Introduction

Ease of Use

Front of the Sony A6600

Externally the new Sony A6600 is extremely similar to the recent A6400 camera, so much so that you'd be hard-pressed to tell them apart side-by-side.

Once again, Sony haven't really deviated very much from the design of the original Alpha A6000 model that was released way back in 2014.

The A6600 measures 120.0mm x 66.9mm x 69.3mm and weighs in at 503g with the battery and memory card fitted, making it slightly bigger and about 100g heavier than the A6400.

As with that model, the Sony A6600 employs a tough magnesium alloy body shell that incorporates full weather sealing for extra peace of mind in inclement conditions.

The Alpha A6600 also has a deeper, more sculpted hand-grip that is relatively wide and comfortable to hold on to, which combined with the rear thumb rest makes the camera feel secure enough when shooting either one- or two-handed.

The A6600 is Sony's latest camera to feature optical 5-axis image stabilization. The A6600 offers 5-stops of compensation, with the in-body system ensuring that the camera can stabilize all kinds of lenses, including E-mount lenses without Optical SteadyShot (OSS) and A-mount lenses as well.

Note that third party lenses without any electronic contacts only benefit from three axes of compensation, and you need to input which focal length you’re using via the menu system.

Rear of the Sony A6600

Most image stabilization systems compensate for camera shake by correcting yaw and pitch. Sony claim that camera shake is actually caused by five different kinds of motion, and their image stabilization mechanism additionally corrects for horizontal shift, vertical shift and rotary motion (rolling) for both still images and movies.

The A6600 shares the same 2.36 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder as used by the A6400, which features a 120fps high frame rate setting to help track moving subjects more smoothly with virtually no lag.

Whilst this 3-year-old viewfinder is perfectly respectable, we'd have expected to see a higher-spec model used on the new flagship A6600.

The same is also true of the 3-inch widescreen LCD monitor, which again rather disappointingly retains the same 922k resolution of the A6400's screen and the same 180-degree flippable design - a higher resolution screen would have made the A6600 more competitive with its main rivals.

The flip-up screen is is very versatile for selfies and vlogging, although if you fit an accessory to the camera's flash hotshoe (like an external mic), you won't actually be able to use the screen in this position.

Sony have also implemented touch sensitivity on the LCD screen. This makes functions like focus point selection much easier and more intuitive, especially given the continued lack of a dedicated AF joystick, and it even works while looking through the electronic viewfinder.

Unfortunately and somewhat bizarrely, though, you can't use the touchscreen to navigate the main menu or quick menu settings or even swipe through your images in playback mode, all rather stange limitations that are also shared by other Alpha cameras.

Top of the Sony A6600

The Sony A6600’s primary external controls are virtually identical to those on the A6400.

There's the same dual wheel layout with a thumb-operated control dial on the rear of the top panel and a secondary rear-panel scroll wheel that doubles as the 4-way navigation buttons.

It’s a reasonably ergonomic setup, though we’d still prefer an additional control dial positioned near to the shutter release, enabling simultaneous thumb and forefinger settings adjustment.

The auto-exposure lock button is located directly alongside the thumb rest within a lever switch that gives the button two functions.

Set the switch to AEL and you can meter light and lock exposure independently of the shutter release. With the switch set to AF/MF, the exposure lock button instead activates manual focus during autofocusing, or switches the focus mode to auto when in manual mode.

The A6600 has an auto-focusing system with 425 phase-detection AF points and 425 contrast-detection AF points, spread over almost the entirety of the sensor area (84% to be precise). This helps the camera achieve a quoted focusing time of just 0.02 seconds, compared to the 0.05 second time of the A6500 model.

Another focusing feature that has been improved is Eye AF, which uses the most recent algorithm that uses AI-based object recognition to detect and track the subject, improving the accuracy, speed, and performance of the continuous AF system.

The Sony A6600 In-hand

You simply select the the Tracking AF mode, position the AF point over the subject that you want to track, half-press the shutter, and the camera will doggedly follow that subject wherever it moves in the frame. It doesn't have to be a person - the A6600 will track virtually any subject that you care to point it at.

This also effectively means that you no longer have to activate Eye AF by holding down a custom button (although you still can if you want to). Instead simply half-pressing the shutter button whilst in the Tracking AF mode activates Eye AF automatically if it detects a face/eye, and it seamlessly switches back to non-specific subject tracking if the eye or face can't be detected, then back again when it can.

