San Diego, CA—Sony announced the α6400 E-mount mirrorless camera, which brings many of Sony’s most advanced technologies from their full-frame lineup to a compact, lightweight APS-C-format camera.
Sony claims the new camera boasts the world’s fastest autofocus acquisition of 0.02 sec. The α6400 also introduces Sony’s new Real-time Eye AF and Real-time Tracking technologies. The camera shoots at 11 fps with full AF/AE tracking utilizing the mechanical shutter. Or it shoots 8 fps with full AF/AE tracking while silent shooting. It can shoot at those speeds for 116 frames JPEG standard or 46 frames RAW compressed.
“The α6400 represents another important step in the growth of Sony’s overall interchangeable-lens camera lineup,” said Neal Manowitz, vice president of Imaging Solutions at Sony Electronics. “By bringing so many of our latest and most advanced technologies from full-frame cameras to a brand new APS-C model, we are giving today’s creators more options than ever to realize their vision.”
The AF system on the new α6400 inherits technologies from Sony’s newest full-frame cameras. The camera features 425 phase-detection AF points and 425 contrast-detection AF points that cover 84% of the image area. This high-speed tracking AF system pairs with a new-generation Bionz X image processor. Together they enable the α6400 to acquire focus in 0.02 sec and maintain subject lock effectively.
It also features a 24.2MP APS-C-size image sensor. And its standard ISO range of up to ISO 32,000 for both stills and movies is expandable to ISO 102,400 for still images.
Sony α6400 Eye AF Technology
In addition, real-time eye AF, the latest version of Sony’s Eye AF technology, employs artificial intelligence (AI) based object recognition to detect and process eye data in real time. The result is improved accuracy, speed and tracking performance of eye AF.
In all AF modes, the camera automatically detects the eyes of the subject and activates eye AF with a half press of the shutter button. When in AF-C or AF-A mode, the preferred eye of your subject is the focus point.
Choices include auto/right eye/left eye and a switch right/left eye function. Moreover, eye AF support for animals will be added in summer 2019 via a system software update.
Sony’s newly developed Real-time Tracking technology also debuts. This mode utilizes AI-based object recognition and processes color, subject distance (depth) and pattern (brightness) as spatial information to captured subjects accurately. Additionally, when photographing or videographing humans, face and eye position information is recognized by AI. The subject’s eye is monitored in real time with tracking precision. This is activated by a half press of the shutter button, or assigned to a custom function.
Sony α6400 Video Features
The α6400 provides internal 4K (3,840×2,160) movie recording with full pixel readout and no pixel binning. It collects 2.4x the amount of data required for 4K movies and oversamples it to produce 4K footage with detail and depth. Upgraded Fast Hybrid AF technology keeps the subject in smooth focus, even if an object crosses in front of the camera. The camera also records Full HD at 120 fps, 100 Mbps; users can edit this footage into 4x or 5x slow-motion video files.
For time-lapse movie creation, built-in interval recording has setting anywhere between 1 and 60 seconds, with a total number of shots from 1 to 9,999. And AE tracking sensitivity can be adjusted to “high”, “mid” or “low” during interval shooting.
Additionally, for the first time in a Sony APS-C mirrorless camera, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) picture profile is included. This allows HDR (HLG) compatible TVs to playback 4K HDR imagery. Further, both S-Log2 and S-Log3 are available for increased color grading flexibility. Other video functions are zebra functionality, Gamma Display assist and proxy recording.
The camera employs a 180º tiltable, 3-inch, 921K-dot LCD flip screen. The LCD provides touch functionality, with options for touch pad, touch focus, touch shutter and new touch tracking. And an XGA OLED viewfinder offers customization with 89 functions assignable to eight keys. Also featured are the new my dial and my menu functionality.
Built with a magnesium alloy design, the camera boasts a 200,000-cycle shutter. The α6400 ships in February 2019 for $900. It will also come in a kit with the 16–50mm f/3.5–5.6 lens for $1,000. A kit with the 18–135mm f/3.5–5.6 lens will sell for $1,300.
