A top camera for travellers

Camera enthusiasts looking for DSLR (digital single lens reflex) quality and performance in a much smaller and lighter package have plenty of choice. Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic and Sony all have excellent compact mirror-less camera systems that offer the advantages of interchangeable lenses and advanced features of DSLR cameras.

Because they don't have the bulky mirror box, these cameras are much more compact, making them an attractive alternative if you are looking to save on size and weight without compromising on quality.

Sony's A6000 is the perfect example. It features a super-fast continuous autofocus with an 11-frames-per-second burst which outperforms many mid-level DSLR cameras, a large 24.3 megapixel image sensor, and all the functions and controls you would expect in a DSLR.

I was given an opportunity to test a Sony A6000 to see if it lives up to the hype.

My test kit included the camera with the standard f/3.5-5.6 16-50mm lens, a Sony f/1.8 55mm portrait lens and Sony f/3.5-6.3 18-200mm zoom lens.

First impressions are good: the camera feels nice and solid to hold despite its compact size, the design and layout of the buttons are intuitive and easy to work out, and you have the choice of using the electronic viewfinder or the three-inch tilting LCD screen.

The A6000 offers all the control you want with its intelligent auto, superior auto, program, aperture priority, shutter priority, manual, scene selection, panorama and movie settings. The tiny built-in flash is good for fill flash and close-up flash photography, but if you need a bit of extra oomph you can attach a more powerful flash on to the hot shoe.

I am keen to try out the much- hyped super-fast autofocus and, as it happens, I have the perfect test for it. The camera arrives just before I go to watch the Malaysian Moto GP at the Sepang raceway in Kuala Lumpur, so what better way to test the autofocus than pitting it against motorbikes travelling at more than 300km/h?

I'm used to my Canon EOS 1DX, so it takes me a little while to adjust to the size of the A6000 and the electronic viewfinder, but after a little trial and error I slowly get the hang of it. I choose the 18-200mm zoom, set the camera to shutter priority mode and the shutter speed to 1/1250, and let the camera take care of the aperture. The drive mode is set to continuous high and the autofocus to continuous.

The key is to pan with the riders so the autofocus can lock on to the bikes as they speed past. When I get that right, the camera performs quite well even when shooting continuous bursts. It's not quite comparable to my 1DX but I'm not surprised - there is, after all, a significant price difference.

The Moto GP was quite an extreme test for the autofocus and I do find its limits, but in all the other day-to-day situations I find the A6000 very hard to fault.

The different modes give the camera a wide appeal - I can't think of many photographic challenges that can't be done well with this little gem. It is a good, easy-to-use all-rounder that won't take up too much room in your bag on your travels, which means you will most likely use it more.

The kit lens is good but for the more discerning photographer it would pay to look at either a couple of fixed prime lenses or a better-quality zoom such as the 18-200mm.

I found I used the 18-200mm lens the most. It is a quality lens with a huge range, which makes it a great travel lens. Even though it is quite bulky on the small camera, it still feels reasonably well balanced. The 55mm f/1.8 is a terrific lens, fast and sharp. There is no doubt the fixed prime lenses are the ideal choice but most of us like the convenience of the zoom lenses.

A Sony A6000 kit with the camera body and a 16-50mm lens sells for about $845 and there is a wide range of accessories available.

The Sony 18-200mm lens sells for about $900 and the 55mm f/1.8 for about $1000.

• The main specifications: *

·24.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor

·Bionz X image processor

·Hybrid AF system with 25 contrast-detect and 179 phase-detect points

·Built-in flash and multi-interface shoe

·Eleven frames per second continuous shooting with subject-tracking

·Three-inch tilting LCD with 921,600 dots

·OLED electronic viewfinder with 1.44M dots

·Full HD video recording at 1080/60p and 24p; clean HDMI output

·Wi-fi capability and downloadable apps

See Mogens Johansen's full gallery of pictures taken with the Sony A6000 online at our photography page at thewest.com.au/travel.