Sony a7C VS a6x00 _ Is the FUTURE in Full Frame_! #APSCisNOTDEAD yet

For the last couple of years, Danny and I have always joked with you guys, is hashtag APS-C dead or hashtag APS-C not dead? But every time Sony launches a new camera or a new lens, it seems less and less of a joke and actually something a little bit more serious. Like with the latest announcement of the new A7C. This is a camera with the compactness of an APS-C body, but with a large sensor of a full frame. The light weightness and the small form factor of the A6000 series was still favorable amongst many consumers. But now that the size between the two cameras are so similar, and with full frame offering better photo and video quality overall, is APS-C coming to an end? Is the future in full frame? In this video, we're going to explore this thought a little bit. We're going to be comparing the new A7C against several of the A6000 series camera and try to discover if there are any advantages left buying an APS-C camera moving forward. And then we're going to have a little discussion about Sony trying to move both the pro and casual user market away from APS-C and towards full frame. So first off, why did Sony launch the A7C? I kind of talked about this topic at length in my previous video. You can go ahead and check that out if you want to, but I'll try to draw most of the important points from that video into this video. The existence of the Sony A7C is to really get APS-C users who've been wanting to upgrade to full frame but haven't really yet because of the size. Price is also a barrier as well, but we'll save that topic for later. But why would APS-C users want to upgrade to a full frame camera? What are the benefits that are involved? Well, full frame offers better quality overall. The larger sensor is better for low light performance and more bokeh, aka that creamy background blur. But over the years, Sony beefed up not only the capabilities of mirrorless cameras like 4K, 4K 120 frames per second, 10-bit 4.2.2 recording, S-Log, HyperLog, Gamma, human face detection autofocus, eye autofocus, animal eye autofocus, 20 frames per second, no blackout, etc. But they also beefed up the size. We now have a larger battery, which is not a bad thing because we get way more mileage per battery for photos and videos. But that in turn also introduced a bigger grip on these cameras, which is also not a bad thing because there are users out there who complain that Sony mirrorless cameras are a little too small for them to grip onto. And to that I say, you must have abnormally large hands. And there were reviewers and pro users that are like, hey, if Sony's really serious about the pro market, then they really need to incorporate two SD card slots in these cameras for professional use, for redundant recording, because that's what professionals rely on. And this is the byproduct of the suggestions that came from the serious user base. Sony really listened to the feedback and came out with something that got a lot of people who were shooting with something else before to switch. And a lot of these people end up staying because these are really good cameras. I don't have 200,000 subscribers for no reason. I only talk about the Sony Alpha mirrorless cameras on this channel. So it goes to show that these cameras are not a niche thing. Thank you, Sony, for giving me a career on YouTube. If you ever get a chance, hold the original A7 and compare it to the Sony A7R IV or something. It's going to look like a Good Burger versus a Mondo Burger, the latter of which looks and feel very comical. And this is something that I've longed for Sony to go back to, a smaller full frame camera with the latest technology, but without all the physical bulk. And up until now, the closest thing that we've ever had were the A6000 series cameras. These are much smaller compared to the full frame bodies. And of course, the later iterations have performance and features too similar to the full frame. But when it came to size, these are the cameras that win in discreteness and easy to carry around overall. For casual users, especially, we're talking about your mom, your dad, your granddad, your grandma. You know, these are the people that aren't looking to carry that much weight with them around. They're looking to be able to shoot with something that offers slightly better quality than what their phones can give them without the actual pro setup. That's how these types of cameras are always marketed to consumers, the pro quality without the pro setup. For enthused hobbyists like myself, and probably those of you who are watching, we sometimes use these cameras in a non-work environment, you know, maybe vacation or travel. And while we do know and value the quality of full frame, and we're willing to put up with the size of it, there will always be a small part of us that will be like, I wish these were just a little bit smaller. And now we have this, the Sony