Sony announces a6400 with improved autofocus and flip out display

16 January 2019
Features 0.02s Af speed, real-time eye AF and a 180 degree tilting touchscreen.

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Anonymous, 17 Jan 2019Its time to make up status after all these years of Sony th... moreNobody has claimed eye-tracking AF makes you a better photographer. But it's a helpful tool, since the eyes are what needs to be in focus for a portrait shot to be good. That's what all of these innovations aim to achieve; unburden the photographer/videographer so they can focus on the important bit of subject and framing.

The Sony colours are also ranked the best in blind-tests, and closest resemble reality, so they're definitely not "further from reality than before". They've made great progress towards becoming the market leader.

    Nick Tagataka, 17 Jan 2019I think what he meant was even DSLR/mirrorless with huge se... moreProfessional or 'prosumer' cameras like these are not meant for taking quick snaps and instantly sharing them online though. You're meant to shoot in a RAW format and edit the images with far more powerful post-processing software at home. AI can't help you with RAW capture. Instead you're given functionality like bracketing (shooting a number of photos at different exposure values in RAW-format to edit into HDR at home, etc), panorama assists, etc.

    These professional cameras do employ advanced algorithms though. But they're not for JPEG processing. Instead they help you with things like focus tracking. And they're getting REALLY good, especially with the new real-time tracking of eyes, including animal eyes, that Sony has been working on.

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      • AnonD-558092
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      • 17 Jan 2019

      xXENDER FREAKXx, 17 Jan 2019That's true, it's much more limited on a camera as compared... moreOh but rest assured. Their software is very good nevertheless. For using an a6300 daily, I'm impressed by both RAW pictures and processed ones.

      It'll be a while before smartphone cameras can beat those mirrorless cameras.

      (For reference, I can say phone cameras are below a Nikon P610, as I used one at school to take pics for a class, and comparing my samples to pictures from phones... Software bokeh is still nowhere near the real thing.)

        AnonD-558092, 16 Jan 2019Eye AF is their continuous Auto Focus system. Ultra fast, c... moreThanks

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          • Anonymous
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          • 17 Jan 2019

          SigmaR, 17 Jan 2019Maybe you are talking about yourself. And also maybe you ar... moreYou said A6500 cost the same as A6400, which is plain wrong. The prices in Europe sure don't make sense but the North American ones do. And if you are using the A6300, this is not the camera to upgrade to. A6400 is meant for A6000, A5xxx and NEX upgraders.

            AnonD-558092, 17 Jan 2019Well yeah, these cameras could benefit from such computatio... moreThat's true, it's much more limited on a camera as compared to a smartphone. Let's say you're using it for a year, 2 years, 3 years and beyond, u will still get the same software algorithms that u got on day one. Saying of this it made me think if these DSLR cameras are going to stay like this forever

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              • iwantsmallscreen
              • p7$
              • 17 Jan 2019

              Sony cameras have the worst IQ of all brands. My Sony rx100m1 is stupid as it can be. Shutter speed on auto is too low, white balance is almost always wrong indoors.

                Anonymous, 17 Jan 2019It is cheaper than a6500. It has way more features than a6... moreMaybe you are talking about yourself. And also maybe you are a sony fanboy if you don't see they are scamming u

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                  • Anonymous
                  • XNk
                  • 17 Jan 2019

                  Anonymous, 17 Jan 2019Its time to make up status after all these years of Sony th... moreWow where did this come from?

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                    • Anonymous
                    • vaS
                    • 17 Jan 2019

                    Walter C. Dornez, 16 Jan 2019I need to learn more about cameras cause nothing here made ... moreThe. you only need to learn one thing: You don't need a camera and nothing mentioned here will make you take better photos. Its just highflying names for technology a few amateur users think they need, its better to upgrade than to admit they have no business being into photography anyway.

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                      • Anonymous
                      • vaS
                      • 17 Jan 2019

                      Its time to make up status after all these years of Sony throwing out features that amateurs with no clue think they need to get beter photos, its time to ask WHERE ARE THE BETTER PHOTOS? Sony cams now take photos that are further from reality than before, and the level of expertise in Sony owners is the lowest of any camera brand. Eye focus doesn't make you a better photographer, neither does lots of advanced things or bloated overprocesssing. Camera vendors I talked to are already discouraging people from buying Sony if they want great photos, for most Sony is ok because they are just dreamers anyway with a mental image of themselves taking great photos, Sony is good for feeding that dream for a while but eventually the dreamers fall back to earth and admit all the new features hasn't helped a bit. If someone disagree with me then cough up the proofs.

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                        • McArra
                        • T4X
                        • 17 Jan 2019

                        vrvly, 16 Jan 2019So much for pro photography, if they use such small screen.... moreI have a Mate 20 Pro and it has nothing to do against my Sony Alpha 7iii. It's nowhere near. Of course, this camera is in a very different league, but there's space for cameras yet.

