New Sony A6000 vs Panasonic G6 - Which One for Video?

The last few days have been a "camerapalooza" of new camera announcements, price cuts and general chaos in the still/video hybrid camera world.  That's great news for camera bloggers, but not-so-great news for consumers trying to make decisions on where to spend their hard-earned money.

So, instead of the usual "Sony rolled out the A6000 last night, here are its great new features, you should hit the pre-order button and order yours now" - I thought I'd list the new camera's video pros and cons - and compare it with the reigning still/video champion in this price class.

For this comparison, I've chosen some of the areas that, in my view, are most important to shooters who want both a high quality camera and "camcorder" in the same package.

Sony A6000

• Video viewfinder: Yes
• Fast video autofocus: Yes
• Peaking/Zebras: Yes
• Power zoom available: Yes
• 1080/60p: Yes
• Recordable HDMI out: Yes (bit depth unknown)
• Moire and Aliasing: Unknown
• WiFi/NFC: Yes
• 30+ minutes of continuous recording: No
• Manual audio levels: No
• On-screen sound level meters: No
• Front facing LCD: No
• External 3.5mm mic jack: No (hot shoe mic)
• Body Only Street Price: $648
• Kit street Price: $798 w 16-50 power zoom

Panasonic G6

• Video viewfinder: Yes
• Fast video autofocus: Yes
• Peaking/Zebras: Yes
• Power zoom available: Yes
• 1080/60p: Yes
• Recordable HDMI out: No
• Moire and Aliasing: Minimal
• WiFi/NFC: Yes
• 30+ minutes of continuous recording: Yes
• Manual audio levels: Yes
• On-screen sound level meters: Yes
• Front facing LCD: Yes
• External 3.5mm mic jack: Yes
• Body Only Street Price: $699
• Kit Street Price: $629 w 14-42

The Sony A6000 is a great upgrade for NEX-6 and NEX-7 still photographers, but, unfortunately, there seems to have been a lot of video capability left out of this camera - perhaps to protect the $1298 RX10.

If so, Sony has missed an opportunity to show that they are serious about competing with Panasonic for enthusiast video shooters in this price class.

So if you have $600-$700 to spend, and you're looking for the best value for money still/video camera you can buy, I have to recommend the reigning champ in this class - the Panasonic DMC-G6.

If this has helped you to make a buying decision, please order through the links above or the display ads below.  It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help keep these blog posts coming.  Thank you!