It's not every day you come across a compact system camera with autofocus that outperforms a high-end DSLR. But with the a6000 Sony has achieved something very special. Not content with simply creating the world's fastest autofocus*, Sony has included a focus area that covers almost the entire frame and combined this with superb tracking capability. It leads to what every photographer wants – sharper photos and fewer dud shots.
The autofocus takes 0.06 seconds, which – at the time of writing – is the fastest of any APS-C camera ever made. In practice it means that whether you're shooting an excited child, a dancer in motion, a speeding car or any other moving subject, the focus will lock on in an instant.

Phase Detection autofocus

The sensor uses Phase Detection autofocus – the same precise focusing system favoured by DSLRs – with a staggering 179 Phase Detection points. So the active focus area covers virtually the whole of the frame, meaning your subject will be in focus wherever it appears in the scene. The hybrid focus system also employs 25 contrast detect points that work by analysing the digital image for edge detail in order to ensure sharpness. Working in combination with phase detection, it makes for incredibly fast autofocus performance with outstanding coverage.

4D focusing

Sony's 4D focus system makes use of those 179 phase detection points not only to track the subject's position in the scene, but also to analyse the movement and predict what it'll do next. So if, for example, an athlete is bounding towards the camera, the 4D focus system will calculate their position in 3D space and track their speed in order to accurately predict their next movement. It's also clever enough to recognise what you want to be sharp. Even if something else gets in the way for a moment, the autofocus won't be fooled into shifting away from the moving subject.
The speed and breadth of the autofocus is impressive enough but, on top of this, innovative focusing modes like Face Detection let you prioritise one face over others in a crowd, and Eye detection snaps on to the part of the face that you always want to be sharp.

Focus area controls

Often the autofocus system will make the right choice quicker than you could, but if you prefer to take more control then you can zero in on part of the frame by choosing from a range of Focus Area controls. 'Flexible Spot' lets you choose a single point of focus anywhere in the frame, while 'Zone' prioritises a larger portion (useful for vertical portraits when you know the head will be in the top half). 'Centre' enables the centre focus point, so it's ideal for those who like to focus and recompose before shooting. And if you ever prefer to manual focus then there's another nice touch – as soon as you begin turning the focus ring on the lens the viewfinder will jump to 16x view for extra precision.