Sony NEX-6 – not good enough

by Sebastian WöberNovember 13^th, 2012

Sony’s new NEX6 mirrorless camera, introduced in mid September was one of those hot candidates that gave us hopes it would make our filmer hearts beat faster. But it seems like one by one new camera is proving to be not much more than hot air to us. Unfortunately the Sony NEX6 is no exception.

Seeing footage from this camera first hand here in Johnnie Behiri’s office I can confirm that in terms of video this is one more disappointing HDSLR (or large sensor video camera for that matter).
To be honest, after 4 years I still consider the first, the 5D mark II one of the best affordable large sensor cameras. Isn’t that weird?

Sony’s previous mirrorless HDSLR pointicams, the Sony NEX-5n for example were not unpopular, but the NEX-6 looks less attractive to filmmakers.

Johnnie Behiri took the camera for a spin in a small documentary style video he called “how does this make you feel?”. Well Johnnie, it brings back the feeling when shooting with the Sony FS700 a couple of months back: Every shot screamed “video” into my face and I was struggling in post trying to get rid of that ugly look and extreme lack of color information. Footage from the small sensor EX-1 videocamera that was used for the making-of was literally indistinguishable from the FS700 footage (yes yes, it’s great and unmatched for slow motion and this can look very nice in some lighting situations).

Here’s what Johnnie writes about the $1000 Sony NEX-6 (link to get)

Sony NEX-6, production model Firmware: V1.00

Spending the day with the NEX-6 left me with a very clear opinion. If you are looking for a photo camera that can shoot video: look elsewhere!

This camera is simply not good enough for video. (it can be great for taking photos but this is not my department). The amount of moiré and aliasing is simply not acceptable.

The dream of having an ultra small HDSLR that can shoot high quality video and be enhanced with accessories if required remains totally unfulfilled here.

Notes on the footage:

– No CC or sharpening was done.
– Some of the footage taken with the Canon 70-200mm f 4.0 is softer due to the use of a Light Craft Vari ND filter (not recommended over 70mm).
Camera strengths: 
– APS-C sensor
– Small size
– Electronic viewfinder
– General button placement and control
– 1080/50p
Weaknesses:
– Severe Moire
– Severe aliasing
– No clean HDMI output
– No mic input
– REC button in occurred position (to my opinion).
– Single region only (PAL or NTSC)
Camera settings: 1080/50p
Creative style: Standard (Contrast 0, Saturation 0, Sharpness 0)