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Friday 1 April 2016

Sony shows who’s the boss

SONY CALLS its latest flagship APS-C mirrorless, interchangeable-lens camera the "a" (for alpha) 6300, and it might well be the new alpha model in this category, boasting what the maker says is the world's fastest auto-focus.

It's also got more phase-detection AF points than any other camera, Sony says.

The a6300 carries the Exmor CMOS 24.2-megapixel sensor, an extra-wide ISO 100-51200 sensitivity range, enhanced 4K video-recording and an impressive XGA OLED Tru-Finder viewfinder.

The image quality, as you can imagine, is excellent.

Focus is a mere five one-hundredths of a second. Combined with "4D Focus" technology, the a6300 is the boss at freezing fast action, whether a Formula 1 racer blazing down the track or your pet dog leaping for a frisbee.

Citing in the results of its own survey in February, Sony claims the auto-focus is the fastest among all interchangeable-lens digital cameras. Its speed was measured using industry guidelines, with an E PZ 16-50 mm F3.5-5.6 OSS lens, the viewfinder in use and pre-AF switched off.

Sony's 4D Focus is so called because it takes time into consideration - using an advanced algorithm to predict the subject's movement - as well as the dimensions of space, covering nearly the entire frame to allow almost instantaneous focusing even on a subject outside the frame centre.

With this rig, continuous high-speed shooting is possible at 11 frames per second. It's 8fps when the live-view LCD screen is used, which still enables real-time shooting with the combined benef its of a quick electronic viewfinder and live-view mode for perfect framing on fast-moving subjects.

As if this weren't enough, the a6300 introduces new high-density tracking AF technology that significantly improves subject detection and tracking. It activates a far bigger field of focal points surrounding a subject and intelligently adjusts them as the subject movies. You can see why high-speed continuous shooting is so much improved.

The new image sensor uses copper wiring and has larger photo-diode dimensions, which makes readouts much faster. There's an added lower layer of wiring that lets light be collected more efficiently. And meanwhile a Bionz X image processor to extend the sensitivity range up to ISO 51200 reduces the noise, so shots look taken in low light look much better.

Anyone who owns Sony A-mount lenses for its DSLR cameras will be delighted to learn there's an adapter for them for the a6300, another first for the maker.

And we're still not done with "firsts". This is Sony's first interchangeable-lens camera to offer the ability to record 4K movies in Super 35mm. This is great news for owners of 4K ultra-high-definition TV sets. The camera scans pixels, collects 20 megapixels of data (2.4 times as many as used in UHD) and then "over-samples" the information to produce video with exceptional detail and depth.

An XAVC S codec records at a high 100Mbps in 4K recording and 50Mbps in standard Full HD shooting. Moreover, the camera will focus about twice as fast as its predecessor when making movies thanks to these improvements.

With a UHS Class 3 memory card for recording at 100Mbps, you can also get more creative thanks to the adjustable AF speed and AF tracking sensitivity. For videos you can connect a microphone to the dedicated line input, resulting in better sound quality.

I'm impressed with the camera's high-contrast, high-resolution XGA electronic viewfinder. It has 2.4 million dots and visibility is corner to corner. In a new mode, action can be viewed at a smoothing 120fps, with few afterimages, making tracking subjects easier.

The camera's robust magnesium-alloy body feels solid in the hand. Operations are easy with customisable buttons to which any of 64 different functions can be assigned. You now have a digital level gauge, better resistance to dust and moisture, a reinforced lens-mount structure and improved handling on the shutter release and the mode dial.

The mode dial switches among Auto, Programmed AE (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter-speed priority (S), Manual (M), Scene Selection, Sweep Panorama and Movie/High Frame Rate and also has two user modes.

On selecting Auto, you need to choose between Intelligent Auto and Superior Auto. In Scene Selection the choice is among Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait, Night Scene, Handheld Twilight and Anti Motion Blur.

Intelligent Auto lets the camera pick the right mod es depending on available light. In Superior Auto, handy in tricky back-lit situations, for example, the camera will capture a series of shots and produce one optimal image.

The a6300 allows silent shooting, good for those moments when the shutter click will be a disturbance, such as at a solemn ceremony or out in the woods getting pictures of wildlife. Silence can be an option even for continuous shooting.

In my test, Superior Auto gave me excellent shots even at night with just the kit lens, an E PZ 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS. Handheld Twilight mode is nice for capturing lights in the night. The camera grabbed four shots at different exposures and combined them into a single crisp picture.

The Function button provides quick access for switching shooting parameters without having to search the menus.

Overall performance was very good. Once switched on, the camera is ready to work instantly, and when shooting there's no apparent shutter lag.

There's a built-i n Wi-Fi connection with NFC and you can read QR codes to link to a non-NFC smartphone. Sony's PlayMemories Mobile app installed on your Android or iOS phone will lift photos from the camera ready to post online. Your phone can even serve as a remote control for the camera if you like.

Battery life is good - about 400 shots using the LCD from one full charge and 350 shots using the electronic viewfinder. Recharging is done through the microUSB port.

The body alone for the Sony a6300 retails for Bt39,990. With the E PZ 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens, it costs Bt46,990.

Lens mount: E-type

Sensor: 24.2MP APS-C type (23.5x15.6mm) Exmor CMOS sensor

Sensor aspect ratio: 3:2

Focus type: Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection |AF/contrast-detection AF)

Focus points: 425 in |phase-detection AF, |169 in contrast-detection AF

AF modes: Automatic AF (AF-A), Single-shot AF (AF-S), Continuous AF (AF-C), |Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus

Metering type: 1200-zone evaluative metering

Metering mode: Multi-segment, Centre-weighted, Spot

ISO: 100-25600 |(expandable to 51200)

Shutter speed: 1/4000 to 30 seconds, Bulb

Shutter type: Electronically controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type

Viewfinder: XGA OLED, |0.39-inch electronic viewfinder with 2.35 million dots

LCD monitor: Three-inch wide TFT with 921,600 dots

Interface: MicroUSB, micro HDMI, microphone terminal (3.5mm stereo jack)

Wireless LAN: IEEE802.11b/g/n with NFC |function

Movie formats: XAVC S / AVCHD format Version |2.0-compliant / MP4

Video compression: XAVC S: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, AVCHD: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MP4: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264

Recording media: Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro (M2), SD memory card, SDHC memory card (UHS-I compliant), SDXC memory card (UHS-I compliant), microSD memory card, microSDHC memory card, microSDXC memory card

Battery: NP-FW50 with about 350 shots in viewfinder shooting, 400 shots in LCD framing

Dimensions: 120x66.9x48.8mm

Weight: 361g (body), 404g (with battery and Memory Stick Pro Duo)


Source: Sony shows who's the boss

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