Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Alpha evolution (Updated)
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2016
Retiring my DSLR and moving to the Sony mirrorless system has been the most liberating event in my decades of photography since digital and autofocus before that. Same (now better) quality and performance with half the weight. Traveller's dream! I currently shoot with an A6000 with a NEX-3C as a backup/second body in the travel kit. Many comments are based on comparing the A6300 to its older sibling.
So. Here I sit looking at my recently arrived Sony A6300. At first glance, it’s nearly indistinguishable from the A6000 sitting next to it. At second glance, the slightly textured finish of the magnesium alloy body and the return of the AF/MF switch just under the mode dial do supply some visual cues. Looking at the top plate seals it since there is a distinct A63000 label. So, if it is virtually the same camera, why did I buy it?
Turning it on, spending 20-30 minutes in the menu and playing with autofocus provided at least half of the answer. This is not a technical leap like the A6000 was when it first appeared but it has solid improvements that based on personal needs or preferences, may or may not justify the $400 difference between it and the still-available A6000. The justification depends a lot on how and what you shoot. If you use your camera for video at all, it could be a done deal since the improvements in that department make it one of the most capable part-time video cameras in its price range. If not, your decision may be a bit more difficult. Not because the A6300 is in any way lame, but because the A6000 is still to be considered a fantastic camera.
After a few days, I’ve compiled a list of the changes (so far) that justify my choice for getting an A6300 and moving the A6000 to the second body position in my travel kit.
Two small things right off the bat:
"USB Power Supply = On" Allows the use of a USB battery pack to extend battery life almost indefinitely. It allows the camera to operate while charging and with a 15,000 MAH device charger pack connected, it should power the camera for hours.
"Release w/o Card = Disable" No more puttering around in the garden snapping random flowers only to find the card was left in the reader when inspiration hit.
The significant things:
1. Focus : Autofocus is incredible. 425 phase-detect focus points on the sensor cover most of the frame and allow for vastly improved focus tracking. Face recognition is fast and accurate. Improved eye-AF tracks focus on a subject’s eyes so the face is always in focus. Huge value for weddings and such. Did I mention fast? The A6000 and the 55-210 kit lens wan't bad for outdoor action shooting but the A6300 makes me want to pop for the 70-200 f/4 and go find some flying birds or something. One feature I hadn’t heard mentioned but stumbled across in the menu was “AF In Focus Mag.” It allows you to magnify the focus point while in DMF mode as you would in manual focus and a half-press on the shutter activates autofocus while remaining zoomed, allowing for a critical focus check. Another pleasant surprise is that the on-sensor phase-detect is now available to lenses like my A-mount 16-50 f/2.8 SSM via the LA-EA3 adapter. Focus speed seems little different, if at all, from native lenses. AF-A is disabled, as is DMF and the specific MF setting but manual focus is always available.
2. Viewfinder: The A6300 has nearly double the number of pixels as the one in the A6000 and while the difference is noticeable, it isn’t an oh-my-God difference. What is very noticeable is the 120hz refresh on the viewfinder which eliminates image tearing and lag. I’m also happy to see the return of the electronic level as a viewfinder and LCD overlay. Unlike its predecessors that display the last image shot in a rapid (but lagging) slide show during burst shooting, the A6300 offers a real-time live viewfinder display at 8 frames per second with full auto-exposure and focus tracking that makes action shooting much easier. It really brings EVF tech one step closer to eliminating the need for any optical component to the viewfinder beyond letting light in through the lens.
3. Silent Shutter Mode: It is truly silent. Its potential for use in a solemn situations like wedding ceremonies is pretty awesome. I did some research on the tech behind it and found an interesting article related to the A7x series cameras that warn of the time it takes to read out the image once the electronic second shutter is triggered. If panning aggressively or if a subject were to move suddenly an effect similar to the “jell-o legs” in CMOS video may manifest. Concerned, I went out and did some testing and found that though setting the shutter to silent limits burst shooting to “Low”, even aggressive panning didn’t distort vertical lines in any of the situations I tried. My guess is that the electronic second curtain terminates the exposure very quickly and the 1/20 sec. or so for readout and reset for a single frame, while taking a little extra time, is done after the exposure is recorded and the distortion doesn’t come into play as it does in video.
