Sony waited more than four years between the release of its flagship APS-C Alpha NEX-7 and its replacement, the Alpha 6300 ($999.99, body only). The new model doesn't offer a boost in resolution, but it enhances the excellent autofocus system found in the midrange Alpha 6000 and also adds a weather-sealed design, 4K video capture, and a crisper EVF. It's our Editors' Choice for premium mirrorless cameras, ousting the Samsung NX1, a camera we no longer recommend buying due to the questionable outlook for the future of the Samsung NX system. Even if the NX1 comes back from the dead, the Alpha 6300 is an standout performer in its own right, and one that's priced $500 less.
DesignThe Alpha 6300 looks a lot like the Alpha 6000 and the NEX-7. Available in black only, it's a squat mirrorless camera with a corner EVF, a tilting LCD, and a modest handgrip. It measures 2.6 by 4.7 by 1.9 inches (HWD) and weighs 14.3 ounces without a lens. We're reviewing the camera as a body only, but it can also be bought in a bundle with the 16-50mm power zoom lens for $1,149.99.
The body is tough, with a magnesium alloy chassis hidden underneath an exterior that's a mix of metal, plastic, and rubber. Like its larger full-frame cousins—the Alpha 7 II series—the A6300 is sealed against dust and moisture, so it can be used in inclement weather. But it doesn't include the in-body image stabilization offered by the Alpha 7 II series and some other mirrorless cameras like the Olympus OM-D E-M1. It can use any Sony E-mount lens, including those that bear the full-frame FE designation. If you do attach an FE lens its field of view will be narrower than when used on a full-frame sensor, but that can be an advantage when looking for longer lenses for telephoto shots.
Aside from the lens release, the facade is free of controls. A multi-function hot shoe, which can accommodate an external flash, XLR microphone adapter, wireless trigger, or other shoe-mount accessory, sits directly behind the lens mount on the top plate. It includes a protective cover, which should be in place when shooting in the rain. A pop-up flash is placed to its right. It's mounted on a hinge and can fire when tilted back, giving the camera a modest bounce capability.
Two dials sit on the top—a standard Mode control and a control dial that can adjust aperture, shutter speed, or program shift. The top of the front handgrip is slightly lower than the rest of the top plate. It houses the shutter release, which is surrounded by the On/Off switch and a programmable C1 button.
The mechanical flash release, Menu button, and dual-function button form a row that runs across the top of the rear plate. The dual-function button is surrounded by a toggle switch that changes its purpose—when the button is held it can override autofocus to allow manual control (AF/MF) or lock exposure (AEL). During playback it is used to zoom in on photos for review. Like most of the controls it can be remapped. I don't find myself overriding autofocus that often, so I switched the AF/MF function to activate Sony's EyeAF function, which identifies and locks onto a portrait subject's eyes. Sitting apart from the rest of the controls, at an angle that puts it almost flush on the right side of the body, is the Record button to start and stop video clips.
The Fn button, which launches an on-screen overlay menu, is located beneath the toggle switch. Below it is a flat control dial (I programmed it to directly adjust EV compensation) with a center Select button and four directional presses—Display, ISO, EV Compensation/Image Index, and Drive Mode. Below that are the Play and C2 buttons. Each of the dial positions, as well as C2, is programmable. Since I had already set EV compensation to be controlled by the dial itself, I was able to make use of the down position by reassigning it to change the active focus area.
The camera's menu system is rather dense, with six sections, a few of which have more than half a dozen pages of options. Casual photographers can pick up the Alpha 6300, set the dial to auto, and have a great time. But to get the most of out of it you'll want to spend some time paging through menus, and through the manual. Thankfully controls and menus are very customizable, and while it will take some time to tune the camera to your liking, it's not as daunting a task as it may seem at first. Still, when I was working in the field I found myself scratching my head as to where certain functions are—I had to do a Web search to locate the High Frame Rate (HFR) video function (accessible via the Fn menu, but only when the Mode Dial is set to Movie). You'll need to spend some time with the camera before you become truly knowledgeable about all of its functionality and how to access certain features.
