Rix Mascarenhas
With the A6000 Sony has created the fastest autofocus system ever seen on an APS-C size image sensor camera, or crop sensor.
The Sony A6000 has a number of features that focuses on being amazing on moving objects
It’s not every day that you come across a compact camera system with autofocus that surpasses a top-of-the-line DSLR. But with the Sony A6000 achieved something very special.
Not content with the simple creation of the world’s fastest autofocus system, Sony has included a focus area that covers almost the entire frame and combined this with excellent tracking capability.
This brings to photographers pretty much everything they look for – sharper photos and fewer shots.
Autofocus takes 0.06 seconds, which – at the time of writing – is the fastest of any APS-C camera ever released.
In practice, this means that if you are recording an animated child, a moving dancer, a speeding car or any other object that moves, the focus will lock in an instant of the scene to be photographed.
Autofocus Phase Detection
The sensor uses autofocus Phase Detection – the same precise focusing system favored by DSLRs – with a staggering 179 phase detection points.
Thus, the active focus area covers virtually the entire frame, that is, the object will be in focus whenever it appears in the scene.
The hybrid focusing system also employs 25 contrast points that work by analyzing the digital image for edge details to ensure sharpness.
Working in conjunction with phase detection, it makes autofocus performance incredibly fast with excellent coverage.
4D Focus
Sony’s 4D focus system makes use of 179 phase detection points not only to track the position of the object in the scene, but also to analyze movement and predict what it will do next.
So if for example an athlete is jumping into the camera the 4D focus system will calculate its position in 3D space and track its speed in order to accurately predict its next movement.
It’s also smart enough to recognize what you’re sharp about. Even if something else gets in the way for a moment, autofocus will not be fooled and will not abandon the moving theme.
The speed and amplitude of autofocus is impressive enough but on top of that innovative focusing modes like Face Detection allow you to prioritize one face over others in a crowd and detect eyes to fit the part of the face you always want more Sharp.
Focus area controls
Often the autofocus system will make the right choice faster than you could, but if you prefer to have more control, then you can zero in on some part of the frame by choosing from a range of focus area controls.
‘Flexible Point’ lets you choose a single focus point anywhere in the frame, while “Zone” prioritizes a larger portion (useful for vertical portraits when you know the head will be in the top half).
«Center» allows the center focus point, so it is ideal for those who like to focus and recompose before shooting.
And if you prefer manual focus then there’s another nice touch – as soon as you start rotating the focus ring on the lens the image on the viewfinder will jump to a 16x magnification for extra accuracy.
The A6000 combines innovative features with amazing performance in a compact and sleek package that will leave experienced DSLR users wondering why on earth their more expensive, larger cameras are getting far behind.
When it comes to autofocus, the A6000 is leading the way.
