How does this make you feel?- Sony NEX-6 test from Johnnie Behiri on Vimeo.
The NEX-6 is a great camera but according to Johnnie Behiri: “Spending the day with the NEX-6 left me with a very clear opinion. If you are looking for a photo camera that can shoot video: look elsewhere!” The reasons are:
Severe Moire
Severe aliasing
No clean HDMI output
No mic input
REC button in occurred position (to my opinion).
Single region only (PAL or NTSC)
Another NEX-6 test at Nexforum Poland (translation here).
Sony NEX-6 in Stock status check: [shopcountry 14167].
44 Responses
AFAIC, the best feature of NEX-6 is the placement of the video record button and to turn it OFF as long as I wish. 🙂
Perhaps he’s getting the bad moire and aliasing because he’s using the wide angle Tokina 11-16?
Looks like the 5N is still the camera to get, if you’re looking for an NEX photo camera that can shoot video
Yeah, if you can find one that doesn’t go click-click-clickety-click all the way through a video.
You can always sent it to Sony for a free fix, they even have set up a free post to address in the UK.
One that doesn’t go “click-click”, as you’ve so intelligently worded it, wouldn’t be hard to find, considering Sony has remedied the issue.
I have been using Sony cameras quite regularly for a while now and figured that I should weigh in after using them for video production for about 2 years now. I have used the VG10, A-65, NEX-5N and NEX-6 extensively for video.
I started with the VG10 and I never found fault with it. I did not do formal tests but I have edited and graded enough footage from multi-cam shoots that I can tell which camera produced the shot because of it’s characteristic tells.
This is how I would rate them for video quality:
1. NEX-6, best resolution, low-light performance, color, DR, and second best in heat resistance as it has overheated once recording in 1080P@24fps for around an hour continuously. Only the VG10 tops that as never overheating (and I used to run two of them at the same time for events). Some of my best footage was shot on the NEX-6 and it will be my B-Cam once I get an FS100 or 700. It is hard to tell the difference in ISO setting up to 800, and at ISO 800 it is nearly flawless. At 1600 it suffers a tad but is very usable though it has small amount the typical aesthetically-pleasing noise that Sony cameras exhibit.
2. A-65, just as sharp as the NEX-5N, less heat issues, and BUILT-IN SENSOR STABILIZATION that works with every lens… even the FANTASTIC Minolta Maxxum AF lenses. The trade-off is the light loss issues due to having a translucent mirror for the AF system (yes, it can be removed if you go manual focus full-time). The A-65 at ISO 800 looks a lot like the NEX-6 at ISO 1600 except the color is better on the NEX-6. Probably because the lower pixel density on the NEX-6 lets it interpolate the color more accurately. However at ISO 1600 it’s still pretty good, not quite as good as the NEX-6 with a similar mirror in the LA-EA2 (which I use with and without mirror).
3. NEX-5N, extremely close second in resolution, low-light and DR. HOWEVER, its heat-resistance is poor. Only older DSLR’s that were early implementers of video recording are as bad. It’s a crap-shoot, you might get 10 or 15 minutes one day before an over-heat and it might run 30 the next… but anything over 30 minutes continuously and you are pushing your luck with this camera. I have owned 2 of them, both have been sent in to Sony for repair citing this very issue. In the end Sony Officials told me that this camera is only supposed to run 12 minutes at a time, period. If you love the NEX-5N’s price and performance consider getting a VG-20 instead for a few extra bucks, otherwise plan on buying 2 NEX-5N’s so you have a back-up when the first one overheats if you plan to use it for any serious work.
4. VG10, Being fourth on this list is not necessarily bad. I have shot with Canon’s T2i, T3i, 60D, and 7D but at the end of the day any one of these Sony cameras beat any of the Canon cameras for video. With Canon APS-C DSLRs I experienced poor color rendition, soft images, poor DR, and poor low-light capabilities. I have never looked back since leaving the Canon camp (though I shoot on Nikon glass mostly and have been itching to try shooting with the D600 or D800). The VG10 gives you better performance, better lens compatibility (with cheap adaptors), and most importantly, NEVER OVERHEATS. The NEX-5N has the low-light advantage, with very slight edges in DR and resolution when compared to the VG10.
My recommendation would be to get the VG20 (rumored to have 5N performance, but without the overheating) or the NEX-6, which is much smaller making it much more practical for photography on the go but so small it’s nearly impossible to shoot any usable footage hand-held even with the Sony lenses with optical stabilization. But anyone who wants good images knows to avoid the SEL lens line-up. Just buy adaptors and get REAL lenses.
Hope this helps. You can check out samples of the footage I have shot on these cameras at youtube.com/MeanGrain
I respect Behiri’s work and opinion, but I find it odd that he would have this to say about the NEX6, considering that he raved about the video quality of the 5N. I wonder if it’s really worse? Or if he simply ran into problems on this particular shoot? I wish he had done a side-by-side comparison so that we could better understand.
BTW, I actually didn’t notice it in the video. Can someone point out the moire and/or aliasing to me?
