I wish I could be one of those people who always has the latest and greatest camera gear. I love gear! I mean, obviously it’s not as important as having a vision and being able to carry it out with a camera, but I still love gear.
While I can’t afford the newest models (I’d love to get my hands on the A7rII), I am certainly up for the models that were released a couple of years ago that have stood the test of time.
It’s not a fad. The Sony A6000 is a solid piece of kit.
I’m getting ready for a trip to Iceland, and I’ve decided not to take my big DSLR. I have used my Sony NEX6 mirrorless camera for a few years now, and I’ve used it exclusively for my landscape photography, so I feel confident enough in mirrorless to rely on it in Iceland.
But of course, I need a backup camera for a big trip, so it’s time to invest in a second mirrorless. The Sony A6000 is the obvious choice to go with the NEX6.
On my first day shooting with it, I must have been over excited, because I totally got lost! My intention was to go to Strathcona Provincial Park to photograph the waterfalls, but I took the wrong road and ended up in an entirely different part of the park.
I almost hopped back in the truck and drove back, but then I thought “I’m here now, I might as well check it out. It is called Paradise Meadows after all, it must be nice.” Am I ever glad I did! The fall colours had already arrived at the base of Mount Washington.
You can see the ski slopes ready and waiting for the snow followed by the skiers and snowboarders.
I walked along the boardwalk that guided me through the meadows, beside the ponds and lakes, and many whiskey jacks entertained me along the way.
So far the Sony A6000 has performed like a charm. It’s very similar to the NEX6, although I’m still getting used to the menu system.
I’ll have a thorough review after I’ve had a chance to push it to its limits during my two weeks touring around Iceland.
Looking forward to your review. I was thinking of buying a mirrorless before I bought my Nikon D750 but everyone said not enough lenses so I didn’t buy. I’m kinda thinking maybe I’d like to get one now and keep the D750? or?. It would come out of my ever-shrinking savings account. Are they lighter and less cumbersome to use when traveling? I have a Panama Canal cruise coming up next March with lots of excursions. I will definitely be reading your review with great interest! Thank you so much. Love the photos of your mistaken area.
Janet
Hi Janet, absolutely, that’s why I bought mine. They are way way waaaaay lighter and much smaller. Check out my NEX6 review, there are lots of details in there. I’ll also have a review of the A6000 when I get back from Iceland. Thanks for your visit and comments!
I also have the a6000 and really like it. As a fellow blogger, I have a question. When I take pictures (with my a6000) I have the camera set to the largest and highest quality image size. I shoot JPEG’s and the file size of my pictures is around 6-7MB. When I want to upload some of those pictures to my blog (not all get uploaded) I have to optimize them so they upload faster and don’t hinder the pageload time of my blog. So, what I do is take the picture into Photoshop, save it as a JPEG with low quality to try and get the image size down to under 1MB. I then upload the picture to my WordPress blog and the WP Smush plugin compresses them even further. They usually end up around 500kb in size. And I don’t notice any significant quality loss.
Is this what you do (shoot large then compress down)? I was wondering if I should just set the camera to a smaller image size, but the camera probably still wouldn’t get the picture size down low enough. Just curious to what other blog/photogs do. Thanks for any info you can give. You have a great blog.
J. Dawg
Hi J., I photograph in raw, so it’s the highest quality the camera will allow. But before I upload to the internet, I do a few things: first change the dpi to 72 since that is the most the internet is capable of displaying, I reduce the size of the image to around 1,000 pixels on the long side, and I reduce the quality to around 80%. Try it, it should make a big difference. I don’t use any further image compressing plugins. I hope this helps!
Tried it and it works great! Much better than was I was doing. Thanks for the help.
J. Dawg
I am absolutely in love with my a6000! I bought it as a side to my Canon system as well as for a lighter camera to carry around. But I haven’t used the Canon since purchasing the Sony 6 mos ago! I’ve read where the A7rII is only slightly better in terms of quality but lags behind the a6000 in terms of features and capabilities (like a6000’s 11/fps). Best of luck with the camera. But now you’re looking to buy Sony lenses too.