                        That being said, I compared it to a Panasonic G85 with kit lens, and the Mate 20 Pro was really close in photo (no chance in video), so mobile is really getting better and better and can compete with some mid-low photo setups.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • XNk
                          • 17 Jan 2019

                          AnonD-558092, 17 Jan 2019Way more? Not really. Faster AF, flip touchscreen, HLG... ... moreThe eye AF is enhanced. It is now always on. No need to press a button to activate. Makes a whole lot of difference to the shooting experience.

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                            Nick Tagataka, 17 Jan 2019I think what he meant was even DSLR/mirrorless with huge se... moreWell yeah, these cameras could benefit from such computational photography (that's how you properly call it). Anything can benefit from a good algorithm. But Sony, Panasonic, Nikon, Canon, Fujitsu... they don't have the big data to do Machine Learning to make those algorithms like a phone can do. And they don't receive OTA updates to such algorithms. It's much more limited in cameras.

                              AnonD-558092, 16 Jan 2019I have an a6300 and there's no mobile phone coming close to... moreI think what he meant was even DSLR/mirrorless with huge sensor like this can benefit from more advanced processing algorithms to improve the image quality even further. Because let's be honest here, the image processing on those proper cameras are far less advanced and more basic than what you can find on recent flagship smartphones, and I'm not even talking about so called "AI" color saturation tweaks here. Pixel 3 can take a burst of 15 images and process them to produce a single higher-res image through pixel shift in handheld, without creating any sort of ghosting effect for a moving object in 3 seconds. iPhone XS buffers images with 3 different exposures and takes a HDR image from 4 frames within a second, while also showing live HDR effect in viewfinder. No camera on the market can do those kind of things.

                              It's evident that it's far more difficult to develop the processing algorithm for a smartphone than for cameras with larger sensors, look how Sony is struggling to put a decent camera on their phones(though at the same time there's a high possibility that they're intentionally making it bad so that Xperia lineup won't hurt the sales of their compact cameras). Camera manufacturers should take a cue from smartphone manufacturers to take the full advantage of the quality hardware they use, especially if they want to let their point-and-shoot survive.

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                                • AnonD-558092
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                                • 17 Jan 2019

                                Anonymous, 17 Jan 2019It is cheaper than a6500. It has way more features than a6... moreWay more? Not really. Faster AF, flip touchscreen, HLG...

                                This is a recycled a6300. Slight enhancements, but not that much. EyeAF is on the a6300. Same goes for the 435-pt AF. Same 24.2MP ASP-C sensor, BionZ X processor, battery, lack of in-body OIS.
                                Is it worth the price premium for the screen, HLG and faster AF, when you consider the a6300/6500 already have blazing fast 0.05s AF? Come to think of it... Absolutely not

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • XNk
                                  • 17 Jan 2019

                                  SigmaR, 17 Jan 2019So, an a6300 with the selfie/touchscreen. And for that sill... moreIt is cheaper than a6500.
                                  It has way more features than a6300 that you are too lazy to find out. Just read the headline and dump some inane comment here.

                                    So, an a6300 with the selfie/touchscreen. And for that silly upgrade you pay 200 euro more.
                                    Or compared to the a6500 you pay the same price but lose the stabilizer. What a BS

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                                      • AnonD-558092
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                                      • 16 Jan 2019

                                      vrvly, 16 Jan 2019So much for pro photography, if they use such small screen.... moreI have an a6300 and there's no mobile phone coming close to that. Or a a6000, a5100 or Coolpix P610. You should try a full camera. That's a whole other level of photography. And screen size is irrelevant with the viewfinder. And the software in the Alpha series makes better pictures than any "AI" camera junk marketing on the market.

                                      Even 400$ cameras yield better pictures that 1000$ phones. No physics constraints (well, less)

                                      Also, 8K video is dumb. You'll bankrupt yourself in storage. And bandwidth is still a problem. Do you know many relatives with Gigabit Internet? 8K can have 480Mbps bitrate, and much much more. It will take 19 seconds to load ONE second of 8K footage with such bitrate on a 25Mbps "Entry Level" broadband.

                                        So much for pro photography, if they use such small screen. Meanwhile in phones is QHD to 4K HDR 6" screen, multiframe/sensor stacking, swide/macro/wide/tele, color spectrum sensors...
                                        Makes one wonder just what is made more for photography. I know you can change aperture and lens on a6400, but it feels quite not enough upgrade to photography pro tool, actually in this year it may change with phones getting even more cameras, 48mp stills maybe 8K video, better AI(live edit of photo/video like in huawei mate),... Just for others to adopt Samsung's aperture change and maybe add focus stacking(all in focus from lumias).
                                        Think about that...

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