Conversely, you can use the system for easier composition of still subjects too. Simply focus on your subject, hold down the shutter button, and the camera will accurately lock onto your chosen subject while you recompose the frame, even if it's in one of the furthest corners.

It’s not just continuous auto-focusing that gets a boost though, as continuous shooting is also enhanced.

On paper the A6600 seems to be no faster than the A6500, with both cameras capable of shooting at 11fps using the mechanical shutter with continuous AF/AE metering and almost no perceptible lag on the LCD or EVF.

What has been improved is the burst rate when using the electronic shutter, up from a rather pedestrian 3fps on the A6500 to a much more impressive 8fps on the A6600.

The A6600's buffer size is a little more disappointing, though, compared to the A6500. It can record 99 JPGs and 46 RAW files in a single burst, whereas the A6500 can manage a much more impressive 233 JPGs and 107 RAW files.

The Tilting LCD Screen

The Sony A6600 is an even more customisable camera than the recent A6400.

The rear Fn function button displays a quick-access menu of frequently used shooting settings, and you can choose which items appear on this menu.

There are also four Custom buttons which can each be assigned a frequently used function for direct access.

Even the AF/MF/AEL button can be customised, along with the left, right, down and centre rear panel navigation buttons, as well as the Fn button’s role in playback mode.

Along with integrated wi-fi, a low-power, low-bandwidth Bluetooth 4.1 data connection is now also available on the A6600.

This lets you connect your camera to a smart device even when the A6600 is turned off for easier transfer of images. The Bluetooth connection can also be used to sync GPS location data from your smartphone.

In terms of the available shooting modes, there are two Memory modes marked 1 and 2 on the shooting mode dial. These allow you to store two frequently used shooting set-ups for quick access, and within each Memory mode is a further four customisable sub-mode pre-sets which can be saved in-camera.

The Sony A6600's Memory Card Slot / Battery Compartment

There are also the usual auto, semi auto and manual modes, plus a Scene Selection position and a Movie mode that works in conjunction with the video record button located on the right edge of the thumb grip.

Also featured on the A6600 is the Slow and Quick (S&Q) mode, which as the name suggests gives you easier access to the camera's slow- and quick- motion video options (frame rates from 1fps to 120fps), as selected in the Movie1 tab / S&Q Settings option in the main menu system.

The A6600’s video abilities are virtually the same as on the A6400. It can record Ultra HD 3840x2160 pixel resolution at up to 30fps, and slow motion, high frame rate Full HD 1920x1080 pixel sequences at up to 120fps.

Note that when shooting in 4K at 24 and 25p, the camera utilises the full width of the image sensor to oversample from 6K's worth of data, but at 30p, a mild crop is still applied.

The A6600's movie-making potential is further enhanced by 100Mb/s high-bit-rate XAVC S data encoding, as well as clean video output over HDMI.

The A6600 also features Sony’s S-Log 2 and 3 gamma curves which enable it to record greater dynamic range, providing you’re prepared to colour-grade the recording in post-production.

New to the A6600 is the option of recording in HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) so that you can shoot HDR-ready footage for playback on your compatible TV directly in-camera.

Front of the Sony A6600

The A6600 also has some more advanced video settings, such as Eye AF for movies, a MIC imput, and a headphone jack, all of which make it the best-appointed A6xxx-series camera for shooting video.

The A6600 also offers the ability to select, extract and save still images from movie footage directly on the camera, approximately 8 megapixel images from the 4K video and 2 megapixels from Full HD.

There is a Multi Interface Shoe / flash hotshoe on top of the A6600 for connecting an external flashgun or a compatible accessory, but this new camera is the first A6xxx series model not to also feature a built-in pop-up flash.

The Sony A6600 uses the latest menu design from the Alpha Ax-series cameras. It has a more logical structure, although as is traditionally the way with Sony's menu, still pretty complicated. There's now a My Menu tab that as the name suggests allows you to construct your own custom menu for easier access to your favourite camera settings.

The Sony A6600 uses a larger Z series battery, the NP-FZ100, that enables it to keep on shooting for a rated 720 shots per charge when using the viewfinder and 810 when using the LCD screen, a massive improvement on the A6400 which uses the smaller W series battery, and much better than most of its main rivals too.

