Prior to its introduction a few creators had a chance to use the new Sony α6400. In addition to the new AF system (for more about Real Time Tracking AF and the new tech in the α6400, check out the Alpha Universe Podcast interview we did with Sony’s El-Deane Naude) and a host of other innovations, the camera has some capabilities that vloggers will find particularly useful.
In his early use of the camera, Solomita shot a lot of video footage and worked to see if it would be a capable tool for his YouTube work. “I tried to do as much as I could with it, since I was trying to pack in as much testing and filming in the time that I had to make the video. I shot pretty much the whole thing in 4K. I did a lot of both filming and still photography of animals, because we went to a little animal sanctuary where I was able to get up and close with some cool animals like monkeys and wolves that I don't normally get to see.”
As one of the most creative vloggers on YouTube, Solomita pays careful attention to all aspects of production. Filmmakers like Solomita will tell you that image quality is, of course an absolute necessity, and they’ll also tell you that bad audio is unwatchable. Because of that, the best vloggers typically use an accessory mic to capture their audio. However, for his project with the α6400, Solomita actually used the in-camera mic. “The in-camera audio was really good. Honestly, I got a lot of Tweets after I posted the video, people said it sounded like I was using a separate mic, but I wasn't. The in-camera performed really well, even when I shot in a little bit of windy conditions. I didn't have a wind muffler on there, and it was performing really well. They did a really good job with the microphone in the body.”
In his day to day “vlogging” for his YouTube channel (which has over 1,700,000 subscribers) Solomita regularly uses a Sony α7 III. The α6400 was a departure for him, because of its APS-C sensor. “I would just say that I had a little bit of a prejudice against the APS-C system before using this camera. But, after shooting with it and the 24mm f/1.4 G Master and going out at night, I was genuinely happy with how the footage looked. I wouldn't have expected that a crop sensor could have performed that well in low light. The α6400 re-instilled my belief that APS-C cameras can get the job done.”
