Sony’s a6400 Mirrorless Camera is Every Vlogger’s Delight

Photography enthusiasts can rejoice as Sony India has introduced the a6400 (Model ILCE-6400), a new addition to its E-mount mirrorless camera line-up. The a6400 is an amalgamation of Sony’s most advanced technologies from their acclaimed full-frame lineup in a compact, lightweight APS-C camera. The speedy new camera boasts the world’s fastest autofocus (AF) acquisition of 0.02 seconds, while also introducing the new advanced “Real-time Eye AF” and ”Real-time Tracking” capabilities.

Also included are high-speed shooting at up to 11 fps with AF/AE tracking, a new-generation BIONZ X image processing engine that produces excellent image quality, 4K video recording, a fully 180-degree tiltable LCD touch screen and much more, making it the ultimate tool for all types of creators ranging from professionals to everyday vloggers.

The camera is equipped with a 24.2 MP APS-C sized image sensor, which is paired with an upgraded BIONZ X processor to deliver advancements in image quality and color reproduction in all types of shooting conditions. Standard ISO ranges up to ISO 32000 for both still and movie, and is expandable up to ISO 102400 for still images, with noise reduction at medium and high sensitivities. The camera also inherits many of the image processing algorithms from Sony’s newest full-frame cameras, greatly suppressing noise while preserving resolution and improving texture depiction.

With an impressive autofocus system, the device inherits many technologies from Sony’s newest line-up of full-frame cameras, including the a9, a7R III, and a7 III models. This high-speed, high-performance tracking AF system is paired with a new-generation BIONZ X image processing engine that allows the camera to acquire focus in as little as 0.02 seconds and maintain subject lock extremely effectively, ensuring that even the fastest moving subjects are tracked and captured with ease.


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The camera introduces advanced “Real-time Eye AF,” the latest version of Sony’s acclaimed Eye AF technology. This exciting new technology employs artificial intelligence (AI) based object recognition to detect and process eye data in real time, resulting in enhanced accuracy, speed and tracking performance of Eye AF. In all autofocus modes, the camera now automatically detects the eyes of the subject and activates Eye AF with a half press of the shutter button, and when in AF-C or AF-A mode, the preferred eye (left or right) of your subject can be selected as the focus point.

This technology frees the photographer to focus solely on composition with full trust that focus will be tack sharp on the subject’s eye. An Eye AF support for animals is expected in the coming summer via a system software update, ideal for wildlife photographers.

 Sony’s newly developed “Real-time Tracking” mode is also being introduced in the market via this camera. This mode utilises Sony’s latest algorithm, including AI based object recognition and processes color, subject distance (depth), pattern (brightness) as spatial information, to ensure that all subjects can be captured with accuracy. Additionally, when photographing or videoing humans or animals, face and eye position information is recognised by AI and the subject’s eye is monitored in real time with high tracking precision. This can be activated by a simple half press of the shutter button or can be assigned to a custom function as well.

The a6400 is designed to offer a high level of functionality and customisation to maximise shooting freedom. Another unprecedented feature on the camera is a fully 180-degree tiltable, 3.0-type LCD flip screen with 921k-dots of resolution that allows for simple and effective framing of selfie-style shooting for both still and video capture. Utilizing this capability, vloggers will be able to check and monitor composition throughout their entire creative process. The LCD screen is also equipped with touch functionality, with options for Touch Pad, Touch Focus, Touch Shutter and new Touch Tracking, which quickly activates “Real-time Tracking” through the touch screen.

Its video camera capacity offers internal 4K (QFHD: 3840 x 2160) movie recording with full pixel readout and no pixel binning to collect about 2.4x the amount of data required for 4K movies. Focusing during movie shooting is fast and stable thanks to upgraded Fast Hybrid AF technology, which keeps the subject in constant smooth focus no matter the scene, even if an object crosses in front of the camera. This advanced AF plus touch focus functionality make it an ideal camera choice for many vloggers and video creators that are regularly creating and uploading content online.

For time-lapse movie creation, the new camera feature’s built-in interval recording, which can be set anywhere between 1 and 60 seconds with a total number of shots from 1 to 9999. In terms of overall shooting speeds, the new camera can shoot at up to 11 fps with full AF/AE tracking while using the mechanical shutter, and up to 8 fps with full AF/AE tracking while silent shooting.


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Additionally, for the first time in Sony APS-C mirrorless camera, the new model includes an HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) picture profile, which supports an Instant HDR workflow, allowing HDR (HLG) compatible TV’s to playback true-to-life 4K HDR imagery.

The camera features a high quality XGA OLED Tru-finder™ viewfinder, extensive customisation with 89 functions that are assignable to 8 custom keys, the new My Dial and My Menu functionality, enhanced overall menu usability, a help screen for menus, star rating for images, and many other features that allow for a seamless shooting experience. It is also built with a tough magnesium alloy design, is dust and moisture resistant and has an durable shutter that is rated for approximately 200,000 cycles. It also is capable of seamlessly transferring files to a smartphone or tablet when connected to the brand new ‘Imaging Edge Mobile’ application.

The a6400 will be available across all Sony Center, Alpha Flagship stores and major electronic stores across India from 8th February 2019 onwards. The price of the body has been announced at INR 75,990, while the a6400L with SELP1650 lens is priced at INR 85,990, and the one with SEL18135 lens at INR 1,09,990.

Navanwita Bora Sachdev

Navanwita is the editor of The Tech Panda who also frequently publishes stories in news outlets such as The Indian Express, Entrepreneur India, and The Business Standard

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