Front of the Sony A6600

The A6600 can also be powered and charged via a USB connection, which is useful if you’re without your charger but can access a computer, although it doesn't use the latest USB-C standard.

Finally there’s the battery compartment which, like all the other A6000-series cameras, also incorporates the single SD memory card slot (there are no dual slots on this camera).

It’s not a major bugbear, as opening the compartment to access the card won’t cause the battery to drop out, and the tripod mount is far enough away to avoid a mounting plate blocking the door.

Of more concern is the fact that the A6600 doesn't take advantage of the fastest UHS-II memory card standard, never mind use two of them, a very surprising omission for what is supposed to be the flagship camera in Sony's APS-C range.

Compared to the Fujifilm X-T3, which has dual UHS-II card slots, the A6600 looks very under-powered in this department, which is espeically annoying given its otherwise impressive abilities as a camera for capturing fast action.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 24.2 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 7Mb.

Noise

The Sony A6600 has a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100 to 25600, expandable down to ISO 50 and up to ISO 102400.

Auto ISO operates within an ISO 100-6400 range and has selectable upper and lower limits.

Two levels of high ISO noise reduction can be selected - Normal or Low - or the processing can be disabled.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 50 (100% Crop)	ISO 50 (100% Crop)
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)
ISO 51200 (100% Crop)	ISO 51200 (100% Crop)
ISO 102400 (100% Crop)	ISO 102400 (100% Crop)

File Quality

Five quality settings are available: RAW, RAW+JPEG (Extra fine, Fine and Standard JPEG compression options), JPEG Extra fine, JPEG Fine and JPEG Standard.

RAW files average around 24MB each, Extra Fine JPEGs roughly 15MB, Fine JPEGs are in the region of 7.5MB, and Standard quality JPEGs weigh in at approximately 4.5MB each.

24M Extra Fine (14.8Mb) (100% Crop)	24M Fine (7.5Mb) (100% Crop)
24M Standard (4.78Mb) (100% Crop)	24M RAW (23.8Mb) (100% Crop)

Long Exposures

This night-time scene was captured at f/11, ISO 100, with a 30 second exposure.

Dynamic Range Optimizer

D-Range Optimiser (DRO) is Sony's solution to improve shadow detail in photos taken in contrasty light. There are 5 different levels and an Auto option.

Off	Level 1
Level 2	Level 3
Level 4	Level 5

High Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range Optimiser (HDR) is Sony's solution for capturing more contrast than a single exposure can handle by combining two exposures into one image. There are 6 different EV settings and an Auto option.

Off	1EV
2EV	3EV
4EV	5EV
6EV

Creative Styles

There are 13 Creative Style preset effects that you can use to change the look of your images. They can be applied to both JPEGs and Raw files.

Standard	Vivid
Neutral	Clear
Deep	Light
Portrait	Landscape
Sunset	Night Scene
Autumn Leaves	Black & White
Sepia

Picture Effects

The Sony A6600 offers 8 different Picture Effects, some with additional sub-options. They can only be applied to JPEG files.

Off	Toy Camera
Pop Color	Posterization
Retro	Soft High-key
Partial Color (Red)	High Contrast Mono
Rich Tone Mono

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony A6600 camera, which were all taken using the 24.2 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Sony A6600 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Sony RAW (ARW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movies & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

The new flagship A6600 begs, borrows and steals features from further down Sony's extensive range of APS-C models and also further up from the A7 full-frame cameras, but it doesn't quite get the balance right between old and new.

Whilst the new Mic and headphone ports, built-in image stabilisation, eye-detection in movies, unlimited video recording and the excellent battery life are all great additions, there are simply too many areas which Sony has inexplicably skimped on improving to more enthusiastically recommend the A6600, both compared to its main rivals and to Sony's other A6xxx-series cameras.

These include the lack of support for dual UHS-II memory cards, or indeed any UHS-II cards at all, no dedicated AF joystick, no front control dial, a rather middle-of the road electronic viewfinder, a still incredibly limited touchscreen interface, no USB-C port, no pop-up flash, and more unsurprisingly for Sony, no 10-bit 4K video or 4K above 30p, not to mention the now rather dated camera design.

