Neil Young is back on Spotify after boycotting the platform over two years ago, he said in a new blog post. The Canadian singer ditched the platform over vaccine misinformation on the Joe Rogan podcast, later saying he was fed up with Spotify’s "shitty" sound quality anyway.
Young returned because Rogan's podcast is no longer exclusive on Spotify. "My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify," he said, without specifically mentioning the Joe Rogan Experience.
There's no way he could also pull his catalog from Apple Music and Amazon as well, he added, "because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all" if he did. Young also expressed hope that Spotify would improve its sound quality, while shouting out Quobuz and Tidal for presenting his songs in high-res.
"Spotify, you can do it! Really be #1 in all ways. You have the music and listeners!!!! Start with a limited Hi res tier and build from there!" he wrote. (Spotify did announce that it would launch a HiFi tier way back in early 2021, but it has yet to actually do so.)
Fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell joined Young in the boycott, and her music is still missing from the platform. Both had reason to be incensed about the vaccine misinformation on Rogan's show as both were victims of polio — a disease that was wiped out in North America thanks to vaccines.
It's hard to say how Young's boycott affected Spotify, but it certainly impacted his finances. Last year, Billboardestimated that pulling his songs from Spotify cost him roughly $300,000 in lost recorded music and publishing royalties.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/neil-young-is-returning-to-spotify-after-boycotting-it-over-joe-rogans-vaccine-comments-071217691.html?src=rss
It's getting hard to keep up with copyright lawsuits against generative AI, with a new proposed class action hitting the courts last week. This time, authors are suing NVIDIA over its AI platform NeMo, a language model that allows businesses to create and train their own chatbots, Ars Technica reported. They claim the company trained it on a controversial dataset that illegally used their books without consent.
Authors Abdi Nazemian, Brian Keene and Stewart O’Nan demanded a jury trial and asked NVIDIA to pay damages and destroy all copies of the Books3 dataset used to power NeMo large language models (LLMs). They claim that dataset copied a shadow library called Bibliotek consisting of 196,640 pirated books.
"In sum, NVIDIA has admitted training its NeMo Megatron models on a copy of The Pile dataset," the claim states. "Therefore, NVIDIA necessarily also trained its NeMo Megatron models on a copy of Books3, because Books3 is part of The Pile. Certain books written by Plaintiffs are part of Books3— including the Infringed Works—and thus NVIDIA necessarily trained its NeMo Megatron models on one or more copies of the Infringed Works, thereby directly infringing the copyrights of the Plaintiffs.
In response, NVIDIA told The Wall Street Journal that "we respect the rights of all content creators and believe we created NeMo in full compliance with copyright law."
Last year, OpenAI and Microsoft were hit with a copyright lawsuit from nonfiction authors, claiming the companies made money off their works but refused to pay them. A similar lawsuit was launched earlier this year. That's on top of a lawsuit from news organizations like The Intercept and Raw Story, and of course, the legal action that kicked all of this off from The New York Times.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/now-its-nvidia-being-sued-over-ai-copyright-infringement-083407300.html?src=rss
AI-powered visual search features arrived to Ray-Ban's Meta sunglasses last year with some impressive (and worrying) capabilities — but a new one in the latest beta looks quite useful. It identifies landmarks in various locations and tells you more about them, acting as a sort of tour guide for travelers, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth wrote in a Threads post.
Bosworth showed off a couple of sample images explaining why the Golden Gate Bridge is orange (easier to see in fog), a history of the "painted ladies" houses in San Francisco and more. For those, the descriptions appeared as text below the images.
On top of that, Mark Zuckerberg used Instagram to show off the new capabilities via a few videos taken in Montana. This time, the glasses use audio to provide a verbal description of Big Sky Mountain and the history of the Roosevelt Arch, while explaining (like a caveman) how snow is formed.
Meta previewed the feature at its Connect event last year, as part of new "multimodal" capabilities that allow it to answer questions based on your environment. That in turn was enabled when all of Meta's smart glasses gained access to real-time info (rather than having a 2022 knowledge cutoff as before), powered in part by Bing Search.
The feature is part of Meta's Google Lens-like feature that enables users to “show” things they are seeing through the glasses and ask the AI questions about it — like fruits or foreign text that needs translation. It's available to anyone in Meta's early access program, which is still limited in numbers. "For those who still don’t have access to the beta, you can add yourself to the waitlist while we work to make this available to more people," Bosworth said in the post.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ray-bans-meta-sunglasses-can-now-identify-and-describe-landmarks-054026843.html?src=rss
Despite combining for 32 nominations, Netflix and Apple TV+ were nearly shut out of of the 2024 Oscars, with Netflix winning a single award for Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Best Live Action Short Film). The big surprise was Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+) not gaining a single statue, notably Lily Gladstone losing the Best Actress prize to Poor Things' Emma Stone.
Universal was the big winner with Oppenheimer (Best Picture, Best Director, editing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, original score, cinematography) while Poor Things (Disney's Searchlight Pictures) garnered four prizes. The other half of "Barbenheimer," (Barbie, ofc) took just a single prize for best song with Billy Eilish's What Was I Made For (and not I'm Just Ken, sung live at the ceremony by supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling).
The gala was a letdown for Netflix, which scored six prizes last year. Netflix has won 23 Oscars since 2017, but has yet to win in the Best Picture or Best Actor/Actress categories. That's despite four nominations this year for Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Colman Domingo for Rustin and Annette Bening for Nyad.
Lily Gladstone was perhaps slightly favored over Stone to win for Killers of the Flower Moon and she also would have been the first Indigenous American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor or Actress. The studio was also up for Best Supporting Actor with nominee Robert De Niro and Best Director for Scorsese. Apart from Gladstone's loss, though, awards were distributed largely as anticipated.
This year, it couldn't be said that judges were swayed by a lack of theatrical presence from streamers. Killers of the Flower Moon had a fairly wide release in cinemas, while Maestro stayed in theaters for a month prior to its Netflix release. Both chalked up decent box office numbers.
The ceremony itself appears to have been watchable, with Deadline proclaiming that producers "finally made an Academy Awards ceremony for the 21st century" and The Hollywood Reporter calling it "busy and eclectic." USA Today did describe it as "boring," but every Oscars for the past 20 years has gotten the same knock.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/oppenheimer-ruled-2024-oscars-as-apple-tv-and-netflix-were-nearly-shut-out-052543094.html?src=rss
Rivian generally had a good day yesterday, launching the R2 SUV along with the surprise R3 crossover and dune buggy-esque R3X that were met with general acclaim. Buried in that press release, however, was the news that the automaker is halting production of its $5 billion Georgia plant in order to save money.
Instead of building the R2 in Georgia as originally planned, the company will start production of the electric SUV at its existing Normal, Illinois plant. "Beyond significantly reducing the amount of capital needed to bring R2 to market, the company believes this approach considerably reduces risk to the launch and associated ramp," the company said.
The move will also allow Rivian to bring the R2 to market sooner, in the first half of 2026, while saving the company $2.25 billion in capital spending in the short term. That's important since it has been burning through cash of late, according to recent reports.
Elliot Ross Studio
Of all the EV startups to come along of late, Rivian has been one of the most promising thanks to significant investments from Amazon, Ford and others. The company's electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV were also widely praised for their attractive designs, healthy range and more.
Ramping up an automotive startup is no easy feat, though, especially in a market that's been tough on EVs of late — with even stalwart Tesla feeling the pinch. It doesn't help that startup rivals like Fisker are having serious cash flow issues, as it may spook consumers wary of untested EV brands.
Rivian selected Georgia as the site for its second EV factory back in 2021, receiving up to $1.5 billion in state incentives. At the time, the company said it hoped to eventually produce 400,000 electric vehicles there annually. With plant changes, the Normal, Illinois facility will augment capacity to 215,000 units annually across R1T, R1S, EDV, RCV, and R2.
The Georgia location remains in the picture, but Rivian only said it construction would restart later. "Rivian’s Georgia plant remains an extremely important part of its strategy to scale production of R2 and R3," it said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rivian-is-halting-construction-of-its-5-billion-georgia-plant-to-save-money-082236810.html?src=rss
Rivian generally had a good day yesterday, launching the R2 SUV along with the surprise R3 crossover and dune buggy-esque R3X that were met with general acclaim. Buried in that press release, however, was the news that the automaker is halting production of its $5 billion Georgia plant in order to save money.