4. Build: Not a tank but definitely, at least, an IED-resistant Humvee. Reminiscent of the NEX-7, actually. The magnesium alloy feels solid (but so does the A6000’s polycarbonate) and its pebbled texture feels “comfortable”. The grip now has a slight indentation at the bottom on the lens side right where your middle and ring fingers rest. The indentation on the grip sharpens the ridge a bit and makes it slightly easier for my medium-sized hand to hold (IMHO). The body is 4mm thicker front to back than the A6000 and along with the extra 2 ounces of heft makes the camera feel a little more substantial but unless you have a body in each hand, the additional weight isn’t really noticeable. Except for the aforementioned AF/MF switch, the controls are identical. The added weather sealing just ices the cake.
5. Sensor: Another evolutionary rather than revolutionary list of improvements. The shallower photosites made possible by using copper rather than aluminum in the sensor circuitry improve compatibility with wide-angle lenses (theoretically) as well as light gathering. 10x better in low light than the A6000? Sadly, no. However, the changes in the sensor and processor have made about a one-stop improvement IMHO. I can set the auto-ISO to 6400 now with little to fear where the A6000's ISO6400 shots were hit and miss as far as usability. Copper wire is a better conductor than aluminum which may contribute to the significantly faster readout that enables 120fps in 1080p recording. The big thing is the phase-detect autofocus array and associated image analysis for tracking and overall speed. There is still hunting in low-contrast, dim environments but the ability to find and lock focus is much improved. Of all the improvements, this could be the One Big Thing when looking for a reason to choose the A6300 over its older sibling.
6. Customization: The buttons and Fn menu can now be customized to host almost any shooting or playback function. After I finished fiddling with button customization I have settled on Focus Assist for C1 by the shutter release and Silent Shutter for C2 on the back. I then turned to the Fn menu and found that the Drive, ISO and Exposure Compensation access on the four-way nav had redundant entries in the grid as did the top-dial-adjustable Shooting Mode. I replaced them with a few items left out in button customization that I would I still have to dig in the main menu to get to. Now Auto ISO Minimum Shutter Speed (another neat new feature), Face/Smile Detect, Image Quality and Finder Refresh Rate are easily accessed.
***Update*** Not sure how I missed the Fn settings feature in the A6000 menu but now I have set my A6000 to match the A6300. Live and learn! (And RTFM!)
7. Video: Except for occasional short clips of no more than 5 minutes, I don't do video. If I did and wanted to shoot important video of a wedding or something, I'd buy an actual video camera that doesn't legally have to legally terminate shooting at 29 minutes and 59 seconds to avoid import taxes. The A6300 is a stills camera with remarkable video capability, not a dedicated video camera. I may play with some of the video features simply because they are there but I bought this camera for the solid still image feature set.
I've only had the camera for a week so far but my initial impression pretty much confirms the research I did before ordering it. I have taken it out for a spin at Disneyland and despite the poor light and 16-50 kit lens (jacket pocket camera), I came back with some very nice images. So far, it's a definite keeper for me!
I will update if I come across anything new. The 18-105 f/4 G arrived a couple of days ago and I'm eager to see what it can do.
***Update - six months in***
Since the first review I've shot about 10K images and my first good impression has only gotten better. The choice of the 18-105 f/4 G was a good one too. Despite its size, it spends more time on the A6300 than any other lens. The improved live-view and extra stop of clean ISO really came in handy shooting a wedding in June and even though it was about 102° and humid for an outdoor wedding (yeah, I know...), I had no overheating issue for stills or bursts (no video). Eye AF is pretty amazing when trying to keep someone in focus on a dance floor and tracking AF is actually useful now. It doesn't feel any different from the A6000 until I shoot with the A6000. As good as the A6000 is (and that is quite good), the A6300 is an obvious upgrade if you use both alternately.
Bottom line: I feel my money was well spent. I don't find myself wishing for the next upgrade or feel the need to jump to full-frame right now. The image quality is excellent and being able to carry two cameras and an assortment of lenses in a day pack makes this photographer smile.
