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I hesitate to call this a "review" because there is a wealth of information available online already. Instead, here are my impressions of the A6700, coming from 4 years of A6400 use.
Image quality: Let's rip the bandaid off right away, the new 26MP sensor doesn't really offer an immediately obvious advantage over the outgoing 24MP sensor. There is still noise and pixel-peeping will only reward you with frustration. I need more time with the camera to determine if the dynamic range has been improved to the point where I notice it in editing RAW images.
That said, the AUTOFOCUS is amazing! quick, snappy, sticky, it doesn't lose sight of my subject as long as the correct type of subject is selected in menu options: human/animal/bird/insect/car/train.
Video quality: There are now H264, H265 codecs to choose from and S Cinetone is supposed to be available and you can record 4K in 24, 30, 60, and 120 fps (NTSC settings). I need more practice here, but a short clip I did in H264, 4k30 seemed quite clear.
Viewfinder/EVF: remains unchanged.
Rear view screen: Its now a flippy screen (fully articulated) and fully touch compatible, both of which are nice. What I didn't like is that out of the box its configured for many on-screen options that I ended up disabling. The screen isn't any bigger than before, so don't crowd my screen with crap please SONY. I also do not like that if I flip the screen inwards to protect it, it turns off the camera. I'm sure there is an option which controls this, and I'll be turning that off so I can save some battery life when I'm covering an event and only plan to use the EVF.
IBIS: I never had IBIS, or stabilization in video, before with the a6400 so I have no complaints here! I notice that in video there is Normal and Active Stabilization, but no Dynamic Stabilization which would add further digital stability at the cost of a minor crop. Pity. I think the hardware is capable of it, but they're using the cripple-hammer to segment their offerings. I bet the A7C-II has it...
Ergonomics: Here is where every small difference between the a6400 and the A6700 makes a difference. The A6700 is thicker and heavier than the a6400, but it feels good in the hands. Part of the reason is that we now have the bigger Z battery and thus a deeper grip. The height of the camera is not much different, so my pinky finger still hangs off the bottom of the camera (I'm used to it now). The sd card slot is now on the left side of the body, so no need to use the battery door to access it (this is gonna be great for using the PD Micro-clutch).
The power switch is positioned slightly different from previous a6xxx cameras so that the index finger finds only the front dial when the camera power switch is in the "on" position. Makes sense to me. That new front dial is not very prominent, so beware if you're wearing gloves. That said, I'm getting the hang of it and I've configured it for ISO so I don't need to use the rear scroll wheel for that.
Final note on ergonomics, the new photo/video/S&Q dial: it just makes sense to me. You now have the ability to modify/save all settings relative to the mode you're in. More importantly though, you can turn off mirrored settings when flipping between modes. Previously, you might be in photo mode exp 1/160, ISO 400, f4 and then when you switch to video, you have these same settings which you would immediately need to change. NOW if I switch between photo and video in M mode, it remembers my last settings relative to photo or video; so i can quickly swap between shooting 1/160 ISO 100 f2.8 to taking video at 1/60, ISO auto, f4. TRUST ME this is a timesaver. There are also 3 memory recall slots if you want to set that up ahead of time.
About the only negative thing I have to say about the new camera is that its my first foray into the "new" Sony menu system. I hate it, but to be fair I'm just so used to the old menu and I have to keep an open mind and learn the damned thing. So, not entirely Sony's fault
Thankfully the FN button is still where I expect it and I made sure to set this up first.
I'll try to post up some random test photos straight out of camera in unmodified jpegs.
- Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary C 017
- 16.0 mm
- ƒ/11
- 1/15 sec
- ISO 1000
Image quality: Let's rip the bandaid off right away, the new 26MP sensor doesn't really offer an immediately obvious advantage over the outgoing 24MP sensor. There is still noise and pixel-peeping will only reward you with frustration. I need more time with the camera to determine if the dynamic range has been improved to the point where I notice it in editing RAW images.
That said, the AUTOFOCUS is amazing! quick, snappy, sticky, it doesn't lose sight of my subject as long as the correct type of subject is selected in menu options: human/animal/bird/insect/car/train.
Video quality: There are now H264, H265 codecs to choose from and S Cinetone is supposed to be available and you can record 4K in 24, 30, 60, and 120 fps (NTSC settings). I need more practice here, but a short clip I did in H264, 4k30 seemed quite clear.
Viewfinder/EVF: remains unchanged.
Rear view screen: Its now a flippy screen (fully articulated) and fully touch compatible, both of which are nice. What I didn't like is that out of the box its configured for many on-screen options that I ended up disabling. The screen isn't any bigger than before, so don't crowd my screen with crap please SONY. I also do not like that if I flip the screen inwards to protect it, it turns off the camera. I'm sure there is an option which controls this, and I'll be turning that off so I can save some battery life when I'm covering an event and only plan to use the EVF.
IBIS: I never had IBIS, or stabilization in video, before with the a6400 so I have no complaints here! I notice that in video there is Normal and Active Stabilization, but no Dynamic Stabilization which would add further digital stability at the cost of a minor crop. Pity. I think the hardware is capable of it, but they're using the cripple-hammer to segment their offerings. I bet the A7C-II has it...
Ergonomics: Here is where every small difference between the a6400 and the A6700 makes a difference. The A6700 is thicker and heavier than the a6400, but it feels good in the hands. Part of the reason is that we now have the bigger Z battery and thus a deeper grip. The height of the camera is not much different, so my pinky finger still hangs off the bottom of the camera (I'm used to it now). The sd card slot is now on the left side of the body, so no need to use the battery door to access it (this is gonna be great for using the PD Micro-clutch).
The power switch is positioned slightly different from previous a6xxx cameras so that the index finger finds only the front dial when the camera power switch is in the "on" position. Makes sense to me. That new front dial is not very prominent, so beware if you're wearing gloves. That said, I'm getting the hang of it and I've configured it for ISO so I don't need to use the rear scroll wheel for that.
Final note on ergonomics, the new photo/video/S&Q dial: it just makes sense to me. You now have the ability to modify/save all settings relative to the mode you're in. More importantly though, you can turn off mirrored settings when flipping between modes. Previously, you might be in photo mode exp 1/160, ISO 400, f4 and then when you switch to video, you have these same settings which you would immediately need to change. NOW if I switch between photo and video in M mode, it remembers my last settings relative to photo or video; so i can quickly swap between shooting 1/160 ISO 100 f2.8 to taking video at 1/60, ISO auto, f4. TRUST ME this is a timesaver. There are also 3 memory recall slots if you want to set that up ahead of time.
About the only negative thing I have to say about the new camera is that its my first foray into the "new" Sony menu system. I hate it, but to be fair I'm just so used to the old menu and I have to keep an open mind and learn the damned thing. So, not entirely Sony's fault
Thankfully the FN button is still where I expect it and I made sure to set this up first.I'll try to post up some random test photos straight out of camera in unmodified jpegs.
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