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The Sony α6600 sits at the top end of Sony’s mid-range E-mount mirrorless cameras. I’ve found it a true workhorse for content creators, photographers, or videographers. Read on to find out why I love this camera and how I chose it from the myriad of others.

Why should content creators buy the Sony α6600?

A camera can be a significant investment. When I was in the market for a new stream camera, I wanted something that could pull triple duty in my hands. The more I use it, the more I can justify the expense.

The camera needed to be at least decent for all three of my uses: stream, stills, and videography camera. I’ll explain my thinking for each category below, so read on.

The Sony α6600 makes an excellent 4K webcam

Five years ago, my idea of a webcam was the little cut-out hole on the top of laptop screens. When I started to get into live streaming, I realised that these tiny cameras have severe limitations.

I moved onto a Logitech BRIO 4K Stream Edition which improved the quality significantly; however, it was still holding me back when using a Green Screen on streams.

The biggest problem that the Sony α6600 solves is noise. Noise comes in two varieties, shot noise which comes from stray photos entering the lens; digital noise, on the other hand, comes from the sensor, imperfectly rendering the colour of the photons as they hit the sensor.

In a studio, a professional lighting designer can reduce shot noise. However, in the majority of cases, shot noise is inevitable. Digital noise, on the other hand, is dependent upon:

  • Sensor size,
  • Inherent limitations of the sensor,
  • Heat.

The Webcam in a laptop will be small, inexpensive and subject to heat from the computer - explaining why the quality was poor. I also discovered that a significant amount of signal processing happened in the driver; disabling my Webcam improved the real-time audio performance of my laptop.

External webcams, on the other hand, have the advantage of more space, larger, more expensive sensors, and better heat dissipation. However, unless you buy an Elgato Facecam they are still not going to be photographic quality.

However, an APS-C camera, despite its small sensor size relative to professional cameras, is comparatively huge and the most expensive component of the camera.

The Sony α6600 also copes well as a general-purpose videography camera

I need a camera capable of an absolute minimum of 30 frames per second, 60 frames per second would be preferable. Also, 4K output is beneficial as chroma-keying has cleaner pixels to work with before downscaling to High-Definition (1080p or 720p).

What you need depends very much on your pipeline and output:

  • Video Conferencing - is typically limited to 1080p30 at most; Zoom is capable of 1080p30; however, Teams and Google Hangouts are currently only capable of 720p30 on a good day.
  • Livestreaming - technically you can live stream to YouTube and some other services at 4K. However, on the modern internet, this is probably pointless. Most viewers cannot view your stream in its full glory, forcing the streaming platform to transcode your stream down to 1080p.
  • Green-Screening - technically called Chroma-Keying, is the process of making parts of your image transparent, allowing you to superimpose the subject on a backdrop. Again, 4K is preferable for chroma-keying as a sharp transition between green and non-green pixels allows for a clean chroma-key.
  • Content Reuse - I highly recommend recording streams in the highest resolution possible. Recording in high resolution allows you to repurpose your streams for other platforms. Reuse is less of an issue on YouTube with a landscape layout. However, when it comes to portrait media such as YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok, you need to be able to reframe your short and wide landscape content to be tall and thin portrait content.

The Sony α6600 has a clean HDMI output

To use a DSLR or Mirrorless camera as a webcam, the user must be possible to configure the camera to output a clean HDMI image without custom firmware.

Fortunately, since the α6000, all Sony Mirrorless Cameras have been able to output a clean HDMI signal. On the α5xxx, it’s possible, although it would likely void any warranty; that said, these cameras are old enough now for this not to be an issue.

The Sony α6600 can run as a webcam and record video only limited by storage

There is nothing worse than losing footage due to the camera shutting down. There are several reasons that this could happen:

  • Built-in limitations
  • Thermal shutdown
  • Storage space

Modern cameras tend not to have a built-in limitation, and often this was to circumvent a thermal shutdown anyway. Sony α6600 has unlimited runtime, only limited by the size of the SD card installed.

Is the Sony α6600 a good camera for photography?

Having a camera that can play double or even triple duty in your kit bag is invaluable. As a still photography camera, the α6600 allows me to make a larger investment product than if I was investing in separate units. I owned the Nikon D5300 for three years when I bought the Sony, but I wanted more.

Having observed the downward trend of Digital SLR cameras and the growth of the Mirrorless Camera industry, seeing both a shift in camera bodies and lens availability, I was keen on dipping my toe into the mirrorless world. However, I know I’m not ready to get into the world of full-frame sensors, I started with crop sensors, and I feel like I get a lot out of these cameras.

APS-C is a perfect sensor size for everyday photography

There are arguments for and against APS-C as opposed to Full-Frame, Micro 4/3rd, or Medium Format sensors. However, APS-C is an excellent entry-level as it provides a good balance of quality against the expense.

Like the full range of Sony cameras from the α6xxx, α5xxx, and the NEX before that, the Sony α6600 boasts an APS-C sensor which means inexpensive gear, good battery life, and decent-sized images with some room for crops.

Autofocus

Many authors have written about the Sony Alpha auto-focus; for a good reason, it’s Crazy Good. Fortunately for users of Nikon and Canon, recent firmware has matched or even exceeded Sony’s autofocus capabilities. So this is an excellent time for portrait photographers, as the big-three manufacturers are in an arms race to provide better auto-focus.

Rest assured, though, the Sony α6600 auto-focus is fantastic and will rarely miss focus on either animals or humans.

Lens Availability

I’m a huge fan of prime lenses. This obsession is a reasonably recent fascination, mainly in the last year when I’ve acquired several prime lenses for different purposes.

16mm Lens

My very first prime lens for the Sony camera with the Sigma f1.4 16mm lens. I use the 16mm as my primary lens for my webcam as 16mm is close to the human eye’s approximate focal length. I also use the 16mm for landscape photography and in low-light situations.

35mm Lens

The next lens I picked was a Sony f/1.8 35mm. The Sony 35mm isn’t quite a pancake lens, although it is tiny compared to my Sigma lenses. The 35mm is my primary videography lens for live streaming larger groups of people or speakers on stage.

It has a little more distance than I could achieve with the 16mm lens. Additionally, the slightly tighter focus, and the capability to operate in sub-optimal lighting inside, for example, a church, gives me the ability to produce a lovely bright and clear image with a reasonable amount of background blur depth of 3d depth of field.

50mm Lens

One of the most recent acquisitions was a full-frame 50mm F 1.4 Sigma Art lens. So when attached to a Sony APS-C, this represents roughly a 75mm field of view. As a result, the 50mm has become my primary nature photography lens. Wandering around and looking at plants, wildflowers, and insects, I often take pictures using this lens as it allows me to get tight shots without spooking the wildlife.

70mm Macro Lens

My most recent acquisition was a Sigma 271965 70 mm F2.8 DG Macro Art lens again; this is a 70mm full-frame lens that represents a 105mm field of view and is designed explicitly for macro capabilities. The 70mm has allowed me to get close to that 1:1 representation of subjects I’ve been yearning for in my macro photography.

Summary

Looking around at popular photographic retailers in the UK, there appear to be about 200 different lenses, so there is no shortage of Sony glass available for the Sony α6600.

Round-up

The Sony α6600 has become my go-to camera, allowing me to jump to Mirrorless and the Sony ecosystem. Fantastic auto-focus, flexibility, and glass availability make for a real workhorse for photography, videography, and as a webcam.