Instead of building the R2 in Georgia as originally planned, the company will start production of the electric SUV at its existing Normal, Illinois plant. "Beyond significantly reducing the amount of capital needed to bring R2 to market, the company believes this approach considerably reduces risk to the launch and associated ramp," the company said.
The move will also allow Rivian to bring the R2 to market sooner, in the first half of 2026, while saving the company $2.25 billion in capital spending in the short term. That's important since it has been burning through cash of late, according to recent reports.
Elliot Ross Studio
Of all the EV startups to come along of late, Rivian has been one of the most promising thanks to significant investments from Amazon, Ford and others. The company's electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV were also widely praised for their attractive designs, healthy range and more.
Ramping up an automotive startup is no easy feat, though, especially in a market that's been tough on EVs of late — with even stalwart Tesla feeling the pinch. It doesn't help that startup rivals like Fisker are having serious cash flow issues, as it may spook consumers wary of untested EV brands.
Rivian selected Georgia as the site for its second EV factory back in 2021, receiving up to $1.5 billion in state incentives. At the time, the company said it hoped to eventually produce 400,000 electric vehicles there annually. With plant changes, the Normal, Illinois facility will augment capacity to 215,000 units annually across R1T, R1S, EDV, RCV, and R2.
The Georgia location remains in the picture, but Rivian only said it construction would restart later. "Rivian’s Georgia plant remains an extremely important part of its strategy to scale production of R2 and R3," it said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/rivian-is-halting-construction-of-its-5-billion-georgia-plant-to-save-money-082236810.html?src=rss
Leica's SL family has always been the most "mirrorless" looking of its cameras, offering pro photographers handling that's similar to rivals like Canon and Sony. That continues with the launch of the SL3, a 60-megapixel (MP) model that looks nothing like its famous rangefinder cameras, offering a new phase-detect autofocus system, 8K video capability and more.
The new model has the same sensor as the M11 rangefinder and Q3 compact models, but very much resembles the SL2 and tips the scale at a hefty 767 grams. It's also IP54-rated so you can shoot in weather conditions ranging from 14 to 104°F without worrying about dust, moisture etc.
Leica
The biggest change in the layout is a new dial on the left top (all the dials are blank as you can customize them any way you want). At the back, Leica moved the three key buttons (play, function and menu) to the right, and changed the power switch to a button.
The SL3 now has a new 3.2″ 2.3m-dot LCD, and unlike past models, it can tilt (but not swivel). The EVF has also been updated to a higher-resolution 5.76m-dot 0.78x OLED version. As for storage, it supports both CFexpress type B and SD UHS-II memory cards. It comes with a full-sized HDMI and USB-C charging ports, along with mic/headphone jacks.
Leica
The new sensor increases resolution from 47 MP on the SL2 up to 60 MP, a significant bump. It's likely similar to the sensor Sony uses on the A7R V, and supports a wide native ISO range from 50-100,000, with a claimed 15 stops of dynamic range.
It can shoot bursts up to 15fps, but more importantly, offers a new phase-detect AF system that's faster and more intelligent, according to the company. It combines phase detection, contrast and object autofocus for faster and more consistent performances. That includes face and eye detection, along with a new animal detection feature. It's also supposed to be better at tracking action, Leica says.
Leica
As for video, the SL3 can record internally in DCI 8K 8192 x 4320 at 30 fps and DCI 4K at up to 60p with a maximum bitrate of 600Mb/s. It can also record externally via the HDMI output, also at DCI 8K and DCI 4K up to 60fps. Those resolutions are all available in 10-bit with the choice of L-Log Rec. 2020 and HLG Rec. 2020. It supports ProRes recording, but only up to 1080p.
As you're probably expecting, the SL3 isn't cheap at $6,995, though it is significantly cheaper than the $9,000 M11. It's now available at B&H Photo Video and elsewhere.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leicas-sl3-mirrorless-camera-offers-a-60-megapixel-sensor-and-8k-video-181501226.html?src=rss
Leica's SL family has always been the most "mirrorless" looking of its cameras, offering pro photographers handling that's similar to rivals like Canon and Sony. That continues with the launch of the SL3, a 60-megapixel (MP) model that looks nothing like its famous rangefinder cameras, offering a new phase-detect autofocus system, 8K video capability and more.
