The following article is a guest post from Narek Avetisyan. The article has been first posted on our SonyAlphaForum. The article is a message to Sony engeneers :)
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To Sony for the a6700
by Narek Avetisyan
Hey Sony,
Let me just say that I’m really glad you responded to consumer feedback and released the a6500 so quickly and addressed some of the most important issues from the a6300. Even though I was excited about the a6300 I wasn’t going to purchase it. But I will buy the a6500 because it suits my needs better than any other camera out there. And let me also congratulate you on the amazing job you did to make it happen. It really is the closed thing to my dream camera.
However with that said. I like to give tough love. I have collected these feature requests from my own experience and from around the web and I present this to you because I know that you guys at Sony’s camera department are awesome and have the potential to make the best camera in the world. The a6500 is still not perfect and has much room for improvement. And because I love that camera and want to see it evolve into something truly great I wrote you this list of feature requests that its successor should have, I’m going to call it a6700 for now but you can call it the Sony A Game if you want. Also this list is additive, meaning don’t remove any of the a6500 features to make space for the ones I’m requesting. Keep all the specs of the original a6500 and also add these.
You’re doing a good job Sony. But you really need to take Super35 very seriously. Like Fuji. People like me are never going to upgrade to full frame cameras. For numerous reasons including size, and price of the whole system.
Some working pro’s like Zed Pro Media don’t even consider your cameras up to par with the rest of the of the competition out there. And he’s not wrong. He was recording that live feed on the Sony a6300 as well, and the camera overheated after 46 minutes and shut down. Case in point
Ok. Let me start by requesting something that I think is very important for your APS-C line Sony. More so that the feature requests I’m going to make below that. And that is…
Ultra fast G Master primes and Zooms for APS-C
Sony, I’m hearing and seeing many of your users switching to Fujifilm. The reason for that were some issues that the a6300 had but one other major reason is that Fujifilm has dedicated great lenses for their system, like the Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 R Lens. Something that is lacking in your APS-C line. This shows a lack of commitment and lowers your consumers confidence in your system. The FE GM lenses are great. But being an APS-C shooter and not needing FF I am not willing to buy and get a penalty on size, weight, crop factor and price. You need to take APS-C very seriously. As has done Fujifilm and seen huge success, and I’m sure you will be rewarded for it. So show some serious dedication and please introduce these new GM lenses on the market. We really need them!
Below I am giving you suggestions for a complete line of lenses. The reason I’m suggesting f/1 instead of f/1.2 primes is to differentiate yourself from Fujifilm. The f/1 lenses should not be too big and should fit and complement the camera body really well. For an example just look what Zhongyi Mitakon is doing with their amazing Speedmaster 35mm f/0.95 II APS-C E-mount Lens! (Maybe you should hire them to work for you.)
Also all lenses should be weather sealed as well, don’t skimp on that, please. Technically the f/1 lenses are f/0.95 but lets call them f/1 for simplicity’s sake. And they all are AF of course.
E 10mm f/2 GM OSS
E 20mm f/1 GM OSS
E 30mm f/1 GM OSS ← Start with this one first please
E 50mm f/1 GM OSS
E 16-50mm f/2 GM OSS
E 50-150mm f/2 GM OSS
E 200-500mm f/4 GM OSS
I’m serious about the f/2 Zooms. Don’t make them f/2.8! This is APS-C not FF! Take as example Sigma and their f/1.8 APS-C Zooms. You don’t need to make them f/1.8 too. Just make them wider and longer than Sigma’s 18-35mm f/1.8 and 50-100mm f/1.8 and weather sealed.
Since the a6500 is a serious hybrid photo-video camera, so should these new lensed be. Some of the characteristics that these new lenses should have are: Mechanical focus ring with hard stops, Click and de-Click Aperture button and focus hold buttons, like the 85 GM.
These GM lenses with their OSS should also work with the Camera’s IBIS and give an effective 7 Stop image Stabilization.
Also all of them should have filter threads, including the E 10mm f/2 GM OSS. (Preferably the same filter thread if possible, except that 10mm. I don’t think it can have the same filter thread as the other E GM primes, (maybe it can have the same size as the E f/2 GM Zooms though).
