Sony is so intently related to full-frame mirrorless cameras that it’s simple to overlook it additionally sells the A6000 APS-C lineup — notably because the final one, the A6600, got here out 5 lengthy years in the past in 2019. The flagship A6700 lastly arrived final 12 months, although, with a characteristic checklist that gave the impression to be well worth the wait.
It’s the identical worth the A6600 was at launch 4 years in the past, however addresses its predecessor’s predominant flaws by boosting decision a bit and lowering rolling shutter. On the identical time, it’s been likened to a mini-FX30 cinema digicam 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 among 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 digicam in years, however it was well worth the wait. It closely reduces rolling shutter that was a ache level on previous fashions, whereas bumping picture sharpness. It’s a wonderful video digicam as properly, with 4K at as much as 120 fps and 10-bit log seize. The principle draw back is burst speeds properly behind the competitors, notably in digital shutter mode
- Glorious video capabilities
- Correct autofocus
- Improved dealing with
- Minimal rolling shutter
- Good picture high quality
- Slowish burst speeds
- Overheating
$1,398 at B&H
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 lovely, however not less than Sony has rectified the dealing with half.
The redesigned grip is bigger and extra comfy, making it extra comfy to make use of over a full day. On the identical time, Sony added a brand new management dial on the entrance, making the digicam simpler to make use of in guide or precedence modes.
It features a new devoted photograph, 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 latest full-frame fashions. The one factor lacking is a joystick, however the focus level will be adjusted utilizing the d-pad-like dial on the again.
The A6700 can be the primary Sony APS-C digicam 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 troublesome at instances to verify focus, however it does the job more often than not. .
One other adverse is the only card slot, however not 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 wonderful 570 shot CIPA score.
Different options embrace microphone and headphone ports (together with assist for Sony’s scorching 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 digicam I’d fortunately use for many kinds of work. Beforehand, I discovered these fashions lower than the job, particularly for video.
Efficiency
Efficiency is extra of a combined bag, although. Lossless RAW bursts are attainable 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 pace, although, the R7 and X-T5 are higher motion cameras.
Happily, the autofocus is great and that’s arguably extra vital for a client digicam. In steady mode, you’ll get dependable outcomes even with fast paced topics. And the AI monitoring locks onto eyes and faces, guaranteeing you gained’t miss vital photographs of rowdy youngsters, soccer video games and extra.
It additionally works with airplanes, animals, birds, vehicles or trains and bugs. Not like Canon’s auto system, although, it’s important to inform the A6700 precisely what you’re monitoring. When you’ve set it up the way in which 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 in a position to take sharp photographs right down to about an eighth of a second.
Rolling shutter was my predominant 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
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 favor Canon’s pores and skin tones. JPEGs look good out of the digicam, if a contact over-sharpened. With 14-bit RAW uncompressed recordsdata, I discovered loads of room to regulate and tweak photographs, dialing down vivid areas or including element to shadows. Take into account that when capturing bursts, although, RAW recordsdata are captured with solely 12-bits of shade 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 up to now above its predecessor for video that it’s ineffective to check them. Relatively, consider it as a less expensive, smaller FX30 cinema digicam with the identical picture high quality. The principle distinction is that the A6700 doesn’t have the identical cooling functionality, as I’ll focus on 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 must be cautious of overheating at 120p, because it’ll reduce out after 20-Half-hour. For indoor capturing, you’ll be able to typically shoot at as much as 4K 60p with none stoppages with the “auto energy temp” setting on “excessive.” Exterior on a scorching day, nonetheless, you could hit the bounds and want to attend for the digicam to chill down.
Just like the FX30, you’ll be able to 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 observe, or bake it into the ultimate picture.
Rolling shutter continues to be current, so that you’ll nonetheless must 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 helpful for vloggers as it could possibly crop in and observe 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 you should definitely check it first). It additionally provides 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 okay for handheld use and sluggish 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 stable low-light functionality as with photographs. The ten-bit log choices enable for loads of flexibility in put up, particularly with contrasty photographs.
Wrap-up
The A6700 is definitely Sony’s greatest APS-C digicam but, excelling at each photographs and video, and providing a lot better dealing with. Regardless of being way more succesful than the A6600, it carries the identical $1,400 worth.
As a photograph digicam, it’s slower than its predominant competitors, the Canon R7 and Fujifilm X-T5, so these fashions are higher for capturing motion. Sony’s autofocus is barely higher although, and quicker bursts are nugatory if photographs aren’t sharp.
As a video digicam, although, it beats its predominant rivals throughout the board. All informed, it’s an amazing choice for content material creators or hybrid shooters who favor video however do some images. If that’s you, I’d extremely advocate it.
