Now the excited owner of the NEX-6

[kaled_201299]

I received my new NEX-6 yesterday from a store/online company I only have good things to say about - am I permitted to mention retailer names?
Anyhow, I have the NEX-5 and A77 and have simply been blown away by what the A77 has offered me, particularly with photographing my small children. I have enjoyed using the NEX-5 over the last couple of years and I was excited to see the NEX-6 announced to offer me a worthwhile upgrade for the type of shooting I want to do with it -
- Lots of indoors so good low light sensitivity, built in flash
- Manual controls, EVF, small size of lens and flexibility in features so I can take the NEX-6 out and leave the A77 at home and not feel I have an inferior experience.

As you can imagine, I've not had a lot of time to use the camera yet, but here are some initial thoughts. Happy to help answer any questions.

- I can get perfectly good low noise shots from RAWs without much noise reduction up to iso 3200. My instinct from proccessing a few shots is that the noise in the NEX-6 at iso 3200 is as good (probably better) than the NEX-5 at 1600 and A77 at 800.
- AWB is better than the NEX-5 indoors.
- Not sure about the hybrid AF - it still 'hunts' when you initially press the shutter, but it is def fast AF with the 16-50 lens. It also seems to be very accurate. Can't comment on its ability to keep up with children yet (like the A77 can).
- The 16-50 lens (from just a few shots) seems to be at least as sharp as the old kit lens. It does produce massive barrel distortion and very strong vignetting at 16mm. The camera does a very good job of auto correcting these, both in camera as you use it live, and in JPEGs. Thankfully (for someone who shoots exclusively in RAW), simple lens correction in software (in my case ACDSEE pro 6) corrects the distortion completely. This is not the case with the A-mount 16-50, which has wavy distortion at 16mm, though not as extreme.
- EVF is fine for me coming from the A77, and I've read that the specs are identical. I have read online that users can see a difference, and I can confirm this is this case. In particular, I've noticed pronounced aliasing from time to time. It doesn't worry me, but it is there. Couldn't tell you whether it was simply due to different sensors or, implementation of the EVF (assuming specs are indeed the same).
- The manual controls are fantastic and the function button gives quick access to everything I need. This really is a big plus compared to the NEX-5 (for me).
- It feels light and is very comfortable to hold. Generally, it is super responsive and on a par with the A77 (which with the latest firmware doesn't show any lag issues to me).
- Flash has actually proven handy already, and the trick of holding the flash back to get bounce works well.

Happy to address questions if I can and will post further thoughts as I experience them.

[Birma]

Congratulatins on the new camera Khaled

Interesting to hear your first hand experiences. Does the Nex 6 have the Apps function, and have you tried it?

(I think it is fine to mention retailers as any personal recommendation will be useful for someone. )

[kaled_201299]

Yes downloaded a couple of app to see how it works. The process is reasonably straightforward and painless.
The apps sit within their own section of the menu system, and you access the functionality they provide as app. This means the app features don't really feel as if they are fully integrated into the camera - fine for an app that gives you some basic photo editing for example, but maybe a bit of a mess for the bracketing app or others that direct photo taking functionality.
That said the whole menu interface is a complete dogs dinner on the NEX cameras, but for the new generation of models like the NEX-6 it is the direct access to functions (like via the FN), which address this by removing (or at least significanly reducing) the need to interact with the main menu system.

[alphaomega]

My NEX-6 kit with 16-50 lens also arrived today. Seems everything works well. Pleased so far although not been able to test lens due to weather. I am an outdoor shooter primarily. The complaints about USB charging is a red herring for owners of other NEX bodies in that the battery fits into the current NEX-3/5 charger.

[InTheSky]

My NEX-6 kit with 16-50 lens also arrived today. Seems everything works well. Pleased so far although not been able to test lens due to weather. I am an outdoor shooter primarily. The complaints about USB charging is a red herring for owners of other NEX bodies in that the battery fits into the current NEX-3/5 charger.

I think this story about USB charger is not manager properly by user ... , I was very happy on my side to heard the new camera now can charge via USB. I will tell you why. On the other side of USB charging there is this current situation I have pass through all the last 5 years with my Sony DSLR $ NEX:

When I want to upload picture to my computer, I usually using the USB cable ... and sometime I forget to disconnect it because it can take 5-10 minutes for large card and even worse when you have movies on the card and you download the stuff using Sony PMB to stamp the date in the file name. So ... once you want to take back your camera for shooting , oups ! the camera battery is dead ... because the camera drain all the power to get the communication with the computer.

So, my question will be ... is the camera can charge and acts as communication cable at the same time ?

Regards,

Frank

[alphaomega]

So, my question will be ... is the camera can charge and acts as communication cable at the same time ?

I Don't know InTheSky and I will probably never find out as I download my images through a separate card reader. As far as I can see the USB set-up may be OK for some but not me. Thankfully I have two proper Sony battery chargers that will do the job. You get a USB cable for charging through the computer. In addition you get a converter box and a power cable so that you can charge through a power cable into a converter box and then through the USB cable into the camera. No thanks.
The card slot is much closer to the bottom door than on my NEX-5N. Difficult to insert and extract. The flash works well but is delicate and could easily be distorted. Needs much care and careful repositioning back into its slot. Apart from that I think it will be an excellent camera. We get a booklet looking like a miniature version of Encyclopedia Britannica. When it comes to studying it, only sparse information is provided but in most languages of the world. You need to download a proper manual from the CD provided. PMB out and instead we get "Play Memories Home". Another discontinuation, which leads me to the lack of facility for an external microphone. I e-mailed Sony and got this answer:
"Thank you for your recent e-mail.

Kindly be informed that the NEX-6 was not designed to have a microphone with it and it is clearly not shown on the website.