A7C. Our dreams came true. So let's go ahead and go through the similarities and differences between the new A7C and the popular A6400. The reason why we're going with the A6400 is because it has the best balance out of all the APS-C cameras. It has the latest and greatest tech while maintaining the smaller body size. Both cameras have excellent 4K quality as they both actually shoot 6K, but down samples to a 4K composition. So we get that extra crisp quality in our videos. Both cameras can do 1080p 120 frames per second, but the A7C footage is going to come out a bit sharper as APS-C cameras tend to have mushier results with that particular slow motion option. Moving on to autofocus features, both cameras have face and eye autofocus in both photo and video mode. Both have animal eye autofocus in photo mode only, and both have touch tracking autofocus that works incredibly well. The biggest difference in the autofocus department is that the A7C has finer focus control, which is better for filmmaking. You can get smoother rack focusing and control how sensitive that focus shifts between subject to subject. The A6400 can do the same, though it's limited to vague terms instead of defined at numbers like the A7C. So the thing about the A6400 is that it does not have built-in in-body image stabilization. However, that can be circumvented by using lenses with optical steady shot. Without stabilization, handheld videos can look a bit jarring. The two lenses that I've used to compare both the cameras are the Zeiss 24mm f1.8 for APS-C and the Sony 35mm f1.8 for full frame. The Zeiss 24mm APS-C lens actually gives the 35mm full frame equivalent look due to the crop factor. Now, neither of these lenses have stabilization, but because the A7C does have built-in in-body image stabilization, handheld videos with it, it's going to look a lot smoother. Speaking of lenses, both cameras can use both full frame and APS-C lenses. The A6400 will be able to use either lenses without any sort of quality loss. However, if you use an APS-C lens on the A7C, you will need to shoot in super 35 mode because it needs to crop into the sensor to avoid that massive vignetting. Now, this is a good and a bad thing. Let's start off with the bad first. It particularly affects photos because you're going from 24 megapixels to 10 megapixels with the crop. Not a huge deal if you don't crop your photos much or do any huge photo manipulation, but if you're used to cropping, you'll notice some limitations. Moving on to the good. Cropping into the sensor does not really affect the video quality much. The 4K still looks just as good in both full frame and super 35 mode, and you can actually take advantage of using smaller APS-C lenses for video shoots. Now, let's move on to the two biggest reasons why someone will want to choose full frame over APS-C. Low light advantage and bokeh. Larger sensors tend to perform better in low light situations. They handle noise a lot better in higher ISO. So if you're caught in a dimly lit situation and you need to digitally crank up the light, you'll get more usable footage out of a full frame camera. And if you're someone who really likes that creamy background look, the bokeh on the full frame is much blurrier. These two photos right here are shot with two identical focal lengths at the same aperture value of 1.8. Now, please do note that while the bokeh difference is obvious side by side, if you were to look at just the photos on their own without the comparisons, the APS-C photo still looks just as good. Just saying. So let's talk about size. Both cameras have very similar looking bodies, but the A7C will have a slight heft to it. It's using the bigger FC100 battery, which in turn increases the grip as well. And with the bigger battery, you're getting more photo and video mileage. With that said, both cameras have no recording limit and the A6400, despite it using the smaller battery, can shoot 4K up to an hour and 27 minutes before juicing out the battery. Impressive. Both cameras will handle internal heat well. Just make sure to set the auto power temperature to high if you plan on doing any sort of long form recording. Screen types. Now, this is super subjective, but while the flip out screen is much more popular amongst the majority, I personally like the flip up screen on the A6400. It just really hammers home the compactness of the camera for me. It simply takes up less space, but it can appear as a quote-unquote design flaw for a lot of people because... yeah. But with a cheap $15 solution, you can make that problem go away. If I had to choose between which camera to vlog with, it would be this paired with the 10-18mm ultra wide angle lens with the optical steady shot and the Rode VideoMicro. Again, I just love the simplicity of this. Fight me. Moving on to lenses, a lot of the complaints that the A7C had when it was first announced was that the full frame lenses would not make this camera