TLDR: I bought Sony a6700, it is awesome, but I have some nitpicks about ergonomics.
At this point, I’ve had my good old Canon 850D for over two years now, and it has served me quite well. I bought it to re-learn the basics, re-ignite the passion for photography, and get myself an extra-work activity that I truly love.
Given the intention, the 850D has done its job brilliantly! It offered (well, it still does, I still have it) all a beginner could want and much more. So much so, that I slowly came up with a list of features that I’d like to have on my next long-term camera.
Some must have features from the list are an IBIS, more megapixels, cause I often re-compose in post, better and faster autofocus, a joystick, etc.
For the past year or so I’ve been primarily looking into full frame mirrorless cameras. Mostly older models ranging from Nikon Z6ii to Sony A7 III, you know, cause I cannot justify a $4k+ sticker price of a new camera for the life of me (plus my wife would kill me if I ever dared to make the purchase 😅).
So, at some point, I came across Petapixel’s review of Sony a6700, and boy did it send me down the rabbit hole. I’ve probably checked out every single review of the camera that’s out there.
Now, obviously it did not offer a full coverage for my feature list, it has an APS-C sensor, smaller resolution, etc, but, It felt like a good compromise between price and features.
So, after sitting on that thought for a couple of weeks, I bought it, with the 18-135 kit lens.
At this point, I took it to a couple of walks with me, as you can see from the photos below, and I have to say, that, functionality wise, it does everything I wanted it to do.
Compared to my 850D, it has one additional control knob, which I use for exposure compensation, and it has been a game-changer so far.
Because it has superior subject tracking, I don’t even feel the need for an autofocus joystick anymore. I simply put the focus square on the subject and re-compose. As expected, it does a wonderful job at it.
As for the “lack” of megapixels, I made a vow to take a slower approach and do a better job at composing in-camera, to not have to do it in post later on.
Have some nitpicks regarding ergonomics though. For instance, I think the grip could be improved a bit. My pinky constantly folds underneath the camera as there’s not enough room for it on the grip.
The AF button would’ve been so much easier to use if it was placed just a bit to the right, you know, something similar to what cannon does.
These are certainly not dealbreakers, and I think I’ll get used to it after some time.
Overall, I think I’ve made a good choice, and I quite like my new camera. With me being a one camera one lens type of person, I hope it’ll serve me well for the upcoming years, and looking forward to taking it out for various trips soon.