Please accept my apologies for any disappointment or inconvenience that this issue has caused.
Best regards,
Salwa
SONY SUPPORT TEAM"

Stupid me who did not read the "lack" of small print. I never thought that Sony would bring out an enthusiast level NEX without provision for en external microphone when all other NEXes from 3 to 7 series have this provision. You learn about quirky Sony as you go along. The NEX-6 hotshoe has at least 20 tiny connectors at the front, so maybe there is still hope that some of these provide for an external microphone fitted to the hotshoe to beleased "when Sony get round to it". I must live in hope or Barry Fitzgerald will score another point in his criticism of Sony.

[InTheSky]

For the microphone, hope for you Sony will create some external hot shoes device that will be compatible with the NEX 6. After that is we are lucky, this will result in three single pin for the left/right microphone that can be populate to provide external source to the sound.

Almost like this project for the NEX 5 :

http://hackaday.com/2012/09/27/how-to-a ... r-cameras/

Regards,

Frank

[alphaomega]

Been able to take a few RAW & jpeg pictures with my NEX-6/16-50 kit.
The lens would seem to be better than my 18-55 kit lens, but vignetting at 24mm.
LR4 removes CA and 18-55 lens correction in LR4 seems to work with this pancake.
No accidental false settings or video start yet. Video not switched off.
Easy to make settings alterations and change ISO.
Zoom lever a bit "fast" but found that the lens ring will do the job smoothly. Problem solved.
Like EVF although a bit dark. Will need to look at brightness adjustment.
Camera feels great in hands.
Got a little case with camera. Fits on belt. Goodbye LX5. NEX-6/16-50 is new "walkabout" combo.
So far happy with LR4 RAW output. Not even looked at the Jpegs so don't know if they are any use.
From my perspective this is best NEX yet (apart from missing external microphone)

[artington]

I have two questions about the NEX-6 kit if any of you new owners can comment.

1. Is the new 16-50 materially better than the old 18-55 kit lens?
2. Does the WiFi allow you to set aperture and focus point; focus and view / magnify focusing image from the LV wirelessly on a smartphone or tablet (as does the Canon 6D with the new EOS app)?

[kaled_201299]

Further update on my initial thoughts.
I've now had the chance to use the NEX-6 both inside and outside. My initial views still carry forward - in addition:
The focus is definitely faster than the NEX-5. It is also accurate more often than not, even when focusing on moving objects. That said, when set to continuous focus, you can still see the 'breathing' effect. Also, when continuous focus is set, the FPS drops from about 3 fps (when single shot AF is set) to 1 to 1.5 fps.
This camera offers a viable alternative (just) to my A77 for kids/action shots, which my NEX-5 did not. I also wish they implemented the zone focusing (left, centre or right) as seen on the A77 - I find this mode so valuable and more accurate than the 'wide' focus setting.

Indoors, the low light focusing and exposure are very good, and noise is minimal up to ISO 1000. There also seems a lot of scope to correct dark areas without introducing much additional noise. The built in flash is brilliant, and in particular the ability to pull the flash mechanism back and bounce flash. Why Sony don't design the mechanism to offer a stop for bouncing the flash?

[artington]

The built in flash is brilliant, and in particular the ability to pull the flash mechanism back and bounce flash. Why Sony don't design the mechanism to offer a stop for bouncing the flash?

If its the same as the Nex7 flash I think the ability to bounce flash is merely a by-product of the flash spring mechanism and not necessarily an intended use. I think its quite flimsy and I suspect too much bounce flashing will result in a broken flash.

[kaled_201299]

agreed it is a byproduct of the way the mechanism is built. Can't say whether the flash and mechanism is identical to the NEX-7, but I don't see why doing the bounce flash should shorten the durability of the flash - the mechanism seems very robust, and pulling it back for the bounce is the natural movement of the mechanism for closing.

On another flash related matter - received the ADP-MAA flash adaptor today to allow full size Sony flashes to be fitted to the standard iso mount.
I understand some folks frustration for the Sony mount and wanting Sony to use a standard iso style mount like they have now moved to on the NEX-6 and A99, but for me this is big step backwards. The Minolta/Sony mount was (is) simplicity itself for mounting/dismounting.
On a more positive note, the adaptor works as described and both flashes I possess work well mounted on the NEX-6.

[alphaomega]

Artington wrote

1. Is the new 16-50 materially better than the old 18-55 kit lens?

Not an expert, but based on preliminary use I would say that my 18-50 pancake is better than my E18-55mm (viewed at 100%). Seems to be more evenly sharp across the field and slightly better corner performance. Not a lot in it.
The Jpegs seem better than on previous Sony cameras. May go for Jpeg for Alamy now when "out of camera" exposure is "in the ball park" and don't need too much recovery of dark or light areas.

[Mark K]

I must be the least exited, somewhat disappointed Nex6 owner. I have just reviewed my newly shot photos for the past two weeks. Honestly I still prefer a dSLR for handling and that is why I seldom use my Nex cameras for shooting.
Nex6 has better look indeed.
However, image quality is surprisingly poor from my Nex6. I used LEA2 along with my Sony/Minolta primes. There is always a layer hazziness over my images, no matter using the native e mount lenses or alpha mount lenses.

[gio67]

I must be the least exited, somewhat disappointed Nex6 owner. I have just reviewed my newly shot photos for the past two weeks. Honestly I still prefer a dSLR for handling and that is why I seldom use my Nex cameras for shooting.
Nex6 has better look indeed.
However, image quality is surprisingly poor from my Nex6. I used LEA2 along with my Sony/Minolta primes. There is always a layer hazziness over my images, no matter using the native e mount lenses or alpha mount lenses.

maybe they've given you a pup, Mark,
have it checked out