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The NEX-6 offers two different continuous shooting modes: standard (3 fps) and speed priority (10 fps). As its name suggests, speed priority mode shoots faster than regular continuous, but for a much shorter duration. During the review period, the Sony NEX-6 produced images of excellent quality. Most photos were well focussed and sharp, with good detail throughout the frame. High-ISO performance is pretty impressive courtesy of a fairly big APS-C sized sensor and a good image processing engine that reduces noise in JPEGs without sacrificing too much detail. (JPEG shooters do not have the option to turn noise filtering completely off.) The NEX-6 produces a slightly soft video here, with a bit of aliasing, but motion is smooth. This video was shot handheld. The NEX-6's recessed movie record button is placed, somewhat awkwardly, along the camera's right edge at a 45 degree angle. While requiring a two handed hold of the camera, its location does prevent accidental operation, which is a serious problem on the NEX-7. If there's any shutter lag on the NEX-6, it's certainly not noticeable in real world use. Shot-to-shot delays are in the 1.0 - 1.5 second range (for JPEG and RAW+JPEG, respectively). Adding the built-in flash into the mix doesn't increase those times. AF System & Performance
One other advantage of an Electronic viewfinder over an optical one is that it gives an indication of how your shot will look with the currently selected settings, so you can see if your exposure or white balance is off and preview effects. If you prefer a ‘straight’ view’ you can turn this off.
Sony NEX-6 movie modes
With the announcement of the NEX-6, Sony appears to be refining the high-end concept by merging much of the technology from the NEX-7 with the connectivity options of the NEX-5R. In essence, the NEX-6 combines the hallmarks of an enthusiast-oriented camera - control dials and a high-quality viewfinder - with Wi-Fi functionality and apps. Oddly though, considering it has created a camera that is obviously designed to appeal to smartphone owners, Sony has removed the touchscreen operation found in the NEX-5N and 5R. Sony NEX-6 specification highlights Sony has touted the NEX-6's "Fast Hybrid AF" system, and for the most part, it performs admirably, delivering speedy and decisive AF on stationary subjects, and reasonably fast AF on normal moving subjects -- just don't expect it to keep up while photographing fast-moving sports. Our reviewer found that the 99-point phase-detect autofocus still lags behind higher-end DSLRs in terms of speed and accuracy, with just 50% of his field gallery shots winding up in focus when he shot in continuous AF mode. Additionally, our reviewer was dismayed that the NEX-6 doesn't provide the "Memory Recall" function found on other models, such as the RX100 and A77, which allows you to toggle between groups of settings for different shooting situations. Below are our standardised ISO test shots, starting with the Sony NEX-6”s lowest standard setting of ISO 100 and rising incrementally to the top setting of ISO 25,600. As I walked and shot, I did struggle a bit with both the power zoom and the fly-by-wire manual zoom functions on the SEL 16-50mm, sometimes finding it difficult to precisely control the focal length. I also briefly stumbled a few times when I switched to manual focus and forgot that the ring would no longer zoom the lens. But these were minor issues, and I'd almost certainly learn to avoid them with more time shooting the camera.
The NEX-6 provides full control over exposure during movie shooting. You can record movies in any mode and adjust exposure and ISO sensitivity during recording. You can also use any of the view overlays for movie shooting and switch between them while recording. The Sony E PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS power zoom lens boasts Sony's Optical SteadyShot feature, which is essentially a lens-based image stabilisation system. When enabled from the Sony NEX-6's menu, this feature allows you to take reasonably sharp hand-held shots at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras (or a non-OSS lens). To demonstrate this, we took two photos, one with SteadyShot and one without, at 1/25th of a second at the 75mm (equivalent) end of the zoom range. As you can see from the 100% crops below, Optical SteadyShot can mean the difference between a usable shot and an unusable one. Although the Sony NEX-6 is not weather-sealed and offers no dust protection like some of the advanced DSLR cameras, I used it in very cold temperatures below 10°F and it survived fine (winter has been cold in Colorado). The camera battery did not last very long in cold weather, but that’s expected, since any battery drains faster in cold temperatures. Camera Menu System In use, the EVF is a real delight and offers several advantages over the LCD screen or an optical viewfinder. It has a proximity sensor which automatically toggles between the EVF and panel when you raise the camera to your eye, although there’s a fraction of a second delay. Unlike the 16:9 LCD screen, the EVF matches the 3:2 shape of the sensor’s images, with exposure information displayed along the bottom and other info on top. There are two overlays – an electronic level gauge and a live histogram. Obviously, the EVF is much