The Sad Story of the Sony A6600

I thought I would bring you up to date on the situation with some of Sony's smaller cameras.

Sony told its dealers at the end of last year that it would no longer take orders for the APS-C A6600 or the beautiful A7c, which put a full-frame 24x36mm sensor in the A6xxx form-factor. Parts shortages were the reason. The A7c was essentially an interchangeable-lens version of the fixed-lens RX1. The A6600 was the latest in the A6xxx product line, with a larger battery, top-level features, and improved build-quality. The A7c was barely more than a year old at the time of discontinuation, having been introduced in September of 2020. The A6600, introduced in late August 2019, was a little more than two years old, but it hadn't been easily available before the news came of its suspension.

Sony A6600

At the same time, it was announced that the A6100 had reached end-of-life. Intended as an entry-level replacement for the longtime-bestselling A6000 of early 2014, the A6100 also turned out to have a short life, as it, too, was announced in August 2019 alongside the A6600 and thus came to an end after only a little more than two years. Although parts shortages were blamed in that case too, declining interest in APS-C cameras probably also played a part.

It's possible either the A6600 and A7c or both could return one day, when parts supply problems are solved. It's possible even Sony doesn't know, as it would depend on decisions yet to be made.

My A6600
One of my longtime frustrations with Japanese cameramakers is that there is always an assumption that smaller, lighter, or simpler cameras are for less serious photographers and should be decontented, built less well or more to a price point, or use less than the best sensors. The A6600 bucked this trend: it had most of Sony's best AF technologies including tracking and eye-detection, a huge battery and beefy grip, and a very good sensor. The build quality was first rate, a far cry from the high-value but budget build of the original A6000.

Alas, the camera was just not designed by photographers. I can't believe it was, anyway. As DPReview noted in its review, "this camera is just begging for a front control dial"—both dials on the A6600 are accessed with the thumb (i.e., set flush so you can't grab them with thumb and forefinger) and there's no way to control both aperture and exposure compensation with dials. The back controls are inherited from past models and have an unexamined feeling to them, like nobody bothered to take a fresh look. It's not a disaster but it's still something of an ergonomic fail. Basic operating controls should be job one for camera designers, not something that come in second to how sleek and cool the shapes all look in a drawing. (Nikon schooled everybody with its Z series, which look goofy but feel great in the hand and ergonomically put the needs of the operator-photographer foremost.) Sony's cameras seem to me to give precedence to clean industrial design over either hand-feel or operating control. I've never held or operated an A7c, but it solved the top-plate problems, assuming the FF lenses you get for it have aperture rings. Unfortunately it dispensed with the in-line viewing screen. And it didn't have a front control dial either.

Anyway, that's what's going on with these products, as of now.

Mike

UPDATE: Looks like the A7c will be back. Jeff In Colorado found this report of an announcement to that effect.

Book o' the Week

Grit and Grace: Women at Work in the Emerging World. Unfortunately, this will be the posthumous swan song of the indefatigable documentarian Alison Wright, whose untimely death at 60 in the Azores this year meant she never got to see it published. Wright's photography was inextricably entwined with her life's dedication to social justice, a sense of acceptance of humanity, and a roving search for beauty and color.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Bob Rosinsky: "I've been shooting with Sony cameras for over ten years. They all have their quirks; most cameras do. I currently use a Sony A6600 and an A7c. Ergonomics aside, both are highly capable machines. I use them for stills and video. Sony color science has improved over the years, and autofocus is stellar. Another plus is the availability of reasonably priced high-quality third-party lenses, although the Sony 24–70mm ƒ/4 is a bargain, especially on the used market."

Comments

[Rob L.]

I've yet to use a Sony camera that didn't make me love my Nikons more - great output, frustrating operation. I'll forgive the RX-100 series, barely, simply because the utility outweighs the frustration most days, and more frustrating in that Sony has shown they CAN design good interfaces in other products.

[Christer Almqvist]

When you said: "The build quality was first rate, a far cry from the high-value but budget build of the original A6000", didn't you mean high-price?

[Bob Johnston]

IMHO Sony are not really a camera company. They are a consumer electronics company that make excellent sensors but cameras - probably designed by electronics engineers, certainly not photographers. Stick with Fujifilm or Nikon, maybe even Canon.

[Greg]

Others merchants took advantage (or had to because of labor and material shortages) of the pandemic to look at their product mixes and drop items that didn't help the bottom line much.