The rear panel is a 3-inch display with a 921k-dot resolution. It's a crisp LCD, mounted on a hinge, and despite not including the extra luminance pixels found on 1,228k-dot panels used by Sony full-frame models like the Alpha 7R II, it's bright enough for outdoor use. It can tilt up or down, but it doesn't support touch input. That's a downer when you consider how well other manufacturers have implemented touch into mirrorless cameras. Models like the Panasonic GX8 allow you to tap on any an area of the screen to set the active focus point, even when using the EVF to compose shots.
The Alpha 6300 does have an excellent viewfinder. It's an OLED panel with a 2,356k-dot resolution and a 0.72x magnification. That's slightly smaller than the 0.77x EVF found in the GX8 and Fujifilm X-T1, but not too far off. The absolute largest EVF we've seen in a mirrorless camera is the 0.82x panel used by the pricey Leica SL.
The Alpha 6300 does have one trick that other Live View systems don't—it can be set to refresh the EVF at 60fps or 120fps, the latter being a useful setting for tracking fast action. The eye sensor, which automatically switches between the EVF and rear display, behaves as you'd expect it to. Previous Sony cameras were very sensitive, switching to the EVF even when the camera was far away from your body. It's good to see that this isn't an issue with the Alpha 6300.
The camera also features a standard 3.5mm microphone jack, along with micro HDMI and micro USB ports, all protected by a flap on the left side. An external battery charger is not included, which is frustrating. To recharge the removable battery you'll need to leave it in the camera and plug it into a wall outlet, USB port, or USB power bank via the included USB cable and AC adapter. I do appreciate the standard charging port and the ability to use the camera while it's plugged in to a power source, but if you're spending $1,000 on a body, an external charger should be included as well. You'll likely want to buy one, along with an additional battery. Even though the Alpha 6300's battery life isn't terrible—the CIPA standard estimates that you'll get about 400 shots using the rear LCD or 350 if you rely on the EVF—it's good to have a spare on hand.
Wi-Fi and AppsIntegrated Wi-Fi is a strong point of Sony's camera system. The Alpha 6300 can pair with an Android device via NFC, or with an iOS device by connecting to its broadcast network. Once connected you can copy images and MP4 videos to your smart device, connect the camera directly to the Internet to download apps, or use your phone as a remote control. You can copy images shot in Raw—they'll be converted to JPG for the transfer—but you can't move XAVC S videos, so don't have dreams about wirelessly beaming 4K video from camera to phone.
The Alpha 6300 ships with the Smart Remote app pre-installed. It's a basic remote app that lets you view the feed from the camera, adjust EV compensation, and fire a photo, all from your smartphone's display. I recommend connecting to the Sony PlayMemories store (via the Alpha 6300 and your home Wi-Fi connection) and updating the app. The update adds support for full manual exposure control, as well as the ability to tap your smartphone's screen to select a focus point. It requires you to create an account, but the update is free.
Some other apps aren't free. Sky HDR and Time-lapse add functionality to the camera, but will set you back $9.99 each, as will Star Trail and Liveview Grading (for in-camera video color correction). Others, like Bracket Pro, Light Painting, Portrait Lighting, Stop Motion+, Smooth Reflection, and Portrait Lighting are priced at $4.99. It's wonderful that Sony allows you to expand the capabilities of the Alpha 6300, but a shame that it has chosen to charge a premium for these features.
There are some other free add-ons. Picture Effect+ adds in-camera art filters, Photo Retouch includes basic editing tools, Sync to Smartphone eases batch image transfers, and Touchless Shutter lets you wave your hand across the EVF eye sensor to take a picture. In Sony's defense, other camera manufacturers don't extend the base capabilities of models in such a way, and the Alpha 6300 has some basic special effect features, including panoramic image capture, built in.
