Sony Alpha a6400 zoom kit
Sony Alpha a6400 zoom kit

Sony Alpha a6400 APC-C Camera Announced: Just Another Mid-Range Mirrorless

2019-01-16
2 mins read

Today at Sony’s San Diego headquarters the Alpha a6400 has been revealed. You can call it a Sony’s next generation APC-C camera, or an entry-level mirrorless. Anyway, it’s not dedicated to professional cinema applications. This camera is devoted to mid-range users that need good image quality. Are there any vloggers here?

Sony Alpha a6400 mirrorless
Sony Alpha a6400 mirrorless

Not news

Even though it’s a piece of news, it’s not. We all have been expected to another Sony’s announcement (the rumored a7000/ a7S III) and we got this APC-C average mirrorless. Not that this is a bad thing, but still, the specs are not going to nearly fall off one’s chair.

Sony Alpha a6400
Sony Alpha a6400

Similar form factor

The body of the Alpha A6400 follows a similar form factor to other A6000-series cameras, plus a flip-out 3.0-inch touchscreen display that rotates outwards 180 degrees, which vloggers will love.

Sony Alpha a6400 screen
Sony Alpha a6400 screen
Sony Alpha a6400 180° LCD touchscreen
Sony Alpha a6400 180° LCD touchscreen

The camera has some decent features for photographers like an autofocus acquisition of 0.02 seconds, Real-time Eye AF and Real-time Tracking capabilities, high-speed shooting up to 11 fps and silent shooting up to 8 fps.

Videographers will benefit from the 180° LCD touchscreen, UHD 4K movie recording, and the internal recording for time-lapse videos.

Product Highlights

  • 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS Sensor
  • BIONZ X Image Processor
  • Real-Time Eye AF & Real-Time Tracking
  • XGA Tru-Finder 2.36m-Dot OLED EVF
  • 3.0″ 921.6k-Dot 180° Tilting Touchscreen
  • Internal UHD 4K Video, S-Log3, and HLG
  • S&Q Motion in Full HD from 1-120 fps
  • Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC
  • 425 Phase- & Contrast-Detect AF Points
  • Up to 11 fps Shooting and ISO 102,400
  • 4K Movie Recording with Fast Hybrid Autofocus

The a6400 offers internal 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) movie recording with focusing during movie shooting is fast and stable thanks to upgraded Fast Hybrid AF technology, which keeps the subject in constant smooth focus, even if an object crosses in front of the camera. 

Time-lapse movie creation

The camera features a built-in interval recording that can be set anywhere between 1 and 60 seconds, with a total number of shots from 1 to 9999. AE tracking sensitivity can be adjusted to “High”, “Mid,” or “Low” during interval shooting, allowing for reduced changes in exposure over the shooting interval.

HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma)

The a6400 includes an HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) picture profile, which supports HDR workflow. Further, both S-Log2 and S-Log3 are available, as well as Zebra functionality, Gamma Display assists, and proxy recording. The camera can also record Full HD at 120 fps at up to 100 Mb/s, allowing footage to be reviewed and eventually edited into 4x or 5x slow-motion video files in Full HD resolution with AF tracking.

Price and availability

There are three versions of the product that can be purchased: Body Only ($898), 16-50mm Lens Kit ($998) and 18-135mm Lens Kit ($1,298).

Buy Sony Alpha a6400
Buy Sony Alpha a6400

Final thoughts

As we wrote above, this is news but there is nothing new here. Just another mirrorless. Vloggers are the main market for this camera rather than cinematographers or professional filmmakers. Those will be biting their nails till the a7000/ a7S III announcement.

What do you think about Sony’s “new” mirrorless? Comment your insights below.

Yossy is a filmmaker who specializes mainly in action sports cinematography. Yossy also lectures about the art of independent filmmaking in leading educational institutes, academic programs, and festivals, and his independent films have garnered international awards and recognition.
Yossy is the founder of Y.M.Cinema Magazine.

2 Comments

  1. When do you think the sony a7000 will be released this year? Is it going to be superior to a6400? What do you think the difference will be?

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