Sony A6400 Sony A6400

Sony A6400 - my review of a little big camera

Sony A6400 - a crop camera! Not full size! Is there any purpose for such a camera at all? Is it possible to take pictures with this sensor size, even though Fuji is not written on it? Is it worth a blog post?

Did you know that you can read the post in English?

Before I recently bought the new Sony A6400, I was looking for a small camera for the jacket pocket for a long time. Coming from Fuji which wasn't my kind of camera , the Ricoh GRIII did not meet my expectations, I saw the Sony A6400 for the same price as the Ricoh. I have never looked at this line of Sony, but the A6400 fit because of the size and the new autofocus in my booty scheme. In addition, thanks to the same bayonet, I can also use my full-format lenses. In principle, the A6400 is to the A7III, as with Nikon the D500 to D5. However, the A6400 weighs without lens, but ready to use, just 400g. There must be often to liposuction for the D500, in order to get that ...

Small size comparison with Previous™ – or 1000€ to 2000€ to 6000€ (all rounded)

So I suddenly stood at the counter and exchanged my far too rarely used Mamiya 7II against the A6400 - and got even 1000 € transferred to my company account.

Now my grin could hardly be bigger after this exchange, but what do I do? experienced with the camera, fascinated me several times!

Auto Fucking Focus

The new real-time tracking autofocus of the A6400 – comes with the next upgrades in the A7III and A7RIII full-frame cameras within the next few months and has been on the A9 since this Monday (even with animal eye AF) - it's an absolute blast. (Edit: thanks to Sven for pointing out that I Sony press release I misinterpreted the implementation in the A7 models.) I've never worked with such an intuitive and awesome AF. Sony was already the benchmark in the mirrorless sector (and I've tried a lot of cameras) and has now taken it up a notch. There are two reasons for this: the AF simply stays on the object I'm aiming at. Here's an example from the game FC St. Pauli against HSV. (I had bought the camera the day before and immediately got my money's worth.)

The autofocus clings as well as possible to what you are aiming for. So he's really quick to focus on eyes. Even closed, also between many other people - as you can see here.

Trackingking

In addition to the fantastic autofocus, the AF tracks its object over almost the entire sensor size. So far, this has been the biggest problem with mirrorless cameras. Nikon introduced something like this around 10 years ago with 3D AF for DSLRs in the Nikon D3. I already did that in 2010 shown in a blog post here. This technology was only available in mirrorless cameras with the corresponding reliability with the Sony A9. And now in the A6400 at a fraction of the price. The big advantage is that I can easily pan the camera and optimize my image composition once I have the AF focused on the subject that interests me.

Here is an example from my assignment at Mipim in Cannes. The special thing about the picture is its creation. In order to be able to photograph the picture like this, I had to hold my camera near a pane of glass with my long arm around a steel column. I checked the image section on the display and trusted that the eye AF would not let Mr. Bruns-Berentelg's (second from left) eyes get out of sight (SCNR). I watched the scene across the camera and waited for something to happen in the frame. It was then the exchange of business cards with his counterpart...

Even through several panes of glass, the AF captures the subject once targeted - no matter how I hold the camera

The autofocus alone justifies the purchase of the small camera. The pleasant thing is that the AF simply works. Previously I had to adjust the type of focus field for different types of subjects. In many cases the camera does this automatically. Eye, face, back of the head - the AF takes what it can get and captures it with very high accuracy.

And right up to the edge. The following image may not seem spectacular at first glance, but it is a 100% detail of the following image. You can simply click back and forth.

static noise

At high ISO values ​​at the latest, the small camera is over! Or? Well, I think. I took the following picture shortly before sunset in the shade of the trees in Hagenbeck.

Photographed at Hagenbeck Zoo with the Sony A6400
Photographed at Hagenbeck Zoo with the Sony A6400

The image is photographed at ISO6400. You can see the quality well in the magnification. So here is a picture section.

Sony A6400 at ISO6400
Photographed with ISO6400 and the A6400

Yes, you see some noise, but I think that's absolutely acceptable for the small sensor at ISO6400.

A7III Killer?

The cover photo of the article suggests this. Well, I wouldn't go that far. The AF will soon be retrofitted to the A7III. The Sony A6400 also only has one card storage slot and a relatively small battery. I haven't counted any pictures I can take with a battery. Roughly speaking, I can say that I can photograph a football game with half the A7III battery, but when I have to plug in the second one, I photograph a game with the A6400. Apart from that, the weatherproofing is not as excellent as with a professional camera (a weak point with the Sonys anyway, but that doesn't mean that I don't work with the camera bodies in the pouring rain at the Millerntor).

Missing IBIS

The A6400 has no stabilization in the camera – IBIS for short. For me that's not a problem, because there are also lenses with stabilization - which can be recognized by the abbreviation OSS. Of course, I would also be happy to show you an example of this. The 560mm used is actually 840mm due to the crop factor of the sensor - according to the old rule of thumb, sharp images with an exposure time of 1/200s are not possible. Here is the counter-evidence:

A robin photographed with the 100-400mm lens and 1,4x converter - i.e. 560mm at f/9, exposed at ISO1000 and 1/200s

Well, that's not the performance of the A6400, but it still works surprisingly well.

