Sony Alpha a6300

SONY a6300: full review

In its price range, Sony a6300 is a respectable mirrorless, even if it’s not recent anymore, considered the launch of the upgraded model a6500. It has a sporty feeling, with its quick AF and the excellent burst mode, but it’s not fully convincing in terms of responsiveness – few direct drives. Also ergonomics leaves something to be desired. These are the reasons for an under-utilization of the potentiality offered by the camera body.

Coming after a6000, Sony a6300 is an APS-C with the well-placed ambition of being less bulky but equally performing. Indeed, Sony has invested enough in the Mirrorless field, succeeding among the best manufacturers of this segment. The strength of Sony a6300 is definitely the quick AF, defined by Sony “at lightning speed”. But before exploring the technical details, I’ll start with the characteristics of the camera body, as always.

SONY a6300: design of the camera body

Let’s start from the size: 120×66.9×48.8mm. Small and light, Sony a6300 has some limits for those who have big hands, especially during video shooting. The problem can be solved buying a cage that keeps the commands reachable, but as it is this camera body is not the best in terms of ergonomics and stability. That said, the structure is good to the touch and to the sight, since it’s made of magnesium alloy. In short, good structure but unfriendly ergonomics.

Frontally, Sony a6300 has only the bayonet mount and the Autofocus sign; on the top, instead, it has several features: the mount for external flash, internal flash, shooting mode and aperture rings, a customizable button and the on/off switch.

The back of Sony a6300 is crowded too: apart from the viewfinder and the 3 inches display – adjustable only forward – we have the settings button, the display ring, a second customizable button, the video recording button.

Technically it’s not a tropicalized camera, but it must be said that all buttons have been designed to be resistant to dust and humidity.

Sensor, processor and AF

The sensor of Sony a6300 is 24.2 megapixel CMOS EXMOR APS-C, 1,5x crop factor. Sadly, although the problem will be solved in a6500, the sensor here lacks a stabilization system, like a6000. The BIONZ X is excellent, quite fast, with 11 frames per second burst mode and good management of ISO.

The Autofocus system of Sony a6300 is the most convincing aspect, with its hybrid phase (425 points) and contrast detection system, resulting in a really impressive continuous focus on moving subjects. In fact, you’ll immediately notice its speed, since it activates in 0.05 seconds!

Battery life lasts 400 shots. It’s not the best, but the problem is very common in mirrorless cameras.

Taking pictures with SONY a6300

Even if it’s not excellent, the image quality of Sony a6300 is still very good. Obviously, it also depends on the lens you mount on it.

Compared to a6000, the ISO management has improved especially in low light conditions, an issue common to many Sony cameras. Instead, a6300 has limited digital noise.

Talking about workflow, Sony a6300 didn’t impress me much. The menus are not easy, non-obvious and far from being simple and intuitive. The matter is not secondary, because if you need extended studies to understand how the features work, you risk to miss the moment when you’re looking for images to capture.

The C-buttons, customizable, are a decent alternative to this problem. However, also these buttons are not that easy to use.

Video recording

Also for videos, autofocus is the most surprising feature, although the focus recognizes only faces and not eyes this time. Still, it’s a detail that doesn’t make the difference since the shooting with Sony a6300 is excellent also in 4K, with high frame rate.

Also in slow motion the performance is really good, thanks to 1080p that allow several bitrates, taking up to 120 frames per second. In Full HD, video quality is fine at 100/120 frames per second.

Continuous autofocus is a real plus, even if you need to regulate the settings well before each recording. Some users complain about overheating after 20 minutes recordings at summer temperature… however, I don’t think this is a huge problem, but quite contained.

A more serious issue, though, is the lack of stabilization, so you need a very firm hand to shoot. And there comes the problem of moving image distortion (rolling shutter).

My opinion on Sony a6300

In short, Sony a6300 is a still good mirrorless camera, especially thanks to its fast and precise focus. This is its flagship. The main problems, instead, are workflow-related because such complicated menus don’t help you get close to photographic creativity. The contained weight (400 grams) is another quality; cannot say the same about manageability, quite limited for big-handed people.

Video recording is top-level, even without sensor stabilization. For this reason, I suggest you to get a three-axis support gimbal-action camera.

As regards the lenses to use, no troubles: there’s all different sorts for any kind of budget. With the adapters you could try different brands, to make Sony a6300 a really versatile camera. And, above all, one of the best mirrorless models, in case you’d like to move from a reflex without spending a fortune but having in your hand a good quality “novelty”.