Surprise! Sony Alpha A6000 video mode huge improvement

[Andrew Reid]

Sony A6000 with Zeiss 50mm F1.4 on Speed Booster

The Sony A600 is the best Sony consumer camera yet for video. A Nikon D5300 in a mirrorless body, with far more features, the image quality is closer to the FS700 in 1080p than to a NEX 7 or A5000. The pristine sharp EVF, a magnified focus assist which can be activated whilst recording (rare!), peaking, zebra, 16:9 screen and of course the mirrorless form factor. This is arguably the best current 'cheap' camera for video, de-throning the GH2 and GH3. At just $650 it is an absolute bargain.

Read the full article here

[Nitsan Simantov]

Shame about the audio. If it had the jacks I would buy one.
I'm not really that happy with my A7.

 

Great article again. Thanks.

[xenogears]

Nice to see improvements on the Sony front. I'll been waiting for your final review, thanks.

[Julian]

Great news. Sounds like a perfect cheap solution for both audio stills and video. Im very tempted to buy this and wait for 4K to become mainstream.

Shame it has no mic input... what would be the easiest/cheapest solution for external audio? Something like a zoom recorder and then sync it with the internal audio?

[liork]

Good news, shame about the missing mic input.

Does the Nikon D5300 have a Sony or Toshiba sensor? The D5200 has a Toshiba for sure.

[Andrew Reid]

D5200 sensor had Toshiba on the die markings but likely is a Sony design

 

D5300 has Sony on the die markings and is likely a tweaked version of the old sensor, because it has a cleaner readout in terms of noise and less fixed pattern noise. Perhaps lower power consumption too. But the way it does video sampling is very similar to the D5200's Toshiba  one.

[Nick Hughes]

Shame it has no mic input... what would be the easiest/cheapest solution for external audio? Something like a zoom recorder and then sync it with the internal audio?

 

Are we sure it even has an internal mic?

 

edit: nevermind, it does according to BH

[Andrew Reid]

Of course it has an internal mic, yes :)

 

AVCHD clip uploaded https://copy.com/edilC2jd0kbi

 

Investigate what you can put in the hotshoe in terms of audio support. I am researching this for final review but it will be a week or so away yet.

[mastroiani]

I wonder what of clean HDMI output it will have... ?  I just bought a GX7 and am planning to buy  GH4 when it comes out.  I do have BMCC but it's so heavy and cumbersome I almost hate it at times...  Image quality is spectacular though and that is the saving grace of BMCC.  In any case, wondering how A6000 would compare to GX7?  I woulnd't want to buy into a new lens system, but A6000 as a body could be used with my legacy lenses..

 

Thanks for the news and review Andrew.

[Liszon]

Hey,

 

So you would rate this camera above the GH2 and GH3 in terms of image detail. But how do you like the IQ in 60p? I am looking for something cheap to shoot slow motion (since the Pocket Camera clocks out at 30fps) and this Sony could fit the bill I guess.

 

Also do you know if the EU version has 60p/50p or both?

[Andrew Reid]

EU version has both, it is switchable between PAL and NTSC in the menus.

 

Not tried the 1080/60p mode yet, will check it soon.

[gethin]

I have the exact same query and am after the same thing as Liszon.  

[Liszon]

EU version has both, it is switchable between PAL and NTSC in the menus.

 

Not tried the 1080/60p mode yet, will check it soon.

 

Nice one, thanks.

Would be great to know more about that clean HDMI also. Who knows, it might be 10bit.. *dream on, cough.

[Rungunshoot]

I brought the sample clip into FCP X to inspect on the histogram, and as suspected, it records into the "super-whites", just like many of Sony's cameras.  So by lowering the highlights a bit, you actually recover some more detail and increase the perceived dynamic range.

 

I also noticed some of the artifacts of poor compression around the shadow areas of flesh tones, which was one of the big drawbacks of the NEX-5n and made it almost impossible to color grade effectively (especially at high ISO).  The RX cameras don't seem to have this problem.

 

I'm curious about:

 

- Clean HDMI - I doubt it'll be 10-bit, but maybe at least 4:2:2

 

- pixel binning: I've noticed that the Rx10 and Rx100 are sharper than the D5200 and 5dmkIII because the RX cameras use full-sensor readout.  Would be great if Sony somehow implemented a similar downscaling method in the A6000.

 

- overheating: still an issue?

 

- rolling shutter - was awful on the NEX5n; maybe they've taken strides toward improving it.

 

- Is video autofocus improved, or just photo?

 

- really a pity they didn't go for 35mbps at 60p. Just saying.

[richg101]

awesome news.  I would like a nice aps-c camera to replace the nex5n and partner to the A7R

[In-Gi Park]

No mic zack.

 

But Sony releases new zoom mic ECM-GZ1M for Multi-Interface Shoe.

 

http://store.sony.com/gun-zoom-microphone-zid27-ECMGZ1M/cat-27-catid-All-Camcorders-Accessories?_t=pfm%3Dcategory

 

 

It supports A6000.

 

 

So you can use this mic for audio improvement~!

[andy lee]

Andrew I have downloaded your clip on your review (gh2 with cooke lens clip)

it looks very clean and a good image, a great camera in a small package!

 

what Iso did you shoot this at?? the blacks look very clean

 

Big thanks

Andy

[Francisco Rios]

Great news.

Would be great to compare also with panasonic G6 in terms of video and still.

Best.

[Andrew Reid]

Andrew I have downloaded your clip on your review (gh2 with cooke lens clip)

it looks very clean and a good image, a great camera in a small package!

 

what Iso did you shoot this at?? the blacks look very clean

 

Big thanks

Andy

 

ISO 640 I seem to remember.

[Guest]

If this really does give the same image quality as the D5300 I will seriously consider selling the Nikon and buying one of these.