Sony Alpha a6300: Sexy Outside, Impressive AF inside - Full Review
One thing I love carrying with me in my bag at all times is my DSLR. While I may not be a professional photographer, I do take photos frequently and I also do Event Photography whenever I get the time as a way to improve my skills. I thought of trying something different because comparing with today’s standards, my personal DSLR lacks features like NFC and so on. Now, Sony is one of the best camera manufacturers in the market and they’ve been doing a great job with their A7 and their newly announced A9 (Click Here). They also have another alpha Series and it’s an APS-C Mirrorless. So, I got my hands on the Sony a6300 and used it for a month to see how much it connects with me. And this is my Full Review on the Sony a6300.
Looks & Feel
One thing that I love about the a6300 is, despite how advanced the camera under the hood is, it has this classic Metal build on the outside that does not only look great but feels great too. Just like those old cameras where it has that premium build and has this very geometrical design where there’s not much curve but more of a boxy shape, which I am a huge fan of. The black finish on the a6300 is beautiful and gives a more stealthy look to it. The buttons on the camera feels responsive and clicky.
When I was holding the camera on one hand, the buttons were pretty much reachable but expect to feel the entire weight of the camera on your hands and trust me, you will feel that it’s heavy. In fact it’s actually heavier than my DSLR that I am currently using. The body alone weighs in at 520g which is not heavy but the moment you attach a lens, like the ones I used on my camera which I’ll get to it in a bit, is heavy. But don’t worry, it is robust.
You’ll be surprised how compact it feels the moment you hold it on your hands. You’d think you might have to buy an external flash, but then it does come with flash inside the camera. The grip on the a6300 is small and it really took me awhile to get adjusted to that size because my hands are a bit big. Sony has a Battery Grip for the a6300 which might solve the problem, but it comes at a cost as well.
But overall, It takes time to adapt to a body size like this, especially if you’re coming from a DSLR just like me. Other than that, the looks and feel is good.
Sony a6300 (Body Only) Specifications
Under this Sony a6300 body, we find a lot of improvements and also new features that makes it stand out on the crowd.
Lens Specifications
Instead of going for the Kit Lens which comes in 18-55mm, I decided to take a step up with another lens they offered. Which is the Zeiss 16-70mm F/4.0 and without a doubt, it’s one fine piece of lens.
Display & Viewfinder
For the display, the a6300 packs a 3” wide TFT Display and features a tiltable display, that goes 90 degrees up and 45 degrees down. And it does not feel clunky or fragile as the metal hinges are pretty solid and after tilting so many times, I don’t see any issues with it as it holds in place pretty well. Now the total number of dots on the display is around 921k, which is pretty decent. And in indoors, it looks great but under a bright sunlight outside, it’s hard to see through the LCD Panel.
One thing I like about the display itself is how the color production look as it is pretty much on par as what you see once you export the image onto your desktop or PC. And the 16:9 aspect ratio makes things a whole lot easier for me because as personally I prefer the 16:9 instead of 3:2. One thing with the display is that, it’s prone in getting scratches. Before even getting a scuff or any damage on the screen, it’s better if you were to use a protective film on it. And if you’re wondering if the display is touchscreen, nope it isn’t. The inclusion of a touchscreen would have been a nice touch but I am okay interacting with the camera using the physical buttons beside the screen.
Now onto the XGA OLED Viewfinder, which you’ll find it right above the display. What I love about the electronic viewfinder is that, it still provides the same control as what you would see on the display itself which is great. So, you don’t really have to look at the Display to change each and every settings. And the 1.0cm OLED display is beautiful to the eyes, as the color production is very real. And the tone of the color is pretty amazing.
Software & UI
Obviously, it doesn’t run Android or any popular OS on it but Sony’s very own camera Interface. Now, coming from a different DSLR and getting used to a new Interface time, especially when you jump from one brand to another. I was in fact anxious that what if it’s hard to adapt or what. Funny thing is that, the software was pretty straight to the point with no complication. I ended up getting used to the Software on the very same day when I got the camera.
Now, when it comes to using the display it was pretty direct because there was five different kinds of view on the display you can use. Each one of the type has different information showing and changing the settings according to your shoot on different info screen, was the same. And there was no change. Which I loved it because I was able to keep my photography session going on with no hassle.
The settings panel holds up a vast array of customization from what you want on your screen, connectivity, Applications and so on.
One of the interesting thing is the Software add-ons. Once you install the PlayMemories onto your PC and connect the a6300, you’ll be able to install a lot of creative applications like Sync to Remote, Picture Effect+ and so on. Almost most of the application is paid, the ones that I mentioned is available for free. And all is done via the Micro USB connection and also a Stable Internet Connection.
