The Critical Importance of Checking the Mileage of SONY ILCE-6000

SONY ILCE-6000 (Alpha 6000) without exaggeration can be called one of the most popular and successful mirrorless cameras in history. Released in 2014, it is still actively used by photographers. Its popularity is due to its excellent hybrid autofocus and fantastic rate of fire of 11 frames per second. It is this “machine-gun” speed that is the main reason why it is imperative to check the mileage of the A6000 when purchasing it in person.

Many commercial photographers have used the ILCE-6000 as a second or even primary camera for action, children's parties and sports. During one such shooting, the shutter could work 2-3 thousand frames. As a result, on the secondary market, a huge percentage of carcasses have a mileage that has exceeded 100, or even 200 thousand operations, while outwardly they can look quite decent.

Alpha 6000 bolt assembly reliability

Sony engineers equipped the camera with an excellent 24.3-megapixel APS-C sensor and a very durable curtain-slit mechanism. The experience of service centers shows that the A6000 shutter is an incredibly successful and “survivable” design. There is no officially declared resource for the amateur segment, but statistics from repairmen indicate that the mechanism can easily withstand 150,000 operations, and with a successful combination of circumstances and the use of an electronic front curtain (EFCS), it can survive up to 300,000.

However, mechanics are mechanics. Wear of springs and slats is inevitable. If you buy a camera with 10-20 thousand frames, it’s practically a new thing. If the meter has exceeded 100 thousand, it is worth asking for a good discount, since the risk of shutter failure begins to increase geometrically.

Read hit count from EXIF ​​metadata

In order not to buy a “pig in a poke”, you just need to look at the metadata. As with the entire modern Alpha line, the ILCE-6000 (BIONZ X) processor continuously totals the number of mechanical shutter releases. This number is firmly embedded in the EXIF ​​data (ImageCount tag) of each photo taken.

This data cannot be falsified or reset using standard means. Resetting to factory settings leaves the counter untouched. The only caveat is that for the most accurate picture, you need the most recent photo taken by the camera, since the counter increases with each new press of the shutter button.