Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site

New Feature: SMS Notification alert

New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist

FM Forums | Sony Forum | Join Upload & Sell

2 3 4 end

Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Received my A6700 this week and wanted to share my initial thoughts. Been using Sony for 5 years with A7III (2), A7RIII and now A7RIV bodies, this is my first APS-C body. I bought this to mainly be a backup to my A7RIV and use the A6700 26MP, instead of always using the crop mode on the A7RIV. I bought the A6700 specifically (vs the new A7Cx bodies) because it has a full mechanical shutter, and portraits in full sun at higher SS will not have rendering issues due to the ES. Plus it will be my travel camera and I plan on using this with my Sigma I series all metal lenses, they fit and look great on the A6700 body and who doesn’t like a bit more reach.…

I was surprised by how small the A6700 is vs. my A7 bodies, it already fits sideways inside 2 of my smallest camera bags, where my A7 bodies needed to run lengthwise taking up extra space. Also surprised by how well built the A6700 is. The front, lens mount, top, sides and bottom sections are full magnesium alloy and you can feel it, It’s solid and the grip is very comfortable for my (larger) hands. The added eyecup is a nice touch and makes the EVF better for bright outdoors shooting. Very happy with the body comfort and feel.

Far as controls, this body has additional buttons/dials vs. other Sony APS-C bodies. There are 2 C buttons plus the red movie record button can be programed separately for stills shooting, mine switches between ES and MS, and it has a new front control dial to go along with a back control dial, plus there is the standard control wheel, like FF A bodies have, that has ISO, Display and Drive settings (You push the center button to switch from these functions to being a rotating wheel.) So Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO/EC can all be set to these 3 dials. On the top under the Mode dial is a sliding dial for selecting Stills, Movies or S&Q, a nice design that doesn’t need a lever to operate. There is a AF-ON button set to initiate focus, as I like BBF, and the shutter AF can be set to off, it only triggers the shutter. More than enough control buttons/wheels for a workable compact body, if you feel you need more, get a full sized body.

Touch Interface: Whole host of new items here, almost too many when I am used to having almost none on previous Sony bodies. I turned off the 2 side and bottom edge LCD screen controls and exposure triangle Icon interfaces, as I like my screens mainly for viewing the scene without a lot of clutter. But you can almost do everything from the back LCD, including activating the shutter button or starting a movie recording. The FN button (or swiping up on the LCD) brings up the typical 10 user features I would need and I will use this method, which BTW is programmable separately for both still and movies. If I need more features I can do 2 things via the Menus button. Go to the Home Screen and 16 items come up in a grid on-screen, very similar to my Olympus bodies and the Super Control Panel (SCP), that can all be set from here via touch or control wheel. Or go to My Menu Setting, which is now the first screen tab in the Menus, vs the last tab in the old Menu layout, and you can put numerous items there for quick access. Like I said almost too many ways to change things, it takes some time to sort it all out and for now the FN and SCP are things I am used to and that is how I will navigate this new camera for a while.

Now for the Hal 9000 Processing Unit in the A6700, I can see in only a few days that it is simply remarkable for AF detection, Great Job Sony! OK, the setup is a bit clunky as with Sony you need to select the type of Subject Recognition you want in advance (I am sure the next phase or so will be auto detect) but once set, it does a great job in finding the subject, (in my short time with it) and much quicker than I could ever do by myself by using the (missing) joystick. Plus there is a good range of sensitivity settings to control how sticky the AF is. Need to spend a lot more time with this on different subjects, but my initial reaction is this will be a excellent tool for establishing accurate AF in a very quick manner. For the few times when I might need to adjust the AF, without the joystick, the Control wheel can do this, but you have to be in the AF mode or else you trigger the ISO, or other printed wheel settings. Or I can just repress the AF-ON button and have Hal try to find Dave again

Re the missing joystick, I don't feel this will be much of an issue because the AF subject detection is so good the joystick won't be needed as much as before. I can see that it came down to having either the AF-ON button or the joystick, there doesn't seem to be room for both in the current body design. The AF-On is in an an easy to reach place and for me, I will use that every time I focus, so I am happy with Sony's decision to leave the joystick out.

Overall I am extremely happy with this camera and for $1,400 USD I find it a real buy in todays camera market.

Edited on Sep 28, 2023 at 11:07 PM · View previous versions

Sep 28, 2023 at 02:05 PM

Mucho Betis
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Great review!, thanks!