Connectivity & Battery
The Sony a6300 features a NFC & WiFi Connectivity on board and this let’s you take things into your hands really well. The moment you scan your NFC tag on the camera and pair it with your smartphone, you can use it as a remote shutter and also sync all the pictures onto your phone as well, which is pretty nice. And the connection was on WiFi. I found myself using it often as I use the camera all by myself. And a feature like this indeed came in handy.
When it comes to physical ports, we get a Micro USB, Microphone and a Mini HDMI port and on the top we have the Multi Interface Shoe Connector. There’s no dedicated charging port, and it’s done through the Micro USB port using the charging adapter that comes with a USB port, which is pretty decent. In fact, I was able to charge the a6300 on the move with the help of my battery pack, which is pretty convenient.
Speaking of the battery life, it drains so fast due to its higher voltage consumption. The charging takes really long. Normally after a 17 - 20 Minutes worth of shoot, the battery drops from 100 to 30%. Under stills, it’s longer. More than 3 hours, which is great. And even if you leave it on for a few moment, the camera goes into a standby state which is a good thing. Now charging on the other hand, isn’t fast and it takes few hours to replenish the battery.
Image Quality
With the 24.2MP, capturing picture with this camera is a fun ride. Snapping picture with that resolution allows to crop and maintain a substantial image quality.
The ISO can go from 100 to 51200, which is a lot. But operating the camera within 100 to 2600 gave great shots. Normally, going over the 2600 or the 3000 ISO Mark, you’ll see the noise on the pictures which ruins stills and becomes unusable. But the a6300 does it’s best to keep the quality intact. And the other reason was because of the Zeiss lens which has an OIS support, which explains why I was able to take moving shots.
When it comes to color production, it’s true to life and I love it. Thanks to the wider dynamic color range the sensor that’s able to handle. There’s not much of a loss or washed out color on all the photos that was shot. But expect to see some while shooting it under higher ISO. Yes, you’ll be able to take a full control of Higher-ISO images, if you shoot it under RAW Mode.
Here’s some shot that was taken using the Sony a6300 with the 16-70 F4 Zeiss Lens.
Auto Focus
The performance is definitely where the a6300 excels in and gives you the best experience ever. I mostly shot my photos with the Extra Fine Quality and the pictures that came out was just amazing. Roughly around, 8-10 fps under ultra fine. I barely used the RAW Shooting capability but when I did, the camera took few seconds to process the picture and it was in.
According to the specification sheet, it says it can take in 1.4 seconds and yep, it held up to what was mentioned in the paper. With the AF Points, this camera happens to have a whooping 425 PDAF points for precise focus, wherever your object is within the frame. And I have to say, I was impressed. The focus was quick and sharp, but you can also use the controls on the side to set focus at the area you want. The manual focus is more like a digital dial on the lens I was using, which felt different. But it works properly. At times, I turned on the Focus Peaking to see whether it’s covering the right area or not.
Since the a6300 lacks an In body Stabilization, it was hard to shoot at night because at times pictures tend to get misfocused a lot and using the manual mode is the only way out of it. Now with the lens I was using, it came with a OSS - Optical SteadyShot, which made things a whole lot better. I love taking slow shutters, especially doing light painting and it did fine.
For the low light performance, it was decent.
Movie Mode
Now for the Movie mode, there’s few options. The option I used most of the time was the Super 35mm 50fps Full HD settings. Which was amazing. When the Continuous AF is turned on, sometimes it tends to lose its focus but most of the time the camera does a great job. I was able to shoot under this setting for 20-22 minutes and one noticeable change is that the camera gets hot.
For those who’re wondering whether the camera features 4K, well yes it does. But don’t expect it to shoot for longer period of time. I barely passed the 8 Minute Mark and the camera stopped recording and gave a warning that the camera needs to cool down.
I took few shots and have compiled it below so that you could take a look. The exposure and the video processing works wonders. And definitely the kind of camera that I would get for VLOG-ing and Shooting content for my channel.
Pros & Cons
- Pros
- Supports 4K
- Higher AF
- Amazing Color production
- Super Fast Shutter
- Connectivity via WiFi is superb
- Cons
- No Touchscreen
- No In Body OIS
- Odd Record Button Placement
Conclusion
Sony a6300, rewrote their definition on how a Mirrorless APS-C Camera should be, and it really stands up to what it claims. And it did catch a lot of attention, because of what it had to offer. Personally, I think it’s a great camera and it’s definitely worth checking out.
And now comes the question, Should you buy the Sony a6300? If you want to take a step up and want a really great Mirrorless APS-C Camera that gives a bang for your buck, look no further because it offers a lot of AF points, 4K Recording and an amazing color production. One drawback is definitely not having an in body OIS, and this is where their E Mount lens series with OSS comes in handy, like the Zeiss 16-70 F4 Lens I used.
Thank you so much for reading this review. And also, feel free to share it with your friends who’s planning to get a new camera. And I will see you guys in the next article. :)
