Sony a6400 Review

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Starting at around $999, which includes a 16-50mm lens. Or under $900 body only.

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My Sony Goodies and Lenses

You can pop over to my camera equipment page to see all my goodies, and I’ll mention some in the review below.

Sony a6400 Review – A Great Camera!

This camera is so good that I paired it with my Sony a7R III (Sony’s full-frame offering) on a month-long trip to Africa. I don’t just recommend it on our recommendations page, but I actually use it! To see more about the latest version of the a7R check out the Sony a7R III Review here on the site.

Note that I only review stuff on the site that I actually use. This is not like other camera review sites that talk about everything. I’m a very practical dude, and I assume you are busy like me and just want to know the facts. So my reviews are very simple and focus on the key elements of the camera, rather than the more obscure stuff that hardcore nerds get off on. I’m more of a geek than a nerd, let’s start by saying that.

These reviews are also “living” in that I will continually come back and update them as time goes on! The A6400 is pretty new in my arsenal, so I expect to be using it quite a bit!

Sony A6400 Sample Photos

Throughout the review, you’ll see many samples of photos, like the one I took below. I think sample photos are a great way to show what the camera can do. Note that I unapologetically post-process my photos! Regulars here on the site are very forgiving (welcoming, in fact!) of this notion, but purists don’t like it. That’s okay. But, if you are new and interested in more about this style of photography, check out my free HDR Tutorial!

At 11 Frames per second, I was able to get more than enough photos to make sure I got this family of lions. The a6400 also has a silent shooting mode which stops any noise which might distract the subject from their natural behavior.

As the a6400 has a cropped sensor it gives an attached lens an effective range of 1.5 its specification. So a 200mm lens becomes 300mm or 600mm gets a result you’d expect from 900mm on full-frame.

And the 24 megapixels means I can make giant prints with no worries…

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Another shot with the lovely Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens. It’s a great match for the a6400. This one is actually a few shots merged into a larger image.

Some great dynamic range from the a6400, shooting right into the sun but keeping detail in the shadows. You’ll also notice a lot of “effects” in my photos… that’s not the camera that’s me doing post-processing, which I do without apology.

Sony a6400 – Why I love it

It’s small, fast, high-powered, and has a ton of lenses available for it. I can’t believe something so small can shoot a 24-megapixel photo and do it at 11 frames per second! I used to really enjoy my NEX-7 a few years ago, and this one takes all the best parts of that system and makes them even better.

Huge Sensor

It is indeed a cropped sensor, but you still get 24 megapixels, which is more than enough. This sensor size is still much bigger than the Micro Four-Thirds system, which I find much too small for low-light shooting.

Interchangeable Lenses

There are ton of lenses for this system. It uses the E-mount lenses, and now Sony has been making these for many years. I’m still using some of my older E-Mount lenses from my NEX-7, and they work just fine, as do newer models that are designed for the a7 and a9 series.

Small

This camera is about 5x smaller than other cameras with high FPS such as the Nikon D series. Also, the lenses are nice and light… it’s not a burden at all to carry this stuff around.

Inexpensive

I think the value for the performance makes this an absolute steal. I’ll have it there on my recommended list for a very long time!

Incredible Autofocus.

This camera has 425 Phase Detection AF Points, maybe that seems like a fairly meaningless number but the main thing about them is they are spread widely across the sensor so the a6400 has no trouble tracking items across the majority of the frame.

Eye-AF

Speaking of AF, newer Sony cameras like the a6400 and a7R IV have AMAZING Eye Auto Focus. You just select people or animal in the options and this thing grabs focus on their eye and doesn’t let go. If the subject turns away and then back, the focus is there within milliseconds! It’s surprisingly good! Oh, and you can even set it to prioritize left eye or right eye. These cameras are so clever nowadays.

Amazing EVF

I’m so addicted to Sony’s Electronic Viewfinder! It’s just remarkable how clear and sharp everything is. There are a lot of HUD-gizmos on there for making sure your horizon is aligned, checking the histogram, focus peaking, and more. Really, one of my favorite things about it is reviewing the photos after you’ve taken them when it is bright outside. I hate looking at the back of the camera… looking through that EVF is so fun! As an added bonus, you also get to preview what your image will look like before you take it as you are getting a direct feed from the sensor as you choose your settings.

Other goodies…

Here are just a few other useful specs…

32000 maximum ISO (expandable to 102400)
4K/30 Movie Recording (with HDR/HLG/S-Log profiles)
Timelapse/Interval shooting
Touch Focus/Tracking
2.3m dot resolution (viewfinder)
900k dot screen
180 degree moveable screen
bulb/30sec-1/4000 shutter speed
Loads of connectivity – Wifi, NFC, Bluetooth, HDMI out, mic in, USB

What doesn’t it do?

With this being a fairly compact body there isn’t room for a 2nd memory card which you’ll find on cameras like the a7 or a9. The a6400 also doesn’t include built-in image stabilization. I wouldn’t say these are deal-breakers, just a case of there is only so much a manufacturer can fit in and still keep the good size/performance/value mix. Plus, you can buy lenses such as the Sony 200-600mm that I used for a bunch of these images and the lens has stabilization built in. 🙂