Sony a6100 Hands On Review

A couple of months ago Sony introduced two new APS-C cameras – the entry-level A6100 and the more advanced A6600. Now that both cameras are finally reaching the market our friends and colleagues Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake from DPR had a chance to test the A6100 and share their impressions.

The A6100 was designed as a modern replacement to one of the most popular Sony cameras ever – the A6000. Although the A6100 is not groundbreaking in any major aspect (basically all of its technologies are shared by the A6600/A6400 and to some degree other Sony cameras), it does innovate when you compare it to the now-aging A6000.  It has a better sensor with 4K shooting, a flip 180-degree monitor (that can shoot selfies), better battery life and a much, much better AF system that is arguably best in class.

It is lacking in many respects of course – the touch monitor is very limited, the menus are annoying and cumbersome, both the viewfinder and monitor are low resolutions (and the monitor is also hard to see in direct sunlight) and the grip (although improved compared to the A6000) is still not the most comfortable in the world.

Compared to the more expensive Sony A6400 you are letting go of Picture Profiles and higher res EVF (and compared to the A6600 there are even more features you let go including image stabilization, Eye-AF in video, larger capacity battery, headphone jack and more advanced options in the menus plus more configurable buttons.

Despite all these drawbacks, the A6100 is still one of the best bangs for the buck entry-level camera purchases in 2019 with its great image quality and superb AF capabilities both in stills and in video modes. Priced at $750 (body only) this is an extremely affordable but still very capable all-around entry-level camera.

If you don’t want to miss any new photography product be sure to check out our product photography section on our photo gear channel.

Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *