Looking for a change that could offer some decent wildlife capture options down the line, I decided to try the a6700. It’s the eighth model I’ve owned from what started as the NEX series, some of which ended up being among my most heavily used cameras.

One of the first things I did was to take it to the roadside to test it with moving motorcyclists as I’d done with the SL2 and Lumix 85mm f1.8 the other day. Out of more than a dozen frames, the SL2 got just one that was critically focused. On a similar number of frames today the a6700 nailed every shot.

After so many models with the same 24mp crop sensor, Sony finally put a new one in this model, a 26mp BSI sensor. That got tested, too, as soon as the sun went down. ISO 6400 on this APS-C camera looks at least as good as it does on the SL2-S.

For a first lens I chose the ZA 16-70mm f/4, one of Sony’s oldest APS-C designs, and one that scores poorly among reviewers who shoot test charts. Real world shots are just fine. An adapter for my R glass should arrive next week. I’m eager to see how this does with the 180mm APO and 2X, as that combo was my bird lens on the NEX-7 many years ago.

Whether this is the start of a bigger change remains to be seen. But for the moment, it’s just good to have dependable AF and great IQ in a lightweight package.

a6700/Sony Zeiss 16-70mm f4 . . .