Compared to its main rival, the very popular Fujifilm X-T3, the A6600 offers the advantages of much longer battery life, unlimited recording, in-body stabilisation, a more confident auto-focusing system and a flip-up LCD screen, but otherwise suffers in comparison, with the X-T3 offering 4K/60p in 10bit recording, twin UHS-II slots, a better viewfinder, more versatile screen, more intuitive control system and design, and a wider range of native lenses.

Looking further down Sony's own APS-C range, the A6400 offers the same image/video quality and virtually all of the same features as the A6600 at a notably lower price-point, with the main exceptions of the A6600's IBIS system, longer battery life and headphone jack.

Even the bottom-of-the-range A6100 is well worth considering, given that it offers the same image and video quality, similar burst shooting and autofocus system, and the same LCD screen as the A6600.

All of which leaves the new Sony Alpha A6600 in a rather odd position, priced as a flagship camera but lacking enough improvements or differences to either the other, cheaper Sony models or to its main rivals to quite justify its range-topping billing.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	3.5

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Sony A6600.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Sony A6600 from around the web.

Specifications

News

Sony has launched two new APS-C mirrorless cameras, the flagship A6600 and the A6100, plus two new APS-C lenses, the E 16-55mm F2.8 G standard zoom lens and the E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS super-telephoto zoom lens.

The Alpha 6600 will ship in Europe in October 2019 priced at approximately €1600 / £1450 body only or as a kit with the SEL18135 lens for €2000 / £1800.

The Alpha 6100 will ship in Europe in October 2019 priced at approximately €900 / £830 body only, as a kit with the SEL1650 lens for €1000 / £900 or as a kit with the SEL1650 and SEL55210 priced at approximately €1250 / £1150.

Sony Europe Press Release

Sony today announced two new additions to its α(Alpha) APS-C series of mirrorless cameras with the launch of the Alpha 6600 (model ILCE-6600) and Alpha 6100 (model ILCE-6100). These new additions to the range integrate Sony’s advanced technologies into compact and lightweight bodies including leading-edge autofocus performance, superb image quality and the very latest video technologies. The new Alpha 6600 has been designed to address the needs of the most demanding photographers and videographers with its versatility making it suitable for multiple types of shooting scenarios and users. The Alpha 6100 is targeted at users who are looking to make the step-up to shooting with interchangeable lens cameras and wish to shoot high-quality photos and videos in a variety of different situations.

The Sony APS-C range has been further strengthened by the launch of two new lenses, the E 16-55mm F2.8 G standard zoom lens and the E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS super-telephoto zoom lens. With this announcement, Sony’s versatile E-mount system now features a total of 54 lenses.

“Our ‘One Mount’ strategy to continually expand the E-mount system, cameras and lenses with complete inter-compatibility between full-frame and APS-C, means that we want to offer the widest range of exciting products that customers can select from when choosing the right tool for their needs,” said Yann Salmon Legagneur, Director of Product Marketing, Digital Imaging, Sony Europe. “The APS-C market is extremely important to Sony and the Alpha 6600 and Alpha 6100 are both cameras that pack-in the very latest technology breakthroughs and whether you shoot stills, video or a combination of the two, we are confident that users will be very happy with the results.”

At the heart of both the new Alpha 6600 and Alpha 6100 sit a 24.2MP[i] Exmor™ CMOS image sensor, the latest BIONZ X™ image processor and a front-end LSI implemented in Sony’s full-frame cameras. This powerful trio combine to deliver all-round enhancements in image quality and performance across all areas of photo and video capture.

The Alpha 6600 and Alpha 6100 offer a lightning fast autofocus acquisition time of 0.02 seconds[ii]. With 425 focal-plane phase-detection AF points covering approximately 84% of the image area and 425 contrast-detection AF points, the high density and wide coverage of the AF system ensure reliable AF, even in the most challenging light conditions. Both new models benefit from Sony’s ‘Real-time Tracking’ which utilises Sony’s latest algorithm including AI[iii]-based object recognition to ensure that subjects can be captured with excellent accuracy, even via the touch panel on the rear screen. In addition, the new models offer ‘Real-time Eye AF’, the latest version of Sony’s acclaimed Eye AF technology, which employs AI-based object recognition to detect and process eye data in real time, resulting in improved accuracy, speed and tracking performance of Eye AF for both humans and animals[iv], and allows the photographer to concentrate exclusively on composition[v].