The new model has the same sensor as the M11 rangefinder and Q3 compact models, but very much resembles the SL2 and tips the scale at a hefty 767 grams. It's also IP54-rated so you can shoot in weather conditions ranging from 14 to 104°F without worrying about dust, moisture etc.
Leica
The biggest change in the layout is a new dial on the left top (all the dials are blank as you can customize them any way you want). At the back, Leica moved the three key buttons (play, function and menu) to the right, and changed the power switch to a button.
The SL3 now has a new 3.2″ 2.3m-dot LCD, and unlike past models, it can tilt (but not swivel). The EVF has also been updated to a higher-resolution 5.76m-dot 0.78x OLED version. As for storage, it supports both CFexpress type B and SD UHS-II memory cards. It comes with a full-sized HDMI and USB-C charging ports, along with mic/headphone jacks.
Leica
The new sensor increases resolution from 47 MP on the SL2 up to 60 MP, a significant bump. It's likely similar to the sensor Sony uses on the A7R V, and supports a wide native ISO range from 50-100,000, with a claimed 15 stops of dynamic range.
It can shoot bursts up to 15fps, but more importantly, offers a new phase-detect AF system that's faster and more intelligent, according to the company. It combines phase detection, contrast and object autofocus for faster and more consistent performances. That includes face and eye detection, along with a new animal detection feature. It's also supposed to be better at tracking action, Leica says.
Leica
As for video, the SL3 can record internally in DCI 8K 8192 x 4320 at 30 fps and DCI 4K at up to 60p with a maximum bitrate of 600Mb/s. It can also record externally via the HDMI output, also at DCI 8K and DCI 4K up to 60fps. Those resolutions are all available in 10-bit with the choice of L-Log Rec. 2020 and HLG Rec. 2020. It supports ProRes recording, but only up to 1080p.
As you're probably expecting, the SL3 isn't cheap at $6,995, though it is significantly cheaper than the $9,000 M11. It's now available at B&H Photo Video and elsewhere.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/leicas-sl3-mirrorless-camera-offers-a-60-megapixel-sensor-and-8k-video-181501226.html?src=rss
Sony is so closely associated with full-frame mirrorless cameras that it’s easy to forget it also sells the A6000 APS-C lineup — particularly since the last one, the A6600, came out five long years ago in 2019. The flagship A6700 finally arrived last year, though, with a feature list that appeared to be worth the wait.
It’s the same price the A6600 was at launch four years ago, but addresses its predecessor’s main flaws by boosting resolution a bit and reducing rolling shutter. At the same time, it’s been likened to a mini-FX30 cinema camera as it has the same sensor and video capabilities.
I’ve never been a big fan of Sony’s A6000 series. But now that the A6700 has been out a while, I was keen to see if it lived up to some of the hype and how it compared to rival Canon and Fujifilm models. As you’ll see, it’s mostly good news with just a little bit of bad.
Body and handling
One of the things I’ve disliked about Sony’s APS-C bodies over the years is the usability and looks, especially compared to Fujifilm’s good-looking and easy-to-use models. I wouldn’t call the A6700 beautiful, but at least Sony has rectified the handling part.
The redesigned grip is larger and more comfortable, making it more comfortable to use over a full day. At the same time, Sony added a new control dial on the front, making the camera easier to use in manual or priority modes.
It includes a new dedicated photo, video and S&Q dial, letting you keep settings separate for each. Menus are a big step up too, as the A6700 uses the improved system from recent full-frame models. The only thing missing is a joystick, but the focus point can be adjusted using the d-pad-like dial on the back.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The A6700 is also the first Sony APS-C camera with an articulating display, so it’s better for vloggers than the flip-up display on past models. The relatively low resolution EVF is a weak point as it’s difficult at times to check focus, but it does the job most of the time. .
Another negative is the single card slot, but at least it supports high-speed UHS-II cards. Luckily, it has the same large battery as full-frame models, which gives it an excellent 570 shot CIPA rating.