[jseliger]

"The A6600 was the latest in the A6xxx product line, with a larger battery, top-level features"

"Top-level features" isn't really accurate: it essentially re-used the A6500 sensor, and didn't move forward to a version of the (Sony) sensor that went in Fuji's X-T3 and X-T4.

For whatever reason, Sony wasn't willing to use the Sony sensor that went in Fuji's APS-C cameras, which enabled lower rolling shutter and other features.

[How do you know what sensor is used in the X-T3 and X-T4? I don't believe Fuji releases that information. --Mike]

[Michael Fewster]

I just added an A7C to my A7R3. I like the A7C a lot for its combination of FF, fast tracking and small size and weight. The lack of a front control dial doesn't bother me as I prefer barrel aperture any way. Re any discontinuance of the A7C. This seems odd as Sony bought out a number of excellent lenses that seemed to have the 7C particulalry in mind. First was the tiny but optically impressive 28-60 that is perfect as a walk around travel with the 7C. Then in 2021 aresony brought out the small prime trio of 24, 40 and 50mm primes, all with barrel aperture control. This looked to me as though Sony was taking on the APS-C rivals with a similarly sized FF. If the 7C is indeed discontinued, I for one will be very disappointed.

[Greg]

"Nikon schooled everybody with its Z series, which look goofy but feel great in the hand and ergonomically put the needs of the operator-photographer foremost." I beg to differ... I much prefer the feel of my now vintage D700 to my Z6 in hand, but the mirrorless Z6 is slowing winning me over because of its live view. Verses the image being mirrored up to the prism on my D700.

[Omer]

I don't think a6600 sales have met Sony expectations so it was a surprise when the company released the excellent 16-55mm G lens. But for both, the price is close to $2800.00, beyond what many believe an APS-C kit should cost. Well, the lens is suggestive that Sony may have something in the wings.

I don't know if the sensor is the same as in the 6500, but to my eyes and especially at ISO 100 the 6600 has better latitude, verified by photonstophotos.net:

https://photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Sony%20ILCE-6500,Sony%20ILCE-6600

[Jeff in Colorado]

A7C production was restarted awhile ago:

https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-will-resume-a7c-and-zv-10-orders/

Was seriously tempted to get one a couple of years ago, but in the end, I opted for the A7R4's 61 megapixels + no AA filter instead, and I'd say that decision has worked out nicely.

[Stephen Scharf]

What Bob Johnston said.

Also, for "regular folks" (i.e., you and me) Sony, farms out service and repair to a third-party.

Canon, Nikon, and Fujfilm all have their own in-house service and support facilities in North America.

When I was working as a DFSS MBB (Master Black Belt) I used to teach a principle called "Design for X" Design for X is about the "-ilities".

You know, stuff like: Reliability, Durability, Serviceability, Repairability, (Parts Availab)ility, etc.

Design for X is not sexy or glamorous; you won't find any of the multitude of YouTube reviewers discussing "Mean Time to Failure" for durbability for a shutter mech. B

ut in the REAL WORLD, where we all ive and work, it's very important.

You want to buy cameras from companies that have this DOWN. In my experience, Canon, Fujifilm, and Nikon all do a very good job of this.

Sony, OTOH, has one of the worst records for Design for X and their Service and Support infrastructure. This view is exactly because of what Bob said, Sony is a consumer products company; their view is Can you say "Betamax"? "MiniDisc"? Oh, BTW, Sony just discontinued their A-mount lenses in February of this year. How about that for leaving customers in the lurch?

'Nuff said.

[Paul C]

I grabbed an a6600 when production was suspended in 2021 - I have an a6500, and the battery life and some autofocus quirks always annoyed me a bit. The a6600, for me, was a substantial improvement.

I just picked up the (dirt cheap) Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 Contemporary - I didn’t have two zooms in that range, and if my wife and I were taking a camera to different events it was a hassle. I’m shocked at how good that Sigma lens is. Miss the range of the Sony 16-70 f/4 a bit, but the color and sharpness of the Sigma is (at least to my eye) superior.

[jseliger]

"[How do you know what sensor is used in the X-T3 and X-T4? I don't believe Fuji releases that information. --Mike]"

Manufacturers release megapixel count, measured rolling shutter levels, and the like publicly: https://www.dpreview.com/news/5471659816/fujifilm-x-t3-makes-waves-with-a-26mp-x-trans-sensor-and-4k-60p-video. If that's not enough, people then link them up to sensor spec sheets, though I don't keep track of those because they're not relevant to me.

[Pixel Perception]

Been tempted by a few Sony cameras over the years, but when decisions were ultimately made and money was spent, I always ended up sticking with either Canon or Panasonic.