Autofocus
Even though the 6300 is a little slow to turn on, requiring about 1.8 seconds to do so, the focus system is lighting fast—it can lock onto a stationary subject almost instantly. That comes into play when utilizing its fast frame rate—11.1fps—which tracks subjects as they move. The hit rate wasn't perfect in our tests, but it was very good. The Alpha 6300 has a second high-speed mode, clocking in at a more modest 8.2fps. It has two big advantages for shooting action—while it's a little slower, I found focus to be just a bit more consistent, with nearly every shot coming in tack sharp during testing. The second advantage is that there's minimal finder blackout. The Alpha 6300 briefly shows a still image in-between exposures, so you can gauge how far and in which direction the subject you are tracking has moved. That's a big plus for wildlife and sports photography—it's not quite the same as using an optical viewfinder camera with a high frame rate like the Canon EOS 7D Mar k II, but it's close.
The amount of shots you can get in one burst varies based on the file format you're using. When shooting Raw+JPG at 11.1fps, I was able to get 21 shots with a SanDisk 280MBps memory card before the burst rate slowed. Switching to Raw capture only extended that to 22 shots. If you opt for JPG capture you can extend it to 46 photos in XF (Extra Fine) format and 60 shots in Fine. Switching to 8.2fps didn't do anything to extend shooting in Raw+JPG, but did net 24 Raw shots, 51 XF JPGs, and 74 Fine JPGs before the rate stutters and slows.
There are numerous focus modes available. By default the Alpha 6300 is set to AF-A, which can switch between focusing on static or moving targets on the fly. You can opt to set it to AF-S, which locks focus once it's acquired, or AF-C, which continues to search for focus as you hold the shutter down halfway or from shot-to-shot when the camera is set to continuous drive mode. Manual Focus and Direct Manual Focus (DMF) are also available—the latter allows you to override autofocus after a lock is acquired.
You can also choose from a variety of focus areas. Wide covers the entirety of the frame, Zone allows you to limit focus acquisition to a quadrant, and Center limits focus to a single central area. There's also a Flexible Spot setting, which allows you to move a box around the frame, as well as change its size, to more precisely choose where the Alpha 6300 will look for focus. Expanded Flexible Spot works in the same way, but can also search an area just outside the spot.
When set to AF-C, the camera will let you use the Lock-On AF mode. It can be set to a Center, Expanded Flexible Spot, Flexible Spot, Wide, or Zone area. Once it finds a target it will continue to track it as it moves around the frame, a solid choice for sports and wildlife photography. Finally there's EyeAF, which needs to be assigned to a button to work. It expands the A6300's Face Detection, locking in on human eyes specifically, a good choice when shooting portraits with a wide aperture lens like the Zeiss Batis 85/1.8.
Lenses and AdaptersGiven how much development Sony has put into its E and FE lens system over the past few years, I'd no longer call it weak. You can get lenses to cover ultra-wide angles of view—Sony's 10-18mm zoom for APS-C cameras like the Alpha 6300 being one of them—and telezooms like the upcoming Sony 70-300mm, which can be used on both full-frame and APS-C models, and pretty much everything in between those focal lengths. There are also macro options, like the Touit entry from Zeiss, and wide-aperture primes like the Zeiss 24mm f/1.8. But, helped by a 2x teleconverter that turns it into a 140-400mm f/5.6 zoom, the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM is going to be the longest lens you can get. It's not out yet, and is expected to come with a premium price tag when it does.
Super telezooms, like the excellent Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contempoary, aren't available in a native E-mount, but they can be used via adapters. The Alpha 6300 has on-sensor phase detection and can use lenses like the zoom from Sigma via a third-party adapter, or via Sony's own LA-EA3 adapter ($199.99) if the lens is purchased in the Sony A SLR mount.
I've tested lenses in A-mount with the LA-EA3. I also tested in Canon EF mount via a FotodioX adapter ($99.95) with the Alpha 7 II and the Alpha 7R II, which feature similar—but not as robust—on-sensor phase detect systems. The results were hit-and-miss. When one of those cameras locks onto a subject with a non-native lens mounted, it does an excellent job keeping the focus locked and accurate on target. But, too often, the focus would hunt back and forth, unable to find its target. But even with mixed performance, Sony's on-sensor focus system allows you to get more out of adapted SLR lenses than competing mirrorless cameras that limit you to manual focus when used with non-native glass.
