Sony a6400 (mirror less) full camera review

Sony a6400 full camera review

So one of the most exciting cameras releases this year, is the Sony a6400. Full 4K, brand new photography features and a flip up screen for vlogging. So in this blog, I headed to a Sony event to get his hands on with a camera and breakdown his first impressions. Hey, what's up? It's Shashank with Blog Universe, helping you with the best tips and tools for building your influence with online Blogs. And sometimes we do YouTube tip videos and also tech gear reviews, so like this one, and so if that interests you. But let's get into it. So we were so hyped to be invited to Sony's private event, where they had influencers and YouTubers come out to Catalina Island in California to get hands-on, the new Sony a6400 and it was a really cool trip. We had a few hours with the camera and so to keep this blog, you know this isn't a full, in-depth review Blog, which we'll get to that eventually on this Blog. However, I just wanted to keep it short and sweet. And so, I was just gonna share my top five first impressions and I would say, the favorite things that I loved about this camera. But before we do that, why don't you check out some footage by my boy Cody Blue. So that was all shot on the Sony a6400 and I wanna know your thoughts. What did you think of the footage, you know? Number one, the first impression of this camera is the overall image quality.

I was really blown away at the image quality because of the price point of this camera. Obviously, we've been shooting with Sonys for a couple years now, so I'm not surprised that the image quality is good, but I am surprised that in this package and what you get for $900 dollars, comes with this camera. And you know, if you didn't know, this camera does shoot 4K, up to 30 frames a second and then it also shoots slow-mo. It shoots 1080p at up to 120 frames per second. So some of that footage you saw, was a mixture of the two. And you know, I think for the price point of $900 dollars, to be able to shoot in those various frame rates and maintain that quality of image that Sony brings, I think not only makes this an awesome vlog camera, 'cause I mean we would argue here on Think Media that maybe you don't need 4K vlogs, which I would say is true.

But what is cool is the ability to do it if you like to, so you can grow into it or I think this camera is, not only, awesome for buying to vlog, but it actually is a camera that you can grow with. And as someone behind the camera, in regards to doing actual side projects, you know, doing small business promos or testimonials or things of that nature. So because of this camera's versatility in its frame rates, it serves as a great camera. So the other thing that I love, that Sony really took into consideration, is to include their picture profiles.

You know, we don't do heavy color correction or color grading on Think Media, but it does come if you want to play with that. You can shoot in S-log 1 up to S-log 3, which is that super flat look and then you can color grade it in post. But you know, we do shoot with a fairly flat profile, and then we just bump up the colors a little bit in post. But just another thing, a lot of vlogging cameras that you would get, you don't really get that option to shoot flat, if you wanted to. So I think, just because of the options you get with this camera, serves as an awesome thing. One thing to note though is that the 6400 does not have in-body image stabilization, and so, or what you would call IBIS. That is the technology that Sony puts in their cameras that reduces shake. I wouldn't say it's a deal-breaker though at all because most other camera brands don't have it and they do an awesome job at still delivering a good shot. And secondly, most of Sony's lenses, like the ones that you'll buy with this camera, have an optical steady shot, or what you would call OSS, on the lens itself. So you do get some image stabilization with the lenses you'll get, but as far as the body goes, it doesn't have image stabilization. So this is super wide just walking, there is optical stabilization in this, so there is a little bit but not in the camera. And so this is what you would get if you were just walking Disneyland with the family, beach, Catalina Island. Now my second favorite thing about this camera has to be the flip-up screen. It's been about five years since Sony put out a camera with interchangeable lenses to have a flip-up screen for vlogging. And I think this feature alone actually makes this camera, a camera for vlogging. So I really think this camera, straight out the box, has the ability for you to just flip up the screen, turn it on, tap your face and hit record. So I really love that they actually put this feature. It really makes this a vlogger's camera and not to limit it to that. So one thing I did want to mention is the way the flip screens up. I wouldn't say is hard, I'm not saying this is hard, I would say is just, you know, it takes a second or two versus just a quick flip up. You know, like the RX100, a Canon G7X, or even that previous model they had that had the flip-up screen, it just did a straight flip up, but as you can see in the footage here, it's definitely like a pull out then a pull up and then a flip over and then a pullback and then a push in and then a flip-down. So, this is something to keep in mind. That was just something that I noticed, you know, as far as like, I wanna see how this actually flips up. It isn't as easy as a swivel or a flip-out screen. It definitely just takes an extra second or two, but I just wanted to make that note. Now my third favorite thing about the camera has to be, the internal or On-Board Mic of the 6400. You know, it's pretty common that most camera companies that put out cameras, give you the ability to, you know, record audio onto the camera. But I would actually argue it would be close to, if not unusable audio, right? And so hence, it's forcing people, to not only just buy the camera, but they have to buy an external microphone like a RODE VideoMic Pro, plug it into the side and then it lives on the hot shoe. Now, obviously there was probably one of the biggest complaints about, not the flip-up screen per se, but because the hot shoe is in the way of the flip-up screen. So the big thing is, how do I mount my external mic? Now, that isn't to minimize the fact that you can't put a mic on it. So what is cool about the a6400, is they definitely included the mic jack, so if you did wanna put a mic on the hot shoe, you totally can.

