Sony A6400

Lord Alibaski

Lord Alibaski

Lord Alibaski

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Few questions regarding this camera

I've been reading a lot of reviews on this camera but had some very mixed reviews regarding the battery life. Some say you get an hour or so, some say little as 2mins in 4k mode though I don't think I will be recording in 4k maybe 1080p most of the time. Anyone on here actually got this camera and how long do you usually get when recording in 1080p?

We both liked the feel of the Sony cameras compared to the likes of Canon & Nikon we are just a bit swayed at the minute with the actual time you get recording video with this camera. We will be getting a spare battery and I have already said to the wife we probably won't record more than 30mins worth of video a day anyway.

The wife will be using this as well but she has a shaky hand when taking pictures or video so will need a lens with OSS I have been looking at 2 lenses the one that you can buy with it the 16-50mm which will be used for general use, then the Sony SEL18135 18-135 which will be used when visiting the wildlife park and landscape are these 2 lenses a good start with this camera?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Not familar with these models but have you considered the A6500 that recently came out? It doesn't seem that much more than the 6400 and it is IBIS which help even further with the shaky hand. Unsure how improved the battery is though.
 
I did look at that one 1st but the a6400 is the newest camera.The a6500 come out in 2016 but it still cost £400 more than the a6400. Not worth the extra £400 when that could go on a lens with built in oss.
 
Well you can tell how very little I know, sorry I thought 6300 was the first, then the 6400 and assumed the 6500 was the most recent. :o

Annoyingly the reviews only mention how many shots you can get out of it rather than e.g. how much 4K footage you can get from one charge.

Generally speaking, unless you are going to be recording 4K non-stop, with a spare battery I doubt there is going to be an issue. It does use Sony's older batteries but it doesn't sound terrible, more average/above average.
 
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Yeah it was a strange thing to do calling it a 6400 bet it confuses a few people that one, they should have called it the 6600/6700. I've made my mind up I'm going to get the 6400 the wife wanted one before Easter.

I've also been looking into the batteries for this I know there isn't much difference in the time with these batteries that he's tested but there is a lot of difference in price when you look at the Sony battery which cost £51 compared to some of the others is a damn right rip off for any battery. I can't see the life expectancy to be any different either.

 
Good choice :) and yeah screw official batteries (at least from my experience) and their pricing. I think you can buy a charger and two spares for a similar price to one battery used for the A7iii.
 
In my experience, 3rd party batteries are never as good as official and this was the case for my a6000 also. Don't believe all the reviews either as they barely cycle the batteries. After 6-12 months of mild use the drop off can be noticeable. Some cameras shooting 4k can even overheat cheaper batteries that aren't 100% up to the job, just not worth skimping. Same with a strap.
 
I’ve a 6300 and the battery life wasn’t great. I’d end up with a bag full of batteries tbh.

The 6300 used to overheat too, however from what I’ve seen on the reviews the a6400 is a lot better on that front.
 
We want to look at the camera hands on but no one has it in any shop We can visit. I phoned 2 shops jessops and the C shop both have a few left but you have to pay for it then pick it up at the shop or have it delivered not what we want.

Another good option for longer battery life for this camera is a battery grip gives a much secure grip on the camera for people with big hands.

Anyone got any advice on a wide angle lens for £350 max.

Thanks.
 
I think it uses the same battery as my Sony camera. I can recommend RAVPower spare batteries. I picked up a couple included with a battery charger that charges to full in 1.5hrs. Cost less then £27 for the lot. They last just as long as my original one.
 
Looks like I may have to up my budget for a lens for what I need it for.

Been told the 18-135 isn't good enough for wildlife so I've been looking at 2 more looking at the size of the 18-200 that fits my needs better.

Sony E 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 OSS LE Lens
Sony E 55-210mm f4.5-6.3 OSS Lens


 
Picking up the a6400 later today ordered it with the cheapo lens that comes with it but also ordered the Sony 18-200mm lens though that could take upto 28 days to arrive. I know we could have purchased it from other online places and for a lot cheaper but we are getting it from Jessops. We've gone for the £999 deal and the 18-200mm lens got them both for £1500, when the 18-200 arrives they will buy the 50mm lens back off use for £50 so we will have paid £1450.

