Kamera Sony 7c

[Teena Ruiter]

Afterfour years, Sony finally released this new APS-C camera. This is the a6700 with a completely new design. It features the new A.I. engine for identifying and tracking subjects. Unfortunately, Sony forgot to make a few other improvements.

With the new Sony a6700, the APS-C line of mirrorless cameras is finally up to date, for the most part, at least. Although there are some things that would complete the upgrade, most of the modern techniques and features are now available, one of which is the A.I. engine for recognizing and tracking a wide range of subjects.

Also, the camera body benefits from a new design. It makes the camera more ergonomic than any other Sony camera I have used until now. It's not perfect, but enough to make using this little camera a joy.

The APS-C sensor allows the camera body of the a6700 to be a lot smaller compared to its full frame siblings. It measures only 12.2 x 6.9 x 6.4 centimeters without a lens, and it weighs 493 grams, including the battery.

Despite its small size, the body is well-designed and offers a lot of grip. Most buttons and dials are positioned at well-thought-through locations. There is also a dial in the grip, just below the shutter release button, which is a big improvement over the previous model. Unfortunately, a joystick is still missing.

Besides the difference in overall design between the predecessor and this new model, the buttons are also better in quality. Although I still encounter the same problems with the buttons that are located in the dial on the back. These are pressed too easily while rotating the dial.

The LCD screen is now fully articulating, which is good news for the vlogger. Unfortunately, the resolution of the screen has not changed. It's still 1.04 megapixels. The electronic viewfinder only received a minor update. Although the resolution did not change compared to its predecessor, it now has a high refresh rate setting available.

The camera features one UHS-II SD card slot next to a micro HDMI port, a PD USB-C port, headphone jack, and microphone jack. The hotshoe has the multi-functionality connectors as well. You need a V90-rated memory card to record in the best available video options. If you don't need that video quality, a slower card can be used without any problem.

The a6700 is powered by a large NP-FZ100 battery. It allows you to shoot up to 570 frames according to CIPA standards. Sony doesn't give you a battery charger when you buy the camera, nor a PD-USB-C cable to charge the battery in-camera. That's important to know.

At the time of this writing, Lightroom Classic does not support the raw files from the Sony a6700 yet. Therefore, I cannot look at the raw footage to check on the ability to raise the shadows in post.

Every ISO value below ISO 800 looks great. Over ISO 800, the noise levels or noise reduction issues become apparent. I find ISO 3,200 still acceptable. Over ISO 6,400, the image quality becomes worse. Although the camera can be used up to the expanded ISO 102,400, the results are unusable from ISO 25,600 and up.

The possibilities for setting up the autofocus can be overwhelming at first. It's not only about the the seven autofocus areas that are available, but also the choice of the subject and the customization for every specific subject. You have to dive into the possibilities and try things out. This can be time-consuming, but it's worth the effort.

Sony has added the A.I. engine for subject recognition and tracking, which first appeared on the Sony a7R V. Although it promises machine learning for better autofocus performance, I encountered some strange behavior.

If there is only one clear subject in the frame, the autofocus will find it without a problem. If the focus is locked, the tracking works like a charm. The focus stays on the subject, even if the subject is out of the frame for a short moment.

The behavior becomes different if there are multiple subjects in the frame. I noticed on different occasions how the camera will focus on the wrong subject. It will ignore the selected subject recognition. It makes its own choice.

No matter if you choose an electronic shutter or mechanical shutter, the speed is limited to 11 frames per second. Although this is fast, I think a lot of action photographers will find this on the slow side nowadays. The camera doesn't show any noticeable rolling shutter, and the buffer is large enough to capture a lot of continuous frames.

Unfortunately, I only received a wide angle zoom lens for this review. I did manage to get my hands on a Sony FE 55mm ZA lens. Still, most photography was done with the Sony E PZ 10-20mm f/4 G lens and a Sony E 11mm f/1.8 lens.

I enjoyed using the camera a lot, thanks to its ergonomics and how well it handled. It feels comfortable, and the majority of the controls are well-placed. Sony has made some strange choices regarding the basic settings for the dials, but that's easy to change. The camera offers a lot of customization options.

