I was a bit surprised in early 2019 when Sony announced and released the Sony a6400 APS-C mirrorless camera.  Many of us expected Sony to continue moving upscale with an a6500 replacement, but I concluded in my review of the a6400 that it was more of an upgrade to the Sony a6300.  I surmised (correctly) that the more upscale replacement to the a6500 would come.  That proved true, as the Sony a6600 replaced the now discontinued a6500 as their premium APS-C model at the end of 2019.  It combines the more robust AF system of the a6400 with some of the more advanced features of the a6500 like SteadyShot (In-Body-Image-Stabilization), but with one disappointing twist:  the a6600 lacks the deep buffer depth of the a6500 (107 RAW | 301 JPEG) and instead shares the more tepid buffer depth of the a6400 (46 RAW | 116 JPEG).  I don’t really know why this is, as both cameras use the same kind of memory card and have the same sensor.  The only thing I can think of as a limiting factor is the more robust autofocus taking place.  The a6600 counteracts this limitation by adding one killer addition – it changes from the little NP-FW50 batteries (one of the chief irritations on Sony’s APS-C bodies) to the much more robust NP-Fz100 battery found in the a7/a9/a1 bodies.  That turns a serious liability into a tremendous strength.  I took the a6600 and the 18-135mm OSS lens on a trip to Texas where I needed to travel very light, and, after taking hundreds of images on the trip, a few videos, along with a lot of reviewing, deleting, and showing images from the back of the camera over the course of five days, I had still 50% battery life left on the initial charge that I left Canada with.  That’s fantastic!

You can get the a6600 body-only or in a few kit lens combinations.  The most common kit lens is the Sony E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS that, while not a world beater optically, is a better than average superzoom lens that is extremely versatile and capable of producing beautiful images (many of which will be featured in this review).  Here’s one that I love:

There is a significant price difference between the a6400 and the a6600, with the former being available for about $900 USD while the a6600 costs a much steeper $1400.  You might notice that it isn’t the end of the 2019 or the beginning of 2020 when I am doing this review; it is summer of 2021.  That shows you that I was not particularly desperate to get my hands on one.  Eventually an a6600 has made it into my kit, and I am actually reviewing my own camera now that I’m well familiar with it.  It’s a very good camera in an absolute sense, but what it isn’t is the world beater that Sony needs it to be.  I like the Sony ecosystem much better than Fuji’s, and there are a few areas where Sony has a clear advantage (focus and battery life, primarily), but there’s also no question that a camera like the Fuji X-T4 (my review here) is a more feature rich (and arguably more professional) camera.  So is an a6600 worth considering?  You can check out either my text or video review to help make that determination, but one thing is clear:  you can easily make beautiful images with the Sony a6600…like the ones below.

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Thanks to Camera Canada for giving me a great deal on the a6600 and 18-135mm used in this review.  They are my personal source for my gear and have been great to work with.   As always, this is a completely independent review.

Photos of the Sony a6600

Photos taken with the Sony a6600 and various lenses

Photos taken with the Sony a6600 and 18-135mm

Gear Used:

Purchase the Sony a6600 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase the Sony a6400 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase the Sony E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase the Sony FE 24mm F2.8 G @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK

Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

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Purchase the Sony a6600 @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/2Eobmfe | Amazon https://amzn.to/3BdNELr | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/32tug | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3ihX0x8 | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3exz5Zv | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/2UeHWbL | Ebay https://ebay.us/iWK2wf

Purchase the Sony E 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OSS @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3wNChGL | Amazon https://amzn.to/3hKrgSk | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/32tv1 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3rkAnfO | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3BdRUup | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/3eyG5VU | Ebay https://ebay.us/w274XC

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