What about image (stills) quality and video?

Cheers / David

Sep 28, 2023 at 03:34 PM

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Mucho Betis wrote:
Great review!, thanks!

What about image (stills) quality and video?

Cheers / David

Only had it 3 days and mostly been testing out the controls/features and how everything works. Most images are around the house of my wife and the IQ seems no different than using my A7RIV in the APSC mode at 26MP, except the jpegs are better/brighter out of the A6700. Haven't tried video and need to update my LR to process raws, so sorry not much help with IQ yet David.

Sep 28, 2023 at 03:55 PM

Mucho Betis
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Thanks a lot for the information given.

Rgds from Spain…Gracias amigo!

Sep 28, 2023 at 04:22 PM

BillD208
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

I rented the A6700 over Labor Day and thought it was a great camera. The AF is amazing to me coming from my A7RIii. However I do a lot of low light shoots and unsurprisingly doesn't meet my needs there so I've got the A7CIi arriving tomorrow. For anyone in the ASP-C world I think it is a fantastic camera.

Sep 28, 2023 at 04:42 PM

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

BillD208 wrote:
I rented the A6700 over Labor Day and thought it was a great camera. The AF is amazing to me coming from my A7RIii. However I do a lot of low light shoots and unsurprisingly doesn't meet my needs there so I've got the A7CIi arriving tomorrow. For anyone in the ASP-C world I think it is a fantastic camera.

The A7CII is going to have all the features/layout of the A6700 minus the mechanical shutter, one C button and 11 FPS, it does 10FPS though. The added 1 stop FF has over APS-C for low light shooting can be important, but then I have a FF 61MP body already and wanted this for mainly reach with my 100-400 and travel shooting.

All 3 of these new 2023 compact cameras are really amazing. I have already asked myself how much I might get if selling my A7RIV, as I can see adding a A7CR to pair with the A6700 as a great 2 body, lighter weight kit down the road.

Sep 28, 2023 at 04:57 PM

swldstn
Online
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

I agree for APS-C it’s a really nice with a good set of features. I got one but also comparing it to the A7CII and A7RC bodies. I am surprised though that the Sigma DC DN 16mm f/1.4, 23mm f/1.4 and 30mm f/1.4 are really no lighter than the Sigma I-Series DG DN 24mm f/2, 35mm f/2 and 50mm f/2. So you get more light, which you need for APS-C , but depth of field is almost identical for APS-C at 2.1 Vs FF f/2. So price and full mechanical shutter are the A6700’s main advantages it seems. The two A7Cs have really nice sensors IMHO.

Sep 29, 2023 at 09:03 AM

joychris
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

The touchscreen is the easiest way to move the AF point on any of the newer Sony bodies. When I’m not using the EVF, which is often since I rarely shoot anything at eye level, it’s how I move it with the a7IV and a7sIII. Touch tracking FTW!

Strongly considering one of these to go with the new a7c’s to round out my compact setup.

Chris

Sep 29, 2023 at 10:12 AM

ottokbre
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

I am tempted to get one. It still bugs me that there is no fast 28mm equivalent for Sony E though.
The 16mm F1.4 DC looks long and front heavy to me and seems to defeat having such a small body.

What other small primes does one use with an A6XXX camera?

Sep 29, 2023 at 11:28 AM

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Sep 29, 2023 at 01:40 PM

freaklikeme
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

ottokbre wrote:
I am tempted to get one. It still bugs me that there is no fast 28mm equivalent for Sony E though.
The 16mm F1.4 DC looks long and front heavy to me and seems to defeat having such a small body.

What other small primes does one use with an A6XXX camera?

My current kit is the 6700, Touit 12/2.8, Viltrox 16/1.8, Zony 24/1.8, Touit 50/2.8, 100-400GM, and 1.4x. If I like it when it's released, I will probably add the Sirui 56/1.2. If not, I'll look more closely at the Sigma 56/1.4 or the Zony 55/1.8.

I've also got the Sony pancake 20/2.8 and it's a very solid little guy if you're willing to shoot around its weaknesses. From wide open to f/4, its sweet spot is roughly 1-5m, where its centrally strong though never bitingly so. It's sweet with people with unobtrustive bokeh. For everything else, it's a solid across-the-frame performer by f/5.6. The funky hood may as well be welded on, as it will be necessary in more situations than you might expect. Distortion's higher than I'd like, but it's not gross and I guess I'm more willing to forgive it on sub 80g little guy.

