Australian Camera – September-October 2019

Themonitorscreen

is adjustablefortiltis

double-hingedsoit can

nowbeswungupthrough

a full 180 degrees.

‘QuickNavi’controlscreenallows

directaccesstomanycapture-related

functionsandincludesdisplayssuch

asa real-timehistogramanda dual-

axislevelindicator.

Viewfindereyepieceincorporatesa

proximitysensortoenableautomatic

switchingbetweentheEVFand

themonitorscreen.Controlwheel

alongsideadjustseyepiecestrength.

ONTRIAL SONY A6400

The magnesium alloy bodyshell
is sealed – but is essentially
only splash-proof – and sports a
reasonable-sized handgrip despite
the smallness of the camera
overall. It incorporates a pop-up
flash which, when folded away,
is completely flush with the top
plate. There’s a hotshoe for fitted
an external flash unit and this is
Sony’s ‘Multi Interface’ coupling
so it can be used for connecting
other accessories such as the
XLR connection adaptor to enable
the use of a pro-level external
microphone. The single memory
card slot is, as on all Sony Alpha
cameras, dual-format for the SD
format and MemoryStick Pro Duo
devices. One upgrade that hasn’t
happened though, is that SD
memory card support remains still
only for the UHS-I speed standard

• which is a bit surprising.
  The LCD monitor screen is
  still a 7.5 cm TFT-type panel with a
  resolution of 921,600 dots, but the
  tilt articulation now allows it to be
  swung through a full 180 degrees
  so it’s facing back at you... mainly
  for selfies and video bloggers, in
  case you were wondering. More
  useful for everybody else is the
  provision of touchscreen controls
  which include focusing and shutter
  release, plus a ‘Touch Pad’ function
  for easier AF point selection
  when you’re using the EVF. The
  viewfinder is 1.0 cm OLED-type
  panel with a resolution of 2.359
  megadots and the refresh rate
  can be switched between 50 or
  100 fps, the latter to minimise lag.
  The magnification is 1.07x (0.7x
  in 35mm format terms), but the
  A6300’s big eyecup has gone so
  shading is compromised in some
  situations. A proximity sensor
  located in the eyepiece allows for
  automatic switching between the
  EVF and the monitor screen, they
  can be manually switched as well.
  The EVF is adjustable for both
  brightness and colour balance
  (over five steps), the monitor
  for brightness only.
  The A6400 uses the
  same 1020 mAh NP-FW50
  lithium-ion battery pack
  as before, but some
  improvements to power
  efficiency have resulted in a
  small increase in the number of
  shots achievable from a full charge.
  Recharging is performed in-camera
  via USB.

Sony was one of the first to

provide WiFi and NFC connectivity

in its cameras so, not surprisingly,

the A6400 now also gets the

convenience of the Bluetooth LE

‘always on’ connection. The built-in

interface for the ‘PlayMemories

Camera Apps’ is gone – probably

because the camera now has

many of these add-on extras

incorporated as standard.

UP TO SPEED

The 25 megapixels ‘Exmor R’

CMOS sensor has an imaging area

of 15.6x23.5 mm and an effec-

tive pixel count of 24.2 million.

This gives a maximum image

size of 6000x4000 pixels for both

JPEGs and RAW files. JPEGs can

be captured in one of three sizes

with a choice of three compres-

sion levels – superfine, fine and

standard. A new aspect ratio

setting of 1:1 joins the 3:2 and 16:9

options. RAW files are captured

in 14-bit RGB colour with lossless

compression. The sensor is mated

to the latest generation of Sony’s

‘Bionz X’ processor which, among

other things, delivers improved

noise reduction processing so the

native sensitivity range is equiva-

lent to ISO 100 to 32,000 with ex-

pansions now up to ISO 102,400.

There’s no in-body stabilisation so

you’ll need OSS-equipped lenses if

you want to extend the hand-hold-

able shooting range (or opt for the

older and pricier A6500 model).

The maximum continuous

shooting speed remains at 11 fps

which, we should add, is achieved

with between-the-frames adjustment

for autofocusing and exposure. The

bigger buffer memory allows for up

to 99 JPEG/large/superfine frames

in a burst, 115 frames at the fine

compression setting or 46 RAW files.

There are also medium and slow

speed settings at 6.0 fps and 3.0 fps

respectively.

As before, the self-timer can

be set to three different delay

times and to record either single

or multiple frames. New on

the A6400 is an intervalometer

(previously on of the app-based

extras) which can record up 9999

frames and comes with a silent

shooting option and ‘AE Tracking

Sensitivity’ which determines

how the exposure will be adjusted

during the sequence.

As before, the A6400 has

both long exposure and high

ISO noise reduction corrections,

‘Dynamic Range Optimiser’

(DRO) processing and a selection

of multi-shot HDR modes. Auto

bracketing is available for the

DRO processing as well as for

exposure, flash and white balance.

In-camera lens corrections are

provided for vignetting, chromatic

aberrations and distortion. The

creative processing functions

comprise 14 ‘Creative Style’

picture presets (with the option

of creating up to six customised

styles) and 13 ‘Picture Effect’

special effects – many of which

are adjustable – and these can be

applied in any exposure mode.

Additionally, there’s the ‘Smile

Shutter’ auto triggering which

THE MAXIMUM

CONTINUOUS

SHOOTING SPEED

REMAINS AT 11 FPS

WHICH, WE SHOULD

ADD, IS ACHIEVED

WITH BETWEEN-

THE-FRAMES

ADJUSTMENT FOR

AUTOFOCUSING

AND EXPOSURE.