Camera upgrade: Sony (Alpha) α6700 mirrorless camera with 18-135mm f/3.5-6.5 OSS kit lens. 🙂

Hey guys and gals, just thought I'd throw in a little something this week not related to audio as I finish some further measurements on the Topping DX9 DAC I've been talking about over the last couple weeks. As I noted last time, I found an unexpected 192kHz frequency response anomaly with the DAC and I know Topping are looking into it. So I figure I'd give it a bit more time to see if they can get an updated fix out before I publish Part III. Always good I think to publish the "freshest" data.

So, this week, let's do a little show-and-tell for my new travel camera - the Sony α6700 APS-C mirrorless camera with its 18-135mm/f3.5-5.6 kit lens (~US$1400 body only, US$1800 with lens).

While in the last decade, I've focused more on the audiophile hobby, over my lifetime, I've shifted between photography and audio. Before I started this blog in 2013, from about 2005-2012, I had been doing way more photography after my kids we born. Those were the days of the transition to the early dSLR cameras. I still have the Canon EOS Rebel and Nikon D70, both 6Mpix from that era as basically "museum" pieces here that I'll have to use as decoration in the man-cave one day. The Nikon system won out for me because I had more lenses for that than the Canon and eventually I upgraded to the Nikon D200 (10Mpix), then D300 (12.3Mpix), and eventually D800 (36.3Mpix) by 2012.

A look at my partial museum of camera bodies. Konica Minolta Dimage A2 (8Mpix, 2004), Canon Digital Rebel (2003, 6Mpix), Nikon F80/N80 (2000) film body.

While technology continued along and I continued to collect full-frame Nikon 35mm lenses since then, it's interesting I think that I no longer felt the need to upgrade my "high-end" digital camera bodies from the excellent D800 in 2012! Certainly when it came to the megapixel-wars, once I hit 36MPix, there really wasn't anything else I needed for resolution since I'm in no way planning to shoot pictures for billboards. While low-noise performance of the sensor has improved over time, I don't think we're looking at massive changes that demanded regular upgrades unless I was more of a professional. As with all technology, including audiophile stuff of course, there is a point of diminishing return beyond which at least the amateur enthusiast can feel they're more than adequately satisfied. Thankfully, like with audiophile stuff, I have not been afflicted by camera Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) in the last number of years. 😆

Having said this, I did buy the much less expensive and smaller mirrorless Sony α6000 in 2014 when I went for a trip to S.E. Asia and China. Admittedly, the much more compact size and lower weight of this camera while maintaining image quality was liberating!

Though I still love the picture quality of the Nikon D800 and its complement of lenses, I must admit that the α6000 with APS-C sensor is easily the best choice for my trips abroad. The 24Mpix quality is more than I'd generally need, the speed, user experience, quality of the EVF (electronic view finder) have served me well. Image quality of the camera is significantly better than a smart phone with those tiny sensors which can have an impressive 'pop' using a fair amount of digital processing, but nothing beats the light-gathering naturalness of a good sized image sensor!

[For comparison, my Google Pixel 8 can achieve very impressive picture quality but only has a 1/1.31" or 19.4mm diagonal sensor size. This is 9.8 x 7.4mm compared to the Sony APS-C sensor size of 23.6 x 15.7mm. Area of the APS-C sensor is just a little more than 5x that of the smartphone. 

Canon's APS-C size 22.3 x 14.9mm a little smaller than Sony/Nikon/Pentax/Fuji.]

Over time, as things get old, issues happen. I've noticed in the last year that the α6000's electrical contact with the lens sometimes needs reseating. One of the dials is not as responsive. The Sony 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens still works but showing occasional glitching with the optical stabilization.

Sony α6000 and α6700 relative body size/shape comparisons. Notice the larger right hand grip on the α6700 which encloses the larger battery.

The natural upgrade/replacement then is the α6700 body and I figured I'd also grab the 18-135mm OSS lens as a packaged deal with extra battery and some memory cards.

Basically everything's an upgrade with this camera - higher resolution viewfinder, crisper brighter 3" touchscreen rear display with more flexibility than just tilt, faster autofocus points (759), 4K video with 60/120fps HFR, better battery life with the NP-FZ100, 10Gbps USB-C connectivity, dust and moisture seal (not waterproof), and in-body image stabilization (5.5 stops rated). The in-body stabilization is great to have along with ISO up to 32,000 auto for those low-light stills.

The backside illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor is an upgrade to 26MPix, and the dynamic range capabilities look good in objective testing. One feature that has been removed since the α6000 is the pop-up flash which I rarely used; the α6700 does have a hot-shoe to attach an accessory flash if needed though. Camera start-up and responsiveness is very noticeably faster as well.

While the new sensor will improve my still images, I'm looking forward also to the 4K video capabilities of this camera. The sensor on this camera is the same as the Sony FX30 Cinema Line; a couple significant differences being that the FX30 has a fan to keep the electronics cooler for long video shoots and dual card slots. Also, these cameras support S-Log for wider color gamut, 10-bit color, and 4:2:2 chroma subsampling so it could be fun to play with capturing and editing HDR video content. There's also the S-Cinetone color profile to try out for hopefully a good out-of-camera look. With my recent foray into DaVinci Resolve, maybe I'll see about exploring more of the videography pursuit hobby down the road! Lots to learn and play around with.

