- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Differences
- Deals
- Discussions
The Sony α6400 is a compact APS-C mirrorless camera. Thanks to its impressive image quality, it takes detailed, sharp images that are mostly free of visible noise, and its effective autofocus system helps keep your shot in focus as your subjects move. It also delivers impressive video recording quality in both 4k and FHD. Unfortunately, it can struggle to smooth out camera shake if you're recording in 4k, so it's not ideal for filming while walking or running.
Our Verdict
The Sony a6400 is great for travel photography. It has impressive image quality, so your pictures are sharp and free of visual noise. It's equipped with an excellent autofocus system that can track subjects without issue and its minimum shutter speed is suitable for long-exposure shots. This camera is relatively lightweight, very well-built, and comfortable to use, even for people with fairly large hands. It should also have enough battery life for long shooting sessions.
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Excellent overall autofocus performance.
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Great photo quality.
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Sturdy, portable design.
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Comfortable to use.
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Occasionally confusing menu system.
The Sony a6400 is great for landscape photography. It feels sturdy and is rated as being weather-sealed, though that this isn't something we currently test for. It's relatively lightweight, comfortable to use, and has a touchscreen that's bright enough to be read even under direct sunlight, though you can only use the screen to set timers or change focus points. While the image quality is impressive overall, its kit lens does exhibit noticeable light falloff, which can make the corners of your photo noticeably darker than its center.
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Great photo quality.
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Sturdy, portable design.
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Comfortable to use.
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Occasionally confusing menu system.
The Sony a6400 is good for sports and wildlife photography. Image quality is impressive and it has a responsive and fairly reliable autofocus system that can help you maintain focus on fast-moving subjects. Its maximum shutter speed should help you take clear pictures of fast-moving subjects. Unfortunately, it takes a long time to clear its buffer, so you need to keep continuous shooting bursts short.
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Excellent overall autofocus performance.
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Great photo quality.
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Sturdy, portable design.
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Comfortable to use.
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Occasionally confusing menu system.
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Long buffer clearing time.
The Sony a6400 is good for vlogging. Its flip-out screen can be flipped up to be used as a selfie screen, which is nice. Whether you're recording in FHD or 4k, video recording quality is impressive, so your videos are clear and detailed. However, it does a poor job of smoothing out camera shake in 4k if you're walking or running while recording, though it performs decently in this regard while filming in FHD.
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Excellent overall autofocus performance.
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Sturdy, portable design.
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Great recording quality in 4k and FHD.
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Flip-out screen.
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Poor video stabilization performance in 4k.
The Sony a6400 is a great option for studio video. Recording quality is impressive in both 4k and FHD, and its autofocus system does an excellent job of tracking faces and inanimate objects. It has a decently wide selection of inputs that let you use microphones and other recording accessories, though its lack of a headphone jack is a little disappointing. It doesn't have a recording time limit, which is good if you frequently record longer videos.
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Excellent overall autofocus performance.
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Great recording quality in 4k and FHD.
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Occasionally confusing menu system.
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No headphone jack.
The Sony a6400 isn't designed for action video. When recording in 4k, it supports few frame rate options, and you can't film slow-motion videos. Also, it does a terrible job of smoothing out camera shake if you're running or walking while recording. That said, it's sturdy, relatively compact, and rated as being weather-sealed, though we don't currently test for that.
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Sturdy, portable design.
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Poor video stabilization performance in 4k.
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Limited frame rate options for 4k recording.
- 8.0 Travel Photography
- 8.0 Landscape Photography
- 7.4 Sport & Wildlife Photography
- 7.6 Vlogging
- 8.2 Studio Video
- 6.2 Action Video
- Updated Dec 22, 2021: Adjusted menu system score to be more in line with other Sony cameras we've tested.
- Updated Nov 08, 2021: Reprocessed and re-uploaded 4k and FHD video stabilization videos.
- Updated Jun 28, 2021: Retested object tracking performance for photography. Updated 'Autofocus' box accordingly.
- Updated Apr 29, 2021: Corrected input error in 'In The Box' section.
- Updated Apr 28, 2021: Retested for 'Tested Battery Life In Video' and updated score for 'Battery' section.
- Updated Feb 08, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Feb 08, 2021: Early access published.
Check Price
Test Results
- Body made of magnesium alloy
- Inputs are covered by hinged flaps
- Aperture dial is imprecise, sometimes causing incorrect setting selection
Update 04/29/2021: Corrected input error in calling the 'Startup Guide' a 'User Guide'.
- Sony a6400 mirrorless camera
- Sony E 16-50mm 3.5-5.6/PZ OSS lens
- Lens cap
- 1x NP-FW50 battery
- Shoulder strap
- USB charger
- Micro-USB cable
- Startup guide
- Weight is well-distributed
- Easy to adjust ISO, aperture, and shutter speed with either eye pressed against viewfinder
- Handgrip is well-textured and fairly deep
- May not be enough room on thumb rest for people with large hands
Update 12/22/2021: We've adjusted this camera's menu system score to match other Sony cameras we've tested and to better reflect its ease of use relative to other menu systems.
- Can customize menus and remap camera controls
- More complex settings can be tricky to find
- Touch screen feature doesn't allow for menu navigation
Update 04/28/2021: The camera's battery life in video was retested. The score for this box has been adjusted.
Update 06/28/2021: We retested this camera's object tracking autofocus performance, reuploaded the object tracking slideshow for reference, and updated the score accordingly. Note that the score is an average of three test runs, and performance can vary across different runs.
Update 11/08/2021: Our original stabilization test videos were processed incorrectly, so we've reprocessed them. The data and score have been updated accordingly.
Update 11/08/2021: Our original stabilization test videos were processed incorrectly, so we've reprocessed them. The data and score have been updated accordingly.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There's only one color variant of the Sony a6400: 'Black', and you can see its label here. We tested it with the Sony E 16-50mm 3.5-5.6/PZ OSS lens.
Other lenses are available for purchase with the Sony α6400, including the Sony E 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens, but we haven't evaluated its performance when configured differently. It can also be purchased without a lens at all.
If you come across a different variant of this camera, let us know in the discussions so we can update our review.