That's less true for Sony's more recent lenses. The 11/1.8, 15/1.4G, and 16-55/2.8G (with the zoom at it's widest setting) share nearly 9% barrel distortion in common. Sony won't let you turn off in-camera distortion correction, so you don't see it when you're shooting, but correcting that much distortion in the final image is going to cost you a significant amount of resolution. The only upside is their advertised focal lengths are post-correction focal lengths. They're designed as wider lenses, so the uncorrected files can give a wider-than advertised perspective if you can live with the distortion and significant vignetting. Unlike correcting the nearly 3% barrel distortion of the Sigma 16/1.4, resulting in a narrower FoV than the advertised focal length, you'll get the expected FoV from the 15 post-correction.

So I went with the FF 16/1.8, which is truly sweet-spot shooting from wide open, with no visible distortion, low vignetting, and excellent resolution across the frame, plus nice on-lens controls. And it's usable on my FF. All that makes it worth a the extra size and weight to me.

Sep 29, 2023 at 07:04 PM

Ludvig83
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

I picked up the A6700 because I wanted a smaller form factor with the AI chip for AF. I have been very pleased with it. I added the small rig base plate to it and it's even more comfortable now. The base adds the pink finger grip and sits flush with the body.

My A7cii arrived yesterday so I'll be testing it out and see which one I keep. I think if the A7cii had arrived first, I never would have bought the A6700.

The mechanical shutter is my one complaint in both. I like the full mechanical shutter of the A6700 because bokeh will remain unaffected at high shutter speeds, but it's only 1/4000 max shutter speed.

The A7cii, is max 1/4000 max shutter and its only EFCS which affects bokeh at high shutter speeds. Magic Wedding Photographer says with his testing it's noticeable at 1/2000 and higher.

So in the end with both cameras I feel like I have to carry a 3-stop ND filter or a circular polarizer to stay under 1/4000 for the A6700 or 1/2000 for the A7cii.

Is electronic shutter viable in both cameras? I have a Canon R8 with the same shutter set up as the A7cii, but it has the option to limit the mechanical shutter speed to my choosing (I chose max 1/1000), and then use the electronic shutter above that up to 1/16000 because the electronic shutter only mode is extremely viable and legit.

Sep 30, 2023 at 10:09 AM

joychris
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Ludvig83 wrote:
I picked up the A6700 because I wanted a smaller form factor with the AI chip for AF. I have been very pleased with it. I added the small rig base plate to it and it's even more comfortable now. The base adds the pink finger grip and sits flush with the body.

My A7cii arrived yesterday so I'll be testing it out and see which one I keep. I think if the A7cii had arrived first, I never would have bought the A6700.

The mechanical shutter is my one complaint in both. I like the full mechanical shutter of the A6700...Show more →

Rolling shutter with the a6700 is about half the a7cII, that one would certainly perform better with the ES. I use ND’s for video, I’ll just leave it on the lens to if needed to avoid any EFCS issues.

Chris

Sep 30, 2023 at 12:17 PM

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Ludvig83 wrote:
.... The mechanical shutter is my one complaint in both. I like the full mechanical shutter of the A6700 because bokeh will remain unaffected at high shutter speeds, but it's only 1/4000 max shutter speed.

.....
So in the end with both cameras I feel like I have to carry a 3-stop ND filter or a circular polarizer to stay under 1/4000 for the A6700 or 1/2000 for the A7cii.

Living in the So Cal Desert I, like you, have to deal with bright sun a lot. Even my Sigma I lenses at f2 will want to go beyond the 1/4000 ss at times in full sun.

Bill Claff, who runs the Photons to Photos website testing Dynamic Range, shows that the A6700 sensor has the exact same 11 stops of dynamic range at ISO 50 as it does as base 100 ISO. See link below. Using ISO 50 is a trick I have used since I started with Sony on my FF bodies 5 years ago, as many times I need to reduce a lot of stops to shoot with my F1.8 / f1.4 lenses wide open in full sun and use flash. This should be enough to stay below the 1/4,000 ss max limit, but if you want to go lower, then of course you will need filters.

https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Sony%20ILCE-6700

Edited on Sep 30, 2023 at 04:57 PM · View previous versions

Sep 30, 2023 at 12:39 PM

j4nu
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

SpecFoto wrote:
Living in the So Cal Desert I, like you, have to deal with bright sun a lot. Even my Sigma I lenses at f2 will want to go beyond the 1/4000 ss at times in full sun.