An Eye for Detail

Based upon feedback from users of existing Sony APS-C camera users, further features have been added to the Alpha 6600 and Alpha 6100 to fine tune the user experience. These include:

-Improved colour reproduction; Algorithms inherited from full-frame models deliver natural colour reproduction, particularly in skin tones

-Hi-resolution internal 4K[vi] movie recording with full-pixel readout without pixel binning in Super 35mm format with easy smartphone transfers via the Imaging Edge™ Mobile application[vii]

-Interval shooting[viii] for stunning time-lapse videos

-180-degree tiltable, 3.0-type 921k-dot (approx.) LCD touch screen

-Integrated Microphone input for clear and crisp audio on video recordings

Alpha 6600

Across an ISO range of 100-32000 (expandable to ISO 50 – 102400[ix]),

The new Alpha 6600 offers superb low-noise performance and delivers extremely high-quality images, even in low-light conditions. By applying noise reduction and sharpness processing optimally in each area, Area-specific Noise Reduction and Detail Reproduction Technology greatly reduce noise while preserving high resolution contributing to fine reproduction of subject textures and shadow details.

The Alpha  6600 packs in many of the technology breakthroughs that are attracting praise on Sony’s high-end full-frame cameras. These include:

-Sony’s innovative 5-axis in-body image stabilisation system that results in a 5.0-step[x] shutter speed advantage

-Implementation of the industry-leading[xi] long battery life with Sony Z Battery for the first time on an APS-C camera, enabling extended power performance; approx. 720 still images using viewfinder, approx. 810 images using LCD monitor[xii]

-A tough magnesium alloy design that is dust and moisture resistant[xiii]

-Real-time Eye AF for movie shooting[xiv]. When activated, the eye of a subject is automatically tracked with high precision and reliability, allowing the shooter to focus on the content itself as opposed to what is in focus or not in focus. Touch Tracking functionality will also automatically initiate Eye AF when a human subject is selected

-Integrated headphone jack which allows the user to connect high-quality headphones for accurate monitoring of recorded sound

4K Recording vi

The Alpha 6600 boasts internal 4K movie recording in Super 35mm format with full pixel readout without pixel binning, to capture approximately 2.4x[xv] the amount of information required for 4K movies (Also available in Alpha 6100). This oversampling results in stunning footage, delivered in the XAVC S™ format with unparalleled resolution. The Alpha 6600 equips an HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma)[xvi]picture profile that supports an instant HDR workflow. Recorded movies played back on an HDR (HLG)compatible TV will appear true-to-life, with no blocked shadows or blown highlights, without the need for colour grading. For users who want to colour grade their footage in post-production, S-Log3 and S-Log2 Gamma profiles are provided.

Pricing and Availability

The Alpha 6600 will ship in Europe in October 2019 priced at approximately €1600 body only or as a kit with the SEL18135 lens for €2000.

The Alpha 6100 will ship in Europe in October 2019 priced at approximately €900 body only, as a kit with the SEL1650 lens for €1000 or as a kit with the SEL1650 and SEL55210 priced at approximately €1250.

For full product details on the Alpha 6600, please visit: https://www.sony.co.uk/electro...

For full product details on the Alpha 6100, please visit: https://www.sony.co.uk/electro...

A product video on the new Alpha 6600 and Alpha 6100 canbe viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/playli...

A variety of exclusive stories, videos and exciting new content shot with the newest cameras and other Sony α products can be found at

https://www.sony.co.uk/alphauniverse. Sony’s European photography hub is available in 22 languages and details product news, competitions and an up-to-date list of Sony events in each country.

