Andrew Ellis
Senior Member
Let me preface this by saying that whilst I am very lucky to have a large range of cameras and lenses to choose from day to day, to date, my most "fun" and feature packed body has been the Olympus OM-1 (Micro Four Thirds body) - I've been shooting M4/3 for well over a decade and Nikon for 4 decades.
However, that body (OM-1) whilst superb, is a pro-body with a size and weight (in M4/3 terms anyway) to match. Also, whilst it's an amazing picture taking tool, it's video performance is somewhat - average. Therefore I was looking for a small, light body with great AF performance and great video capabilities. On checking out a number of cameras from my preferred Nikon Z range as well as Micro Four thirds (and even at one point considering the Fuji X100 VI), I eventually tried and settled on the diminutive Sony A6700.
It meets most of my criteria. Great image quality (with a nice 6mp bump in resolution over the Olympus), an amazing AF performance (that's simply witchcraft), and stellar Video performance with full sensor over sampled 4K footage up to 60p (even 120p with an additional crop), and all in 4:2:2 10 bit colour depth, and armed with the lovely S-Cinetone profile for almost straight out of camera finished footage.
I still can't believe Sony packed all this spec including an APS-C sensor into a body much smaller and lighter than my OM-1 !
Is it perfect - of course not (what body is). So what is it that in an ideal world I'd have liked to have been included.
Well, I've been spoiled over the years with twin card slots and whilst I've been lucky with a tiny amount of card failures in the last 20 years, it still gives you that confidence that everything is backed up.
The rear screen whilst OK, is still pretty low res, and as a hybrid photo / video camera, would have really benefited from the higher resolution and tilt / articulated 4 way screen from the A7RV or A1 II.
Likewise the EVF whilst a decent size and magnification for such a small body is just a tad too low res. Maybe a 3 or 5mp panel would have been nicer.
Also (for me at least), the IBIS whilst very welcome, is simply not in the same league as the Olympus bodies - it's not bad just quite a way off best in class. Shooting video the active steady shot helps somewhat to combat this but at an additional crop to the frame.
Finally the high ISO performance whilst totally acceptable, doesn't show much (if any) improvement over my OM-1, despite the Sony having a bigger sensor (albeit with slightly more MP). Like I say it's still pretty good but I think I've been spoiled by my FF sensors in that regard.
Having said all the above, in my "Wishlist" had been included it would have perhaps pushed the price too close to Sony's full frame offerings, and perhaps made the body bigger and heavier - so I suppose you can't have it all.
I've added some nice Sony APS-C lenses (the 10-20 PZ, 18-140, 15mm F1.4 etc) and to be honest the lenses are at least as small and light as my M4/3 ones (sometimes even smaller), and all have excellent image quality - I just wished more of Sony's APS-C standard zooms started at 16mm (24mm equivalent) rather than the usual 18mm (28mm equivalent), but I'm nit-picking. I also love the Sony MI hot shoe (and it works perfectly with my Sony ECM-M1 mic - with no wires !), and the Sony batteries give excellent life as well.
The main thing is the little A6700 kit has now replaced my Micro Four thirds travel kit completely and is giving me the results I'd always hoped for. A brilliant little camera and highly recommended. Perhaps it's time for my Olympus kit to find a new home.......
However, that body (OM-1) whilst superb, is a pro-body with a size and weight (in M4/3 terms anyway) to match. Also, whilst it's an amazing picture taking tool, it's video performance is somewhat - average. Therefore I was looking for a small, light body with great AF performance and great video capabilities. On checking out a number of cameras from my preferred Nikon Z range as well as Micro Four thirds (and even at one point considering the Fuji X100 VI), I eventually tried and settled on the diminutive Sony A6700.
It meets most of my criteria. Great image quality (with a nice 6mp bump in resolution over the Olympus), an amazing AF performance (that's simply witchcraft), and stellar Video performance with full sensor over sampled 4K footage up to 60p (even 120p with an additional crop), and all in 4:2:2 10 bit colour depth, and armed with the lovely S-Cinetone profile for almost straight out of camera finished footage.
I still can't believe Sony packed all this spec including an APS-C sensor into a body much smaller and lighter than my OM-1 !
Is it perfect - of course not (what body is). So what is it that in an ideal world I'd have liked to have been included.
Well, I've been spoiled over the years with twin card slots and whilst I've been lucky with a tiny amount of card failures in the last 20 years, it still gives you that confidence that everything is backed up.
The rear screen whilst OK, is still pretty low res, and as a hybrid photo / video camera, would have really benefited from the higher resolution and tilt / articulated 4 way screen from the A7RV or A1 II.
Likewise the EVF whilst a decent size and magnification for such a small body is just a tad too low res. Maybe a 3 or 5mp panel would have been nicer.
Also (for me at least), the IBIS whilst very welcome, is simply not in the same league as the Olympus bodies - it's not bad just quite a way off best in class. Shooting video the active steady shot helps somewhat to combat this but at an additional crop to the frame.
Finally the high ISO performance whilst totally acceptable, doesn't show much (if any) improvement over my OM-1, despite the Sony having a bigger sensor (albeit with slightly more MP). Like I say it's still pretty good but I think I've been spoiled by my FF sensors in that regard.
Having said all the above, in my "Wishlist" had been included it would have perhaps pushed the price too close to Sony's full frame offerings, and perhaps made the body bigger and heavier - so I suppose you can't have it all.
I've added some nice Sony APS-C lenses (the 10-20 PZ, 18-140, 15mm F1.4 etc) and to be honest the lenses are at least as small and light as my M4/3 ones (sometimes even smaller), and all have excellent image quality - I just wished more of Sony's APS-C standard zooms started at 16mm (24mm equivalent) rather than the usual 18mm (28mm equivalent), but I'm nit-picking. I also love the Sony MI hot shoe (and it works perfectly with my Sony ECM-M1 mic - with no wires !), and the Sony batteries give excellent life as well.
The main thing is the little A6700 kit has now replaced my Micro Four thirds travel kit completely and is giving me the results I'd always hoped for. A brilliant little camera and highly recommended. Perhaps it's time for my Olympus kit to find a new home.......
