Sony is so carefully related to full-frame mirrorless cameras that it’s straightforward to overlook it additionally sells the A6000 APS-C lineup — notably for the reason that final one, the A6600, got here out 5 lengthy years in the past in 2019. The flagship A6700 lastly arrived last year, although, with a characteristic listing that seemed to be definitely worth the wait.
It’s the identical value the A6600 was at launch 4 years in the past, however addresses its predecessor’s important flaws by boosting decision a bit and lowering rolling shutter. On the similar time, it’s been likened to a mini-FX30 cinema digital camera because it has the identical sensor and video capabilities.
I’ve by no means been a giant fan of Sony’s A6000 collection. However now that the A6700 has been out some time, I used to be eager to see if it lived as much as a number of the hype and the way it in comparison with rival Canon and Fujifilm fashions. As you’ll see, it’s principally excellent news with just a bit little bit of dangerous.
Sony
The A6700 is Sony’s first APS-C mirrorless hybrid digital camera in years, however it was definitely worth the wait. It closely reduces rolling shutter that was a ache level on previous fashions, whereas bumping picture sharpness. It’s a superb video digital camera as properly, with 4K at as much as 120 fps and 10-bit log seize. The primary draw back is burst speeds properly behind the competitors, notably in digital shutter mode
- Wonderful video capabilities
- Correct autofocus
- Improved dealing with
- Minimal rolling shutter
- Good picture high quality
- Slowish burst speeds
- Overheating
Physique and dealing with
One of many issues I’ve disliked about Sony’s APS-C our bodies through the years is the usability and appears, particularly in comparison with Fujifilm’s handsome and easy-to-use fashions. I wouldn’t name the A6700 stunning, however no less than Sony has rectified the dealing with half.
The redesigned grip is bigger and extra snug, making it extra snug to make use of over a full day. On the similar time, Sony added a brand new management dial on the entrance, making the digital camera simpler to make use of in guide or precedence modes.
It features a new devoted picture, video and S&Q dial, letting you retain settings separate for every. Menus are a giant step up too, because the A6700 makes use of the improved system from current full-frame fashions. The one factor lacking is a joystick, however the focus level may be adjusted utilizing the d-pad-like dial on the again.
The A6700 can also be the primary Sony APS-C digital camera with an articulating show, so it’s higher for vloggers than the flip-up show on previous fashions. The comparatively low decision EVF is a weak level because it’s tough at instances to test focus, however it does the job more often than not. .
One other unfavorable is the only card slot, however no less than it helps high-speed UHS-II playing cards. Fortunately, it has the identical giant battery as full-frame fashions, which supplies it a superb 570 shot CIPA ranking.
Different options embody microphone and headphone ports (together with help for Sony’s sizzling shoe audio equipment), a USB-C port for charging and information transfers and an HDMI port. The latter, sadly, is of the fiddly and fragile micro selection.
All of that provides as much as a 6000-series digital camera I’d fortunately use for many sorts of work. Beforehand, I discovered these fashions less than the job, particularly for video.
Efficiency
Efficiency is extra of a combined bag, although. Lossless RAW bursts are doable at as much as 11 fps, both in mechanical or digital shutter modes. That compares to the 15 and 30fps for the equally priced Canon EOS R7 and 15/20 fps for the Fujifilm X-T5. That’s fairly a deficit contemplating the latter two have a lot larger decision sensors.
The A6700 solely shops as much as 36 compressed RAW frames earlier than the buffer fills, in comparison with 45 on the A6600 and corresponding to rivals. Primarily based strictly on velocity, although, the R7 and X-T5 are higher motion cameras.
Thankfully, the autofocus is great and that’s arguably extra necessary for a shopper digital camera. In steady mode, you’ll get dependable outcomes even with fast paced topics. And the AI monitoring locks onto eyes and faces, making certain you gained’t miss necessary photographs of rowdy youngsters, soccer video games and extra.
It additionally works with airplanes, animals, birds, vehicles or trains and bugs. In contrast to Canon’s auto system, although, you must inform the A6700 precisely what you’re monitoring. When you’ve set it up the best way you need, although, it’s a contact extra dependable than Canon’s system, and considerably higher than the X-T5..
