Sony Alpha 6100 Sony - Review 🏆

The Sony Alpha 6100 is a mid-range APS-C mirrorless camera aimed at photography enthusiasts and amateur photographers. Released in late 2019, the a6100 sits near the top of Sony's APS-C lineup, just below the higher-end a6400 and a6600 models. Despite its more affordable price point, the a6100 retains many of the features that make Sony's mirrorless cameras so popular.

The Sony a6100 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C sensor, advanced autofocus with real-time tracking, fast continuous shooting, and 4K video recording capabilities. It has a compact, lightweight body with an electronic viewfinder and a flip-up rear touchscreen LCD. Overall, the a6100 provides an excellent balance of image quality, performance, and portability for its class. It's a versatile everyday camera suitable for travel, street photography, portraits, vlogging, and more.

In this review, we'll take a more in-depth look at the Sony a6100's design, features, image quality, performance, and other aspects to see how it stacks up for enthusiasts looking to upgrade from entry-level cameras or smartphones.

Body and Design

The Sony Alpha 6100 has a lightweight and compact design. The camera body weighs just 0.512 lbs (392 g) which makes it very portable and easy to carry around. Despite its small size, it still has a good grip thanks to the textured coating. The body is made of high-quality plastic composite materials which are durable yet keep the weight down.

The compact size paired with the light body make the A6100 a great travel companion or everyday carry camera. It can easily fit into a bag or large pocket, so you'll barely notice it when carrying it. The lightweight build is ideal for travel photography, street photography, or all-day event shooting where you don't want camera bulk weighing you down. Overall, the design emphasizes portability without compromising durability or comfort when shooting.

Similarly, the Sony RX100 IV boasts a sleek and ultra-compact design, perfect for photographers on the go. Weighing only 0.82 lbs (294 g), this camera fits comfortably in your pocket while offering exceptional image quality. Its retractable lens and high-resolution sensor make it a powerhouse for capturing stunning shots without the bulk of traditional cameras. Ideal for travel or casual shooting, the RX100 IV is designed to provide convenience without sacrificing performance, complementing the needs of any photography enthusiast.

Image Sensor

The Alpha 6100 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor, which provides excellent image quality and high resolution photos. The sensor's advanced design allows it to gather light more efficiently, resulting in less noise, richer colors, and better low light performance compared to previous generation APS-C sensors.

With 24 megapixels, the 6100 can capture a tremendous amount of fine detail in both stills and 4K video. This makes the camera well-suited for landscape, architecture, portrait and product photography where resolution is critical. The high pixel count also provides more flexibility for cropping images in post-production.

Overall, the 24MP sensor gives photographers the ability to make large prints with stunning image quality. It provides an ideal balance of resolution, low light performance and great dynamic range.

In addition to the Alpha 6100, the Sony RX100 III Creator Kit offers an exceptional compact camera option for creators. With its 20.1 megapixel 1.0-type stacked sensor, this kit is designed for high-quality video and photography, featuring a fast f/1.8-2.8 lens that excels in various lighting conditions. Perfect for vlogging and travel, the RX100 III's compact size, combined with its advanced capabilities, makes it a favorite among content creators.

Autofocus

The Sony Alpha 6100 features an advanced autofocus system with extremely fast 0.02 second AF acquisition. It utilizes 425 phase and contrast detection points that cover around 84% of the image area. This allows for wide coverage and reliable focusing even when tracking fast moving subjects.

One of the standout autofocus features is the advanced real-time tracking and real-time eye AF. The camera can detect and track the eyes of humans or animals in real time. This makes it easy to capture tack sharp portraits, even if your subject is constantly moving. The eye AF works seamlessly for both photo and video recording.

The 6100's autofocus capabilities allow you to capture clear, properly focused images of subjects in motion. It's ideal for photographing kids, pets, sports, and wildlife. The intelligent subject tracking helps maintain focus on your subject if something passes in front of them. Overall, the fast reliable autofocus makes this a great choice for beginners and enthusiasts looking to capture sharp images of moving subjects.

Continuous Shooting

The Sony Alpha 6100 boasts an impressive continuous shooting speed of up to 11 frames per second when using the mechanical shutter, ensuring you don't miss a moment when shooting fast action. This rapid burst shooting capability stays steady even when tracking a moving subject, making it easy to capture the decisive moment.

Photographers who frequently shoot sports, wildlife, or other fast-paced scenes will appreciate the ability to machine gun off shots in quick succession. And with a buffer depth of around 116 JPEG images or 46 RAW images, longer bursts can be captured before the camera needs to pause. This gives you more flexibility when holding down the shutter and spraying frames.