Thanks Terence, I already have sony lenses since I started with the NEX6 a couple of years ago. Now I only bring out my Canon for wildlife. Thanks for your comments!
Lovely as usual Ann. I bought the A6000 based on your in-depth review of the NEX-6. Would it be acceptable to ask you how you go about achieving depth of field without distance markings on the camera? Thank you in advance for your reply and for your daily posts I follow on FB and on your web spot.
Hi Claude, I usually focus about 1/3 of the way into the scene and use aperture to control depth of field. I know some people get a lot more scientific with it, but that’s what I do. Thanks for your visit and comments!
Thank you for your time, Anne.
As always, great article Anne. I bought the A6000 ten months ago and fell in love with the technology. As a matter of fact, I’ve added on the full-frame A7ii and four additional lenses to go with it. The quality I’ve been getting off of the Sony gear has been nothing short of amazing. Haven’t touched my Nikon gear all year.
Hi Anne – I’ve been following your blog for quite a while and enjoy your posts and photos! I bought the Sony a6000 as a second camera to my Nikon d610. I love the portability of the a6000 but the quality of the photos are a bit disappointing when using the kit lens (compared to shooting landscapes with the Nikon and 16-35 F4 lens). I started experimenting with lens adapters to use my Nikon lenses on the a6000 and am considering purchasing a Sony lens. I shoot mainly landscapes as a hobby and love to hike. Which lens are you using on the Sony a6000?
Hi Gloria, are you referring to the 16-40 power zoom lens? That lens sucks! I bought my NEX6 with that lens and I took it back because it was awful. Instead of it, I bought the 18-55 lens that originally came with the NEX7. I also use the 10-18 and the 55-210 sony lenses and I like all 3. I hope this helps! Thanks for your visit and comments.
Hello Anne. Based on your recommendations, I set out to buy the 18-55 lens in a camera store in Quebec City and the salesperson told me I would waste my money because there was no difference between the kit 16-50 lens and the 18-55 one. I bought the 10-18 mm instead, but your lates post has me perplexed (not having the knowledge to separate them apart). With hindsight, it may be that the salesperson’s judgement was based on a sheer comparison of the focal lengths of the two lenses. Do I go back? Thank you again and have a safe trip in Iceland.
Claude
Hi Claude, the 16-50mm lens is a power zoom. You press a button to make it zoom like a point and shoot. The 18-55 is a normal manual zoom lens. They are totally different. The power zoom that I had was terrible and only obtained focus some of the time, so I think it’s garbage! It would be worth while testing it out though, maybe mine was just a lemon. But having said that, the 10-18 is an awesome lens. Of course, you’re getting a totally different focal range there. I have the 10-18, 18-55 and 55-210. I hope this helps!
Merci et mes respects.
Hi Anne, I have also become an a6000 groupie. I travel for work and it is terrific for that. I can toss a small kit and a small tripod in my carry on bag and still have room for clothes and toiletries. I got it with the kit lenses and use them occasionally but I also got the Metabones adapter and use my Canon L lenses most of the time. The dynamic range of the a6000 is what sold me. It’s far better than anything I get with any Canon products. I an convinced you’re going to love it.
Fantastic shots. I just bought mine for a steal at Best Buy (wrong price but they honored it!)
Do you shoot mainly in AV mode? The colors, exposure, DOF look fantastic in these shots.
I am looking to grab another lens (prime wide angle). Any suggestions. Not a fan of zoom lenses
Hi Karl, Yes, I shooting mainly in aperture priority mode so I have control over depth of field. I just bought the Sony 16mm f/2.8 lens. I haven’t used it much yet, but so far so good. I bought it primarily for night photography. Otherwise I use the 10-18. Thanks for your visit and comments!
Lovely photos, what lens id you use for the landscape shots? Thanks, I love your work.
Hi Paul, I used the 18-55 and the 55-210 in these shots. Thanks for visiting!