a6500

My thoughts on the new a6100 and a6600

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As an APS-C shooter, I was interested in what Sony had to announce today. These are some of my thoughts on the new a6100 and a6600:

  • Both cameras have 1:1 aspect ratio!!! Finally, after all these years.
  • The a6100 looks like a wonderful camera, a true successor to my beloved a6000. The pricing and the feature set put it too close to the supposedly superior a6400, though. Should we expect a price decrease soon after launch?
  • The a6600 is a minor update to the a6500. Price was expected, but I was hoping for a price drop on the a6500.
  • Nice to see the Z battery making it to APS-C, but I don't understand why they didn't use it in the a6100 and a6400 as well. Now we have models within the same line that use incompatible batteries. Being able to use the same batteries is one of the greatest advantages of my combo a6000 + a6500. Maybe they see the a6600 as a b-camera to a full-frame body?

I have no need for a new camera as of right now, but if I had to buy one (for stills)... which one would it be?

To be honest, I'd just go for another a6000. At $400 is half the price of the a6100, I think it's still one of the best deals in photography. Now, it's still unclear how much they've improved the sensor and the processing capabilities. The a6000 does suffer of some banding, and it'd be nice to know those issues are fixed in the new entry-level body. With what I know now, though, I'd have to go with the a6000 as my choice.

That lens, though

Something I'd been thinking about was to add a longer telephoto lens to my system. I really like the compactness of the 55-210mm, but sometimes I just wish I had more reach. The only choice I had was the full frame 70-300mm... until today. Sony announced the APS-C 70-350mm f/5.6-6.3 lens, a very nice 105-525mm equivalent range!

I'm seriously considering it for when it comes out in November. My only concerns are the size and the weight, it is definitely bigger and heavier than my compact telephoto, and I think twice and three times before increasing the size and weight of my backpack. We'll see.

Lastly, the 16-55mm f/2.8 looks like the dream lens for APS-C cameras but it's not something I need (neither the optics nor the speed). I'm very happy with my 16-70 f/4, a slower lens but much cheaper, more compact and with longer reach.