The Sony A6400 is a small mirrorless camera that occupies a funny position in the middle of the Sony range, more advanced than the rest but missing some features found in the best.
It’s ideal for travel and solo shooting and could be great for vlogging and flying on gimbals. Buying the camera body is just the beginning, so here is Jason Vong with some tips for the best lenses and accessories for the new Sony A6400.
Memory Cards
If you want to record, this would seem like a good place to start. Not all memory cards are created equal and the suggested brand in this video is the Sandisc Extreme Plus. Decent SD cards very rarely fail but that’s not the same as never fail.
Buying cheap, often unbranded cards might seem like a good way to save some money but if you care at all about not losing any of your precious footage then it is worth spending just a little more on decent cards. I also advise not to buy cards with a massive capacity but rather a few smaller ones. This simply means that if a card fails or you drop or break it then you don’t lose too much footage in one go.
Batteries
Get some extra batteries to pop in your kit bag and you’ll be able to shoot all day long. Sony-brand batteries are a bit more expensive but last longer. Have a look when buying as they come in different capacities. Some 3rd-party batteries like the Watson NP-FW50 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack may seem like a good cheap alternative but they may not operate at peak performance for long.
In this same category is a battery charger and there are loads of options with no particular brand being much better than another. Have a look for double chargers, USB chargers, and small travel chargers and buy what fits your needs.
Screen Protector
This is a no-brainer as it will keep your screen pristine and costs very little. The Sony brand fits perfectly and is easy to stick on. If it does get a nasty scratch it is an awful lot easier to replace than the monitor.
Lenses
This is a big category with a lot of options with a wide range of prices. The one big tip, however, is to look for ‘OSS’ – Optical SteadyShot. As the Sony A6400 doesn’t have IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation) included, using a lens with stabilization is a great idea. It will certainly help smooth out your footage, removing all the little shakes and bumps.
Sigma lenses are great but don’t offer OSS so perhaps not ideally paired with the A6400, here are some other choices that should do the trick.
- Sony 10-18mm f4 Zoom – nice wide angle zoom lens, great for vlogging.
- Sony 16-50mm is the basic kit lens but also very usable.
- The Zeiss 16-70mm is a lovely zoom lens offering a nice range of focal lengths. Jason recommends this one for travel and vlogging.
- Sony 18-135mm & 18-105mm are both great lenses but maybe not wide enough for vlogging, if that’s what you’re into.
- Sony’s 35mm f1.8 & 50mm f1.8 prime lenses have a much wider f-stop meaning more background blur and more light gathering for low-light shooting.
If you are buying lenses and want to shoot video or play with your shutter speed then at least one ND is vital. There a lot of choices; I personally like the Polar Pro range. Use step-up and step-down rings to have your ND filter fit all your different lenses.
Vlogging
If you love to vlog then there a couple of recommended accessories such as the Manfrotto mini tripod, perfect for sitting on a desk. Using a Rode VideoMic is a high-quality, affordable, lightweight way to capture sweet audio and mounting it to the side of your camera via a little bracket will take it away from blocking your flip-up screen.
Gimbals
If you can afford it, adding a gimbal to your setup will give you lots of creative filming options and make your footage truly smooth and professional looking. There are plenty of options but the single-handed models are likely the best to look at for the A6400, the DJI Ronin-S, the Crane or Moza models… ideally it’s best to try them out for yourself before buying.
There you go, some lenses and accessories for your A6400 – just as the title promised.
[source: Jason Vong]
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