However, it will block your line of sight to see yourself on the flip-up screen, right. So there actually is a solution around this and there are adapters, where you can, you know, put a mic off to the side and still be able to see yourself. I didn't wanna test the audio with another mic. I went out the whole day hoping that this, you know, it would be usable audio, so all that to say, when I got back to the hotel room and I started listening back to the vlog footage that I got, it sounded pretty good and you know, here's an example of what it would sound like if you just shot straight onto the camera. (waves lapping) So this is the quality of 4K, 30 frames a second. I'm here at like ashore here in Catalina Island. So you can hear the waves On-Board camera mic. What do you think and how do you think it looks? I think it's pretty cool. If you can see, there's a building behind me and what they have, like, is the touch operations. So now with the flip screen, I can literally tap that building and now the building is in focus, just so you can reference the building. And I can tap back on my face and then it's back on my face. And literally, as I'm looking at the screen, you can see it's on my eye like the box is on my eye, which is pretty cool. So what'd you think? How do you think it sounded? I thought it sounded pretty good and again, I was really surprised to hear how good the On-Board Mic was. And you know, just an accessory to note, one of the vloggers there had a, what you would call a micromuff, which is just kind of like a furball that you can stick onto an On-Board Mic. I actually did a test on her camera, so let's just hear how that sounds. This is a sound test of what you would call a micromuff, which is the cat double-sided tape sticker, that you can throw over the actual on-camera mic. How does it sound? Let me know. So you can actually pick up an accessory like that if you got a camera like this, or that is just an accessory to keep in mind with any kind of camera you get to vlog with if you're not using an external mic. Now the fourth favorite thing that I loved about this camera has to be the new autofocus feature called Touch Tracking. So you can turn on this feature on the menu and I think this is just a feature that you would always wanna leave on because it just makes your camera so much easier to use. This is what they call a fast, hybrid, autofocus feature, where it uses IQ to follow whatever subjects you tap on. And so what I mean by IQ is that, more than just face detection and eye detection, they say that it's like it's also like color schemes, it's also contrast of whatever you tap that's in focus and that the camera is actually learning what's in focus as they move around and as they give the camera more detail, it keeps it even stronger. So just super, maybe that's beyond my head and it probably is but all I know is that if I want something in focus, I literally tap on it. If I want something to change focus right away, I tap on it.

