Sony NEX6 Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera 16.1MP with 16-50mm Zoom Lens - Black

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As far as it goes it’s a useful and practical remote, but it would be nice to have some additional control, at least over exposure and ISO settings. It makes little sense to have a remote app that you can use in manual and semi-auto modes that provides no way to change exposure settings. Using the power zoom function of the SEL 16-50mm lens, I could zoom smoothly, but I couldn't feather the zoom speed effectively, a minor quibble for this type of camera. In manual focus mode, focus peaking worked beautifully for pulling focus while recording a clip. Accordingly, the past couple of years have seen a rash of high-end interchangeable lens cameras like the Sony NEX-7, Olympus OM-D E-M5, Panasonic DMC-GX1 and Fujifilm X-E1, which in both price and feature set are aimed well beyond point and shoot upgraders (ironically, the constituency that was originally supposed to be most profitable for ILC manufacturers). But the whole point of it is, of course to take the shot using your phone or tablet and again, that’s pretty straightforward, on the iPhone or iPad you simply tap the camera button, and the NEX-6 meters, focuses and takes the shot, exactly as if you’d pressed the shutter release on the camera. Below are our standardised ISO test shots, starting with the Sony NEX-6”s lowest standard setting of ISO 100 and rising incrementally to the top setting of ISO 25,600.

In practice the system works very well under good lighting conditions, acquiring the subject rapidly; the AF area indicators light up and the beep confirmation sounds a short fraction on a second after you half press the shutter release. The NEX-6 isn’t quite as fast as the Lumix G5, but the gap, in good lighting conditions, is very slim. As with the other apps, Picture Effect+ is accessed via the Applications button on the main menu. This doesn’t mean there are now two places to go to for Picture Effects though, as all the existing ones are added to the new App’s list. But it does highlight the separateness of apps from the core camera functions. To return to ‘normal’ operation, you need to quit the app. This is inevitable really, given the specialist functions that apps provide, but it does limit them to providing bolt-on feature additions, rather than extensions to the camera’s functionality in the way a firmware upgrade would. I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see, for example, extended ISO sensitivity, or enhanced continuous shooting from an app. Likewise it seems unlikely that an integral feature like focus peaking will be migrated to an app.

Announced just before Photokina 2012, the Sony NEX-6 slots in between the consumer-focused NEX-5R and the range-topping NEX-7, and adds a number of features and functions that you cannot find in either of these models. Outwardly it looks a lot like the NEX-7, at least at first glance. The front of the camera is dominated by the relatively large, rubberised hand-grip, which enables users to hold the camera comfortably, and also conceals the shared battery / memory card compartment.

The Sony NEX-6 has a rich set of in-camera features that can be useful for everyday photography. The “Lens Compensation” feature found in the “Setup” menu allows fixing len-specific issues like vignetting, chromatic aberration and distortion. Obviously, the amount of lens correction depends on each lens, so Sony included current lens profiles in its camera firmware. New lenses that come out in the future will also be supported via firmware upgrades. Can you share your thoughts on camera body upgrade given my scenario. Do you think Sony will offer upgrades to this ‘line’. In keeping with other NEX models the NEX-6 eschews internal sensor-shift anti-blur technology in favour of the company’s proprietary SteadyShot stabilisation that’s built in to most of the E-mount lenses designed specifically for use with the NEX series. Thankfully, the new E-PZ 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS power zoom that’s supplied as a kit option with the NEX-6 benefits from the inclusion of SteadyShot technology too, which will help to ensure sharper pictures at slower shutter speeds and longer focal lengths. One useful practical feature of the new PZ (Power Zoom) lens we rather like is that users can opt to control the focal length manually via a zoom control ring on the end of the lens barrel. This ring actually serves two purposes, as it’s also used to control focus when the camera is being used in MF mode. Detail comparison. High-contrast details often remain sharper as ISO rises, so they're worth a look as well. The EM5 and NX20 certainly stand out at base ISO here, but that's largely due to the extent of their over-sharpening; the NX-20 is particularly bad in this respect. The NEX-6 and NEX-7 show a remarkable consistency across ISOs, while the K5II, T4i and NX20 lose the most ground as ISO rises. Interestingly, what was too much sharpening from the EM-5 at base ISO stands it in good stead at ISO 6,400, helping hold onto the inner detail in the large letters. Once the light starts to fade though, or you’re working indoors, the AF speed often reduces quite dramatically and I often encountered situations where the NEX-6 failed to achieve accurate focus at all. For the High ISO noise testing in the church I had to use manual focussing and during my session at the races on a dull and drizzly day I missed a number of shots due to the slow response of the AF.The pictures above are the ones I found most pleasing from the few dozen I’ve managed to take so far. Most of the candid shots were taken with the jupiter 8 lens and I’m particularly pleased with the way that lens works with the camera. The shots are not fantastically sharp or well composed, but they scream out 1960’s to me and I love them. In fact I think I’ve had as much fun with this camera in the first few days I’ve used it as any camera I can remember and I put a lot of that down to using that lens. So much so that I’ve started looking for other m39 mount or M-Mount lens I could buy from e-bay to pair with an e-mount adaptor so I can build a bit of a collection. ISO 12,800 shots show a lot more blurring and blotchiness in many of the colored fabrics, but prints are good at 5 x 7.