Sony Alpha A6000 Gets Announced; Offers World's Fastest Autofocus

Considering right now is usually the time frame where Sony begins its mobile assault with new Android phones like the leaked Xperia Sirius (Z2), the news about a new Alpha camera caught us off guard. Officially announced today, the Sony Alpha A6000 joins Sony’s growing line of mirrorless cameras, placing itself firmly between the NEX-5T and the A65. While the usual specs are top notch like a 100-25600 ISO range, what makes the Alpha A6000 amazing is its autofocus, which Sony claims is the world’s fastest at just 0.06 seconds. Let’s dig a little deeper.

Like its higher-end brother, the NEX-7, the Sony Alpha A6000 features a 3-inch LCD display and an SVGA OLED viewfinder with 1.4m dots and a 100-percent field of view, making it a perfect hybrid camera that can accommodate any lighting environment. According to Sony, the A6000 offers a OLED Tru-Finder which is capable of showing real time previews of

Exposure compensation
Defocusing
Picture Effects applied
Etc.

Sony has also upped the camera’s extremely wide autofocus coverage area to 179 points, versus the 99 offered in the NEX-6, covering around 91-percent of the height of the scene and 92-percent of the width. Shooting in burst is also a breeze with support for up to 11fps continuous shooting with AF tracking active. Videographers should also be pleased with the camera’s 1080/60p/24p movie mode while photographers will have little to complain about with the 24.3-megapixel image sensor.

Living in the connected world that we do, Sony also aimed for the Alpha A6000 to offer easy transferring of its content. To that end, you can find built in Wi-Fi with NFC for easy pairing or remote control via the PlayMemories Mobile app on iOS and Android. Speaking of connecting, the A6000 also includes a multi-interface shoe on the top for additional accessories like mic and flash though a GN6/ISO 100m pop-up flash is built in.

Sony claims that with the included 1080 mAh battery, you can expect to take around 420 images when using the LCD. Photos themselves can either be stored on a Memory Stick PRO Duo or SDXC memory card. Connectivity to your television or computer will also be easy with the micro-HDMI and USB 2.0.

Set to be released in mid-April 2014, the Sony Alpha A6000 will launch with a $799 price tag which includes a 16-50mm lens. As expected with Sony’s mirrorless E-mount line, any lens from the E-series will work with the A6000.