Sony A6600 Review

Sony’s new flagship APS-C camera, the A6600, is packed to the gills with features, with an emphasis on keeping your shots still and focused. Being compact, weatherproof, capturing images with 24.2 megapixels to play with, and 4K video—the Sony A6600 is shaping to be the best travel camera yet. You might also be interested in a wider variety of similar, affordable, but fierce digital cameras for comparison.

Sony A6600 Review

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Related: Consider gifting your seasoned photographer the unrivaled Sony Alpha A7 III mirrorless digital camera.

Why We Like It – Sony A6600 Review

The Sony A6600 is packed with technology to keep images steady, even when energized—pairing well with its 24.2MP sensor and 4K video capturing capabilities.

Performance

After taking a few A6600 samples, we noticed post-processing effects took a back seat compared to other APS-C cameras such as the Canon EOS 6D Mark II. A stellar battery life capable of shooting 720 images, unlike the Sony RX100 which can only take 220 shots per charge. Yet, there were plenty of examples to view. Dynamic range, in particular, kept every shot as close to the original shot as possible. When fiddling with its high ISO range, low light shots were clear, given the light was captured as is and not altered.

The Sony Alpha A6600 Mirrorless Camera most impressed us with its real-time tracking. Taken from full-frame Sony cameras, the in-body image stabilization system is so smart at staying glued to your subject, even as they move. Part of that performance is thanks to its rolling shutter. This is particularly nice with its 11fps continuous shooting. You can even take advantage of Real-Time Eye AF when recording videos in 4K or full HD. Although, if you’re constantly shooting videos you might want to look into the SJcam SJ8 Pro review.

Design

With the Alpha A6600 Sony kept the design small and compact, which is impressive considering mirrorless cameras tend to be on the larger side. For example, the Pentax 645z is a rather DLSR bulky and heavy camera that’s better suited for tripod shots. However, Sony still included a hump to grip the camera. A camera such as the Canon PowerShot ELPH 180 is smaller, yes, but lacks any real grip, increasing the chances of an accident. This also makes the menu system easier to navigate through. You’ll find a memory card slot, too, which you’ll need for fitting large files. It’s lacking waterproof properties like the Olympus TG-5, but does have a weatherproof shell.

Value

The autofocusing system alone gives the Sony A6600 great value, and that’s without considering its 24.2 megapixels and 4K video capturing capabilities. Its performance is well worth the price—but only in the right hands. It even competes well against its competitor’s Fujifilm X-T3. While technically speaking, the X-T3 is much better by a small margin, Sony’s A6600 has a bigger battery. You’re still shooting highly detailed images, but for much longer than others in its bracket. That said, those detailed images can help identify your camera with about 50 photos, unlike the way PRNU can identify a smartphone with one photo.

If pricing is an issue, consider the Panasonic Lumix FZ80; it’s a few stages behind in performance, but at a fraction of the price.

Sony A6600 Review Wrap Up

For its price, the Sony A6600 isn’t suited for inexperienced hands. Instead, the performance behind its image quality and video quality, including a host of video features, make the Sony A6600 ideal for vloggers. When you aren’t vlogging, its battery life will last for over 700 shots, while the AF system will help keep the frame steady.