The Sony a6400 is a Low-Light Beast on a Budget
A few months back, I took the Sony a6400 for a spin (you can read my a6400 review here) and was impressed with its features, ease of use, ergonomics, and performance.
Then I pitted the a6400 against the a6500 and a6300 to see which one was king.
In those articles, I made note of the insane ISO performance of the a6400 - it has a native ISO range of 100-3200 and is expandable to 102400.
But I wasn't able to extensively test the a6400's low-light performance, so while I took a few shots and was impressed, I wanted to learn more.
Sony a6400 Low-Light Performance
Manny Ortiz is a favorite photographer of mine, and he just happens to have made a video discussing the low-light performance of the a6400.
The video starts out with some pretty incredible low-light video footage that highlights the Sony a6400 video capabilities. As you may or may not know, I'm delving more and more into video production, and one of the things I like most about the a6400 for that purpose is the flip-up screen so you can see yourself as you film. There's a ton of accessories for the a6400 that make filmmaking a breeze, too.
YouTube Screenshot/Manny Ortiz
Manny points out that some of the video footage is on the grainy side because some scenes were shot at ISO 12800.
However, it's not like the footage (shown in the screenshot above) is so grainy that you can't stand to look at it. If you ask me, it looks great!
YouTube Screenshot/Manny Ortiz
Manny's video also presents some eye-poppingly good low-light stills, so the a6400 is certainly able to pull double-duty in low-light situations.
Paired with a Sigma 16mm f/1.4, the a6400 is a low-light monster, creating images and videos with beautiful contrast and detail.
Manny notes that this combination is likely the best you can get in terms of a Sony APS-C setup, and it's hard to disagree.
Sure, the 16mm lens has a ton of distortion, but that's to be expected. If you can work around it, gorgeous photos and videos are in your future.
In addition to having excellent low-light capabilities, the a6400 autofocus performance is stellar - the best of the bunch when compared to the a6500 and a6300.
That makes this an ideal choice for run-and-gun videographers and photographers that want excellent performance in low light and top-notch autofocus for portraits, action photos, and videos.
What's more, Manny notes that this camera and lens combination is so small that no one even noticed that he was filming.
This is a great point for photographers and videographers that want to get into street photography and video - the less you stick out, the more authentic images and footage you'll get.
Sure, the a6400 doesn't have image stabilization like the a6500 does, but honestly, the a6500's image stabilization isn't all that awesome.
Instead, you can get a gimbal, slap the a6400 on it, and with the proper technique, snag some nice and stable low-light video footage.
Sony a6400 Price
I've shot with Sony for many, many years, and while the a6400 isn't going to compete with the likes of the Nikon Z7, it's an awesome little camera.
Plus, it's not like it's a prohibitively expensive camera. The Sony a6400 price is currently less than $900 brand-new, and you might be able to find a used one for even less.
The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 isn't too spendy, either, coming in at around $400 (cheaper still if you buy used). That's not a bad setup at all.
Give Manny's full video a look to see why this might be the setup for you to pursue low-light greatness!