Other features include microphone and headphone ports (along with support for Sony’s hot shoe audio accessories), a USB-C port for charging and data transfers and an HDMI port. The latter, unfortunately, is of the fiddly and fragile micro variety.
All of that adds up to a 6000-series camera I’d happily use for most types of work. Previously, I found those models not up to the job, especially for video.
Performance
Steve Dent for Engadget
Performance is more of a mixed bag, though. Lossless RAW bursts are possible at up to 11 fps, either in mechanical or electronic shutter modes. That compares to the 15 and 30fps for the similarly priced Canon EOS R7 and 15/20 fps for the Fujifilm X-T5. That’s quite a deficit considering the latter two have much higher resolution sensors.
The A6700 only stores up to 36 compressed RAW frames before the buffer fills, compared to 45 on the A6600 and comparable to rivals. Based strictly on speed, though, the R7 and X-T5 are better action cameras.
Fortunately, the autofocus is superb and that’s arguably more important for a consumer camera. In continuous mode, you’ll get reliable results even with fast moving subjects. And the AI tracking locks onto eyes and faces, ensuring you won’t miss important shots of rowdy kids, soccer games and more.
Steve Dent for Engadget
It also works with airplanes, animals, birds, cars or trains and insects. Unlike Canon’s auto system, though, you have to tell the A6700 exactly what you’re tracking. Once you’ve set it up the way you want, though, it’s a touch more reliable than Canon’s system, and significantly better than the X-T5..
The five-axis in-body stabilization is good but not great, offering 5 stops compared to 8 on the EOS R7 and 7 on the Fuji X-T5. Still, I was able to take sharp photos down to about an eighth of a second.
Rolling shutter was my main complaint with the A6600, but it’s now much improved and about as good as you get without a stacked sensor. It’s still present, though, so you’ll want to use the mechanical shutter for fast-moving subjects like propellers and trains.
Image Quality
With a new 26-megapixel sensor, The A6700 captures more detail than past 24-megapixel models. As mentioned, though, it’s lacking compared to the 32.5-megapixel Canon R7 and 40-megapixel X-T5.
Colors are mostly spot-on, but I still prefer Canon’s skin tones. JPEGs look good out of the camera, if a touch over-sharpened. With 14-bit RAW uncompressed files, I found plenty of room to adjust and tweak images, dialing down bright areas or adding detail to shadows. Keep in mind that when shooting bursts, though, RAW files are captured with only 12-bits of color fidelity.
There is a benefit to the lower resolution. The A6700 is better in low light than rivals, with noise well controlled up to ISO 6400. Images are usable up to ISO 12800, but anything beyond up to the ISO 102,400 limit is for emergency use only. It’s best to emphasize shadow exposure at high ISOs, as lifting those even a couple of stops creates excessive noise.
Video
The A6700 is so far above its predecessor for video that it’s useless to compare them. Rather, think of it as a cheaper, smaller FX30 cinema camera with the same image quality. The main difference is that the A6700 doesn’t have the same cooling capability, as I’ll discuss shortly.
It subsamples the full sensor width for 4K at 30 and 60 fps, so video is sharper than the X-T5 or R7. And the A6700 beats both of those models by having a 4K 120fps mode, though it’s cropped significantly at 1.58x.
Due to the relatively small body and lack of fans, you’ll need to be wary of overheating at 120p, as it’ll cut out after 20-30 minutes. For indoor shooting, you can generally shoot at up to 4K 60p without any stoppages with the “auto power temp” setting on “high.” Outside on a hot day, however, you may hit the limits and need to wait for the camera to cool down.
Like the FX30, you can shoot all video modes with 10-bit with S-Log3 capture. You can also load your own LUTs either to make log footage easier to monitor, or bake it into the final image.
Steve Dent for Engadget
Rolling shutter is still present, so you’ll still need to be careful with whip pans, fast subjects and the like. However, it’s far less bothersome than on past Sony crop sensor models.
It has a video feature that’s actually lacking on the FX3, namely auto-framing. That’s handy for vloggers as it can crop in and follow them as they move around the frame — with less quality loss than the ZV-E1 (this feature is finicky on the A6700 so be sure to test it first). It also offers focus compensation that digitally eliminates breathing, and again, this extra resolution compared to the ZV-E1 results in a sharper result.
