Sony NEX-6 vs dslr

Hey guys, just looking for some advice as always!

I own a Sony NEX-6 with 50mm 1.8 and 16mm 2.8 (extra batteries, cards, flash etc), and i shot a wedding over the weekend with my other half (she has 7D).

Now I'm really happy with the low light performance at high ISO, the image quality in general and the fact is so light weight. Plus I love the fact i can use the screen to take photos and it gives me the same focusing speeds as looking through the viewfinder.

Now onto the negatives. I had to change batteries several times throughout the day, it seems to eat the due to everything being electronic. Also, the main problem, was focus. The NEX-6 has contract detection auto focus and with some lenses (50mm 1.8 for example) it uses the centre for Phase Detection aswell. Now, sounds good on paper, but in practise not so good. I got the shots I wanted and happy with the results, but several times the camera struggling or just didnt focus at all. And at times with people moving (applying make-up etc) the casmera seems too slow to aquire accurate focus.

Now what I'm wanting to know is, that if I sold my NEX-6 and went for say a DSLR, would I really get quicker and accurate auto-focus, mainly in low light? p.s I use centre point AF and recompose.

And when I say DSLR, I mean something like the 550D, 600D, 650D, 60D etc (within my price range) and spend more on glass.

If you get a 6D, then yes, it will be very sharp and fast, in low light, with the center point. Outer points are good for good light.

a 70D would also be pretty darn good. My 7DII has no problems with low light focus at all.

The rebel bodies are not really designed to focus in poor light, or have as good high iso as the above cameras.

You don't need a killer lens just yet, the 50mm f1.8 stm is a really great lens for $150 or less, and several other primes, the 85 f1.8 for examples, and most of those are in the $300-400 range.

ksbal wrote in post #17655989
If you get a 6D, then yes, it will be very sharp and fast, in low light, with the center point. Outer points are good for good light.

a 70D would also be pretty darn good. My 7DII has no problems with low light focus at all.

The rebel bodies are not really designed to focus in poor light, or have as good high iso as the above cameras.

You don't need a killer lens just yet, the 50mm f1.8 stm is a really great lens for $150 or less, and several other primes, the 85 f1.8 for examples, and most of those are in the $300-400 range.

Yes agreed with everything there. I mean my other halves 7D focussed fine with the nift fifty 1.8 in the same lighting where my NEX-6 really struggled or just didnt focus at all.

If i was to change to say the 550D I would be pairing it with the 50 1.8 or 85 1.8 (85mm is in my eyeline at the mo!)

So with that combo, would focus be more reliable in lower light?

it depends. the 7D isn't a rebel camera, and is probably better at focusing in low light than the 550.

Why not get another 7D? very good deals to be had on them at the moment, if you can't step up to a 6D or 70D.

6D center point offers the very best in af in low light right now. Also one of the best in low light/high iso performance.

and I'd get the new 50mm stm over the old nifty fifty any day.

Rebels are not good at high iso. 6D is pretty amazing, and the 70D is not far behind, very very good for a crop sensor.


here is a comparison of a 650 vs the 6d at 12,800 iso

http://www.the-digital-picture.com …&TestComp=0&ISO​Comp=12800

but if you are going to use a flash, then it probably doesn't matter, they are all pretty decent at 400 iso.

Have you considered an A6000? I know a guy who went from a NEX6 to A6000 and he swears the AF is the best he's ever tried (he also owns/owned A7/A7II, 5DIII, D800). I had a NEX6 for a while, and AF was one of my only complaints (which led me to get a 7D for a while actually). Battery life was ~1000 shots though, not sure if that's what you're getting. Turning off all the unecessary stuff like wifi and using only the viewfinder to shoot greatly improves any of the Sony mirror-less cam's battery life. The NEX6 was about on par with the Nikon D7000 I came from, so I would imagine it's fairly similar with most of the lower end dslrs from other manufacturers as well (the few lower end Canon's I've tried were probably worse). 7D on the other hand is currently my best rated body I've ever owned for AF accuracy and speed, wish I still had one. The downside would be the poor IQ at higher ISOs (I couldn't tolerate anything above 320 to be honest)

But yeah, long story short: I'd look into an A6000 since a) you're familiar with the system, and b) you've got some glass (and I would assume other accessories) for it.