Sony a5100 or a6000

[Mitchie123]

Hi There, I know both a5100 and a6000 have been in the market for a few years now. Been a Nikon D3100 user since 2012 and no complaints so far. I just feel like exploring on some other options as well. Just do photography as a personal hobby and mostly for family affairs. Anyone who has any feedback about Sony a5100 and a600? I've been reading this review and learning a few things but sure want to confirm with the real users out there. ?
 

[Pieter]

If you're coming from a DSLR you'll likely be used to a viewfinder, which the a5100 lacks. For me this difference alone would be reason enough to go for the a6000. Image quality is pretty much identical. If you shoot movies on occasion, the a6000 has continuous autofocus while shooting, the a5100 doesn't. The main advantages of the a5100 are compactness and price, though the a6000 isn't big either, especially compared to a DSLR.

[Mitchie123]

Do you recommend Sony over Nikon?

[Pieter]

Both produce great camera's so to each their own. Let me try to let you follow my reasoning for buying an a6000  some years back.

First of all, the fundamental question in this specific Sony versus Nikon case to me should be more like: 'Do you recommend a mirrorless camera over a DSLR?' For the obvious reasons my answer would be 'yes', but at the time my primary reason to go with mirrorless was to get the best possible image quality in the smallest possible size. The smaller my camera/lens combo, the bigger the odds I bring it with me.

My reasoning then was that I couldn't justify the price and bulk of a fullframe system so I went for APS-C instead. Then it comes down to brand:

- Nikon: didn't have mirrorless APS-C at the time. They now introduced the Z50 but it uses the huge Z-mount so it will never be really compact. Lens options will be very limited for the near future.

- Canon (M-mount): autofocus wasn't great at that time and lens options very limited. If you ask me now I think M-mount is a dead end and in the long run Canon will only maintain the new R-mount.

- Fuji: great option and viable alternative to Sony. Didn't like the EVF-hump in the XT-models much (don't like that hump in A7x either). I didn't research Fuji extensively at the time as the price/performance ratio of the Sony a6000 was so good. If you really like oldschool manual controls you might want to look into Fuji.

- Sony: was rapidly expanding their mirrorless lens lineup and seemed totally committed to the E-mount system (A-mount was pretty much left to die). The a6000 was (and still is) exceptional value for money and I really love the form factor. Many people complain about the a6xxx-cameras being too small but at least they have something of a grip (which most Fuji camera's lack).

If you read this far, you have the same preferences as I did and if your budget is limited then yes, I recommend the Sony a6000.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Pieter