Sony A6600 review
In this Sony A6600 review, we’re going to talk about the features, and I will share my impressions and experience working with this camera model since last year.
The Sony A6600 is a great improvement to a very popular line of cameras, Sony’s A6000-series. First coming onto the market in 2019. The mirrorless A6600 has been my choice since last year.
Overview of the Sony A6600
The Sony A6600 is an upgrade of the family's A6000. Sony has so many cameras in this line. It looks identical, but there are many distinctions. The camera’s names don’t go in order. The newest are Sony’s A6100, A6400, and A6600. The oldest are Sony’s A6000, A6300, and A6500. What changed between these models? definitely the autofocus system.
The Sony A6000 is the most affordable model in this category. The Sony A6400 was the last model launched before the Sony A6600. The battery life improvement and the image stabilization were decisive points when I decided between the A6400 and the A6600.
Who is the Sony A6600 for?
The Sony A6600 is a great option for many. If you’re looking to invest in an excellent hybrid camera with aps-c sensor.
The fast autofocus and image quality are perfect for portrait, landscape and sports photographers.
For beginners, this camera is an exciting opportunity to try something with interesting features like dynamic range.
For videographers, the gorgeous 4K footage and the stabilization will be worth it.
Key Features
After spending a lot of time looking for the perfect camera for my requirements, I finally decided to acquire this camera for many reasons. The first reason was the quality of the image (24 MP), the second was the stabilization (5 axis), and some others we will talk about below.
Mount and Compatibility
The Sony A6600 uses the E-mount lens system, which allows the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining compatibility with 35 mm sensors.
The E-mount system has good compatibility and easy adaptability. The native lens performs better, but the third party ones work very well too. When selecting a lens to purchase, something you need to think about is the purpose. Normally, my preferences are for versatile lenses. You can use it in many situations.
The Sony 35mm F/1.8 (equivalent to 52.5 mm) has been my loyal partner since I got the Sony A6600. The autofocus is fast and effective. With a compact design, this lens pairs very well with my camera.
The adapters, like the Sigma MC-11 were a very good choice when I used a Canon lens. It might be a bit slower than a native lens, but it will give aperture control and autofocus.
Image Quality and Sensor
Image quality got my attention because of the contrast, vivid color, and dynamic range. If you are familiar with photography, you probably know the importance of dynamic range. If you are not understanding, don’t worry. It’s quite easy to understand.
The dynamic range makes a difference when you shoot in different situations (with a significant discrepancy between brightness and darkness). A sensor with a good dynamic range will be able to retain more details, shadows, and highlights than a sensor with a limited dynamic range. The combo of contrast, color, and dynamic range has improved the quality of my shoots and allowed me to develop my creative side.
So, it has an APS-C sensor with 24.2 megapixels of resolution, and you can shoot up to 11 FPS. The Sony A6600 captures an impressive level of detail, which is satisfied when I enlarge the image. This feature is very similar to the Sony A6400.
This camera tracks focus and exposure at 11 FPS. It’s incredibly fast, shooting 40 RAW frames in under four seconds. But if you’re a fan of JPEGs, it will make you happy. This small camera manages 91 frames.
There are four rate settings: Hi+, High, Medium, and Low, available in both silent and regular shutter modes, although in Hi+ and silent mode it only allows 7 FPS maximum.
ISO
For 4K videos, it is very clean at high ISO. However, I don’t recommend a higher ISO than 6400. My last experience with higher ISO for photos wasn’t very good (they had a lot of noise).
Autofocus
When I shoot portraits, the autofocus becomes my best friend, and I have to admit Sony did a great job here. It’s very fast and works very well with the eye-focus mode. It can detect faces easily and also facilitate knowing where the focus is.
Eye detection for video is amazing too. It tracks your eyes in real time when you move. Another special feature is the object track. It’s awesome and totally helpful. The track object allows you to use the touch screen, which is good, but Sony could allow the touch screen to be used in other situations (e.g., you cannot use the touch screen with the menu).
The Sony A6600 has a few focus areas, which can be confusing and unnecessary because I normally use the same focus area most of the time for different situations.
The contrast detection point for photos is brilliant, and the autofocus system is very fast and accurate, no matter if you’re using an adapted lens from Sigma or Canon.
The video image quality is also amazing, with vibrant 4K footage. It fits perfectly for professional and amateur videos.
Ergonomics
As a photographer, I’ve always preferred a camera with a small, heavy body but with high quality, and Sony nailed it with this model. The size of the Sony A6600 is perfect. The design is comfortable and feels safe in my hand.
The weight is only 503 g. For a long session, it makes a huge difference. With a robust and modern design, the body is compact and handy.
There is an independent battery compartment in which you can remove the battery or card without removing the camera from the tripod, which allows me to save some time in my sessions.
Design
The Sony A6600 has three customizable system buttons. Particularly, my favorite is the Fn button, which is a customizable menu where you put the options you use more frequently without having to go through the main ones.
Everything about this camera looks nice, but I have to say that menu design for beginners is not easy. It looks a bit disorganized and could be a bit confusing if you are not familiar with the Sony menu system. My first contact with this menu was a bad experience, and even one year later, it still bothers me sometimes.
