According to Sony, the company’s Alpha a6000 is the best-selling mirrorless camera of all time. That’s not a huge surprise: For around $600, it’s a relatively compact interchangeable-lens shooter with an APS-C sensor, a really fast focus system, an 11fps burst mode, and the RAW shooting and manual controls you’d want in a camera designed to grow with you.
So the legacy of the a6000 lineup is strong, and now there’s an even badder-ass shooter primed to replace it. The new a6300, announced today during a press event in New York City, takes the a6000’s strengths and injects them with tiger blood. The autofocus speeds are even quicker; Sony says the new camera’s 0.05-second AF speeds are the fastest of any camera, period.
Helping the cause are a whopping 425 phase-detection autofocus points on the camera’s new 24-megapixel sensor---again a first in the world of interchangeable-lens cameras, according to Sony---as well as an additional 169 contrast-detection AF points. All those phase-detection points help drive the camera’s advanced motion-tracking AF system, even when subjects are moving toward or away from the lens; that’s a key benefit as compared to your average contrast-detection autofocus system.
The a6300’s top continuous-shooting speed matches that of its predecessor---11 frames per second with autofocus and auto-exposure adjusting for each shot---but Sony has added a Live View mode that lets you keep an eye on the rapid-fire action at speeds up to 8fps.
This should also be a really popular camera for videographers. The a6300 trumps the a6000 in terms of movie capabilities, with a 4K video mode that actually captures even higher-resolution footage. The a6300 actually captures 6K video with full-pixel readout---each frame is 20 megapixels---then oversamples that video to create 4K footage at 30fps or 24fps. The camera also includes an S-Gamut/S-Log feature that lets you expand the dynamic range of your footage with a color-grading process, and when recording 1080p video, it can capture at frame rates up to 120fps.
Those are all unique features for any camera, let alone one that’s priced affordably, and the a6300’s other specs are solid as well. ISO equivalency reaches up to 51,200, the camera captures 14-bit RAW images, and you can line up your shots with either a 2.3-million-dot OLED EVF or a 3-inch LCD screen. Wi-Fi and NFC are also built in.
All those extra features come at a higher price than the a6000 when it was first announced. The new a6300 is slated for March release, at $1,000 for the body only and $1,150 as a kit with a 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 zoom lens.
If you’ve got a big bag of cash, you may want to opt for that body-only deal and splurge on one of Sony’s just-announced “G Master” lenses. The company’s new flagship lens lineup will launch with three pieces of glass, and they’ve been designed for use with high-resolution sensors for stills and video. Sony says they produce the ultimate combination of sharpness and “exceptional bokeh”---a gradual transition from in-focus portions of an image to out-of-focus sections of the background or foreground.
Two of the new G Master lenses will launch in March: A 24-70mm zoom lens with a constant F2.8 aperture, and an 85mm/F1.4 prime portrait lens. They’ll be priced at $2,200 and $1,800 respectively. Coming in May will be a stabilized 70-200mm constant F2.8 telephoto zoom lens for shooting sports and events. The price for that lens hasn’t been announced yet.
