Sony A6000

[Neil Pho]

I bought a Sony A6000 a little while ago as a gentle dip into the mirrorless world. It's fun to use but I quickly hit a few problems. I'd love to hear other peoples' experience of this camera.

The flash exposure is all over the place. With auto ISO the camera sometimes chooses ISO3200 resulting in a wildly over exposed image. Using A and fixed ISO the image is often underexposed.

The battery life is terrible. The auto power off doesn't seem to kick in reliably. I set it to 10s, but the camera just sits there powered up even after 10s. I'd love hints as to how to improve the battery life.

I bought the Sigma 30mm DN "Art". This reveals that 3rd party lenses don't work properly on this camera. They are restricted to using a few PDAF points in the centre of the image. Attempting to use AF-C in a mode that tries to focus outside this area results in the focus shaking back and forward after the focus indicator lights.

 

[davek]

I have the camera and lens. I just work round the limitations. I never use flash. Have bought a charger and 2 spare batteries.

I only use mine round the house photographing /videoing my kids. I find it perfect for that job. I've basically shelved my Nikon d7000 and a shed load of lenses and just use the Sony - I find it brilliant. I love the degree of customisation and the IQ and the ease of use.

Still swaying over whether to buy the Zeiss 24mm 1.8 - can use all the pdaf points then - but that 30 mm just keeps giving me what I want.

 

[pingu666]

maybe worth checking the flash settings, any pattern to the issues? ttl flash can get tricked easily i think, and distance can play a role too

the twilight mode in scn menue works really well btw

 

[Andi_Vass]

I have the A6000 and I love it. Just finished a 4 months travelling adventure and I chose this camera and the 16-50 kit lens to come with me. Sure it has its limitations, but I love what I get in return. I love how little it weighs and how it can deal with any lighting situation that I throw at it. I never use the flash, I just use aperture priority or shutter speed priority settings and I can still take awesome low light photos. I never touch the ISO settings either, I don't feel I need to, I leave it on auto.
I agree the battery power is very poor, but before buying the camera I read all the reviews and knew about this issue and bought 2 extra batteries and a charger. During our travels I lost one battery, the two batteries still got me through a day with some foreward planning.
It's a fantastic camera for everyday use and I'm thinking of buying a couple of good lenses for it and making it my backup system.

 

[Faldrax]

As others have mentioned for battery life (which I agree is very poor), just get one of the charger + 2 battery kits off Amazon (or similar) - you'll also be very pleased with how much faster the batteries charge in a charger than in-camera!

 

[twist]

As others have mentioned for battery life (which I agree is very poor), just get one of the charger + 2 battery kits off Amazon (or similar) - you'll also be very pleased with how much faster the batteries charge in a charger than in-camera!

+1, the kits like £15.

 

[Neil Pho]

I have found that this is a good camera for carrying around. It's certainly something I would rather take travelling, than something bigger. It's just that the hit and miss flash means you might miss an important shot. Sometimes some flash is necessary.

I find the start up time with the PZ lens is a bit long. I'd like to turn the camera off to preserve battery, but I don't want to miss a shot waiting for it to unpack itself. Using the fixed 30mm Sigma made me feel better about this. Though it may all be in the mind as the camera itself does not start instantly.