Remember the more you wait to introduce these new line of lenses the more opportunities you are giving to companies like Sigma or Samyang to come and surpass you and take away a share of your lens market!
Now to the list.
OVERVIEW
Body
Let’s start with the body. As you can see in the picture I have suggested quite a few things. Move the Movie record button next to the shutter button and make its previous position a custom button. Two extra dials front and back. Three additional custom buttons, Plus a LOCK Everything button on top of the Mode Dial. Headphone jack. Two SDXC card slots either on the right or left side of the body with UHS-II and V90 support. Double battery life. One USB 3.1 Type-C connection for all the ports. ac WiFi. A joystick in the middle of the rotary dial on the back. Bigger and very bright OLED Touchscreen with full 180° rotation. Illuminated buttons and Tiltable Viewfinder. Internal Electronic ND. 15fps with more durable shutter. Illuminated buttons. And also a graphite version.
Sensor
Keep the same pixel count but improve everything else. Including: No anti aliasing filter. Minimal Rolling Shutter and a Global Shutter option for video. New Back Side Illuminated design. 16+ Stop Dynamic Range and 26bit+ color depth. Native ISO 50 or lower. No overheating. Uncompressed or lossless compressed 16bit RAW. -4 EV metering and focus sensitivity. PixelShift, Auto Horizon and Macro re-frame. Also a 50MP R version.
Software
60p DCI 4K 10bit 4:2:2 Internal. NO RECORDING LIMIT. Better 1080p and 300 fps at 1080p. Cinemascope 2.40:1 Crop. Shutter Angle Mode. False Color. BT2020 Color Space. X-OCN codec. Built in intervalometer and Free PlayMemories Apps. Film Simulation Mode. MyMenu menu. One or two simple media folder structure. One click WB and Metering from a gray card. And 1:1 Aspect ratio. Also improve the Remote WiFi App.
The List
Read on for the full detailed list of feature requests. I have listed them from the most to less important features.
Global Shutter
Let’s start with Global Shutter. You have created the best image quality 4K camera out there Sony, and congrats on that. But it is useless for anything other than shooting static scenes. The a6500 body is the perfect ILC for action as it is small, nimble and has Super35 sensor. But that absolutely abysmal rolling shutter makes it unusable in 4K mode for anything action oriented in video. Hell even panning or sliding is really bad! Global Shutter to me is the single most important feature I need in the a6700. Because I make sport videos and I generally prefer the GS look. Implementing Global Shutter gives your camera another major standout feature from the rest of the competition especially in the drone video shooting scene. No other ILC has this feature. Image being the first to do this, it would be huge! Now to be clear I’m not suggesting getting rid of the Rolling Shutter entirely as I realise that it provides some benefits, including more dynamic range. But it should be improved to the point that it’s almost unnoticeable. Improving at least the RS is a #1 MUST in the a6700.
I’m not an expert in the field but why don’t you partner with inVisage and use their QuantumFilm sensor technology to achieve this? Or better yet acquire them and use their technology in all your cameras.
UNCOMPRESSED RAW 16 Bit
The a6500 doesn’t support Uncompressed RAW? What? Are you serious Sony? We criticized you about this with the a7 models and fortunately you listened and fixed the issue. Now, why are you repeating the same problem with your APS-C cameras? It’s stupid! Fix this as soon as possible please! Because this just makes you extremely unprofessional. And makes the a6500 look like an expensive toy for consumers. This is unacceptable for a high end camera like the a6500 or the a6300! And also implement 16 bit RAW, instead of the current 14bit, to preserve absolutely every detail with the new sensor.
180° Vari-Angle Touch Screen OLED monitor (Selfi)
To the second most important request. Fully articulating 180° monitor. I cant tell you how terribliy useful it is. Everyone who has used one knows this. Either for those awkward angle shots or for a one man crew it is very useful indeed. You have a nice articulating screen on the a77 II. Why are you not using at least that on your mirrorless bodies? Canon has realised this long ago and it has been praised in the video community on YouTube a lot. And justifiably so because this is a very user friendly feature to have. You NEED to have this in all of your cameras not only the a6700. And make it very bright to be useful for sunny outdoor shooting and OLED for vivid colors with antireflective coating. Because the monitor on the back of the a6500, although you did good by implementing touch, is a letdown in terms of usability and its dim display. So it needs to be improved.