Speaking of video, it's important to think about memory card speed. For 4K video with higher frame rates, the α6700 requires fast memory writes. As you can see, I've been a fan of Lexar memory which haven't failed me in the last decade (fingers crossed). The bottom two are Lexar Pro Silver V60 256GB and 128GB cards; the V60 refers to video writes at 60MB/s. As a rule of thumb, these V60 cards should be fine with 4K video and the price point is very reasonable (currently about $50 for the 256GB). If you're shooting 8K video, consider getting the V90 card which is currently a substantial jump in cost.

In my testing with the Sony α6700, these 1667x Lexar Pro Silvers have been keeping pace reliably with 4K/120fps/10-bit/4:2:2 maximum video settings targeting ~285Mbps (about 36MB/s) over many minutes of video capture so I don't see a need to spend more.

This camera does not come with a battery charger! I guess they expect you to plug in the USB and charge inside the camera body?! This is kind of silly. So I highly recommend getting an extra NP-FZ100 battery and inexpensive external battery charger like this with the indicator to let you know when done:

One last fun product to consider would be a Nikon F-lens adaptor for the Sony NEX/E-mount body so I can put some of my Nikon glass to use with the sensor. I have an inexpensive manual one like this and I see that there are also expensive ones that support autofocus/VR.

Sony α6700 with large aperture, inexpensive Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 via lens adaptor.

All manual focus and aperture control with the adaptor. The α6700's 1.07x magnification, 1024x768 OLED viewfinder does a fine job for manual focus.

Sony α6700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2.

Admittedly, I seriously considered the Sony Alpha 7 IV body (~US$2000) also. A full-frame sensor would be awesome but as a travel camera, size and weight matter - not just the body itself but full-frame lenses too (plus more expensive of course). Ultimately the lower cost, smaller size, <500gm body weight of the α6700 just made much more sense for my needs.

Nikon D800 full-frame beside Sony α6700 APS-C. Over the years I have lugged the D800 and lenses overseas! The Sony is clearly a lot more convenient on vacation!

Like with audio systems where there are many domains that contribute to good sound, so too with camera systems. No matter how great the camera body, the lens can make or break all the imaging potential available in the sensor. The included kit Sony 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS performs reasonably well on reviews, achieves good quality, has convenient range when traveling and isn't too expensive (~US$650). I'm quite impressed by the quiet and fast AF.

A few local shots from the Sony α6700 +18-135 f/3.5-5.6 OSS - pictures captured in RAW, processed in Adobe Camera Raw 17.1 + Photoshop, some cropping, resized, minimum brightness adjustments without fooling around with color saturation:

River District - newer development in S. Vancouver.

Brand new condo units anyone? Image corners look good without significant vignetting.

Hmmm, there's gotta be a good background story with this vehicle!

Logging down the Fraser River.

Lens bokeh not distracting or "nervous" in the background through the circular lens aperture.

135mm zoom is far from optimal for birding... But if the subject isn't too far away and with a little bit of judicious cropping, it could be alright. Bokeh again looks good.

Minimum focal distance about 1.5'. Okay for reasonably close-up "macro" shots.

Spring is here and the insects making their rounds.

Some shots just seem to demand the monochromatic treatment.

I found that the out-of-camera contrast on the 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 OSS kit was actually noticeable more punchy than my older Sony 18-200 f/3.5-6.3 which I had been using for the last decade although that lens does reach out to 200mm (which is 200 x 1.5 = 300mm equivalent zoom when compared to 35mm full-frame).

While it's easy to label these zoom lenses as "... master of none", that's of course not quite fair. For the purposes of street photography and travel where quiet performance, focus speed, and size matter greatly, a lens like this simply excels and even if I were offered "master quality" options, I bet >90% of the time, I'd be leaving those at home.

I'm preparing and looking forward to spending more time with the camera and lens combo when I head off to Turkey and Greece isles next month. ☺️

Have a great Easter Weekend everyone!

Addendum:

For fun, I thought I'd take this somewhat ridiculous contraption out for a stroll:

Sony α6700 + adaptor + classic Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 lens. Manual focus and aperture control. At least I can still use the shutter control on the camera.

I was hoping to find an interesting critter around the house to shoot but alas they seemed to be in short supply today! Captured this lonely urban Canada goose at least: 🙂

Urban Canada goose. Sony α6700 + adaptor + Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 (200mm, 1/1000s, f/8).

My respect to the photographers of old who had to set everything manually, did not have inexpensive modern digital technology, no image stabilization, nor anywhere near the resolution. Whether in audio or imaging, "fidelity" has taken a major leap thanks to digital tech.

Addendum: April 21, 2025

A few more pictures, from Queen Elizabeth Park - this was where I captured the bed-channel audio with birds and people walking around for the recent Atmos walkthrough video. Spring blooms are out.

Another bokeh shot - ISO100, 84mm, f/5.6, 1/250s.

Sony 18-135mm lens at 135mm, still sharp.