Here is the basic Sony A6100 and flagship A6600. Sony with a strong offensive in the APS-C segment

Two new Sony mirrorless cameras are to be released today: the basic A6100 and the flagship A6600. We already know everything about them.

According to the well-informed Sony Alpha Rumors website, Sony will present today two new camera models: A6100 and A6600 . The information about them has not been confirmed (the Polish branch of Sony does not comment on the case), but the leak includes product brochures with the full specifications of both cameras . So we know everything about them.

Sony A6100 and A6600, or which camera for whom?

Non-intuitive naming is Sony's hallmark, and so it is in this case. After the A6000, A6300, A6500 and A6400 (in that order they were presented), the time has come for two new models: A6100 and A6600. What's worse, they all look almost the same, so I suspect customers will be very confused.

The brochure shows that Sony intends to replace the old generation with new cameras. The A6000, A6300 and A6500 are likely to give way to the new three: A6100, A6400 and A6600.

Sony A6100 is the simplest APS-C model, focused mainly on photographing.

The new Sony camera is based on the well-known Exmor CMOS APS-C format with 24.2 megapixels. It operates at ISO 100-32000, expandable to 51200. The camera records RAW images with 14-bit depth.

In terms of speed, the A6100 falls just like the more expensive A6400 and A6600. It offers 11 fps with full AF and AE tracking, and the Fast Hybrid AF system based on 425 AF points focus in 0.02 s. Here is the famous Eye AF working on photos.

The camera records XAVC S movies in 4K at 24 or 30 fps (100 Mbps). Full HD mode reaches up to 120 fps (100 Mbps). The camera allows you to connect an external microphone and supports displaying sound levels during recording. However, there is an important difference from the A6400 and A6600 models: in the A6100 we will not find flat image profiles S-Log2, S-Log3 and HLG. There is also no Eye AF function in movies.

We can frame on a tilted 180 degree touch screen similar to the one on A6400 (3 inches, 921 thousand points). There is also a built-in OLED viewfinder, which, however, has a clearly lower resolution than the more expensive models: 1.44 million dots instead of 2.35 million. The housing also houses a built-in flash and one SD card slot (UHS-I). There were also Wi-Fi, Bleutooth, NFC and hot shoe. The NP-FW50 battery will allow for 380 photos, and the camera with the battery has a weight of only 396 g.

Sony A6600 is the flagship mirrorless shelf of the APS-C.

Sony A6600 is by far the best APS-C mirrorless camera in the Japanese offer. We will see the new products on the housing, because the camera has a much deeper grip, thanks to which it should lie better in the hand. The Grip also houses a Z-type battery, known from full-frame Sony cameras, which according to the manufacturer will provide 2.2x more photos on a single charge. It is a pity that the new grip still lacks the front adjustment wheel.

The camera is built around a stabilized Exmor CMOS sensor with 24.2 megapixel resolution, operating at sensitivities up to ISO 32000, expandable to 102400. The stabilization works in five axes and has an efficiency of 5 EV. The camera is built around a magnesium alloy skeleton, and the shutter has a lifetime of 200,000. cycles.

Autofocus is based on the Fast Hybrid AF system, which has 425 AF points and focuses in 0.02 seconds. Live tracking and face and eye detection works on both photos and movies.

And if we're at the movies, the Sony A6600 offers everything that Sony's best cameras, including support for S-Log2 / S-Log3 / HLG profiles. However, we do not have a breakthrough in terms of video, because the specification remains the same. The camera records a 4K image at 30 fps at 100 Mbps, reading the entire matrix (6K area) and using oversampling up to 4K, without skipping pixels. However, there is a new device, i.e. a headphone jack added next to the microphone jack.

On the back we find a 180 degree tilt LCD touch screen as well as an OLED viewfinder with a resolution of 2.35 million points. In addition, the distribution of elements and buttons does not differ from what Sony is used to. The body with the battery weighs 503 g.

There are also two new lenses. One of them is the long-awaited bright zoom in the basic range.

Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G is the first novelty in the lens segment. This is a bright reporter zoom with a standard focal range equivalent to 24-82 mm in full frame. Such a lens was very lacking in the Sony system.

The second novelty is the Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS lens, i.e. an optically stabilized long zoom with the focal length equivalent of 105-55 mm for full frame. This is an offer for people who want to zoom in as much as possible.

The new lenses, especially 16-55mm f / 2.8, promise to be very good. In turn, the new bodies are also a great addition to the series. The A6000 is quite far from modern reality, so replacing it with the A6100 is completely natural. The camera is well balanced and in terms of speed and quality of photos will not stand out from the big brothers.

In turn, the A6600 seems too conservative. Sony could be tempted by an additional SD card slot, the front wheel settings, or finally a joystick to change the AF fields. All these elements can be found at the competition. In terms of video, there is also no significant improvement over what the 2016 A6300 offered.

It also seems that Sony has abandoned the cheapest and simplest A5100 series, which is a pity. I would love to see a newer design without a viewfinder, but with a new sensor, better AF and 4K recording.

Here is the basic Sony A6100 and flagship A6600. Sony with a strong offensive in the APS-C segment