And I would actually argue that the new autofocus system that they put into this camera is comparable to Canon's world-famous dual pixel autofocus. And why do I say that? I say that because of the responsiveness of the actual screen itself and for how quick the focus actually changes when you tap on something. You know and what I also love about the flip-up screen being a touch screen, is that when you are vlogging, you just gotta tap your screen and then go on your way. And if you, actually you wanna show something that is behind you, go ahead and tap on that thing on the screen and it'll do an amazing job to get that thing in focus. Tap back on your face and then you're back in focus. And the timeframe they actually gave was pointed two seconds, that's how fast it takes to focus from one thing to another when using Sony lenses. So, that's just one of my favorite things for sure, was just how awesome the auto-focus was of the a6400. Now the next feature I think is the number one feature, that I think will distinguish this camera amongst other cameras. And it really makes it an all-in-one camera. And that is the ability to have no record limit. So the Sony a6400 will allow you to record as long as you need, permitting you have the battery life to sustain it or the cards to hold the memory, right. All that to say, you can also buy an adapter for the battery so you can just plug straight into a wall and get as long as you need. And I think this is literally, the biggest distinguishing factor, because there aren't too many interchangeable cameras on the market, at this price point, that will allow you to record for longer than 30 minutes. Usually, the standard for most cameras is about 30 minutes, you're gonna have to hit record again. Granted, you know, that might not be for everyone. You know, it's obviously even in my field, doing a lot of video work, I'm usually shooting a lot of clips and I'm usually not exceeding 30 minutes. However, here on Think, you know, we do talks. You know, Sean does a lot of talks that exceed 30 minutes. Usually goes 45 to an hour when you include Q and A. So now with a 6400, we don't have to worry about me being there at the 30-minute mark to hit record again, once it shuts off. Also, I think about parents. You know, how cool it'd be too, you know, parents can record their entire kids' basketball game or they can record their entire kids' soccer game or recital or play. I just think it really turns it into a camcorder per se, but the reason why it's not a camcorder is that you can actually change out the lenses. So after Johnny's game, we can now take cool pictures outside with his teammates. So it really becomes like a parent's all-in-one camera because of the non-record limit. And I also think live streamers. You know, here on Think Media, we do a ton of live streams. Whether that be Facebook lives, YouTube lives, but they definitely go longer than 30 minutes most of the time. And so now we know that if we were to get the 6400, it wouldn't shut off on us midway through a live stream. So, going back to this being an all-in-one camera, you know, I think this could be a very budget production camera, in regards to maybe churches. We do a lot of work in the church-base and I think a lot of churches, you know, maybe they have a budget but they can literally start recording their messages and their talks or their sermons, that exceed 30 minutes on a Sony a6400. Just get a nice lens that will maybe shoot from the back of the room and then with the autofocus feature, you don't have to worry about the pastor is out of focus. Pop it off the tripod, shoot a testimony video with it. After you shoot the testimony video, go ahead and flick some pictures outside. It just really makes this a versatile camera for low production budget options and you know, I think the non-record limit really pumps me up about this camera. Now a bonus feature that I loved about the Sony a6400, was the Timelapse feature. So now you can literally go in your menu, set the time lapse and let it do its thing. I would say though that we didn't have much time with the camera. So I literally, I set up the camera, I got a timelapse. It's like after it's all said and done, it's three seconds. And so I was like, shoot I didn't get a good timelapse. But it does have the ability, so you know I think that time lapse feature makes this an awesome camera to just have in your kit. So that when you're in a hotel room and you leave your room, you can make sure you get like a fresh timelapse. But super easy to use, I think, very straight forward, a feature that they included in the camera. So what do I think about the Sony a6400? I think this camera is awesome. You know, I think 2019, this camera has the potential to be the best vlogging camera of the year. And I think a lot of that lends to the flip up screen, with the new auto focus system, the ability to shoot 4K. Now you can have the freshest 4K vlogs and not have to worry about the size of the camera. It has the ability to interchange your lens, so you can get different types of shots to tell different types of stories. And you can really grow with the camera. You know, they put a mic jack input, so you can get external audio. You know, the non-record limit. The timelapse feature. There's just so much to this camera, that I think will suit so many different people. And you know, I think we're gonna buy it at Think Media because we have justified bringing it with us. You know, when we hit the road and when Sean does talks, you know it's really important that we have a camera that can record the talk in its entirety. So what we usually bring is a Panasonic GH5 but I would say the camera, it's big. We have to either put it in a separate bag and it lives in that bag until it gets used and because we're running around with Sony's for everything else, it'd be nice to bring a small body that has Sony lens mount so we can just pop on a lens that we already have and then just record an entire talk in and of itself. And so I think that feature alone is why we're gonna, you know, get the camera for us. But, we'd love to hear from you. What do you think of the Sony a6400 and what's your favorite feature that you're most pumped about? Is it the timelapse feature? Is it the non-record limit? Is it the flip up screen? The full 4K? Let us know in the comment section and we'll see you in the next Blog.

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