So I just got the Sony NEX-6 + 16-50mm power zoom lens as a birthday gift (from myself!). I spent a few hours playing with the menus, and half a day shooting out in a park. Not enough time to conclude anything, but here’s my initial thoughts. I will not comment on image quality, focusing speed, continuous focusing, WiFi, and apps. I need to spend more time before making any conclusions on them. But so far, no major complaints on any of them.

Pros

  • First and foremost, finally it’s a package that HAS IT ALL (almost): Big APS-C size sensor, great image quality, great viewfinder, competitively priced, small and lightweight, but with no compromises on handling, and to nail it down even more, it comes with a tiny 119-gr versatile 24-75mm optically stabilized lens. BOOM!

  • Excellent handling. I love the grip on this camera. It sits so perfectly in my hand that I can even lift my palm and thumb, and the camera is still perfectly secure. The handling was a major reason I didn’t go with Olympus OM-D, which plainly sucks in this regard.

  • Small size: It’s almost pocketable. That’s a big advantage over almost all other EVF-equipped cameras.

  • 24mm wide on the kit lens is highly appreciated.

  • A modern, beautiful, and yet functional design. To my taste at least.

  • Excellent large high-resolution electronic viewfinder. Simply put, it’s good enough that I don’t miss 5D’s gorgeous OVF. I removed the eye piece though, as it smears my glasses.

  • Excellent in-camera HDR and DRO. Very easy to set using the Fn button. No need to go into the menu.

  • Handy panoramic mode.

  • Very easy to set the camera to exposure bracketing, and different burst modes.

  • Once you setup the camera (e.g. disable the annoying beeping sound, the stupid Clear Image Zoom, Auto-Portrait cropping, etc), you basically don’t need to go to the menu again for shooting purposes. You can do everything by the buttons. I really like that!

  • The kit lens’ image quality is actually quite decent.

  • Focus peaking is priceless with manual focus lenses, in case I want to use my Canon lenses with an adapter. On a side note, pity that Canon lenses don’t have aperture ring.

  • I really like the idea of having WiFi, and apps. Now that most people have smartphones, connecting the two is the most imminent step forward.

  • Despite the short battery life (see below), what I like about it is that you can use the same battery across the range of NEX cameras. That’s a big advantage if you want to have a backup body, for instance. You then don’t need to buy extra batteries for that camera, and bring a different charger with you. Also all NEX cameras use SD cards, so basically you just need to carry the backup body. That’s great for travel photography.

Cons

  • My major complaint is the lack of custom mode, like most advance cameras have. Come on Sony! Why do you give me not one, but two useless automatic modes??? Do you really think NEX-6 users would shoot in automatic mode? Know your users first! What pisses me off with almost all camera manufacturers is that by eliminating some advanced features, they compromise the satisfaction of their enthusiast users, which are the main buyers of this type of camera I would say, (supposedly) for the sake of getting some possible novice users. I don’t think a novice user would benefit from having two automatic modes, in as much as it will be a source of confusion for him/her. UPDATE: After a couple of weeks of using the camera, I would say I don’t miss the custom mode that much, as the button layout and customizability is pretty good. Nevertheless, custom mode would have been highly appreciated.

  • Another major complaint is that when you have the camera around your neck, the proximity of eye sensor and your body does not allow the camera to go to stand-by mode. This drains the battery much faster. It was a major complaint with NEX-7 and is still not addressed. Such a pity.

  • Yet another major complaint which is really not about NEX-6, but the Sony NEX series, is the rather slim lens line-up. There is a lot of space to be filled, but I personally like to see a pancake 35mm/40mm F2.0 lens. Please please Sony do it! Canon did it with their late-comer EOS M line-up, so why not you? Also a not-so-unrelated rant: Why the 50mm F1.8 is so big? Full frame Canon and Nikon lenses are shorter, not mentioning the minuscule Olympus 45mm F1.8.

  • Charging the battery is done via body and it takes forever. Again a pity, but you can buy Sony’s or third party chargers separately.

  • Compared to a similarly priced DSLR, the battery life is much shorter. That’s understandable as the size of the battery should be smaller, and also the constant read-out from the sensor and displaying it on EVF or screen is constantly draining the battery. It’s not a major disadvantage though, as you can buy several extra batteries, if needed.

  • Heats up a little bit while working. Not noticeably so outside in winter!

  • I don’t know it’s me or what, I prefer the viewfinder on a77 and a99 better. To my eyes, they have better color rendition, higher dynamic range, and lower contrast. But I’ve had a very limited experience with alpha series cameras.

  • The lens is not exactly what you call a rugged lens. When the front element is out, it feels somehow vulnerable. I’m always afraid of banging it around somewhere!

  • The lens does not show on the body, what focal length it is set to.

  • I wish the function of Soft Button A could be modified. Isn’t it why it’s called soft button?

  • I would have liked to be able to set the focus point faster, like on Canon 5D using the mini-joystick. Having said that, I really like the Flexible Spot focusing mode. I just wish it was easier to return it back to the center by a simple double press, for example.

  • I miss the dedicated Exposure Compensation button on the top right corner of 5D. With NEX-6, you have to bring your thumb all the way down to the bottom of control ring. It does not compromise the handling, but it’s not very convenient.

