In August 2019 Sony announced the a6600 and a6100, replacing my beloved a6500 and the old a6000. I came straight home from work to share my honest first reaction: no "wow" this time.
The a6600: what's new
The specs were already all over the internet, and compared with the a6400, not much had changed. On the positive side, the a6600 gets the bigger Z battery from the A7 line, which promises much longer life, and finally a headphone jack. It has the tilting screen we'd seen on the a6400.
But no 4K at 60 fps. I was personally waiting for that. I honestly thought Sony would create a little A9 with an APS-C sensor. I was disappointed.
The a6100
The a6100 replaces the a6000, with a tilting screen too. Here I saw more of a market: if the price is much lower, it's a really good body to start making videos and photos and step away from consumer cameras. A good starting point for someone who really wants to learn.
Why I wasn't upgrading
I was shooting on my a6500, nearly two years in. Apart from the tilting screen and 4K60, I can't complain. I know exactly what comes out of it, the 4K quality and the 1080p at 120 fps. And for the screen, I'd already found my mirror solution. My guess was that the a6600 would cost about €1,200–1,300, maybe around €1,500 in Europe. A lot depends on price, but I wasn't going to sell my a6500 to buy one. Upgrading should mean innovation, something that makes you go "wow".
Two new G lenses
Sony also announced two APS-C lenses: a 16-55mm f/2.8 G, a constant-aperture zoom that looked really good, and a 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G telephoto. Finally a decent APS-C telephoto. I didn't want to buy it, but I really wanted to see it in action.
I own two Sonys, the a5100 and the a6500. Sony is my world, so I follow everything they do. This time, I just didn't understand their choices.