The five-axis in-body stabilization is sweet however not nice, providing 5 stops in comparison with 8 on the EOS R7 and seven on the Fuji X-T5. Nonetheless, I used to be capable of take sharp pictures all the way down to about an eighth of a second.
Rolling shutter was my important grievance with the A6600, however it’s now a lot improved and about pretty much as good as you get with out a stacked sensor. It’s nonetheless current, although, so that you’ll need to use the mechanical shutter for fast-moving topics like propellers and trains.
Picture High quality
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With a brand new 26-megapixel sensor, The A6700 captures extra element than previous 24-megapixel fashions. As talked about, although, it’s missing in comparison with the 32.5-megapixel Canon R7 and 40-megapixel X-T5.
Colours are principally spot-on, however I nonetheless desire Canon’s pores and skin tones. JPEGs look good out of the digital camera, if a contact over-sharpened. With 14-bit RAW uncompressed recordsdata, I discovered loads of room to regulate and tweak photos, dialing down vivid areas or including element to shadows. Needless to say when capturing bursts, although, RAW recordsdata are captured with solely 12-bits of colour constancy.
There’s a profit to the decrease decision. The A6700 is best in low mild than rivals, with noise properly managed as much as ISO 6400. Photos are usable as much as ISO 12800, however something past as much as the ISO 102,400 restrict is for emergency use solely. It’s greatest to emphasise shadow publicity at excessive ISOs, as lifting these even a few stops creates extreme noise.
Video
The A6700 is to date above its predecessor for video that it’s ineffective to check them. Moderately, consider it as a less expensive, smaller FX30 cinema camera with the identical picture high quality. The primary distinction is that the A6700 doesn’t have the identical cooling functionality, as I’ll talk about shortly.
It subsamples the complete sensor width for 4K at 30 and 60 fps, so video is sharper than the X-T5 or R7. And the A6700 beats each of these fashions by having a 4K 120fps mode, although it’s cropped considerably at 1.58x.
Because of the comparatively small physique and lack of followers, you’ll should be cautious of overheating at 120p, because it’ll reduce out after 20-Half-hour. For indoor capturing, you possibly can typically shoot at as much as 4K 60p with none stoppages with the “auto energy temp” setting on “excessive.” Exterior on a sizzling day, nevertheless, it’s possible you’ll hit the boundaries and want to attend for the digital camera to chill down.
Just like the FX30, you possibly can shoot all video modes with 10-bit with S-Log3 seize. You can even load your personal LUTs both to make log footage simpler to watch, or bake it into the ultimate picture.
Rolling shutter remains to be current, so that you’ll nonetheless should be cautious with whip pans, quick topics and the like. Nevertheless, it’s far much less bothersome than on previous Sony crop sensor fashions.
It has a video characteristic that’s really missing on the FX3, particularly auto-framing. That’s useful for vloggers as it may possibly crop in and comply with them as they transfer across the body — with much less high quality loss than the ZV-E1 (this characteristic is finicky on the A6700 so be sure you take a look at it first). It additionally affords focus compensation that digitally eliminates respiratory, and once more, this further decision in comparison with the ZV-E1 ends in a sharper end result.
Stabilization for video isn’t fairly pretty much as good because the ZV-E1, although. The lively mode is ok for handheld use and gradual pans, however doesn’t do lots to clean out footsteps, and provides a 1.13x crop.
As for video high quality, you’re seeing the identical correct colours and strong low-light functionality as with pictures. The ten-bit log choices permit for loads of flexibility in put up, particularly with contrasty photos.
Wrap-up
The A6700 is definitely Sony’s greatest APS-C digital camera but, excelling at each pictures and video, and providing significantly better dealing with. Regardless of being way more succesful than the A6600, it carries the identical $1,400 value.
As a photograph digital camera, it’s slower than its important competitors, the Canon R7 and Fujifilm X-T5, so these fashions are higher for capturing motion. Sony’s autofocus is barely higher although, and sooner bursts are nugatory if pictures aren’t sharp.
As a video digital camera, although, it beats its important rivals throughout the board. All instructed, it’s an important possibility for content material creators or hybrid shooters who favor video however do some pictures. If that’s you, I’d extremely advocate it.
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