Sony A6400 : Did i made a right choice?

[P.K.A.]

I've been using the Olympus Tough (TG) series for my underwater photography and recently decided to upgrade to a mirrorless camera. I bought a used Sony A6400 with a 90mm macro lens. Since I'm new to mirrorless cameras, I'm wondering if I made the right choice. I've heard some feedback that the autofocus on the A6400 can be challenging underwater.

Could you please provide some advice? Is the Sony A6400 a good choice for a beginner like me, or is there a better alternative? Thanks a lot!

 

[Nemrod]

What housing? What lens? What strobes?

I have had no problem with autofocus but I am not really a macro shooter.

Set up center focus and then use back button focus. Turn off the tracking or auto prefocus functions. Then just put the subject in the center, push the back button focus, no need to hold, then recompose and shoot or prefocus in the same manner.

Every surface camera adapted to UW photography will have compromises.

 

[Lewis88]

Agree with Nemrod, it depends what other equipment you are using.

I shoot an A6100, which is almost identical to the A6400. I use it in an A6400 Nauticam housing, either with the Tokina 10-17 fisheye in a 100mm Zen dome, or a Zeiss Touit 50mm macro lens. I use a pair of YS-D3mk2 strobes.

The 90mm lens is a very tight lens, which means your working distance is similarly tight. But it also allows you to really get the tiny stuff to fill the frame.

 

[P.K.A.]

What housing? What lens? What strobes?

I have had no problem with autofocus but I am not really a macro shooter.

Set up center focus and then use back button focus. Turn off the tracking or auto prefocus functions. Then just put the subject in the center, push the back button focus, no need to hold, then recompose and shoot or prefocus in the same manner.

Every surface camera adapted to UW photography will have compromises.

I've paired my Sony A6400 with the Sony 90mm macro lens because I love macro photography. I'm planning to buy the Seafrogs Salted Line housing for my Sony A6xxx. Right now, I'm using the Seafrogs SF-01 strobes.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[P.K.A.]

Agree with Nemrod, it depends what other equipment you are using.

I shoot an A6100, which is almost identical to the A6400. I use it in an A6400 Nauticam housing, either with the Tokina 10-17 fisheye in a 100mm Zen dome, or a Zeiss Touit 50mm macro lens. I use a pair of YS-D3mk2 strobes.

The 90mm lens is a very tight lens, which means your working distance is similarly tight. But it also allows you to really get the tiny stuff to fill the frame.

i m new to mirrorless, hence, i m not sure is the autofocus for sony a6400 will be a struggle since i m so used to TG.

 

[Nemrod]

i m new to mirrorless, hence, i m not sure is the autofocus for sony a6400 will be a struggle since i m so used to TG.

The larger sensor cameras will have much less depth of field which will always make macro focus a more difficult proposition regardless of the brand. The 90mm lens will be challenging. A better bet is the kit lens with the Nauticam CMC-1 or CMC-2 for starters or similar wet macro lens and work up the 90mm macro.

The TG has a sensor the size of a pinhead and thus has huge depth of field allowing for less than perfect set up to squeak by. A M4:3 or APS-C and even more so a FF camera will need more skill.

Sony cameras including the A6400 have excellent auto-focus capability and if you will set up back button focus and center focus point you should do fine.

My NA6400:



You bought a more advanced and capable camera replacing basically a point and shoot snappy cam so now you will need to attempt photography. A more capable system will need more skill, practice, effort and even then, at least for me, my photos still suck, oh and frustration. And it is me, not the camera.

If your Sea Frog housing will not support back button focus, well, that would make me sad. You will need to rely on a half press to hold focus and I find that near impossible even with the excellent Nauticam trigger.

Sony a6400 Back Button Focus Setup Guide - Alpha Shooters

By default the Sony a6400 is not setup for back button focus. However, if you wish to use this method of focussing then it's really easy to setup.

www.alphashooters.com

BBF is a game changer, at least for me. With BBF, you preset the focus distance and then move the camera in and out until you are at the prefocus distance and then take the shot. Or, hit the BBF and get your desired focus distance and then recompose to suit.

Turn off the eye detect and all of that, it just confuses my camera when attempting macro. To find the eye of a seahorse or nudi is asking a lot of the camera software.

 

[Barmaglot]

I've been shooting an a6300 with 90mm for a good few years now. It's tight, but manageable. The longer focal length allows for a longer working distance, i.e. less chances of spooking a subject. Alternatively, with a diopter, you can do supermacro, down to ~1cm frame width. Autofocus performance on a6300 is somewhat sluggish, so it was a bit of a learning curve for me (this being my first macro lens), but it wasn't too bad. When I upgraded to an a6700, autofocus got WAY better; the a6400 should be somewhere in between.

The SeaFrogs housings support back button focusing, but you have to hold the camera by the housing rather than by tray handle, as the button is on the back of the housing rather than on an extended thumb trigger.

 

[P.K.A.]

The larger sensor cameras will have much less depth of field which will always make macro focus a more difficult proposition regardless of the brand. The 90mm lens will be challenging. A better bet is the kit lens with the Nauticam CMC-1 or CMC-2 for starters or similar wet macro lens and work up the 90mm macro.

The TG has a sensor the size of a pinhead and thus has huge depth of field allowing for less than perfect set up to squeak by. A M4:3 or APS-C and even more so a FF camera will need more skill.

Sony cameras including the A6400 have excellent auto-focus capability and if you will set up back button focus and center focus point you should do fine.

My NA6400:



You bought a more advanced and capable camera replacing basically a point and shoot snappy cam so now you will need to attempt photography. A more capable system will need more skill, practice, effort and even then, at least for me, my photos still suck, oh and frustration. And it is me, not the camera.

If your Sea Frog housing will not support back button focus, well, that would make me sad. You will need to rely on a half press to hold focus and I find that near impossible even with the excellent Nauticam trigger.

Sony a6400 Back Button Focus Setup Guide - Alpha Shooters

By default the Sony a6400 is not setup for back button focus. However, if you wish to use this method of focussing then it's really easy to setup.

www.alphashooters.com

BBF is a game changer, at least for me. With BBF, you preset the focus distance and then move the camera in and out until you are at the prefocus distance and then take the shot. Or, hit the BBF and get your desired focus distance and then recompose to suit.

Turn off the eye detect and all of that, it just confuses my camera when attempting macro. To find the eye of a seahorse or nudi is asking a lot of the camera software.

thanks for the tips....will practice based on your recommendation....

 

[P.K.A.]

I've been shooting an a6300 with 90mm for a good few years now. It's tight, but manageable. The longer focal length allows for a longer working distance, i.e. less chances of spooking a subject. Alternatively, with a diopter, you can do supermacro, down to ~1cm frame width. Autofocus performance on a6300 is somewhat sluggish, so it was a bit of a learning curve for me (this being my first macro lens), but it wasn't too bad. When I upgraded to an a6700, autofocus got WAY better; the a6400 should be somewhere in between.

The SeaFrogs housings support back button focusing, but you have to hold the camera by the housing rather than by tray handle, as the button is on the back of the housing rather than on an extended thumb trigger.

tks for sharing

 

[P.K.A.]

So, it looks like the A6400 isn't a bad choice after all as an upgrade from my TG. I just need to get to know the camera better and learn how to maximize its potential. Hopefully, I won't get discouraged. I really appreciate all the tips and advice from everyone!