It is worse than a 5N. I purchased it and returned it for an NEX-7. The NEX-6 is great for photos but really bad for video (with ALL the lenses I tried it with). Don’t buy if you plan on doing ANY video.
Damn, so far I simply expected the NEX-5R & -6 to be improvements of the NEX-5N.
I noticed a bit of aliasing from the 1:43 mark on the tractor’s wing mirror and opened rear window, but didn’t see any moire.
Overall I’d say the video quality is very decent – and more than adequate for the average user of this camera. The video quality kills anything my NEX-5 can do.
Want pro quality video? Buy a pro quality video cam!
Check the comments section from Vimeo to see his response. The NEX-6 was definitely worse for video.
“To my eyes the NEX 5n produced a cleaner image. I was hoping that a newer camera from the NEX family will produce a better image video quality wise.”
The thing is, there is no APS-C camera for video as small as the NEX-5n or NEX-6 on the market (maybe the EOS-M will usurp that). I’ve gotten addicted to the ease of carrying around the NEX-5n with a 50mm lens and never feeling weighed down.
Overheating, moire, aliasing, are ergonomics are problems, but they can all be managed as long as one knows the camera and stays within the bounds of its capabilities.
At this point, m4/3 cameras are good enough that there’s no magical reason we should nix them outright when deciding on a camera. If you’re mainly looking for video, the advantages of the GH2 outweigh whatever it loses by not being APS/C.
That said, it is a little bigger than Nex6.
what do they say about the dynamic range of nex series ?
“the NEX series cameras show greater dynamic range when set to “Sunset”. Settings: contrast -3, saturation -1, sharpness -3″.
Is it true ?
where can I find some explanation ?
thanks
For me, I really don’t care about the video quality. I never intentionally take video with my cameras. I was glad to have sony release an update to the 7 that included disabling the video button. The only video I’ve ever taken with my 7 was when I accidentally pushed that button.
By far the most realistic color I found on the NEX-7 and it does grade nicely. Go into Picture Effects and use “soft high key”
Hm, maybe its cause NEX-6 seems to have really weak AA? If it has some AA at all. Not that I would care about video. Its nice feature, but I would be happy with A900 forever too. 😀
But having no AA filter doesn’t seem to have affected the D800E video mode so adversely. This is disappointing but I never seriously considered the 6.
Well the D800E actually has an AA filter, but its effect is negated. To me, this is a good news for still people. I can’t wait to see the comparison between the 6 and the 5N in term of sharpness. My AA-less NEX-7 should be here today.
Can this be fixed with a update? I am hoping it can be or he got a bad camera.
Honestly I could care less. I don’t plan on using the camera for production film quality use. There are many camera’s I would choose before the Sony Nex-6 for that specific task. Regular family fun and even review type work that I do will be fine in my opinion. I’m not really sure why people think an $900 dollar camera is going to pump out killer HD or a clean HDMI even. Sony sells video cameras as well, so why would they do that? Just my .02cents
On a side note, I did some extended length video testing on the Sony Nex-6 last night and I was able to record at 1080 60P until 30 minutes was up or the memory card filled up. 8gig card. I did this almost 3 complete times before the battery died. No Over Heating issues at all to report, although the camera did get noticeable warmer thru out the testing. Total recording time was about 95 minutes or so.
Jay
Many film makers with NEX-FS100 are using one or more NEX-5N to have footage from another view. So if you can’t really count on E-Mount as the system that lets photography and film grow together this is scratching one of the best NEX-advantages.
Simply seems Sony’s is lacking firmware improvements, since Andrew Reid has been disappointed about the NEX-VG900 quite similarly and wrote about the A99’s video: “Line skipping artefacts and low bitrates in 2012 are no longer acceptable.”
Thanks Jay for the (over)heating test with the NEX-6. I do plan to get an NEX-6 for video.
Thanks, Jay, for the feedback. I just got my NEX-6 a couple days ago from New York City (I’m in Tokyo) and have already taken the camera out for a spin both in terms of photography and videography. This sudden, early on lamenting about video quality has me a bit upset, having just acquired the camera. I have not posted any of the videos yet which I hope to do today. I shot night time christmas illumination scenes and ad hoc shots around my neighborhood at night. If interested, you can have a quick look at photos I already posted at my Facebook album:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151242998704666.481190.791609665&type=1&l=1146fab766
I hope to get some video online later (YouTube and/or Vimeo) I shot as well at the InterBEE Show yesterday (Japan’s equivalent of the U.S. NAB Show in Las Vegas). When I get the video online I will post the link. Cheers, Jerry
Here are more photos I shot with the NEX-6 taken at the ongoing InterBEE 2012 Show in Tokyo, Japan this week.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151247303374666.481904.791609665&type=1&l=fad9144aaa
So it the 5R video quality the same as the 5N then or a bit worse like the 6?
awkward or occured?
I recently used a NEX-5 as a tripod mounted 4th camera to shoot a wedding video, and I was very satisfied with the footage.
Would I use it as a main camera for critical work? Hell no. But as a camera that can capture what amounted to about 4 seconds of footage in the final product, and doing it at 1080p, it was more than adequate.