Sidenote: DNG RAW Files (Option)
Everyone who shoots RAW converts them into DNG when importing to the PC. This takes precious amount of time. Save us some hussle and improve our post processing workflow by at least giving us the option to shoot in DNG, if you’re not going to dispose the ARW files anytime soon. This also resolves the issue of not being able to work immediately with RAW files and having to wait for camera support from companies like Adobe in order to process the photos.
New BSI 24MP Sensor
We are not asking you for a higher MP count. Making the already great 24MP sensor Back Side Illuminated for better low light performance, color depth and dynamic range is way more important than more MP.
No Anti Aliasing Filter
What we’re asking you though is to remove that sharpness ruining anti aliasing filter. This way it will not only improve the sharpness but also will be no need to go to higher pixel count, keeping the file same size same as before. It’s a win, win and very easy to do.
Or maybe even you can put that Variable Optical Low-Pass Filter from the RX1R II in there instead.
Native ISO 50 or 25
Give us lower ISO. The lower the better. This will not only give more DR but will make it easier to shoot with very fast f/1 Primes in the daytime. I hate raising my ISO in any situation. And I’m not talking about extended ISO, I’m talking about native ISO 50 or 25 so don’t try to trick us. 
Also put in ISO 1.000.000 just in case someone from the past comes and asks me,”Oh how high is the ISO on that modern camera?” And I’ll say “1 Million!” and his head explodes!
Lock-on AF in Video Mode
This is a big issue for me and many other people. The Lock-on AF does not work when shooting video either on the a6300 or a6500. We need to track moving subject really well when shooting a movie. This needs to be addressed with firmware update and come as a standard on the next camera. Canon does this the best with their dual-pixel focus. You need to do as good of a job or even better than them Sony. This is a big issue.
16+ Stop Dynamic Range & 26bit+ Color
Sony, how come your sensors give 1 stop more dynamic range in Nikon bodies than your own cameras? What is Nikon doing with them that you can’t? Get on top of that and come up with a new tech that will give us more dynamic range. Not only matching, but exceeding Nikon. This is critical to differentiating the sensors in your cameras bodies from Nikon’s. You can never have too much Dynamic Range, that’s what I like to say. This is way more important than increasing the Megapixel count. 24 MP is fine, just give us more DR please! I’m getting sick of Bracketing, It’s very cumbersome. This is the one area you are still lacking behind Nikon. As for the color bit depth you are the best in class as measured by DxOMark on the a7r II. So good job. But for the a6700 at least bring the color up to the a7r II standard. I know you can do that.
Dual Card Slot
Pros that shoot very important projects or events, like weddings, the Olympics and so on need redundancy. Memory Cards fail. And they have failed on me too. Having dual card slot and using the second slot for backup in case the first one fails is a must! This is a MUST feature on the a6700. If you want that camera to be considered as a real pro camera. This should be the case with all your pro mirrorless line too.
Sidenote: SDXC UHS-II Support
Why do you make cameras with 11 and 12 fps and not support UHS-II? There are SDXC cards out there right now that have 260 MB/s write speeds. That theoretically should give us unlimited RAW shooting. I’m disappointed that this is not the case. Implement this feature in the next iterations of your cameras that have SD Card slots please.
PixelShift / Ultra-high Resolution Mode and Auto Horizon using the IBIS
The PixelShift or Ultra High Resolution is very useful technology for product photography that gives medium format results. Olympus and Pentax have it on their sensor stabilized cameras I don’t see why you can’t implement this tech in your cameras as well. It would be very useful.
Also implement some other useful stuff like Auto horizon and frame micro adjustment. Like the Pentax K-1.
Front and Back Dials
Front and back dials are useful. This another area of criticism the a6500 gets. That lacks behind in terms of controls from cameras like the Nikon D7200 / D500 and I agree. The a6500 is extremely powerful hybrid camera. And being that it needs to have many controls and customizable user oriented controls like this. Put one nice front dial on the grip and another one under the thumb of the user.