Bill Claff, who runs the Photons to Photos website testing Dynamic Range, shows that the A6700 sensor has the exact same 11 stops of dynamic range at ISO 50 as it does as base 100 ISO. See link below. Using ISO 50 is a trick I have used since I started with Sony on my FF bodies 5 years ago, as many times I...Show more →

Just one note regarding ISO 50, it's not a native ISO value, i.e. highlights recovery will be the same as when shot at ISO 100.
Of course, it can still be useful if one is shooting JPEGs

Sep 30, 2023 at 02:35 PM

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

j4nu wrote:
Just one note regarding ISO 50, it's not a native ISO value, i.e. highlights recovery will be the same as when shot at ISO 100.
Of course, it can still be useful if one is shooting JPEGs

.

Fully understand, but blown highlights are not a problem for me, as the sky is alway bright blue in the high desert area where I shoot, we rarely see clouds

Actually I underexpose the ambient a stop or so when using flash, so it balances out and ISO 50 has worked just fine.

Sep 30, 2023 at 02:49 PM

offtraildog
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

SpecFoto wrote:
Living in the So Cal Desert I, like you, have to deal with bright sun a lot. Even my Sigma I lenses at f2 will want to go beyond the 1/4000 ss at times in full sun.

Bill Claff, who runs the Photons to Photos website testing Dynamic Range, shows that the A6700 sensor has the exact same 11 stops of dynamic range at ISO 50 as it does as base 100 ISO. See link below. Using ISO 50 is a trick I have used since I started with Sony on my FF bodies 5 years ago, as many times I...Show more →

Your link to the A7C11 comparison shows the A7M2 .. I can not find any info on the A7C11 or A7CR on his site ... where/ do you see it? thx

I suppose I could just use the A7IV and A7R5 data since the sensor is suppose to be the same

Sep 30, 2023 at 03:42 PM

SpecFoto
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

offtraildog wrote:
Your link to the A7C11 comparison shows the A7M2 .. I can not find any info on the A7C11 or A7CR on his site ... where/ do you see it? thx

I suppose I could just use the A7IV and A7R5 data since the sensor is suppose to be the same

Opps, yes I see the CE7M2 is selected, not 7CM2, it was listed right after the A7C and I assumed that was it. Seems the 2 new 7Cx bodies are not listed yet. Removing that link in my post.

Sep 30, 2023 at 04:57 PM

Ludvig83
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

SpecFoto wrote:
Using ISO 50 is a trick I have used since I started with Sony on my FF bodies 5 years ago, as many times I need to reduce a lot of stops to shoot with my F1.8 / f1.4 lenses wide open in full sun and use flash. This should be enough to stay below the 1/4,000 ss max limit, but if you want to go lower, then of course you will need filters.

https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Sony%20ILCE-6700

Thanks for the tip. I tried it yesterday with the 50mm 1.2 GM and it certainly helped. My stacked sensor camera during my quick testing was suggesting 1/10,000 for ISO100 @ F1.2, and the A6700 needed

ISO 50, F1.8 to stay at 1/4000
ISO 100, F2.5 to stay at 1/4000

If shooting F2.8 or F4 zooms, exceeding the 1/4000 shutter will be difficult. Tried the same with the A7Cii just to see what it would take to stay below 1/2000 (EFCS bokeh reasons) and in summary a circular CPL or 3-stop ND filter will make for a good pairing. Some days I need 1/16,000 on the stacked sensor body to shoot at F1.2

Oct 01, 2023 at 10:11 AM

Ross Martin
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Sony A6700 Initial Reactions

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. The A6700 looks great and I’m thinking about picking one up for my wife who loves telephoto shots, using the Sony 70-350mm. For myself I want access to a very light walkaround 35mm field of view such as the Zony 35/2.8 so I went with the A7CII (already have the A7RV and have no need for a 2nd 60mp body). I love that Sony is giving these three model choices in similar compact form factor.

Oct 01, 2023 at 01:52 PM

1 2 3 4 end
FM Forums \| Sony Forum \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 3 4 end

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.