NEX 6 review

It has been about 30 days since I first had this camera. My overall impression is that I really like it. It is the perfect walk-around camera---lightweight, compact and interchangeable lens. Well the kit lens 16-50mm is a pancake style retractable power zoom lens. Personally, I don't really like the lens. Since it is a power zoom, you can't really set the focal length manually. The zoom by wire ring and toggle work fine, but it is not as good as a traditional zoom with focal lengths present on the lens barrel . Every time you turn the camera on, the default focal length is 16mm. On holiday, the 16mm was not 'wide angle' enough for large buildings and 'covering a large area just in front of you'. In RAW mode, there is vignetting at the corners of 16mm shots. The camera corrects this in JPEG files. I find the JPEG less grainy than RAW. It feels like a toy lens on a pro body camera. Another thing is that the power zoom motor is quite loud and can be heard in video... that's a problem.

The shutter sounds rather pleasing, although it is quite loud.

The electronic viewfinder is really good, really high resolution. The downside is that it requires more power than the LCD, therefore reducing the number of pictures you can take. Battery life is quite good. I could take more than 500 shots with the original Sony battery on a full charge (and using the viewfinder for a good number of shots)

To get most out of this camera, don't use the auto mode all the time. That's why you paid for the other modes. I find that the auto mode always tries to stick to ISO 100 all the time, The shutter speed is also quite slow, making moving objects blurry. S mode is really good for street photography--to capture that moment. I think 1/320 is good enough. ISO 1600 is not bad at all. A mode is useful, but with a f value of 3.5-5.6 from 16-50mm, there aren't many values to choose from.

Shooting against the sun is rather difficult. There is DRO and it is helpful. Levels 1-5 of DRO can be adjusted. Using flash might help.

10FPS continuous shooting is really useful (not in everyday situations though) I have seen a few NEX-7s, One or two NEX-6 and plenty of NEX5s. I saw someone with a NEX 7 decked out in 18-200 complete with lens hood... also someone with NEX5 with flash attached and lens hood. Looks really cool. Whereas, the NEX-6 looks like a regular point and shoot---a harmless camera (not intimidating at all).

Sometimes, I get out of focus images.(because I pressed the shutter button without allowing the auto focus to work) Also, it is rather difficult to capture that moment instantly, unlike the Olympus EM5. I often get a slight delay before the shutter is triggered. 

The WiFi function on this camera is quite useful. I use it to view images on an Android phone using the PlayMemories app. This WiFi function is particularly useful for file sharing. (Not very useful for 'pro' photography.)

I have seen a lot of cameras during this trip. DSLRs are the most common. Every Tom Dick and Harry has a DSLR... The worst culprit... China. Seriously... Canon L lenses are like nothing... So many Chinese people (of all ages) have L lenses and 5D Mk2/3 Some even have 2 DSLRs. Even a grandmother has an L lens and DSLR.

While in Tallinn, I saw 2 people with pro gear. 70-200mm Canon as well as pro bodies... Then in Санкт-Петербург, there was a wedding photo shoot with the 70-200 as well.