How To Weatherproof Your Sony A6000 Easily!

[the_ad id=”20″]The Sony a6000 is without a doubt one of the most popular mirrorless camera bodies on the market right now and has an absolutely massive user base of both photographers and videographers who use it as their go-to camera of choice for a large number of tasks. The a6000 offers some excellent image quality for its users and has some of the best camera accessories available to it on the market to allow you to adapt it to pretty much any situation that you may need.

All that said and done though, the a6000 does have one potentially major flaw depending on what you are planning to be doing with your camera and that is the fact that it is not weatherproof. Although many a6000 owners have confirmed that they have been able to use their camera in light rain or snow without issue, Sony has confirmed that there is no proper weather sealing on the camera and using it in rain or snow can put your camera at risk.

We have seen a large number of people reaching out every single month about Sony a6000 weatherproof methods but there really is not much content out there for people in this position. Thankfully though, we have decided to make this the subject of today’s article and are going to be going over the three main methods that we feel are best for weatherproofing your a6000 and protecting it against the elements.

Now, we know that some photographers, videographers, and vloggers so choose to simply wrap a plastic ziplock back around their camera body but this is a very basic method that has some major flaws so we will be focusing on three excellent cases that all offer protection for your camera. We have our comparison table below going over the main features of these three weatherproof camera cases and then we will be taking a more in-depth look at them throughout the rest of the article to offer our thoughts on each of them.

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Comparison Table

Last update on 2024-02-01 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

As you can see from our comparison table above, two of the options offer full protection from the elements whereas the third option only offers some splash protection. Although it may seem a little excessive, in our opinion, the best option to take when looking to weatherproof a Sony A6000 is the Neewer A6000 Housing as it offers full protection, is very robust, and has one of the best reputations going amongst the community.

Next up we have the DiCAPac Waterproof Case and although it is a solid, more budget-friendly option that meets all IPX8 waterproof standards with a decent reputation it does have its flaws. It is not as robust as the Neewer option and can some times rip making it useless, additionally, we have seen some reports from A6000 owners saying that the seals have given way and let some water into the case during use.

The final option that we have is the Peak Design Shell and the usefulness of this suggestion is going to depend on the weather in your area and the levels of rain that you will be working in. Although the various Peak Design shells are very popular within both the photography and videography communities and have a solid reputation it is not fully waterproof. If you live in an area like California then it will probably meet your needs but if you are in a state with higher levels of rainfall like Louisiana or Mississippi then either of the options above will offer better protection.

Performance And Functionality

Although you may not need full IPX8 waterproofing for your a6000 but the Neewer case is fully sealed and provides you with protection down to a depth of forty meters or one hundred and thirty feet. Although this is more of a side benefit than the main feature if you just want some standard weatherproofing, it is nice to know that you can fully submerge your a6000 in water while in the Neewer case without issue. In addition to this, the case also offers its full waterproof protection while having a 16-50mm lens mounted to your camera.

Although the DiCAPac Camera Case is listed as also being fully waterproof to IPX8 standards, we would not trust it to protect a Sony a6000 when fully submerged. Although there are a large number of reports from people confirming that they have used the DiCAPac Case when snorkeling we have seen a few about the seals giving way or springing a leak during use. The Peak Design Shells are not marketed as being fully waterproof solutions for cameras so should never be used if you do need to submerge your a6000.

When it comes to rainfall and snow both the Neewer case and DiCAPac Case offers excellent protection even in heavy rainfall and can help to keep your a6000 safe and protected during use. Both cases have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to offering your a6000 protection from rain. The Neewer case offers the best possible protection but is limited to a 16-50mm lens at most whereas the protection from the DiCAPac Case is not as good as the Neewer case but you can use pretty much any lens with it.

The Peak Design case is not ideal for heavy rain but can offer some protection in light rain but in all honesty, we feel that it is simply overrated when it comes to weatherproofing. Depending on the retailer that you purchase these cases from, the DiCAPac option is only ten to twenty dollars more than the Peak Design option and offers much better protection.

Depending on the niches that you are working in you may or may not also require dust and sand protection for your a6000. As you can probably tell from our comparison table earlier in the article, both the Neewer and DiCAPac cases offer some great protection for your camera from sand and dust when housed correctly. If you do regular work on a beach or in other areas with large amounts of sand then you probably know that it can be a pain to deal with so getting a case with some decent protection for your camera is well worth it in our opinion.

Again, the Peak Design product does fall behind when it comes to protecting your a6000 from sand and dust to the other two cases and should not be relied on for optimal protection. If you are on a very tight budget though then it can help to offer some minimal levels of protection during use but again, we would not skim on the weatherproofing case for a mirrorless camera that costs hundreds of dollars.

Build Quality And Design

One of the main worries that we see from people when it comes to weatherproofing cases for their cameras is access to their camera controls. The image above shows the augmented interface system for your Sony a6000 on the Neewer A6000 Housing and as you can see, they really have put the time and effort in to ensure that you still have full control over your camera while mounted in the case and protected from the elements.

Not only does the Neewer case offer the best possible protection but its build quality is absolutely outstanding resulting in a lightweight yet very robust camera case. This means that you don’t have to worry about the case breaking or ripping while in transit to your location only to get on-site and discover that your case is unusable.

Considering the price point of the DiCAPac case, it actually has a surprisingly good build quality but as you would expect for this price bracket, it definatley does have its issues. Even with regular use, we feel that the seals on the DiCAPac case will wear down in a relatively short period of time causing the level of weatherproofing that the case can offer your a6000 to suffer.

Now, the Peak Design Shell has an excellent build quality as you would expect from something from Peak Design but its just a shame that it does not offer the best weatherproofing against the elements. As we have mentioned a few times throughout the article though, depending on your location and what you are going to be doing with your a6000, the Peak Design Shell may meet your needs.

Our Verdict

That brings our article on Sony a6000 weatherproofing to a close and in our opinion, the Neewer A6000 Housing is the best camera accessory that you can add to your collection to get the best possible protection from the weather for your camera. There is a reason that has so many excellent reviews from the community and for the level of protection that it offers you, we feel that it offers you some great protection and value for money.