More Custom buttons
You can never have too many custom buttons. That’s what I like to say. The body of the a6500 has still empty space where a few more useful custom buttons could be added. For greater control and faster access to the cameras numerous features. People like me that shoot both video and stills will appreciate the heck out of a few more custom buttons.
I used to shoot Nikon and I found the custom button on the upper left side of the bayonet mount on my D7100 to be very useful and ergonomic. I would suggest to put one similar to that on the a6700. And also a custom button to the left of the flash release button. And another one on the top of the EV Comp dial.
Also move the Movie Record button next to the shutter release button, like every good camera out there, and make its previous position a custom button. This is also a highly criticized aspect of the camera and one that could be easily fixed even in other iterations of the a6000 line. I don’t know why you haven’t addressed this issue yet. Please do in the a6700.
LOCK Everything Button
The are so many buttons, dials and settings on any pro digital camera these days that a LOCK Everything button is very necessary to have to make sure that no accidental changes in the setting will occur while in the middle of a shoot. And with all the extra buttons and dials I requested a LOCK Everything Swich is even more of a must in the next iteration of the a6500.
I would recommend putting a press-to-lock-and-unlock button on top of the Mode Selection Dial so that it will also lock the Mode dial along with everything else on the camera. Meaning all the buttons and dials except the Shutter and Movie Record buttons. This also can be done the easy way with a firmware update as an custom button assignable function. Like Fujifilm did with the X-T2.
A Joystick
I know you have implemented touch to select AF points on the a6500 but it’s not responsive and fast enough to use. So first things first, fix that, and then implement a joystick in the middle of the rotary dial on the back, instead of the one click button on the rotary dial.
Tiltable viewfinder (EVF) (Like the Panasonic GX8)
Make that nice viewfinder a tilting nice viewfinder. Again, to help with the awkward angles and improve handling and shooting from the waist. And make the camera look even more bad-ass!
USB 3.1 Type-C For all the Connection Needs
USB-C has a lot of uses. Fast Charging, Video out, Audio in/out and ultra fast file transfer.
It’s possible to only have that one port for data transfer, charging, mic/headphone input and video out port. Also this port could be used to store the recordings from the camera to an external hard drive or SSD with high capacities. This would require the use of some adapter but that way it will not only be easier to keep the small form factor of the camera body. But less parts inside also means more breathing room for the sensor and more heat sink space and in turn no overheating. As well as space to implement the fully articulating OLED Touch Screen. Of course an adapter should be included in the box that outputs 2 3.5mm mic and audio jacks, HDMI and a couple of USB’s.
Headphone Jack
I said this above, but just in case you didn’t read the above I’m repeating it. We need to hear what we’re recording. Implement this on the body or the grip if you’re not going to do the one USB-C port that I mentioned above.
Dedicated 3 Battery Grip
The a7 line has one. So why not the a6000 line? We need a dedicated battery grip that can hold 3 batteries and address the battery issue on the APS-C line. Wow, that’s a lot of times that I wrote batteries. Anyway make one similar to what Fujifilm has for their X-T2.
And again this comes down to the issue that you are not taking your APS-C system seriously Sony. Which in turn results your users migrating to Fujifilm. Just ask any serious person that has done this and you’ll realise that they view you APS-C mirrorless line as a consumer line and not pro. Please pay more attention to us that only shoot APS-C for a number of reasons, including size, weight and price. Give us your full attention and you will be rewarded, you’ll see.
Double Battery Capacity without changing its Size
We Love the small form factor of the a6000 line but the short battery life is a little bit of an issue. We need higher capacity batteries but we don’t want the form factor to change by implementing a bigger battery. This will be tough to do, but it needs to be addressed. Not only for the a6700 but for the rest of your mirrorless line as well. Not only by making the battery a lot denser but also by developing more efficient internals, codecs and algorithms to help keep the juices flowing longer. Please work on this issue.
7 Stop Image Stabilization with Lens OSS + 5-Axis IBIS
I call this the human tripod mode. Olympus has done this up to 6,5 stops. Just look at Mathieu Gasquet, he did a 20 second hand held exposure (Yes! 20 seconds hand held!) with the OM-D E-M1 II and the 12-100mm Pro. I don’t see why you can’t exceed that and reach an amazing 7 stop stabilization with the combination of OSS and IBIS! With those new E GM lenses as well.
