I've owned an NEX-6 for a couple of years and have always been satisfied with its still image quality and love the size. However, taking a lot of photos with it on a recent holiday reminded me of some of my gripes with the camera. The a6000 is the current top-end APS-C e-mount from Sony, so I'm wondering how well it addresses the issues I have with the NEX-6:
1) Even though I know the NEX-6 well and have customized settings as much as Sony will let me, it takes too long to switch settings. I switch back-and-forth between taking stills and taking video a lot, and have to change numerous settings. For stills I'm usually using auto-focus, aperture priority, and changing the ISO as I see fit (I typically don't rely on auto-ISO as in my experience the camera is too eager to increase the ISO to 800 or above). For video I use manual focus, shutter speed at 1/60 sec, and either let the camera set aperture (when lighting conditions are consistent and I won't be panning or zooming) or set the aperture manually (to avoid "gain pumping" in changing lighting conditions or pans/zooms). As I'm typically also having to add a variable neutral-density filter for video (to be able to get the desired shutter speed without having to go above f10), this is a lot of stuff to change -- and remember to change back.
Some high-end cameras include customizable modes that let you store a group of settings (e.g. focus mode, exposure mode, ISO) and recall them with a single button push or turn of a dial. The a6000 has a couple of customizable buttons but from the reviews I've read it seems they are used to quickly access one setting rather than allowing you to store a group of settings. Do I understand that correctly?
2) The NEX-6 has issues with moire in video. Shoot a scene that has brickwork or something similar and the video includes distracting color banding on the fine repeating detail. Has the a6000 improved the moire situation when shooting video?
I don't really need the a6000's extra pixels, as I'm perfectly happy (for as large as I print) with the results from the NEX-6. So if I upgrade it will be for improvements in the above areas, not to get more resolution. All the reviews indicate the a6000's handling is much improved over the NEX-6, but would it help much with my specific use case? As I was researching I just learned the a6000 has dispensed with the built-in level, so in that regard their appears to have been a bit of a downgrade.
1) Even though I know the NEX-6 well and have customized settings as much as Sony will let me, it takes too long to switch settings. I switch back-and-forth between taking stills and taking video a lot, and have to change numerous settings. For stills I'm usually using auto-focus, aperture priority, and changing the ISO as I see fit (I typically don't rely on auto-ISO as in my experience the camera is too eager to increase the ISO to 800 or above). For video I use manual focus, shutter speed at 1/60 sec, and either let the camera set aperture (when lighting conditions are consistent and I won't be panning or zooming) or set the aperture manually (to avoid "gain pumping" in changing lighting conditions or pans/zooms). As I'm typically also having to add a variable neutral-density filter for video (to be able to get the desired shutter speed without having to go above f10), this is a lot of stuff to change -- and remember to change back.
Some high-end cameras include customizable modes that let you store a group of settings (e.g. focus mode, exposure mode, ISO) and recall them with a single button push or turn of a dial. The a6000 has a couple of customizable buttons but from the reviews I've read it seems they are used to quickly access one setting rather than allowing you to store a group of settings. Do I understand that correctly?
2) The NEX-6 has issues with moire in video. Shoot a scene that has brickwork or something similar and the video includes distracting color banding on the fine repeating detail. Has the a6000 improved the moire situation when shooting video?
I don't really need the a6000's extra pixels, as I'm perfectly happy (for as large as I print) with the results from the NEX-6. So if I upgrade it will be for improvements in the above areas, not to get more resolution. All the reviews indicate the a6000's handling is much improved over the NEX-6, but would it help much with my specific use case? As I was researching I just learned the a6000 has dispensed with the built-in level, so in that regard their appears to have been a bit of a downgrade.