[i]Approximate effective megapixels

[ii]Based on Sony research, CIPA-guideline-compliant internal measurement with an E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens mounted, Pre-AF off and viewfinder in use

[iii] AI (artificial intelligence) including machine learning technology is used

[iv]Real-time Eye AF for Animals supports still images only and cannot be used in combination with tracking. Does not work with some types of animal. Focusing may not perform well depending on scene and subject conditions

[v]Both right eye and left eye are selectable, either via the menu or by the touchscreen panel

[vi]3840×2160 pixels. A Class 10 or higher SDHC/SDXC memory card is required to record movies in the XAVC S format. UHS-I (U3) SDHC/SDXC card is required for 100Mbps

[vii] Imaging Edge Mobile Ver. 7.2 or later is required

[viii] Wi-Fi does not work during interval shooting

[ix]Only on still images

[x]Based on CIPA standard. Pitch/yaw shake only. With Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA lens mounted. Long-exposure Noise Reduction off

[xi]Among mirrorless interchangeable-lens digital cameras equipped with an APS-C image sensor. As of August 2019, based on Sony research

[xii]CIPA standard compliant

[xiii]Not guaranteed to be 100% dust and moisture proof

[xiv] This function does not track animal eyes

[xv]24p recording. Approx. 1.6x at 30p

[xvi] Connect this product to an HDR (HLG) compatible Sony TV via a USB cable when displaying HDR (HLG) movies

Image Gallery

Click on a thumbnail to see the full version.

First Impressions

We've spent some time shooting with the brand new Sony A6600 and Sony A6100 mirrorless cameras. Here are our initial first impressions...

Despite all of the high-interest and extensive marketing surrounding the full-frame Alpha cameras, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that Sony actually sells far more APS-C models. 

They’re cheaper, smaller and “more accessible” to a wider range of consumers, yet if you compare the number of new launches of APS-C models over the past few years with full-frame launches, you’d be forgiven for thinking Sony thought of these “entry-level” type options as less important. 

With its new duo of cameras, Sony is aiming to change that. The A6600 is the new top-of-the-line flagship model, boasting an array of features which should make it one of the best all-rounders on the market. After years of being one of the biggest sellers on the market, the A6000 also gets a refresh in the shape of the A6100 - a more modest offering aimed at those making their first steps into more serious photography. 

As it stands, the A6600 and the A6100 are designed to sit on either side of the existing A6400 to offer something for every kind of user. 

At launch, the body price of the A6600 was £1450, while the A6100 is much cheaper at £830. At the time of writing, the A6400 can be picked up for around £869, making the latter two models relatively close in price at this time. 

We’ve been spending some time with the new cameras - as well as two new APS-C lenses also launched at the same time - at a Sony press event in Copenhagen, Denmark, and can bring you some initial thoughts.

Key Specifications 

Both the A6600 and the A6100 feature an 24 megapixel APS-C sized sensor, while both also use the same Bionz X processor as found in the highest model in Sony’s line-up, the Alpha A9. Both also use a 425-point phase and contrast detection autofocus system, and can shoot at 11fps, real-time AF, Eye AF and Animal Eye AF is also included on both models.

As the A6600 is more expensive and aimed at more advanced users, there are some key differences in specifications. The A6600 includes in-body image stabilisation, for example which should help you get much sharper shots. Although both of the cameras shoot 4K at 30fps, the A6600 has some more advanced video settings, such as Eye AF for movie, a headphone jack and S-log 2.3 compatibility. 

Another fairly big difference is with the battery, and therefore battery life. The A6600 uses a Z battery, which has a CIPA rating of 880 shots - the longest life of any Sony mirrorless camera and a very competitive offering in the wider market. Bearing in mind you can usually get much more out of the camera than CIPA’s recommendation, this should make it ideal for travelling where you might not be able to charge the camera at frequent intervals. By contrast, the A6100 uses a W battery, which is physically smaller and therefore not as capable. 

To compose images, you can use either a screen or inbuilt electronic viewfinder on either camera. The A6600, as expected, has a higher spec module, with 2359k-dots, compared to the 1440k-dots of the A6100. Alternatively, you can also use the 180-degree tilting touchscreen, which is found on either model. 

One final key difference to note is with ISO capability. The A6600 has a top native speed of ISO 32000, which can be expanded to ISO 102,400. Meanwhile, the A6100 has the same top native speed, but it can only be expanded to 51,200 for stills. 

Build and Handling 

Sony hasn’t hugely deviated from its design of the A6XXX series since the A6000 launched in 2014. It uses a fairly squared off and not very tall design, which leaves it feeling a little cramped at times. Sony says that it has addressed this problem with the A6600, by increasing the depth of the hand grip to give it a more secure hold. It’s still very likely that your little finger will be dangling off the edge of the camera - unless perhaps you have particularly small hands.

