The Sony A6000 is a good solid interchangeable lens camera with one major advantage over rivals: effective continuous AF which works pretty much anywhere on the frame for stills or movies.

Very high resolution 24 Megapixel sensor; Most effective continuous AF in its class; Fast continuous shooting at 11fps; Fast single AF; Good viewfinder and tilting screen; 1080p video with full manual control; Built-in Wifi with NFC and downloadable apps; Broad degree of customisation

Laborious process to set single AF area position, No touchscreen; Screen only tilts, not fully articulated, No GPS tagging built-into Wifi app, Apps sometimes feel like reinstating features, No 3.5mm microphone jack, No leveling gauge, No miniature effect for movies, No silent shutter option

The mirrorless interchangeable lens camera segment is heating up. We have seen some really good mirrorless cameras across price segments this year. There's certainly more action happening in this segment and the advanced point and shoot segment, than the DSLRs which are just iterating on set design...

Recent years have seen some very cool Sony cameras: the first full-frame compact camera, the RX1, as well as the first full-frame interchangeable-lens compacts, the a7 and a7R. In the midst of all that full-frame hoopla, the APS-C-format NEX-6 debuted to relatively minor fanfare, although its fans...

Editors' note, July 2, 2014: After evaluating subsequent products in this class, I've retroactively granted the Alpha 6000 an Editors' Choice for consumer mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, replacing the older Alpha NEX-6. While it's not perfect, it's the best all-around option in its class.

Despite small annoyances, the Sony Alpha 6000 is a great overall camera for more advanced photographers who want something smaller than a dSLR, especially if they need the continuous- shooting speed.

The Sony Alpha 6000 has seriously fast continuous shooting for the money, and its design improves upon its predecessor's already excellent one; Plus it's got an extensive feature set.

The movie record button remains annoying, and while it delivers excellent photo quality, it's not best-in-class in low light; It's also slow on startup.

This review was first published in the June 2014 issue of Practical Photography - download back issues here .

Incredibly fast, accurate autofocus; Tiny, lightweight and sturdy; Big, clear electronic viewfinder; Impressive still and video quality;

No in-body image stabilisation;

A superb mid-ranger that puts the "compact" into compact system camera

Incredibly fast; accurate autofocus; Tiny; lightweight and sturdy; Big; clear electronic viewfinder; Impressive still and video quality

No in-body image stabilisation

As the mirrorless, interchangeable-lens camera market continues to grow, it's more difficult to make a decision about which camera to purchase. Other new mirrorless models, such as the Olympus OM-D E-M10 ($799 with lens) and the Samsung NX30 ($1,000 with lens), also offer solid feature sets and...

Fast continuous shooting and autofocus; Compact body; Multiple custom control options; Above-average image quality; Excellent low-light performance

Vast array of camera settings may be overwhelming; Noise reduction can be excessive; Clunky adjustment of focus point selection

Hits a home run for quality, performance, features and price

Hits a home run for quality, performance, features and price