Sony a6000

The Sony a6000 is a compact mirrorless camera released in 2014. It weighs 344 g and measures 120 x 67 x 45 mm, so it slips into a small bag and stays comfortable on long days out.

Its APS-C sensor and Sony E lens mount suit photographers who want interchangeable lenses without carrying a heavy body. The compact build fits travel, family events and everyday stills, and the electronic viewfinder gives an eye-level alternative when bright light makes the rear screen awkward.

Because it launched in 2014, parts of the specification read as era-typical rather than current. Stills are the a6000's strength, while video and wireless options are more basic, which the sections below cover in detail.

Still images come from a 24.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor working with the Bionz X processor. That resolution leaves room to crop tightly or print large, and the APS-C format helps keep the camera and lenses relatively small.

For moving subjects the camera can fire at up to 11 frames per second, with a top shutter speed of 1/4000 second. There are also 179 autofocus points available for the focusing system to work with.

Our Optics score of 67 lands in the good range, and the camera sits around the middle of cameras in our database for Optics. Resolution and burst speed are the areas where it holds up best.

The trade-offs show in the absence of in-body stabilisation and an ISO range that tops out at 25600. Without sensor stabilisation, handheld work in dim light depends on steady technique or a faster shutter speed. Base ISO 100 keeps daylight work straightforward.

Video is supported, but it is clearly a secondary function here. Our Video score of 56 is a modest rating, and the reason is straightforward: recording tops out at Full HD, with no 4K option on offer.

The fastest frame rate offered is 60 fps, which is enough for smooth everyday motion. Recordings are saved as MPEG-4 files. The resolution and frame rate are listed as separate maximums, so they do not by themselves confirm a Full HD 60 fps recording mode.

Anyone shooting occasional clips for family or the web will find Full HD usable. The main creative omission is the lack of a built-in timelapse mode, which means the camera cannot schedule interval recording on its own.

Shooting is framed through a 3-inch LCD with 921,600 dots, and live view feeds the display for framing and review. The screen flips for shooting at awkward angles, which helps at waist height or above a crowd. There is no touch input, so menus and focus points are set with the camera's physical controls.

Wi-Fi is built in for sending images across wirelessly, which spares the card reader when you share photos from a phone. There is no Bluetooth and no GPS, so the camera itself does not record location data for your shots.

A built-in flash covers quick fill light indoors, and the hot shoe accepts external flash units when more power is needed. The body is not weather sealed, so rain and dust call for care. Missing weather sealing, touch input and Bluetooth sit behind our modest Features score of 41.

This is the camera's weakest area, with a Storage and Battery score of 21. Cards go into a single slot that accepts SD, SDHC and SDXC plus Memory Stick Pro Duo variants, so common SD cards are easy to source. With one slot there is no second card to fall back on, so carry a spare on busy shoots.

The NP-FW50 battery is rated for 360 shots per charge. Treat that as a baseline rather than a promise, since heavy flash and screen use can cut into it, and pack a second battery for full days.

The battery does not charge over USB, so there is no topping up over a cable between shoots. That constraint makes a spare battery especially useful on longer outings, since the battery must be charged outside the camera.