Is The Sony A6000 Worth It In 2024? A Walk Around Vancouver (w/ Sample Photos)

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Over the past few months, I developed a new hobby: scouring Facebook Marketplace for bargain camera gear. It’s not atypical for me to have 20+ tabs open simultaneously, most dedicated to watching various searches for newly listed Sony This or Sony That. It’s why I have most of the gear that I do review or experiment with. No, I don’t have a hoarder’s closet of thousands of dollars of camera gear, I don’t typically keep them long before selling them off again. All that to say, I’ve had a few A6000s, and they don’t typically stay on my shelves long. Surprisingly, A6000s are listed frequently and also purchased frequently. For a camera that was released 10 years ago, that’s not bad at all.

So a core question that people ask (even sometimes when they’ve met up with me to purchase the camera) is, is this camera still good in 2024? The short, absolutely yes it is. I had my reservations with the kit lens, but even that 16-50mm E PZ lens (easy peasy) grew on me during this photo walk. In this post, I’ll write more about my walk around Vancouver, and my reviews on the places I went to, but note that all photos were taken with the A6000.

Food Stops

Marugame Udon

Being in Vancouver, naturally, the things to do are: eat and do some outdoor activity – whether that’s hiking, kayaking, speedwalking, or whatever floats your boat (even going outside to float a boat). Being 1 degree outside, and fresh after a day of snow, it was cold here in Vancouver. A very atypical start to March, just a little under 2 weeks away from spring break, and it’s freezing. That would mean that I’d stay more inside, and pop out periodically, when the sun was out, to grab a few photos with this camera combo. I also brought the Sony 50mm f1.8 along with me, the lens I thought I’d prefer more over the 16-50mm E PZ, but that eventually was proven otherwise. I’d have the A6000 in one pocket, and the spare lens in another pocket. It’s a terribly convenient package to have with you when travelling light.

Our first eating stop would be the newly opened Marugame Udon. We first discovered this amazing chain restaurant in Honolulu, where the line wrapped around the block. It was so good that we visited multiple times that trip, and made it a point to visit the locations in its homeland in Japan as well. The moment you walk into a Marugame Udon, you’re faced with very busy kitchen workers. One team would handle the making of udon on one end (all udon is made fresh at Marugame), one kneading the dough, then turning to split the dough into noodle length, and finally dunking it into the hot water, waiting a few moments before fishing it out with a large net. Fresh udon, nothing frozen, nothing sitting in a vacuum-sealed bag for god knows how long at the T&T supermarket endcap.

Next to them, the order taker and udon bowl creation chief. Give them your order, ‘2 Kake Udons, Large’, and they’d quickly dunk a bowl into hot water, take the udon from the fresh batches created next to them and scoop a healthy portion of hot dashi into the bowl. Take it, and move along. The next stations are where you get to load up on any tempuras that the kitchen has prepared. This is often a selection of squid, vegetables, prawns, chicken, and more. There’s usually a specialty item as well, sometimes an onigiri of some surprise flavour, but the Vancouver location did not have this. Marugame also serves rice bowls, but who comes to an udon place for rice?

It’s fast, and it’s food court style. It’s also very simple, and delicious. I’d recommend Marugame to any visitors, hungry downtown workers, students (of which, the place was filled to the brim), or otherwise.

Lovelarte

Close by Library Square (the library in downtown Vancouver), there’s a relatively unassuming cafe from the outside. A small sign outside mentions, ‘Espresso Bar, and Bakery’, but I’m here for the matcha latte, and to read through The Cook’s Tour. The service is great, and the barista/owner dedicates a lot of care to crafting each of the drinks I saw him prepare for myself and others. The cafe gets lots of love from locals, as well as international students.

Nestled in the corner of the cafe, near the area where you’d put the sugar and such in your tea/coffee/latte/baked good, is a section dedicated to letters and sketches to the owners and baristas of the cafe. It’s super cute, and highly recommended to read through a few of them. There’s a common thread amongst them all: the staff here are extremely nice, the place is very comfortable to study, read, or chat, and the staff are also attractive. To my wife: I only noticed the former and not the latter.

Revolver

Revolver has long been on my to-do list. Nestled in the heart of Gastown, Revolver specializes in crafting espressos, and lattes, with beans from around the world, and offering a tasting menu as well.

Inside, I couldn’t help but think of how ‘Pacific Northwest’ the place was. Brick wall interior, baristas with moustaches, beards, and tattoos, Patagonia jackets, toques, amongst a rich mix of diverse customers. It’s a pretty ‘Vancouver’ cafe. Translation: it came across as a very hipster experience, which isn’t for everyone. There’s a separate room with a long bench table, that customers typically work or read at, or share conversations in hushed tones with their partners/friends. Despite the whole hipster thing, I still dig it here. The lattes were delicious.

L’Atelier

Straying a bit farther from downtown, L’Atelier is located on East Broadway and Carolina St. With a 45-minute seating policy, I wouldn’t say that this cafe is the most comfortable spot to get into a book or even a conversation. The espresso was strong though, so that was a saving grace. A Cook’s Tour was lugged around again here and finished. It’s a good read for wannabe world travellers or foodies or chefs (or all combined). The seating policy rushed my eyes along the page at a more rapid pace than normal. Funny how deadlines work.

I didn’t get to try the chocolate croissants or the other bakery items here this time, but in the past: it’s always been a hit. I wouldn’t want to come back to sit down with someone though, as we’d always have to be mindful of the clock (though, we all may know people that we can only be with for 45 minutes at a time).

Street, Landscapes

Walking around downtown Vancouver is something I haven’t done in ages. I’ve lived here my whole life, and a few places like downtown have been neglected since I took on a career in marketing. Having recently broken off on my own, away from the teat of a safer corporate life, I’ve discovered how much of the city I’ve yet to explore. Living in Vancouver for so long, the beauty of the city can be taken for granted, as with so many other things in life as well.

Looking up past brick buildings, and seeing mountain ridgelines tower over in the distance, is something to behold. Photowalking with the A6000, a camera I fit comfortably in my jacket pocket, is something that enabled me to appreciate this even more, and for that reason: I’d recommend it to anybody. Whether you’re getting into photography, or just looking to appreciate and capture moments in time, get this camera if you’re considering it.

Thanks for Reading!