The Sony NEX-6: Is this the Sony you’ve been waiting for?

 

 

The Sony Alpha NEX-6 is the Sony I've been waiting for. Not just the camera, but the company. They are back in fighting form, and what's more they seem to be having fun. Sony wasn't sure the NEX-7 would be quite the smash hit it clearly was, even at its higher price point, but that smash hit told them there was a market for a small mirrorless camera with an electronic viewfinder and an extra dial for a slightly lower price point. Hence we have the Sony NEX-6: a camera that's about the size of an NEX-7 complete with pop-up flash and electronic viewfinder, but with a simplified interface and a 16.1-megapixel sensor instead of 24.3. It also has a real Mode dial, doggone it, and that's a welcome change.

Between the NEX-6 and the NEX-5R, Sony has developed two cameras that hit me just about right. Stick a hot shoe on the NEX-5R and I'm happy; barring that, I'm drawn to the NEX-6 with its physical Mode dial. I might even use the electronic viewfinder.

Of course, there's a whole lot more to the Sony NEX-6 than those few elements. Find out more about the NEX-6 in our hands-on preview.

Pricing is expected to be US$850 body-only, and US$1,000 with a new E-mount 16-50mm Power Zoom lens, scheduled to ship in November.

 

 

Sony Alpha NEX-6

General

Camera Type Compact System Camera

Manufacturer North America: NEX-6

Dimensions 4.7 x 2.6 x 1.7 in.
(120 x 67 x 43 mm)

Weight 12.2 oz (345 g)

Planned Price $1000

Planned Availability November 2012

Image Capture

Sensor Type Sony Exmor APS HD CMOS
APS-C (approx. 1.11 in. diagonal)
16.70 megapixels (total)
16.10 megapixels (effective)

Filter Type RGBG

Focal Length Multiplier 1.50

Aspect Ratio 3:2

Image Dimensions 4912 x 3264 (16.0 megapixels)
4912 x 2760 (13.6 megapixels)
3568 x 2368 (8.4 megapixels)
3568 x 2000 (7.1 megapixels)
2448 x 1624 (4.0 megapixels)
2448 x 1376 (3.4 megapixels)
12416 x 1856 (23.0 megapixels)
8192 x 1856 (15.2 megapixels)
2160 x 5536 (12.0 megapixels)
2160 x 3872 (8.4 megapixels)

Capture Speed Continuous: 10.0 frames per second for 15 frames

Image Quality 2 levels

Image Preview / Review

Viewfinder Yes, EVF: 0.5-inch 2,359K-dot XGA OLED, 1.09x magnification, 100% coverage, -4 to +1 diopter, 21mm eyepoint from eyepiece frame at -1 diopter (CIPA standard)

LCD 3.0 in. diagonal, 921,600 dots

Playback Zoom 14.0

Touchscreen No

Lens

Image Stabilization Yes

Focal Length 16.0 - 50.0mm (actual)
24 - 75mm (35mm equivalent)

Aperture Range f/3.5 (W) / f/5.6 (T) - ??

Focusing System Hybrid AF (99-point phase detect; 25-point contrast detect): Multi-point, Center, Flexible Spot; with Face Detection and Predictive Tracking
Has AF assist lamp
Manual focus possible

Focusing Range Normal: 10" - 4,081" (25 cm - 9,999 cm)

Exposure

ISO Sensitivity Auto (100-3200), 100-25600

Shutter Speed 30 - 1/4000 second

Exposure Modes Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual

Metering Modes 1200-zone Multi Segment, Center-weighted, Spot

Exposure Compensation +/- 3.0EV in 1/3EV increments

White Balance Image Sensor - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Flash, Color Temp. (2500-9900K), Color Filter, Custom

Internal Flash Guide Number: 6
Modes: Flash Off, Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow sync., Rear-Sync.; Red-eye Reduction On/Off
Range: GN=6(m) at ISO 100; Range is lens aperture dependent

Flash Exposure Compensation +/- 2.0EV in 1/3EV increments

Creative

Scene Modes Sweep Panorama, Scene Selection (Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait, Night Scene, Hand-held Twilight, Anti Motion Blur), Auto Portrait Framing

Digital Zoom Up to 2x Clear Image zoom; up to 4x Precision zoom; 1.4x / 2x Smart zoom at reduced resolution

Self Timer Yes, 2, 10, 10 with 3/5 shots seconds

Movie Format AVCHD 2.0 / MP4; Audio: Dolby Digital (AC-3) / MPEG-4 AAC-LC, stereo with audio

Movie Resolution / Frame Rate 1920x1080 @ 60p/28Mbps/PS or 60i/24Mbps/FX or 60i/17Mbps/FH or 24p/24Mbps/FX or 24p/17Mbps/FH, 1440x1080 @ 30p/12Mbps, 640x480 @ 30p/3Mbps

Storage

Recording Medium Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, SD/MMC including SDHC, SDXC

File System Complies with Design Rule for Camera File System (DCF)

File Format .ARW RAW (v2.3), RAW+JPEG, JPEG

Connectivity

Other Mini HDMI (Type C), Multi-Interface (Mi) Shoe

Power

Battery Type Lithium-ion rechargeable

Battery Form Factor Proprietary InfoLithium NP-FW50

Product Bundle

Software Image Data Converter Ver. 4, PlayMemories Home

Battery / Charger 1 x Proprietary NP-FW50 Lithium-ion rechargeable battery and charger

Other

Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) compliant Yes

PictBridge Compliant Yes

Internal Microphone Yes

Internal Speaker Yes

Tripod Mount Yes, Metal

Remote Control Yes, Optional RMT-DSLR2 IR Wireless

Waterproof No

Notes Fast Hybrid AF, built-in OLED EVF, tilting 921K-dot LCD, built-in Wi-Fi, built-in flash, Multi-Interface (Mi) Shoe, Full HD movies, 10 fps burst mode.

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