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Is the A6000 worth picking up and E-mount still viable?

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Disdain

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I've had lots of various micro four thirds cameras and lenses these last few years. I sold them all to swap back to a bridge camera. However I do miss the fun of having different lenses and having a camera that I can make as versatile as I'd like. I quite fancy trying an APS-C sized sensor and would hope it will be an upgrade on previous cameras. I do value having a light package which is why I had m43.

So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price? Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive. Are there any good used older models worth a look? Viewfinder isn't massively important to me, but I did like a tilt screen over a flip screen, but not essential. Is the Sony E mount still going strong?
 
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Disdain said:
I've had lots of various micro four thirds cameras and lenses these last few years. I sold them all to swap back to a bridge camera. However I do miss the fun of having different lenses and having a camera that I can make as versatile as I'd like. I quite fancy trying an APS-C sized sensor and would hope it will be an upgrade on previous cameras. I do value having a light package which is why I had m43.

So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price? Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive. Are there any good used older models worth a look? Viewfinder isn't massively important to me, but I did like a tilt screen over a flip screen, but not essential. Is the Sony E mount still going strong?
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The a6000 has the most excellent IQ still but the AF lacks if you are into action photography. With that in mind it would be smarter to opt for a used a6300 as its IQ is in the same league while it is a more robust build, has a much faster AF, better video options and is just a better camera in general. However it all depends on your subject(s), if it is mainly about IQ the a6000 will surprise you yet.

The e-mount is very viable still btw, the lens line-up is great.
 
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Worth it depends on the price and what you want to do with it.

I use a lot of manual focus vintage glass, mostly Nikon and Canon FD and my 6000 has done well with them. The 6500 does even better be a use it has IBIS so it can do some stabilization on old glass but it costs more.

the Sony line of lenses is not the most comprehensive but I use the SEL 10-18 a lot and it works well with the 6000 and 6500.

If you buy used be aware these camera haves "soft failures". My 6000 after several hundred thousand shutter operation no longer advances frame properly in view mode. My 6500 on occasion fails to connect to my SEL 10-18 to stabilize and auto focus.

These are more nuisance than deal breakers.

YOU should get a shuttle count before you buy. My experience is that they will go for abut 500,000. My 6000 has the issue I described but it came after about 250,000 firing and its now up to about 350,000.
 
There are more E mount choices than any other mirrorless mount. You can use both FF and APS-C E-mount lenses on the A6000 and the other E mount APS-C Sonys.

There is a huge selection of both AF and MF E mount APS-C lenses, both from Sony and from third parties. Sony just came out with a trio of excellent new APS-C lenses in the last few months to further flesh out the APS-C lineup.
 
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Dr JLW said:
Worth it depends on the price and what you want to do with it.

I use a lot of manual focus vintage glass, mostly Nikon and Canon FD and my 6000 has done well with them. The 6500 does even better be a use it has IBIS so it can do some stabilization on old glass but it costs more.

the Sony line of lenses is not the most comprehensive but I use the SEL 10-18 a lot and it works well with the 6000 and 6500.

If you buy used be aware these camera haves "soft failures". My 6000 after several hundred thousand shutter operation no longer advances frame properly in view mode. My 6500 on occasion fails to connect to my SEL 10-18 to stabilize and auto focus.

These are more nuisance than deal breakers.

YOU should get a shuttle count before you buy. My experience is that they will go for abut 500,000. My 6000 has the issue I described but it came after about 250,000 firing and its now up to about 350,000.
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Not sure what you mean by: the Sony line of lenses is not the most comprehensive

It is probably the most complete list of lenses for any camera on the market. As far as "soft failures" is concerned, my 3 APS-C cameras dating back all the way to 2011 are thankfully free of those. How a camera is handled in the field and in the bag probably contributes more to failures than a shutter count

I certainly can recommend the A6000. @ takefive attached the "Ultimate lens list" and it is worth sorting through it to see the bewildering number of lenses that can be attached to the E/FE mount.

--
JoWul
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jowul/
 
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Joachim Wulfers said:
Dr JLW said:
Worth it depends on the price and what you want to do with it.

I use a lot of manual focus vintage glass, mostly Nikon and Canon FD and my 6000 has done well with them. The 6500 does even better be a use it has IBIS so it can do some stabilization on old glass but it costs more.

the Sony line of lenses is not the most comprehensive but I use the SEL 10-18 a lot and it works well with the 6000 and 6500.

If you buy used be aware these camera haves "soft failures". My 6000 after several hundred thousand shutter operation no longer advances frame properly in view mode. My 6500 on occasion fails to connect to my SEL 10-18 to stabilize and auto focus.