-4 EV METERING SENSITIVITY
The a6500 sensor does -2 EV but it’s not enough. I’m not sure how you’ll do this. Maybe with the new BSI sensor for the a6700. But it would be really useful for street photography at night for enhanced AF in very low light without that annoying AF assist light. Please try.
60p DCI 4K 10bit 4:2:2 Internal with NO TIME LIMITS Also 300 fps at 1080p
Alright the GH5 is coming. What are you going to do about it Sony? Just sit there and let it take your cake? Watch it pass you by? And for you to eat its dust? NO! You need to beat that little MFT Monster in it’s own game!! You need to make some major game changing moves! Keep the existing oversampled 4K from 6K and give us 60p at 4K. Can I get a hallelujah?! Give us 10bit 4:2:2 internal recording. Can I get a hallelujah?! Get rid of that god aweful, 30 min recording time. We’ll pay that stupid EU tax for you just include it in the camera’s price tag. We’re sick of that 30 limit!! It’s the spawn of satan! Can I get a hallelujah?! And finally gives us some great quality 300 fps in 1080p. It’s about time already. Can I get a hallelujah?! And anamorphic recording too. Don’t forget the Global Shutter option too! Also add vectorscope and waveform monitoring while you’re at it.
Ok, that was a lot of jargon but it’s some serious specs to get you ahead of the competition in 2017 or 18. Let’s do this!
Sidenote: Cinemascope 2.40:1 Crop
This is maybe the easiest thing to update. Make the camera crop the 4K and 1080p footage at Cinemascope 2.40:1 this will output 6 MP instead of the 8 MP of the standard 4K in 16:9, which in turn will increase the regular and HFR recording time. And maybe even improve the overheating and Rolling Shutter! This also can be updated via firmware in the a6300 and a6500. So please do it.
Improve 1080p recording
The 1080p footage looks like crap compared to 4K. It is very soft, has moire and less dynamic range. You may not realise this but many people still prefer to shoot in FHD for convenience and workflow reasons. Make the image sharper with no moire artifacts. Probably by oversampling like the 4K footage. And improve the HFR quality as well. Which suffers from similar issues.
Shutter Angle Mode when Shooting Video
This may sound like complicated to new photographers but for videographers it’s actually very useful for setting a certain shutter angle and not worrying about it when changing frame rates. So please implement it.
Programmable Focus Pull Function
I want to a see function in the camera that the user can program focus pulls during movie recording, with simple taps on the touchscreen. This will make life very easy for one man crew directors. The new Panasonic GH5 has this function and it looks really useful. We need it in the a6700 too.
False Color
Put false color exposure monitoring in the camera which is the best way to expose a scene.
BT 2020 Color Space
Futureproof the camera and implement the BT 2020 Color Space for HDR Video delivery on modern displays. Or by throwing a hybrid gamma curve in there.
X-OCN Codec
Implement your new compressed raw codec into the next mirrorless cameras for more flexible workflow in post. Starting with the a6700.
ac WiFi
We need faster WiFi connectivity for fast over the air file transfers to smartphone, tablet or PC
NO OVERHEATING!
Look Sony I know I threw a lot of beefy specs at you to include in the a6700 but this should be a given. I don’t know if you need to implement a more efficient codec. Or a better circuitry on the insides of the a6700. But I do know that a camera should perform under tough conditions and not give up on you while you’re working. I can’t stress how important this is. People are returning cameras and you are losing business because of this. And not only that but the name Sony gets associated with untrustworthy. This is the worst thing that can happen to a great company like you. You NEED you make not only the a6700 but all your cameras reliable and always ready to use under any circumstances if you want to truly succeed and dominate in this market.
15fps Live Shooting & 500.000 Shutter Life Cycle
Give us Higher frame rates with live view (no lag), might I add. And also make the shutter extremely durable at 500.000 clicks. And send all the Sports photographers to go wild.