  • Auto ISO sucks. That’s not new, all NEX cameras have the same uncustomizable auto-ISO. Simply, the camera always tries to use the one over the focal length rule, and you cannot change that.

  • Start-up time is around 2-3 seconds. That can be deal-breaker for some, especially since you tend to turn off the camera to save battery.

  • The RAW file shows some weird vignetting and considerable barrel distortion with the kit lens. I know when ACR and LR are updated (if they are not already so), this will be fixed automatically, but as I don’t want to pay some extra hundreds of dollars to buy the latest version of LR and Photoshop, I have to live with that. Oh well. (if you wonder how I open the RAW files then, the answer is Adobe DNG Converter)

  • Lack of touch screen. Although I’m no fan of touch screen for cameras, it could be useful when you want to enter the password for wifi network, for example.

  • I would have liked to have the option of shooting square format. It is not so difficult and it makes a lot of sense with the EVF.

  • Lack of silent shooting mode. It is appreciated when it is needed.

  • Surprisingly, the body cap and rear cap are not included. In another word, if you remove the lens, you have nothing to cover the sensor and the back of the lens with!

So that was my long rant on the pros and cons of this newly obtained camera. Granted, I haven’t spent much time with the camera yet, but honestly, I knew about most of them before buying it. Yes, I am such a geek!

Update December 6, 2012:

So after a couple of weeks of shooting with the NEX-6, I can add these points:

Pros

  • I know I’ve said this before, but the size and weight of this combo is really a delight!

  • The lens seems to be very sharp in the center around F8.0.

Cons

  • The 16-50mm PZ lens has enormous barrel distortion and hideous vignetting. However, you don’t see that when you shoot in JPG, as it is corrected. But when you shoot RAW, you see the ugly face of this lens. It’s so bad that I decided to abandon shooting RAW in the first place! However, very recently a lens profile has become available in Adobe Lens Profile Downloader that corrects the RAW files perfectly (that’s if you use Lightroom/Photoshop)!

  • I’m not completely satisfied with the autofocus speed. Olympus and Panasonic do a much better job. It’s not unbearably slow, but it’s just not blazing fast like DSLRs or m43.

  • Annoyingly, the camera always tries to focus, even when you’re not pressing the shutter button. It’s like having the AI Servo enabled on a Canon. This drains the battery.

  • Either I haven’t got the hang of the autofocus, or the autofocus system sometimes fails. I’ve had quite a few out of focus shots with this camera. It might be because of the previous point.

  • I have to say I’m not exactly pleased with the JPG noise reduction/detail retention at ISO1600. I still need to test RAW noise, but JPG results are definitely not on par with my old trusty Canon 5D.

Update December 30, 2012:

During the holidays, I stayed in New York and did a lot of photography exclusively with the NEX-6. I also bought the Rokinon 8mm F2.8 Fisheye lens, and I enjoyed trying fisheye photography. I wrote a small essay on fisheye photography using this lens. Back to my rolling review of NEX-6.

Pros

  • So I tried shooting RAW, and I should say I’m very pleased with the level of noise, and detail retention up to ISO 1600. I would say it’s as clean as Canon 5D MkI, but with less detail. People say ISO 3200 is fine, but I only use it in despair. I haven’t tried anything higher, and I don’t plan to.

  • The electronic level is extremely helpful in shooting with fisheye lens. Read my essay on fisheye photography to know why.

  • I think I’ve said it before, but I repeat it again. The focus peaking ROCKS! It’s the best way ever for manual focusing.

  • People are demonizing and trashing the 16-50mm PZ lens in forums and reviews that is not sharp, and has a lot of distortion, and blah blah. Come on dudes, give this tiny lens a break! It’s only a 100 gr and an inch, and has OSS. What do you expect? That said, I pesonally find the image quality of this lens to be “sufficiently good”, and very presentable if you don’t want to shoot wide open at 50mm, print it 24” wide, and stick your nose in it! Stop pixel-peeping, and your life will be a lot easier!

Cons

  • I still haven’t got the hang of getting great colors from this camera. I know, it takes some time, but I’m not that pleased with the color rendition from NEX-6. My workflow consists of shooting RAW, converting it to DNG, and later processing it with Lightroom 3.

  • I’ve had some problems with autofocus in dim light with/without AF illuminator. It’s not only slow, but at times very inaccurate. Thankfully, if you use DMF focusing mode, you can adjust the focus accurately by turning the focus/zoom ring. It enlarges the focus point several times to enhance manual focusing.

  • What frustrated me in my long exposure shots was that depending on the amount of under/over-exposure the live view photo does not represent the actual exposure you’re setting, and instead starts blinking the exposure compensation marking. For example, if you are setting your shutter speed to 10 seconds, and the actual exposure needs only 1/3 s, you won’t see the live view image blown out. You keep changing the speed and nothing changes in the preview. It took me some time to figure why is that so in that freezing weather!

And here are some of my shots with the Sony NEX-6.

Unisphere - 1

Dyker Heights Christmas Lights - 10

Dyker Heights Christmas Lights - 3

Flatiron Building

Queensboro Bridge

Radio City Music Hall

Jah Hood Wright Park - 2

Holiday times in NY - 2

Holiday times in NY - 1

Black Friday - 7

Dyker Heights Christmas Lights - 7

Jah Hood Wright Park - 1

Holiday times in NY - 5

Holiday times in NY - 4