It features the modern menu structure and good touchscreen functionality. However, there are some downsides. It lacks a joystick, and some buttons don't provide enough feedback. The dial on the back hasn't changed, making it too easy to accidentally push one of the four functions while rotating the dial. On the bright side, the AF-ON button is easily recognizable because it stands out enough.

I noticed strange behavior regarding the exposure compensation. Although it offers a 10-stop range, from minus 5 EV up to plus 5 EV, the exposure simulation only shows the range from minus 3 EV up to plus 3 EV. If you dial beyond plus or minus 3 EV, it won't show up on the LCD or in the EVF.

However, if the camera is set to manual exposure, this limitation isn't present. Even with a setting of 5 EV or more, the exposure simulation shows the result of that setting. It's something that you need to be aware of since it can result in a gap in exposure and what is shown on the LCD screen or in the EVF.

Video is an important aspect of the Sony a6700. It is suggested that it has the same sensor as found in the FX30 Cinema camera. One of the most significant improvements for video is the fully articulating screen. It's no longer necessary to tilt the screen on top of the camera, making the a6700 much more suitable for vlogging.

For the best performance, a V90-rated memory card is required. If you keep it below 4K 25p, a slower card will suffice. The camera offers 10-bit 4:2:2, S-Cinetone, S-log3, and HLG. The fast readout of the sensor prevents any noticeable rolling shutter.

The image stabilization works reasonably well, but it is possible to use an active digital stabilization option. This comes at a cost since it uses a 1.13x crop, but it allows for a better result. The camera also offers auto framing, but in that case, the stabilization is turned off. Although I used it for my video, it's mainly for filming from a fixed tripod, allowing the camera to make adjustments in composition if the subject is moving.

I liked the Sony a6700 from the first moment. It feels quite comfortable while holding it, especially in combination with the small APS-C lenses I received as well. I can't say how it balances with larger lenses and telephoto lenses.

The design and features of the camera make it fun to use. The results, although only in JPEG for now, look great. It doesn't allow for a very high ISO setting, but ISO 3,200 should be enough for most circumstances. If the built-in noise reduction is switched off, perhaps one of the modern A.I. noise reduction software programs can achieve a better result with ISO values beyond the limit of ISO 3,200 I find acceptable.

Talking about artificial intelligence, the A.I. autofocus engine did not impress me that much. The times it went its own way, ignoring my chosen settings, were too frequent to trust it completely. Still, when it did focus, the tracking worked well.

For video, the Sony a6700 works well, with enough possibilities and video formats. The 4K result from the 6K oversampled recording is sharp and crisp. The full HD 120p looks a bit softer, but perfectly usable. I used the built-in microphone for my recording, and although it is acceptable for some situations, an additional microphone should be the first investment.

It's too bad Sony did not make a complete upgrade with this new camera. Why not improve the viewfinder and LCD screen as well? That would have made the a6700 definitely a winner, although it doesn't affect the results from the camera, of course.

Nando Harmsen is a Dutch photographer that is specialized in wedding and landscape photography. With his roots in the analog photo age he gained an extensive knowledge about photography techniques and equipment, and shares this through his personal blog and many workshops.

After owning every Sony APSC camera up to the A6600,then switching over to Fujifilm with the X-T1 thru X-T5 I can say with certainty that the A6700 isn't worth upgrading too. It's barely an upgrade over the A6600. If anything, it's more of a firmware upgrade that adds little to the actual shooting experience, and even less toward functionality and image quality. As far as APSC cameras, every other manufacturer has pushed the limits and surpassed Sony. Fujifilm, Nikon and Canon are so far ahead of Sony that it's not even funny. Then there's the issue of not receiving a charger or cable. What's up with that? If your paying $1300+ for a camera, the least they could do is give you a charger, or cable, or both!

There's absolutely no way any Fuji out performs any recently made Sony in terms of autofocus and subject tracking. It may not be worth upgrading from the a6600, but Fuji and Nikons (besides the Z8 and Z9) don't compare in terms of sports/video autofocus capabilities. I own a Nikon Z6 II, and it's just not there yet when you compare to the recent Sony stuff. For me the rest is so similar that it doesn't make a huge difference - image quality, low light capabilities, and frame-rate. The only reason I'd shoot Fuji is for the color.

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