Make all PlayMemories apps free and include the intervalometer app in the camera
Come on Sony… Why are you charging for standard functionalities like the intervalometer? Every camera from every manufacturer has one built in and you are charging 10$ for it? Come on that’s just pathetic. And not only that but your entire process of connection, buying and downloading the apps is so convoluted no one can figure them out! People need to search long video tutorials on YouTube to try and somewhat figure it out but even then it won’t work every time. This system is just a mess! And it harms you professionalism and your cameras as well as your consumers trust in you. So just give up on the whole concept of charging for the PlayMemories apps and just offer them for free and have some of the standard apps that should be there in the first place, like the intervalometer, already build into your next cameras.
Film Simulation Mode
Put in something that people would actually love to have. Film simulation mode. Like the good-old Kodak and Fujifilm films of the days gone by. For when shooting jpeg. Like on a vacation or for instant delivery to clients without the need for any extra processing. Fujifilm is nailing this feature with their Astia, Provia and B&W modes in their cameras. And you need to do the same too Sony.
MyMenu Menu
Include a fully user customizable tab. This comes in handy when you don’t want to dig through the full menu system to get to a specific option. And can’t assign something to the Fn button or a custom button.
UX Refinement
Software is a defining and absolutely crucial factor in a systems success and dominance.
Aim for better user experience. No stupid database references in the menus, multi folder creating file systems or system freezes and locks. Make it rock solid and extremely responsive.
Improve the WiFi App on Smartphones
The app on the smartphones for Sony cameras needs some work. For example you can’t choose AF points like on the back of the a6500 and you can’t shoot in Slog-2/3 when having the app connected.
One click white balance and metering from a grey card or color-checker
Exposing and getting a White Balance from a gray card and color-checker is the most accurate way of achieving the perfect exposure and color. Even more so than a light meter. So please build a menu function around this and custom button assignable.
One more step that you could also take Sony, is to build your own Gray Card / Color-Checker for perfect and fast one click synchronization with your cameras.
Illuminated Buttons
I shoot astrophotography as well. And it the dark of the night it’s impossible to locate the correct buttons on any non backlit-button camera not just Sony. You would do us night shooters an extreme favour by adding little LED’s behind those buttons. Please do it.
1:1 Aspect Ratio
Put a square aspect ratio for photo mode
Integrated in Body Radio Transceiver/Transmitter for Flash Photography
I should’ve made a graphic of new line of flashes too, but I don’t have the time. But you should Sony, make a new breed of flashes with built in radio Transceiver/Transmitter that will talk to the a6700’s built in radio seamlessly, if you implement it. Or your other future cameras. This could be another neat feature. And indeed one more selling point for the pro’s.
Other Fixes
Not too much special stuff here. Just bring the normal specs to at least industry standards. Like:
1/250 Flash Sync
1/8000 Shutter Speed
Price
Sony please try to lower your prices in the EU. There is no reason to charge more than the camera is worth in $. It is very unfair to your consumers, and it affects sales.
Underwater housing
Make an underwater housing for the a6700 like you did with the RX100 V
Graphite Version
I love that graphite color for the a6000. And I want it on my a6700 or even the current a6500. So please release that color version for these cameras as well.
Internal Electronic ND like the FS5, FS7 II
Ok, I left this request last because I know this sounds a little bit crazy seeing how the E ND is implemented in the FS5, FS7 II bodies. It apparently needs a lot of space to go in and out of the way of the sensor. And in a very small form factor like the a6000 line with a mechanical shutter in there this could be impossible to do. But that awesome electronically controlled variable filter is just so good, that I can’t help but dream about it being in some shape or form implemented in the a6700. I think many people would go heads over heals if they saw this happen too. So try to do it Sony.
An R version of a6700 featuring 50 MP BSI Sensor and 10 fps
Remember that I asked you that we don’t need more MP? Well, we do. And for a reason.
We see Full Frame resolution advancing with every new iteration of cameras but every APS-C sensor has been stale for quite some time now. Please make an 50MP version of the a6700 for all the studio and landscape photographers. I would happily own both versions of the camera. One for video and the other for serious fine art photography.
In closing..
I originally wrote this list for the a6300 but after seeing the a6500 announced and have had some of the most important stuff addressed I changed it up for the a6500’s successor.
Also this list is not strictly for the a6700 but also for Sony’s next and current cameras as well. As some of these features can be implemented via firmware update in existing models.
Feel free to comment down below with your thoughts and tell me if I missed something.
And thank you for reading.
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