Sony didn't provide any adapters along with the Alpha 6300, so I can't speak as to whether or not improvements have been made with its focus system when compared with the Alpha 7R II. Meanwhile, Sigma is bringing its own adapter to market, which promises to deliver better autofocus performance when using recent Sigma lenses (in Canon EF or Sigma SA mount) with the Alpha 7R II, Alpha 7 II, and Alpha 6300. That adapter won't hit the streets for a few more weeks, but we do hope to test and review it when it does become available.
Image and Video QualityI used Imatest to check how well the Alpha 6300 performs at its varying ISO sensitivities. The 24-megapixel sensor has a base ISO of 100—useful for shooting in bright light at wide apertures, especially when you take its quickest 1/4,000-second shutter speed into account—but can be pushed as far as ISO 51200. When shooting JPGs, noise is kept below the acceptable 1.5 percent threshold through ISO 12800. There's some in-camera noise reduction applied to JPGs, and there is some smudging of detail at ISO 12800. But, as you can see if you look at the crops from our ISO test scene that are included in the slideshow that accompanies this review, it isn't overwhelming at ISO 12800. Image quality is stronger at ISO 6400, with only very fine lines showing loss of detail, and stronger still at ISO 3200 and below. Pushing the camera in the opposite direction, I'd be comfortable shooting at ISO 25600 for output to the Web, but you'll notice the loss of detail when p rinting or making heavy crops to photos. Try to avoid ISO 51200 when shooting JPGs, as all fine detail gives way to blur.
Shooting in Raw format allows you to eke more image quality out of the sensor. There's certainly a good amount of grain at higher ISOs, but details are very crisp through ISO 6400. At ISO 12800 there's roughness to images, and ISO 25600 is rougher still—but both settings are sharper than the corresponding JPG output. ISO 51200 is useable if you don't mind a very grainy image, and will do well for black-and-white conversions, but shouldn't be your everyday ISO setting.
The 4K XAVC S video that the Alpha 6300 captures is outstanding, regardless of whether you opt for 60Mbps compression or go all-in with the 100Mbps recording option. When shooting at 24fps the frame is very slightly cropped to a Super 35 format, while 30fps recording is more noticeably cropped at the left and right edges of the frame
If you don't want to shoot in 4K—either to save space, or if your computer simply can't handle editing footage that squeezes 8 megapixels into every frame—you can also opt to capture 50Mbps 1080p footage at 24, 30, or 60fps, all in the Super 35 format. Slow-motion fiends can switch to 120fps (at 60 or 100Mbps), albeit with a cropped field of view, so you can slow down footage using editing software. You can also opt to utilize the camera's HFR mode, which slows the 120fps video to 30fps or 24fps, resulting in quarter- or fifth-speed slow-motion video.
AVCHD and MP4 formats are also available, topping out at 1080p60 at more modest bit rates, if those suit your fancy. The internal microphone is adequate for casual use, picking up dialogue clearly when used in close quarters. But if you're looking to take full advantage of the 6300's superb video capabilities, consider adding an external microphone.
ConclusionsThe Alpha 6300 is another strong, forward-thinking mirrorless camera from Sony. Its 24-megapixel image sensor offers plenty of resolution, performs well at higher ISOs, and can capture video at 4K resolution. It also houses an autofocus system that can track targets effectively at speeds of up to 11.1fps, and a more moderate 8.2fps burst mode that minimizes finder blackout to help you better track fast-moving subjects. When you consider the price—around $1,000 as a body only, or $1,150 with a bundled starter lens—and the tough, dust- and moisture-resistant design, you end up with a camera that's easy to recommend, and to do so highly. That makes the Alpha 6300 our new Editors' Choice.
Source: Sony Alpha 6300
No comments:
Post a Comment