These are more nuisance than deal breakers.

YOU should get a shuttle count before you buy. My experience is that they will go for abut 500,000. My 6000 has the issue I described but it came after about 250,000 firing and its now up to about 350,000.
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean by: the Sony line of lenses is not the most comprehensive

It is probably the most complete list of lenses for any camera on the market. As far as "soft failures" is concerned, my 3 APS-C cameras dating back all the way to 2011 are thankfully free of those. How a camera is handled in the field and in the bag probably contributes more to failures than a shutter count

I certainly can recommend the A6000. @ takefive attached the "Ultimate lens list" and it is worth sorting through it to see the bewildering number of lenses that can be attached to the E/FE mount.
Click to expand...
To clarify, there is only one mount here, the E mount.

Lenses using this mount are designed for either FF or APS-C lens circle of projection. But all E mount lenses fit on all E mount cameras, whether FF or APS-C. To differentiate this, typically the terms "E lens" may be used for APS-C and "FE lens" may be used for FF. But really it is only one mount and the terms are a bit ambiguous because they are all E mount lenses and this is used to differentiate the image circle. In particular, all of the FE lenses can be used on APS-C E mount cameras, so they can use ALL of the E mount lenses with no compromise, whether they are FF or APS-C image circle lenses.

The list referred to above (at least in the title) says FE, and the page linked shows FE lenses only. There is a link on that page that goes to a further list of the APS-C E mount lenses.
 
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> Is the Sony E mount still going strong?

Every few weeks DPR reports of a new E-mount lens released by a 3rd party maker. Many of those are full manual though there are still lenses with bells and whistles like AF and P-A-S modes support.
 
Disdain said:
So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price?
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No, it is over 8 years old and not worth the price today. The a6100, a6300, a6400, a6500, a6600 is much better. All of those cameras have a better imaging sensor, so they all take better pictures. The AF is also much better, faster, and more accurate on all of those cameras.
Disdain said:
Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive.
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Yes, it is worth looking for something more expensive, if it is worth it to you to get better IQ. If not, settle for the a6000 if that is all you can afford. :-|
Disdain said:
Are there any good used older models worth a look?
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No.

Is the Sony E mount still going strong?

Yes, but only the FF E mount cameras are going strong. The most recent APS-C E mount cameras are only for people interested in video. It seems like Sony is only interested in bloggers, and releasing camera that are video centric.

If you are interested mainly shooting video, Sony APS-C recent cameras are pretty good for that. If you are more interested in stills, wildlife, sports, portraits, landscapes, architecture, etc, look elsewhere.

--
Life is short, so make the best of it while you still can!
http://grob.smugmug.com/
https://grob.smugmug.com/Wildlife-Pictures/
 
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Disdain said:
I've had lots of various micro four thirds cameras and lenses these last few years. I sold them all to swap back to a bridge camera. However I do miss the fun of having different lenses and having a camera that I can make as versatile as I'd like. I quite fancy trying an APS-C sized sensor and would hope it will be an upgrade on previous cameras. I do value having a light package which is why I had m43.

So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price? Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive. Are there any good used older models worth a look? Viewfinder isn't massively important to me, but I did like a tilt screen over a flip screen, but not essential. Is the Sony E mount still going strong?
Click to expand...
I would look for one of the last generation A6400, A6100, or A6600. The main reason is the good autofocus, fast and accurate, at least for me, but others say it too. A6400 with 18-135 lens kit has camera weather protection and a good zoom range. You can get an A6100 with 16-50 for less. A6600 costs more, but has in body image stabilization and larger battery capacity.use one of the online cameras comparator. Any of them will be larger than m43.
 
Disdain said:
I've had lots of various micro four thirds cameras and lenses these last few years. I sold them all to swap back to a bridge camera. However I do miss the fun of having different lenses and having a camera that I can make as versatile as I'd like. I quite fancy trying an APS-C sized sensor and would hope it will be an upgrade on previous cameras. I do value having a light package which is why I had m43.

So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price? Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive. Are there any good used older models worth a look? Viewfinder isn't massively important to me, but I did like a tilt screen over a flip screen, but not essential. Is the Sony E mount still going strong?
Click to expand...
Lenses... it depends if you're a snob that only considers Sony lenses, or you will dig in the fantastic offerings that third party lenses bring to the table.

What you can't find for the APS-C circle, you will find for full frame circle and it'll work just fine.

If you are used to a joystick with micro four thirds (I don't know what model you had), you might be frustrated with moving the focus point on the bodies that don't have touch screen.

It goes something like this: push button to select focus area > select the focus area > move the focus point > confirm (and you have to do this every time you want to move it). In theory you could skip "confirm".