Hi, right now I eagerly want a nex-6 vs nex-5R vs nex-5N video comparison…
I was just about to buy a Nex-6 for family photos/video, as a clear portable/quality option, but with this drawback I don’t know if I have to think in something like Nikon D5200…
Would this problem be solve by a firm update?
+1 (looking forward to a serious NEX-5/5N/5R/6/7 video quality comparison – probably including NEX-VG10/20/30/900)
Of course most problems like that could be fixed via Firmware Update, but that’s a problem of highly advanced codec optimisation and how the camera is reading the sensor, so I wouldn’t count on that at all, since Sony usually forgets firmware anyway once a new model is released.
I understand why he left the creative styles at default for a review sample, but sharpness really should have been set at -3 to avoid moire and aliasing. I have an NEX6, looking to take some longer with it, but so far it seems on par with the NEX 5n: the creative style just has to be set appropriately.
Merely one person’s opinion. I’ve been using my NEX-6 for a couple of days now. Am quite satisfied with it…. images and video.
He sure made a fine looking video with all those limitations he encountered.
On the plus size, if they’ve gone ahead and remove the low pass filter in front of the sensor, then it may prove a better camera for stills as well as wide angle lenses.
I think this camera produces darn good video for it’s size and price point. I think the capabilities of this tiny camera and others in the NEX line are nothing short of a miracle. I mean it wasn’t long ago that 1080p 60fps video simply wasn’t an option on a consumer camera nevermind in this tiny body.
Sure there may be some aliasing and moire seen under specific conditions, but that is predicatable and can be controlled. You can watch for this while you are filming and work to avoid it. It also has other artifacts inherent with all CMOS sensor video camera like rolling shutter jello cam and banding that can happen under flickering lights. Even cameras like the Red produce these artifacts. Just understand the limitations of your equipment and work within them or around them.
As another commenter stated on the video… Changing the picture mode settings to Sunset and lowering the sharpness and contrast settings to -3 will improve the AA out of camera. I have found this really does improve the results because Sony’s filters seem to be very aggressive by default.
The lack of an audio input is really a hit against this camera considering other cameras in the nex line can deal with audio, but few DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras do a good job of audio in camera. Generally the solution seems to be to record on a portable audio recorder and sync it up later.
I don’t think anyone should look to this camera as the main camera for a broadcast project, but it sure can produce a “professional looking” image if you need it to.
Agree with your analysis.
If I had to guess, I would say these guys are probably overstating any tradeoffs they detect in the NEX 6 when compared with the 5n.
The sensors are reportedly very similar – SONY recognised that many preferred the 5n sensor over the one in the NEX7.
I was actually pretty impressed with the quality and impact of some of those video sequences.
very good points I now have to decide btwn this and the nex-7 but alot of people say the nex-7 overheats randomly so I may just stick w the nex-6 I already got a external recorder the other day to practice with while i save up.
Take Johnnie’s comments with a Grain of Salt folks. I was the 1st commentor on his vimeo page asking why such a Harsh review of a camera when he gave a Rave review of the 5n.
All he could say was that compared to the Canon 7D its similar in terms of moire and aliasing but his frustrations lie with the fact that 4 years later it has not been eliminated. He’s taking it personal.
Keep in mind he still owns his NEX-5N and he fails to touch base on the MANY improvements that the 6 has over it. WIFI, PDAF, and NO OVERHEATING are very big updates especially the overheating issue which he himself admitted was one of the main reasons he does not use his 5n for production work.
Johhni’e Video and review was merely his way of voicing his frustrations to the world in hopes that many will agree with him. He just expected too much. “Clean HDMI, NO Moire, and a more Filmic Look” in a Cam less than 900$ is a stretch. What he’s doing is expecting a small mirrorless consumer camera to compete on the same playing field with his vastly more expensive Pro Video Camera.
At the end of the Day the NEX-6 has IDENTICAL image quality when compared to the NEX-5n with the added benefit of NO OVERHEATING!!! In terms of video thats the only update i expected to see! Nuff said!
TK…
I guess you protect a camera you shot with and saw its picture quality…
Not frustrated and certainly not taking it personal…..
Disappointed since Sony could have done better here.
Moire and aliasing sample here:
https://vimeo.com/53577244
Thanks.
Johnnie
Is there ANY DSLR/Mirrorless other than the GH2 that doesn’t have the exact same problems though?
Currently testing the Canon EOS-M and EOS 6D.
Will share the results with the community
Thanks.
Johnnie
In response to “No mic input.” You can find aftermarket XLR, and 1/8″ adapters for the Multi interface shoe. the 1/8″ adapter is about $20.00, and the XLR adapter is about $45.00. You can also buy the Sony XLR boom mic, and XLR interface for $800.00.
This is an old thread but:
A) I noticed no major moire or aliasing problems on the video at all.
B) Looks like you shot everything at 60p – (or maybe you shot 60i?). So… your squeezing 60 frames per second into 28Mbit/s video. Had you shot in 24p at 24Mbit/s, you’d have better looking video, albeit without the slow motion.