Lack of clearance due to small sensor

There are very good lenses for the A6400 because the series is not new. These are eye-catchers Sigma 16mm f/1.4*, Sony 24mm f/1.8*, 35mm f/1.8*, 50mm f/1.8*, all of which allow for beautiful cropping despite the crop factor. (Pro tip: always go one step closer than you actually want.) The 35 and 50 also have a built-in image stabilizer. Only the 24mm is quite expensive, alternatively you can also take the 28mm f/2. This full-frame lens – like all full-frame lenses for Sony E-mount – also fits this camera. For me, that was one of the reasons for buying it, as I already have one or two lenses for my A7(R)III.

Is there nothing else to complain about?

Sure, but only for people like me who take photos with their left eye. One of my favorite features on the full-frame Sonys is the ability to move the AF point across the display while looking through the viewfinder. If you don't know this option yet: I look through the viewfinder and with the thumb of my left hand I stroke the switched off display and thus move the focus point. For left-handed mammals, this is much better than the cursor on the right. Even if I then need two hands on the body, it is still more comfortable because I always have my thumb in my right eye when operating the cursor.

Now the problem with the A6400: it's too small! When I move the focus point while looking through the viewfinder, I often end up moving the focus point to the top right corner with my nose. Fortunately, I try to follow an old photography saying: "Photography is about solving problems." Interestingly, with the Sony A6400, I can operate the four-way rocker with my right thumb without getting in the way of my right eye. It also helps that the autofocus works so well, as mentioned above. It's actually really quick to use the middle AF point to aim and then pan the camera.

My conclusion about the Sony A6400

The Sony A6400* is a technical masterpiece, which is why it's a lot of fun to take photos. If you're looking for a small camera that has top-notch autofocus and doesn't necessarily have to constantly take photos in pouring rain, you're in good hands with the A6400. You should also take a look at the camera if the focal length extension doesn't cause you a headache, but rather comes in handy. Except for the missing IBIS and second card slot, practically everything works, like on the big Sonys. I have assigned the buttons on the A6400 so that I can also use the camera to take photos with one hand. Very comfortable at parties when you have a beer in the other hand. Since the folding display enables selfies very well, you will be the hero of your next Instagram story with the Sony A6400...

  1. Hi Stefan,
    Thanks for the interesting post! I like the sentence "Can you take photos with this sensor size even though it doesn't say Fuji on it?" 🙂 I have a Nex7 here, which is perfectly fine for many situations. The pictures from my XPro2 are still nicer, which is of course subjective.
    Best regards, Stephan

  2. I found it very interesting to read that you focus on the VF cameras with your left thumb on the display. I didn't know yet; It took some getting used to when trying it out. Unfortunately the tracking function doesn't work - or have I overlooked something?
    Thanks for the many interesting articles.
    Greetings Rainer

  3. You can configure the shifting of the focus point on the display so that only the upper right quarter of the screen is used, or the lower or half, or the lower left quarter...
    This should solve the nose problem, as long as I interpret the problem correctly.

    VG and thank you very much for the informative report!
    Andi

  4. Hello, I read your post and can confirm almost everything. I own 3 Sony cameras, the RX0m2, the Alpha 6400 and the 7m3. Each of the three cameras is top in its field and I have never regretted purchasing the 6400.
    Note on the ISO topic: ISO 6400 looks much better in the light than in the dark. Pictures by candlelight are not the strength compared to the 7m3. Yes ok, apples and oranges… In this case I always use the Alpha 7. I don't have any comparisons with Nikon and Co APS-C. How about that?
    Note on the subject of autofocus: The extended flexible spot tracking is top notch. Here the camera "recognizes" a subject and "follows" it. Top notch, unfortunately only in photo mode, not in videos. But that's where it would make sense. But the 7m3 doesn't have either. I also film a lot with the cameras, but that would be material for a separate blog. 🙂
    The last and most important point is weather resistance. I only photograph my little daughter with the 7m3 when she jumps into puddles when it rains (great pictures!). Sony's formulation is so vague that I didn't dare use it in the rain. It's a shame, because rain can also be a great motif.
    Ciao! Roland

    1. Hi,
      yes, high ISO always looks better in the light. That's why I recommend overexposing. https://www.stefangroenveld.de/2019/digitale-raws-richtig-belichten/
      And that's also the reason why many noise comparisons on the Internet are pretty nonsense. Simply taking photos in daylight with dizzyingly high exposure times in order to achieve a high ISO number is simply nonsense.
      I can't add anything to the autofocus. I said goodbye to Sony again because... oh, that's a long topic too. But the lack of weatherproofing is also part of it. A little tip: Water from above is not as bad as water from below.
      Have fun with your cameras.

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