compact anymore. To which I say, they're focusing on the wrong lenses. While lenses can add a significant footprint to your setup, it's not like the full frame cam doesn't have any compact lenses. It does, and it has most of the ranges that people would need. I actually made a soft rant video talking about this linked right up here. Yes, there is no denying APS-C lenses are still smaller and lighter overall, but the difference can be marginal when you pair the A7C with the compact full frame lenses. It can be worth it as a small compromise with a slightly bigger size camera can make a huge difference in photo and video quality. So what are the advantages left for APS-C cameras? We kept talking about compact, compact, compact. And yes, while they still have that slight advantage in terms of the smaller grip and the smaller battery, the difference is almost very marginal between the two cameras, right? So really, it's the price that's going to give the APS-C cameras that mega advantage. When the A7 III first came out, everyone says, oh my God, this is the most affordable entry-level full frame camera, yet $2,000, the barrier of entry to full frames has never been lower. $2,000 is still a lot of money, especially when you try to convince a newcomer to either spend their money on a full frame or an APS-C camera, they're going to go for the APS-C cameras because it's almost five times less cost than the A7 III, something like an A6000 or something. And lenses, lenses are less expensive as well. Not only are they smaller, but they cost a lot less. So the ecosystem for APS-C is a lot friendlier to our wallets. So no, I don't think APS-C is dead, but it still poses this question for me, and it's largely why I wanted to make this video. Is Sony trying to transition pro and casual user market away from APS-C and more towards full frame? And this idea is not crazy because in the pro cinema line world, we have the FX9 now, right? This is a full frame sensor cinema camera. And before that, what they were offering was the FS5 and FS7. These are super 35 APS-C sensor cameras. So now on the high end, we have a cinema camera that has a full frame sensor with a lot of the alpha capabilities, the eye autofocus and autofocus and whatnot. And now on the more casual end, we have the A7C. C may stand for compact, but I think now C might even stand for casual. So this is a slow shift pushing everyone towards the full frame sensor. Now, obviously not everyone is going to jump into full frame immediately when the A7C comes out. Only those with the budget and who are serious enough will move on to the A7C. But again, for the most part, I don't think APS-C is dead, at least not yet. Newcomers will still opt for the APS-C cameras because of the price, but that shift is going to happen at least within the next 10 years or so. But who knows, even by then, maybe cameras will be obsolete and our phones can replicate that full frame look perfectly. And if that's the case, I might not even have a career on YouTube anymore. However, I personally like to see APS-C sensors in an RX100 body, right? I want to see this downward slope trend where it's like medium format sensor and full frame bodies, full frame sensor in APS-C bodies, APS-C sensors in point and shoot bodies, and one inch sensors in phones. It's not that crazy, believe it or not, because there are technologies like this that exists out in the wild right now in our reality. Anyways, I don't know anything about tech. I don't know anything about engineering. I'm just largely talking out of my butthole. I don't even know what the grand plan is that Sony has for the full frame and APS-C market. I'm just speaking from a point of view that is of an end user. But you let me know. Jason Vong, happy to be wrong. That is my new slogan moving forward. Let me know. Do you think APS-C is dead? Not dead? Where's the future of cameras going? Let me know in the comments down below. And before you guys head out, just a quick shout out to my friends over at Squarespace for supporting this channel. You guys already know Squarespace, all-in-one platform to create a website. But what's not often highlighted are the e-commerce tools. I personally use it to create my own little camera gear garage sale page to sell my used cameras and lenses. It was pretty smooth and easy to set up a clean product display page, set price and discounts, and it automatically keeps track of inventory when something is sold. It also integrates universal payment options like PayPal, Square, and Stripe so buyers can purchase from your website securely. To learn more about using Squarespace as an e-commerce site for your small business, go to squarespace.com. Jason Vong. You'll get 10% off using my link if you purchase your first website or domain, which will directly support this channel to make more helpful videos like this. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you guys in the next video. Peace.