I need to buy a couple of filters for 18-200 what size do I actually need 62mm or 67mm? and any recommendations on which filters to buy.

Thanks

Lord Alibaski
 
I think you mean 18-105mm lens in the post above. I would suggest you buy "NP-FW50 RAVPower Camera Battery Charger Set" of the rainforest site. Its £28 and comes with a dual battery charger. Those batteries have lasted me two years and are indiscernible compared to the official Sony one. The battery life does not really bother me when I have two spare. You will love the 18-105 mm lens. Its super versatile, and pretty decent (if a bit bulky). I have moved onto prime lens's now on my 6300 though. The 18-105 is great for video though. It actually in stock on amazon prime if you get bored waiting.
 
sieze2 said:
I think you mean 18-105mm lens in the post above. I would suggest you buy "NP-FW50 RAVPower Camera Battery Charger Set" of the rainforest site. Its £28 and comes with a dual battery charger. Those batteries have lasted me two years and are indiscernible compared to the official Sony one. The battery life does not really bother me when I have two spare. You will love the 18-105 mm lens. Its super versatile, and pretty decent (if a bit bulky). I have moved onto prime lens's now on my 6300 though. The 18-105 is great for video though. It actually in stock on amazon prime if you get bored waiting.
Click to expand...
I have exactly the same RAV Power dual batteries and charger. I can confirm they are not discernible from the original and actually seem to last slightly longer to me. Also charge from empty to full in ~ 1.5 hrs which is handy.
 
Hi Sieze

No m8 we didn't purchase the 18-105mm kit which cost £1300, we needed a bigger zoom and the 18-200mm is slightly better for our needs so the extra £150 we got the 18-200mm. I purchased the Rav-power kit also which also charges the Sony battery up as well. We picked up the 18-200mm lens on Wednesday but I haven't had the time to test it properly but we are out to the wildlife park this afternoon so it will be getting used quite a bit.

I did try it Wednesday for about 15mins I noticed a weird issue though when trying to focus, will try to explain it would focus then lose focus the screen would blank out then come back on I haven't tried it since so hopefully it was the lens warming up, just hope it's not a major issue we will see after a few hours usage this afternoon.
 
I knew there was a problem with this lens and there are quite a few people who have the same problem.

Code: 
https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/alpha-nex-interchangeable-lens-cameras/steadyshot-vibration-in-sel18200le-on-a6500/m-p/2440193/highlight/false#M6365

Looks like I will be taking it back but I need a replacement lens whats the equivalent lens to the 18-200mm? it needs to have image stabilization and the same zoom or slightly more.

Thanks

Lord Alibaski
 
Not happy at all had to take the lens back to Jessops because of this wobble so now we have lost out on money. I took the camera and lens in explained the issue (whining noise, image wobble?jumping when you turn it on and look through the viewfinder, this would happen a few times when powered on it was intermittent) I also him them the link in the topic above. I told him several times the lens would make a whining noise, the problem with the image wobble/jumping was when you looked through the viewfinder but for the 1st 45mins lall he was doing was looking at the camera via the back screen. I was getting really annoyed with him because he was just not listening to me or the wife. To him the lens was working fine, though all the time we used it we were outside and not inside he did say being outside might have had a different affect than being inside). 2 hours or so later we were still in the shop I had forgot how many times I said to him I am not happy and would just like the lens swapped for the 18-135mm, it took his manager 10 seconds to say to him look the customer isn't happy so change the lens.

Now we are £150 down because at 1st we were just going to purchase the 18-135mm kit but was advised to purchase the 18-200mm because it would give us a better zoom, which I was happy with until the camera showed this issue. I also phoned Jessops head office before visiting Meadowhall where I explained their chat support advised us to buy the 18-200mm lens but was told they couldn't help us with any refund because it was purchased from the shop!
 
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