Chris Niccolls from DpreviewTV: you should not buy the A6500 and wait for the replacement!


Sony A6400 preorders:
USA at BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Buydig, Amazon.
Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras UK, Jessops.
Asia at Sony Australia and Sony Japan.

DpreviewTV just posted their Sony a6400 first impressions video:

What I like most of this video is his conclusion where he says don’t buy the A6500…wait for the replacement!
I don’t think he got some insider info…I believe it’s just his guts telling us that we should wait for Sony to finally give us this A6500 successor.

Sony A9 Firmware 5.0 Real Time Tracking Example Footage

Patrick Murphy-Racey:

These are two clips that I got to shoot when testing the new Sony A9 5.0 Firmware in Los Angeles last week. The new tracking feature is already inside the Sony A6400 bodies that will start shipping in February of 2019. This was a test of how the A9 was able to use the new hybrid tracking feature by combining the use of distance, movement, Face Detection, Eye AF, color, and pattern. By using all of these together the AI (artificial intelligence) residing in the camera’s programing is able to see the human body type, pattern of clothing & hair, movement, employ Eye AF and Face Detection all at the same time. This creates a very easy to use and even scary combination of auto-focus. I call it the “Spider-Monkey” AF setting. You kind of have to see it to believe it so I’m posting this video to show what it’s like in real time. There are two clips. Each clip is shown once in real time, and then the same clip is repeated at 45% speed so you can see what the camera is accomplishing. When you see the large rectangle flash, it is me shooting stills at 20 frames per second. Needless to say, I cannot wait to be able to employ the Spider Monkey AF system on most of my shoots once I get hold fo the firmware update again in March!

Tony Northrup says Sony’s new A6400 focusing changes EVERYTHING

Tony:

Sony’s new focusing system in the a6400 and (soon, via firmware update) in the Sony a9, a7R III, and a7 III, drastically changes how we shoot. The eye detect focusing feature used to be quite unreliable, but after the firmware update, it’s basically 100%. Subject tracking for sports isn’t at 100% reliability, but it’s better than any camera we’ve ever tested, including the Nikon D5 and D500. This video shows many examples shot through the viewfinder so you can see exactly how the Sony a6400, Sony a9, Sony a7R III, Sony a7 III, and Fujifilm X-T3 perform.

Sony A6400 preorders:
USA at BHphoto, Adorama, FocusCamera, Buydig, Amazon.
Europe at Calumet Germany, ParkCameras UK, Jessops.
Asia at Sony Australia and Sony Japan.

Sony A6400 vs A6500 vs Fuji X-T3 spec comparison

You can see the full spec comparison between the new Sony A6400 and the A6500 and X-T3 camera on that special BH comparison page. It’s crystal clear the A6400 is a A5100-A6300 hybrid successor and not a new High end APS-C. Sony has to bring a serious Fuji X-T3 competitor which might be named A7000. The WPPI show is coming in February and let’s hope Sony will release it on that event!

And Dpreview published some A6400 hands-on photos:

On the surface it might appear that not much has changed since the a6300, with the addition of a flip-up touchscreen and an HLG option for high dynamic range video not seeming to signal a major update. But then there’s the stills and video autofocus.

To say that the autofocus system got an overhaul would be an understatement. We’ll be spending plenty of time photographing bikes, running children and who knows what else in the next few days, but our early impressions of the Real-time Eye AF and Tracking features are extremely positive.