On the top of the camera is the standard set-up we’re used to seeing from Sony, including an on/off switch, a mode dial, a couple of function buttons and a scrolling dial which can be used to control various functions depending on the shooting mode you’re in.

The very far left of the camera houses the inbuilt viewfinder. It seems very small to look at, as it doesn’t have any kind of cup or padding, but looking through it reveals a nicely capable viewfinder which gives you a good view of the scene. Removing the eyecup makes it easier for the tilting screen to protrude from the top of the camera for selfies, so it’s perhaps a worthwhile sacrifice.

Speaking of the touch-sensitive screen, you can touch control to change AF point, but you still can’t use it to adjust settings in either the quick or main menu, which is a little frustrating. On a more positive note, you can use it while working with the viewfinder to very quickly change AF point - especially useful when you consider there’s no joystick for making such a change. 

Other buttons on the back of the camera include a Fn button for bringing up a quick menu, and a four way navigational pad, with each directional key controlling a certain parameter - such as ISO, drive mode, exposure compensation and display settings. 

The hand grip incorporates the space for the large Z battery, as well as the single memory card slot. It would perhaps have been nice to see a double slot for the A6600 considering its higher-end target audience, but it’s difficult to know where it could have fit in the slimline body of the A6600.

Having had the opportunity to use both the a6600 and the a6100 for some time while in Copenhagen, it’s plainly obvious that it’s the a6600 which is the more pleasant to work with, especially for prolonged periods. The deeper grip definitely gives better purchase, while the wider array of customisable function buttons give you every opportunity to set up the camera to work in exactly the way you want it to. 

That said, the a6100 isn’t exactly a million miles away from an operational perspective. The shallower grip makes it feel a little less tactile and it’s a little harder to jump straight into the exact specification you need, but for entry-level users who are stepping up from a smartphone, it’s still a good overall experience. 

It would be nice to have a dial at the front of either camera to adjust aperture or shutter speed. This feels like a very natural way of working, and presumably other manufacturers must agree as they pretty much all operate in this way. It doesn’t feel as comfortable to use the rear scrolling dial to make this adjustment, especially if you’re shooting through the viewfinder - but it’s also true that this is likely to be something you’ll notice a bit less if you’re not used to shooting with other cameras, and is also something you do eventually get used to.

It remains a disappointment that the touchscreen isn’t better implemented. It took Sony quite a long time to incorporate touchscreens at all, and while it’s great to have the ability to set the focus point, it’d be nice to go a little further and allow control of other settings via this method.

First Thoughts

It’s nice to see Sony paying some greater attention to its APS-C range of cameras again. Although not the most elegant in design (that honour surely belongs to Fujifilm), it’s hard to deny the technological excellence found within these models that give users every chance of capturing fantastic images.

Having spent a small amount of time with both the a6100 and the a6600, we can already see that image quality looks very promising. Detail looks good, while colour rendition is warm, vibrant but remains realistic. Some good promises have been made to the quality of skin tone rendition, and again initial impressions seem very good on this front. We’ll be keen to test the camera in some more extensive conditions - such as low light, and with moving subjects - but both look like good all rounders, with the more expensive a6600 being the obvious choice for those who are particularly committed to their hobby. 

General operation also seems very good, with excellent autofocus, and fantastic extras such as face and eye detection, including animal eye AF. Again, this is something we’ll be keen to put under more intense scrutiny when time and samples allow.

Launching a successor to the A6000 makes a lot of sense considering the original has sold over 500,000 units since 2014 - whether consumers will be tempted by the newer higher priced model remains to be seen, but it’s good to see these kinds of users being catered for. Meanwhile, the more highly priced A6600 seems like a sensible flagship for this range, and we’ll be keen to report back on some of its more advanced features in due course.

Hands On

Want to see exactly what the new Sony A6600 mirrorless camera looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Sony A6600 mirrorless camera.

A gallery of hands-on photos of the new Sony A6600 mirrorless camera.

Image Gallery

Click on a thumbnail to see the full version.

Preview Images

Ahead of our full review, here are some sample images taken with the new Sony A6600 compact system camera. The Sony A6600 is a 24-megapixel APS-C compact system camera with 4K video recording.

A gallery of sample images taken with the Sony A6600 compact system camera.

Sony A6600 Sample Images

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