Sony A6400: Same look, new possibilities
Sony has recently announced another brilliant camera in its compact system camera (CSC) series. While the a6400 does build on the foundations of its predecessors, it takes inspiration from their full frame cameras. Bringing some of the most advanced full frame technology to the APS-C lineup at a much cheaper price point. The a6400 is sure to appeal to many people out in the market.
Features
The Sony a6400 still boasts the 24.2 MP APS-C sensor but has overall better light sensitivity with the native ISO range going from 100 – 32000 and expandable all the way up to 102,400. The maximum shutter speed has been set to 1/4000 with the electronic shutter going up till 1/32000. The continuous shooting is still the same as previous models at 11 fps and 8 fps with the silent shooting mode. One amazing addition to the camera is the Bionz X image processor. This is the same as the one is the full frame Sony A9, their current flagship model. Sony has made improvements to the buffer capacity of the a6400. The camera can shoot 116 JPEGs or 46 RAWs without slowing down. That is more than enough for most photographers.
Autofocus
Big Improvements have come around for the autofocus in the new camera. While the camera has similar 425 autofocus points it now has 425 contrast detection points as well which cover 84% of the sensor area. Sony has once again improved the autofocusing speed down to 0.02 seconds which trumps the a6300s 0.05 second focus time. That is certainly fast, considering that the a6300 had what Sony claimed was the ‘worlds fastest autofocus’.
Sony’s Eye AF has been another welcomed feature added to the a6400’s autofocus arsenal. This feature allows the camera to automatically detect the eye of the person in focus, particularly useful for portrait photographers. Real time Eye AF will be coming to the camera as a software update somewhere in summer 2019. So you can activate the feature with half the press of the shutter and detect the eyes of the subject in real time. This feature will also work on animals, which will make wildlife photographers really happy with this camera.
Video
This camera will once again be a favorite for all types of video makers due to its brilliant oversampled 4K video recording at 30 fps and 1080p at 120 fps. The a6400 is one of Sonys first cameras with the option to record in HLG (Hybrid log Gamma) so you can shoot HDR ready footage directly from the camera. Once again the S log2 and S log3 give you the freedom of professional color grading and post production for more vibrant results in video. The touchscreen allows to focus by touch and the hybrid autofocus does a good job of keeping the subject in the limelight.
Body
The body is almost identical when compared to the other models in this series like the a6300. However, there have been some changes with the screen as it can now tilt 180 degrees up. Vloggers will particularly love this feature as they can now see what they are capturing while recording. The screen now also has touch sensitivity unlike the previous models which will help enhance the user experience. The body is once again built of robust magnesium alloy and Sony claims the camera to be dust and moisture resistant. Keep in mind though that it is not 100% resistant, so don’t consider taking this out in harsh weather conditions.
