Sony Alpha A6400
Sony’s mid–range mirrorless — now better
From $899.99 From Sony, sony.com Features 24.2MP APS–C CMOS sensor, 4K video recording, tilt–angle touchscreen and electric viewfinder
The Alpha A6400 is Sony’s new APS–C mirrorless camera, slotting in below the Alpha A6500 in the range, and replacing the Alpha A6300. However, with Sony equipping the Alpha A6400 with some of its latest tech, most notably the advanced autofocus (AF) system, it could be a more tempting proposition than the two–year old, top–of–the–range A6500.
The Alpha A6400 features a 24.2MP APS–C Exmor CMOS sensor, and thanks to a front–end LSI and the latest BIONZ X image processor, Sony reckons processing speeds are 1.8x faster than the A6300 can manage. One big omission from the A6400 is in–body image stabilization, something the A6500 enjoys with its 5–axis system. A6400 users will have to rely on lens–based stabilization, and while a lot of Sony’s APS–C–specific zoom lenses feature Optical SteadyShot (OSS), many don’t.
The addition of a flip–out display that rotates outwards 180 degrees, is good news for those wanting to shoot selfies, and vloggers looking for a feature–packed 4K camera. The battery hasn’t been upgraded to the newer Z–series power packs found in the latest full–frame Alpha cameras, so battery life is a modest 360 shots if you’re using the viewfinder regularly, while this can be stretched to 410 shots if you’re happy to rely on the rear display.
We were nothing but impressed with the A6400’s autofocus system, which Sony boasts is the world’s fastest autofocus at just 0.02 sec. While it performs impressively when used simply for generic wide–area focusing in AF–S, it comes into its own when you select continuous focusing and Real– time Tracking AF. Focusing is swift, and locks on to subjects with ease, while the fact it will auto detect faces and then eyes is even more impressive.
We tested the A6400 with a variety of lenses, and every combination delivered images rich in detail and with plenty of clarity. JPEGs straight out of the camera look very impressive — sharpness was good, while the contrast was just about right too.
the bottom line. The greatly improved focusing of the A6400 makes this a much more accessible camera than its predecessors. phil hall