The new Sony NEX 6, part II

Continuing with my initial impressions of the Sony NEX 6, begun in Monday’s post, the NEX 6 adds Wi-Fi, which, when activated, allows you to connect wirelessly to your smart phone or tablet, after downloading an app to your device. Via Wi-Fi, you can then transfer photos from your camera to your smart phone or tablet. That sounds cool but I have a camera connection kit for my iPad which does the same thing, so I’m not too excited. At this point you can’t transfer from the camera to, say, your home computer via Wi-fi for back up or to Twitter or to your favorite blog, but hopefully that’s coming.

Sony NEX 6, in-camera B&W effect

The NEX 6 also allows downloading of apps from Sony, which adds some functionality to the camera. This has huge potential, but right now there’s a pretty small offering of apps. So I view this as a strong “someday” feature and a pretty neat way for Sony to keep the camera current in terms of features.

Some of the more useful features carry over from the 5N such as panorama mode, auto-HDR, and auto Dynamic Range Optimization. This pano was shot last weekend in Scituate, Massachusetts, and it’s a good test of the camera’s ability to stitch multiple images into one. This had to be a challenge due to the constant moving and breaking of the waves. The results are impressive.

Sony NEX 6, panorama mode

Paired with Sony’s 55-210 zoom lens, these scenes from Scituate are satisfyingly sharp and the colors are rich.

Sony NEX 6, 55-210 zoom, f/13, 1/250s

Sony NEX 6, 55-210 zoom, f/13, 1/160s

One (ok, maybe two) niggling points with the NEX 6: with the LCD or EVF in use at all times, the battery runs down quickly. Sony claims 270 shots when using the EVF and 360 with the LCD, (that’s about what I’ve experienced). And the provided charger charges the battery in camera, and you can’t operate the camera while charging. I’ve already ordered two spare batteries and an external charger. Third party batteries and chargers are pretty inexpensive.

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So, solid image quality, good low noise performance, feature rich, and small enough to fit in a coat pocket, but not too small.

Anyone want to buy a Nikon??!??

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and many thanks to YOU for all your support, from all of us here at 2 Guys Photo.

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