Stabilization for video isn’t quite as good as the ZV-E1, though. The active mode is fine for handheld use and slow pans, but doesn’t do a lot to smooth out footsteps, and adds a 1.13x crop.
As for video quality, you’re seeing the same accurate colors and solid low-light capability as with photos. The 10-bit log options allow for plenty of flexibility in post, especially with contrasty images.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent for Engadget
The A6700 is easily Sony’s best APS-C camera yet, excelling at both photos and video, and offering much better handling. Despite being far more capable than the A6600, it carries the same $1,400 price.
As a photo camera, it’s slower than its main competition, the Canon R7 and Fujifilm X-T5, so those models are better for shooting action. Sony’s autofocus is slightly better though, and faster bursts are worthless if photos aren’t sharp.
As a video camera, though, it beats its main rivals across the board. All told, it’s a great option for content creators or hybrid shooters who favor video but do some photography. If that’s you, I’d highly recommend it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-a6700-review-the-companys-best-aps-c-camera-yet-164540597.html?src=rss
Sony is so closely associated with full-frame mirrorless cameras that it’s easy to forget it also sells the A6000 APS-C lineup — particularly since the last one, the A6600, came out five long years ago in 2019. The flagship A6700 finally arrived last year, though, with a feature list that appeared to be worth the wait.
It’s the same price the A6600 was at launch four years ago, but addresses its predecessor’s main flaws by boosting resolution a bit and reducing rolling shutter. At the same time, it’s been likened to a mini-FX30 cinema camera as it has the same sensor and video capabilities.
I’ve never been a big fan of Sony’s A6000 series. But now that the A6700 has been out a while, I was keen to see if it lived up to some of the hype and how it compared to rival Canon and Fujifilm models. As you’ll see, it’s mostly good news with just a little bit of bad.
Body and handling
One of the things I’ve disliked about Sony’s APS-C bodies over the years is the usability and looks, especially compared to Fujifilm’s good-looking and easy-to-use models. I wouldn’t call the A6700 beautiful, but at least Sony has rectified the handling part.
The redesigned grip is larger and more comfortable, making it more comfortable to use over a full day. At the same time, Sony added a new control dial on the front, making the camera easier to use in manual or priority modes.
It includes a new dedicated photo, video and S&Q dial, letting you keep settings separate for each. Menus are a big step up too, as the A6700 uses the improved system from recent full-frame models. The only thing missing is a joystick, but the focus point can be adjusted using the d-pad-like dial on the back.
Steve Dent for Engadget
The A6700 is also the first Sony APS-C camera with an articulating display, so it’s better for vloggers than the flip-up display on past models. The relatively low resolution EVF is a weak point as it’s difficult at times to check focus, but it does the job most of the time. .
Another negative is the single card slot, but at least it supports high-speed UHS-II cards. Luckily, it has the same large battery as full-frame models, which gives it an excellent 570 shot CIPA rating.
Other features include microphone and headphone ports (along with support for Sony’s hot shoe audio accessories), a USB-C port for charging and data transfers and an HDMI port. The latter, unfortunately, is of the fiddly and fragile micro variety.
All of that adds up to a 6000-series camera I’d happily use for most types of work. Previously, I found those models not up to the job, especially for video.
Performance
Steve Dent for Engadget
Performance is more of a mixed bag, though. Lossless RAW bursts are possible at up to 11 fps, either in mechanical or electronic shutter modes. That compares to the 15 and 30fps for the similarly priced Canon EOS R7 and 15/20 fps for the Fujifilm X-T5. That’s quite a deficit considering the latter two have much higher resolution sensors.
The A6700 only stores up to 36 compressed RAW frames before the buffer fills, compared to 45 on the A6600 and comparable to rivals. Based strictly on speed, though, the R7 and X-T5 are better action cameras.
Fortunately, the autofocus is superb and that’s arguably more important for a consumer camera. In continuous mode, you’ll get reliable results even with fast moving subjects. And the AI tracking locks onto eyes and faces, ensuring you won’t miss important shots of rowdy kids, soccer games and more.
