1.44-million-dot OLED viewfinder gives full frame coverage and is one of the reasons the camera feels more capable than a basic compact camera. The small body does mean that larger lenses can make the balance less comfortable, so the lens choice matters.

Video: useful, but no longer the reason to buy it

The A6000 records Full HD video up to 60p in AVCHD or MP4. The autofocus and tilting screen are helpful for casual clips and travel footage, but there is no 4K recording, no microphone input and no in-body image stabilisation. For photography-first users this is not a deal-breaker; for vlogging or serious video, a newer camera makes more sense.

What you need besides the camera

The A6000 uses Sony E-mount lenses. I used the Sony 18–200mm E-mount lens myself because it covered a lot without constant lens changes: landscapes, travel, portraits and distant subjects. It was a practical budget choice, although a dedicated prime, macro or portrait lens will do its own job better.

Full-frame Sony E-mount lenses also fit the A6000, but the APS-C sensor applies a 1.5× crop to their field of view. A 50mm full-frame lens, for example, frames like roughly a 75mm lens on this camera. It does not reduce the lens’s optical quality: the sensor simply uses the central part of the image circle. This can be useful for portraits or distant subjects, but it makes wide-angle work harder. The stated aperture stays the same for exposure, although you get the deeper depth of field associated with the smaller APS-C frame. APS-C E-mount lenses are usually the more natural choice when you want the intended wide-angle view and a smaller kit.

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Key specifications

• 24.3MP APS-C Exmor HD CMOS sensor
• Sony E-mount lens compatibility
• 179 phase-detection and 25 contrast-detection AF points
• 11fps continuous shooting
• ISO 100–25,600 for stills
• Full HD video up to 60p
• 1.44-million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder
• Tilting 3-inch, 921k-dot LCD screen
• Built-in Wi-Fi and NFC
• Approx. 344g with battery and card

For the full original specification list and manuals, see Sony’s official A6000 support page.

30-second decision

The Sony A6000 is still a very good choice if you want an affordable, compact camera mainly for photography and are happy to buy used. It gives you a capable APS-C sensor, fast autofocus, a proper viewfinder and access to Sony E-mount lenses.

Choose something newer if you need 4K video, a microphone input, in-body stabilisation, a touchscreen or the latest autofocus features. But for learning photography, travelling light and making good still images without spending a fortune, the A6000 remains an easy camera to recommend from my own experience.