Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

Right

Slim and lightweight

Although it’s roughly the same size

as the Fujifilm X-A7, the Sony is a

little heavier and feels more solid

and strongly built

Right

Front/slant

The finger grip protrusion is

much larger than in the Fujifilm

camera, enabling a more assured

grip in regular stills shooting. The

kit lens has powered zoom and

optical stabilisation

PRICE: £899 / $998

Sony Alpha A6400 + 16-50mm PZ

Cleverly optimised for video capture and with a feast of

connectivity options, the little Sony is a big hitter

A little bulkier and heavier than the Fujifilm X-A7, the Sony is still

much more compact and lightweight than the Canon and Panasonic

cameras in the group. Like the Fujifilm, it comes complete with a

kit lens option that features a retractable design and a motorised

zoom facility. Again, different zooming speeds are available

depending on how far you twist the zoom ring. It’s neat for video

capture but can be a little hit and miss for shooting stills.

Unlike the Fujifilm, the Sony shoehorns an electronic viewfinder

into the left-hand end of the rear panel. As a 0.39-type OLED, 2.36

million-dot display, the viewfinder is both smaller and lower in

resolution than the 0.5-type OLED, 3.68 million-dot unit built into

the Panasonic. The rear touchscreen is also smaller and lower-

resolution at three inches and 0.922 million dots, and it lacks the

fully articulated movement of the screens of the other cameras on

test. Instead, it has a tilt facility that gives a good range of up and

down angles, as well as enabling the screen to be flipped up over

the top for viewing from the front. The only real catch is that the

view will be mostly obscured if you’re using a hotshoe-mounting

microphone or other accessory. Unlike with the Canon and

Panasonic cameras, there’s no headphone socket.

The Sony lacks in-body stabilisation, but the kit 16-50mm power-

zoom lens has an optical stabiliser. With fast autofocus, the Sony

is able to track action but has the worst rolling shutter effect of

any camera in the group. There’s also a crop factor if you shoot 4K

video at the fastest available frame rate of 30fps.

On the plus side, the Sony is capable of capturing oversampled

4K video that’s highly detailed and extremely good quality. Further

bonuses include eye-detection autofocus and a range of shooting

aids, such as focus peaking and a zebra display, as well as various

S-log gamma modes for enhancing video quality in post-production.

Left

Top

Relativelysimpleuptop,the

Sonylacksafrontcommand

dial,butthere’sonetowards

therear,nexttotheshooting

modedial

Far left

Rear

Although the top panel is fairly

spartan, the rear panel is quite

cluttered, with a lot of buttons

packed in, plus a secondary

rotary dial but no joystick

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