But it will be 2-3 extra actions compared to a joystick that you can use to move the focus point directly.

My point is that if you can at least get an a6100, it will have the latest autofocus engine (equal or better to A7III or A7RIII for comparison), and you will enjoy your new camera alot more.

Like the Camera Conspiracy guy says, Sony are reptilians :-D Their cameras have no soul. But they just work well for everything.
 
Disdain said:
I've had lots of various micro four thirds cameras and lenses these last few years. I sold them all to swap back to a bridge camera. However I do miss the fun of having different lenses and having a camera that I can make as versatile as I'd like. I quite fancy trying an APS-C sized sensor and would hope it will be an upgrade on previous cameras. I do value having a light package which is why I had m43.

So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price? Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive. Are there any good used older models worth a look? Viewfinder isn't massively important to me, but I did like a tilt screen over a flip screen, but not essential. Is the Sony E mount still going strong?
Click to expand...
Despite comments/opinions here about the A6000 I still use my A6000 (I have the A6600 as well) when cycling or on motorcycle trips. Is there something better? Of course. However, many of the photographs in my Flickr albums were shot with the A6000 and in my humble opinion some of those photos are not bad at all.

The only reason I still use that camera is that I am concerned that the vibration from riding my bike or motorbike may affect the IBIS of the A6600.

I have seen the A6000 being offered at $300. If it is in good condition I would not hesitate buying one. For me the EVF is essential. I don't do video at all.
 
Thanks for all the advice, it's really appreciated. I think the A6000 used would be an option to keep costs down. I can always get a better model if I'm enjoying the system.

I need to have a think and a hands on look in some shops.
 
Dr JLW said:
the Sony line of lenses is not the most comprehensive
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It's the most comprehensive APSC lineup in existence, when you factor in Sigma and Tamron. Fuji has a lot of lenses as well, but at a nasty premium that is unrealistic for an A6000 buyer.

I would look at recent Sigma and Tamron lenses before the Sony equivalents, in most cases. As the Sony APSC lineup of lenses is pretty old and includes some older/less good lenses at high prices.
 
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If an EVF is not important you could pick up a NEX-5T. Does most of what the A6000 does, though "only" 16MP, and will be very much cheaper (and smaller).
 
Despite what people say above, it is a brilliant mirrorless camera. It really shines with a good lens. I have a sigma 16mm on it and the sharpness is unbelievable. So much so that I haven't bothered upgrading yet. I had a Zeiss Sony 16-70mm on it and the photos were ok but nothing fantastic. Then I bought the Sigma prime and honestly it's all I need for now and instead of looking for a new camera I am thinking about getting a Sigma 30mm or 56mm instead. The AF is super fast. The only real downfalls to the a6000 is no 4k video, no ibis... but I shoot photos so it isn't an issue for me at all. I was looking at getting a a6400 as my shots weren't what I was after but it was all just a good lens that made the difference. You can get them cheap second hand too. 100% worth it.



I added an image I took on the weekend. Zoom in 100% and see the quality. Kind of debunks anyone here saying the thing is useless... it's not about having the latest and greatest. If you need certain features sure, if you want to shoot great shots in 24mb then it's perfect.
78470f2321bf4f72ae9cc0bac65b09fa
 

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Oh I should have said what some people have said, I read through a few comments and was thinking these guys obviously don't own one and are simply going off specs online or something. It's all about the right lenses though and there are many good ones for the a6000. Spending less on the camera and more on the lenses is a great way to go because you can always upgrade the camera later and you have the lenses already.
 
Disdain said:
I've had lots of various micro four thirds cameras and lenses these last few years. I sold them all to swap back to a bridge camera. However I do miss the fun of having different lenses and having a camera that I can make as versatile as I'd like. I quite fancy trying an APS-C sized sensor and would hope it will be an upgrade on previous cameras. I do value having a light package which is why I had m43.

So my question is, is the A6000 worth it for the price? Or is it worth getting something cheaper / more expensive. Are there any good used older models worth a look? Viewfinder isn't massively important to me, but I did like a tilt screen over a flip screen, but not essential. Is the Sony E mount still going strong?
Click to expand...
Yes, and yes.

Unless you are into action photography, chasing young kids in action photos (not family snaps), and want to capture dogs racing towards you, the A6000 will do in a pinch.

It's AF lacks compared to the later models, its IQ does not.

If AF really matters, the A7IV is king, imho. But then again, I guess that for 99% of my shots this faster (and more accurate) AF doesn't matter.

Despite of rumors of its imminent demise, the E mount is still going strong.

You said that you had an M43. How long ago?

The A6000 is aging, but should definitely give you a positive experience.
 
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