easier to see, particularly in bright sunny conditions, than the screen, and a detachable rubber eyecup is also supplied. If you’re left-eyed you’ll find the screen gets a fair smearing but, on the plus side, with the camera pressed to your face stability is greatly improved. Using the power zoom function of the SEL 16-50mm lens, I could zoom smoothly, but I couldn't feather the zoom speed effectively, a minor quibble for this type of camera. In manual focus mode, focus peaking worked beautifully for pulling focus while recording a clip.All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5Mb. In keeping with other NEX models the NEX-6 eschews internal sensor-shift anti-blur technology in favour of the company’s proprietary SteadyShot stabilisation that’s built in to most of the E-mount lenses designed specifically for use with the NEX series. Thankfully, the new E-PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS power zoom that’s supplied as a kit option with the NEX-6 benefits from the inclusion of SteadyShot technology too, which will help to ensure sharper pictures at slower shutter speeds and longer focal lengths. One useful practical feature of the new PZ (Power Zoom) lens we rather like is that users can opt to control the focal length manually via a zoom control ring on the end of the lens barrel. This ring actually serves two purposes, as it’s also used to control focus when the camera is being used in MF mode. As with the system Canon has implemented in the EOS M, the on-sensor phase detection isn't used as a standalone system (it's unlikely to have the fidelity that the dedicated sensors used in DSLRs have), so it's used in combination with conventional contrast detection. As such the phase detection information is used to drive the lens near to the in-focus position, then contrast detection is used to scan for the optimal focus point, to fine-tune the focus. I wish you the best in your photo ventures. I look forward to my “early Christmas present”. Hope to get some tips from you about my forthcoming a6000 as I’m sure I’ll need them.
This tripod-mounted video shows outdoor sound quality (with wind filter on) and some artifacting on the water. You'll also see the focus system 'hunting' momentarily, for no apparent reason. In low light the EVF performs at least as well, and in some cases better than an optical viewfinder. Yes, it can get quite noisy, but there’s no discernible lag and with focus peaking enabled it’s possible to manually focus in situations where you’d struggle with an optical system. The only real issue I had with the NEX-6’s EVF was that it’s quite difficult to make out the shadows in high contrast subjects, for example when shooting against the light; in such a situation your eyes via an optical viewfinder are always going to be able to outperform an electronic sensor. I am not a professional but consider myself an enthusiast and currently own an NEX-6. I am happy with the camera. I have the standard 16-50 kit lens in addition to the 55-210, 50mm -1.8 and the new Tamron 150-600. I guess that I am ‘all in’ with Sony mirrorless. I think they are the leaders in mirrorless technology, so I think that i am in a good place. Below are crops comparing the Sony NEX-6, Sony NEX-7, Canon T4i, Olympus E-M5, Pentax K-5 II and Samsung NX20.For a camera at this price point to be capable of shooting images that print this well is amazing. Please remember, however, that we shoot these tests with our sharp reference lens and not the supplied kit lens, so your own results with a kit lens may vary somewhat. But the body of this camera is certainly capable of producing superb printed images for the price. The file quality settings available on the Sony NEX-6 include Fine and Standard for JPEGs, and you can also opt for ARW, Sony's proprietary raw image file format. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options. Neither the NEX-6, nor the NEX-7 are equipped with a touchscreen LCD. A wise decision by Sony, considering that their touch technology is nothing to be brag about. In comparison, the Canon EOS M has a much better touchscreen LCD that is a pleasure to use. The LCD on the NEX-6 can be tilted up and down, which is quite useful for photographing difficult angles. NEX-6 + E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS @ 20mm, ISO 320, 1/60, f/11.0 One interesting feature of the NEX-6 is its ‘hybrid’ autofocus module. The way this works is that the NEX-6’s sensor has been modified with a number of pixels given over to phase-detection AF duties, which work alongside the contrast-detect method that is more traditionally employed by mirrorless cameras. Sony claims that this should improve focus speeds and reduce hunting. Testing the NEX-6 with the new 16-50mm power zoom kit lens, however, we did find that the AF system is prone to some hunting, which actually makes it a touch slower than competing models. Pleasingly though, there appears to be no shutter lag, with images captured as soon as you press the shutter button. As far as it goes it’s a useful and practical remote, but it would be nice to have some additional control, at least over exposure and ISO settings. It makes little sense to have a remote app that you can use in manual and semi-auto modes that provides no way to change exposure settings.
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