Overall, the 11fps high-speed shooting of the 6100 delivers the performance needed for action photography and challenging shooting scenarios involving motion. It's a capable option for enthusiasts who want the versatility that a fast continuous shooting speed provides.

Video Capabilities

The Sony Alpha 6100 has impressive video capabilities for a mirrorless camera in its class. It can record high quality 4K video up to 30fps, providing sharp, detailed footage.

One of the standout video features is the ability to record 1080p Full HD slow motion video at 120fps. This allows you to capture fast action like sports or wildlife in smooth, dramatic slow motion. It's a great creative tool to have in your arsenal when shooting video.

The 6100 utilizes oversampling when recording 4K footage, meaning it takes a 6K image from the full width of the sensor and downscales it to 4K resolution. This results in improved image quality with reduced moire and aliasing artifacts.

For videographers needing more advanced recording options, the 6100 has "S-Log2" and "S-Log3" picture profiles available. These provide greater dynamic range and flexibility when color grading in post production.

Overall the video capabilities make the 6100 a great choice as an affordable 4K mirrorless camera equally suitable for photography and videography. The inclusion of high frame rate slow motion expands the creative possibilities when shooting HD video.

Display

The Sony Alpha 6100 features a 3-inch 180° flip touchscreen LCD display with 921k dots of resolution. This vari-angle screen can be tilted up 180° and down 74° for flexibility in shooting from high or low angles. It's particularly useful for taking selfies or vlogging.

The touch capabilities allow you to use touch focus and touch tracking. You can tap the screen to select a focus point or touch and drag to track a moving subject. This allows for quick and intuitive control over focus.

Overall, the flip screen is a versatile feature that videographers, vloggers, and photographers will appreciate. The ability to tilt and rotate the screen in different directions expands your creative options when composing shots. And the touch focus and tracking bring an extra dimension of interactivity.

Connectivity

The Sony Alpha 6100 has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity for wireless image sharing and remote camera control. The WiFi allows you to easily transfer photos to your smartphone or tablet through the Sony Imaging Edge Mobile app. This lets you quickly share your images on social media straight from your camera without having to use cables.

Bluetooth is also included for an always-on low-power connection between the camera and your mobile device. This continuous connection enables features like remote triggering of the shutter, touch focus control, and image browsing from your phone or tablet. The constant Bluetooth link means you don't have to re-pair your devices each time you want to wirelessly connect them.

Overall, the wireless capabilities of the 6100 provide convenient ways to share your work and control the camera remotely. The WiFi image transfer and Bluetooth remote control integration make on-the-go photo sharing and shooting simpler.

Battery Life

The Sony Alpha 6100 is powered by an NP-FW50 rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which provides enough juice for up to 420 shots per charge based on CIPA standards. This is a decent battery life that should get most photographers through a full day of shooting.

The battery can be charged either via the camera's USB port or using an optional AC charger. Charging via USB is quite slow, taking around 150 minutes, so the separate charger is recommended for quicker charging. It's also handy to pick up a spare battery or two so you can swap them out when one runs flat.

Overall, the 6100 has solid but not outstanding battery life. The 420 shots per charge rating is fairly typical for a mirrorless camera with this size of sensor. Photographers who plan to shoot events or travel for long periods may want to invest in extra batteries to ensure they don't miss any shots. But for general day-to-day use, one battery should be sufficient. Just be sure to charge it fully the night before any big shoots.

Conclusion

The Sony Alpha 6100 is an impressive mid-range mirrorless camera that packs in a lot of great features for both photo and video use. Here's a quick summary of the pros and cons:

Pros

• Fast and accurate autofocus system with real-time Eye AF for humans and animals
• Large 24MP APS-C sensor produces high quality images
• Can shoot up to 11 fps continuous shooting with AF/AE tracking
• 4K 30p video with full pixel readout and no pixel binning
• Fully articulating touchscreen LCD
• Compact, lightweight body that is easy to carry around

Cons

• No in-body image stabilization
• Battery life could be better
• No headphone jack

Overall, the Alpha 6100 hits a sweet spot between price, performance and portability. It's a great choice for enthusiasts and beginners looking to step up their photography, especially for portraits, action shots and video. The combination of speedy performance, image quality and useful features like real-time tracking AF make this a very capable all-rounder. If you don't need weather-sealing or super-fast burst shooting, the 6100 represents excellent value in the APS-C mirrorless category. It's easy to recommend for a wide variety of photographers and videographers.