Steve Dent for Engadget
It also works with airplanes, animals, birds, cars or trains and insects. Unlike Canon’s auto system, though, you have to tell the A6700 exactly what you’re tracking. Once you’ve set it up the way you want, though, it’s a touch more reliable than Canon’s system, and significantly better than the X-T5..
The five-axis in-body stabilization is good but not great, offering 5 stops compared to 8 on the EOS R7 and 7 on the Fuji X-T5. Still, I was able to take sharp photos down to about an eighth of a second.
Rolling shutter was my main complaint with the A6600, but it’s now much improved and about as good as you get without a stacked sensor. It’s still present, though, so you’ll want to use the mechanical shutter for fast-moving subjects like propellers and trains.
Image Quality
With a new 26-megapixel sensor, The A6700 captures more detail than past 24-megapixel models. As mentioned, though, it’s lacking compared to the 32.5-megapixel Canon R7 and 40-megapixel X-T5.
Colors are mostly spot-on, but I still prefer Canon’s skin tones. JPEGs look good out of the camera, if a touch over-sharpened. With 14-bit RAW uncompressed files, I found plenty of room to adjust and tweak images, dialing down bright areas or adding detail to shadows. Keep in mind that when shooting bursts, though, RAW files are captured with only 12-bits of color fidelity.
There is a benefit to the lower resolution. The A6700 is better in low light than rivals, with noise well controlled up to ISO 6400. Images are usable up to ISO 12800, but anything beyond up to the ISO 102,400 limit is for emergency use only. It’s best to emphasize shadow exposure at high ISOs, as lifting those even a couple of stops creates excessive noise.
Video
The A6700 is so far above its predecessor for video that it’s useless to compare them. Rather, think of it as a cheaper, smaller FX30 cinema camera with the same image quality. The main difference is that the A6700 doesn’t have the same cooling capability, as I’ll discuss shortly.
It subsamples the full sensor width for 4K at 30 and 60 fps, so video is sharper than the X-T5 or R7. And the A6700 beats both of those models by having a 4K 120fps mode, though it’s cropped significantly at 1.58x.
Due to the relatively small body and lack of fans, you’ll need to be wary of overheating at 120p, as it’ll cut out after 20-30 minutes. For indoor shooting, you can generally shoot at up to 4K 60p without any stoppages with the “auto power temp” setting on “high.” Outside on a hot day, however, you may hit the limits and need to wait for the camera to cool down.
Like the FX30, you can shoot all video modes with 10-bit with S-Log3 capture. You can also load your own LUTs either to make log footage easier to monitor, or bake it into the final image.
Steve Dent for Engadget
Rolling shutter is still present, so you’ll still need to be careful with whip pans, fast subjects and the like. However, it’s far less bothersome than on past Sony crop sensor models.
It has a video feature that’s actually lacking on the FX3, namely auto-framing. That’s handy for vloggers as it can crop in and follow them as they move around the frame — with less quality loss than the ZV-E1 (this feature is finicky on the A6700 so be sure to test it first). It also offers focus compensation that digitally eliminates breathing, and again, this extra resolution compared to the ZV-E1 results in a sharper result.
Stabilization for video isn’t quite as good as the ZV-E1, though. The active mode is fine for handheld use and slow pans, but doesn’t do a lot to smooth out footsteps, and adds a 1.13x crop.
As for video quality, you’re seeing the same accurate colors and solid low-light capability as with photos. The 10-bit log options allow for plenty of flexibility in post, especially with contrasty images.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent for Engadget
The A6700 is easily Sony’s best APS-C camera yet, excelling at both photos and video, and offering much better handling. Despite being far more capable than the A6600, it carries the same $1,400 price.
As a photo camera, it’s slower than its main competition, the Canon R7 and Fujifilm X-T5, so those models are better for shooting action. Sony’s autofocus is slightly better though, and faster bursts are worthless if photos aren’t sharp.
As a video camera, though, it beats its main rivals across the board. All told, it’s a great option for content creators or hybrid shooters who favor video but do some photography. If that’s you, I’d highly recommend it.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-a6700-review-the-companys-best-aps-c-camera-yet-164540597.html?src=rss