Sony Alpha 6400 for Dental Photography

Photographers in all industries and levels of expertise can benefit from using a mirrorless camera that’s compact and comes with an electronic viewfinder (EVF). It should also feature a leaf shutter, in-camera stabilization, and full AF area coverage. Luckily, the Sony Alpha 6400 has all these and more!

Sony Alpha 6400

Sony Alpha 6400 for Dental Photography

If you’re new to Sony products or dental photography, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a bit of background information to get you started.

Sony: A Brief Overview

The name ‘Sony’ has been synonymous with top-quality consumer products. Ever since the company was founded by physicist Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka back in 1946, it’s been massively successful.

Yet, the two partners didn’t get their break until the start of the 1950s, when they were licensed by Bell Labs to build transistors. That led to the invention of the pocket radio, which quickly catapulted their rise to fame and glory.

What Is Dental Photography?

Dental photography is a diagnostic tool, similar to X-rays. It’s used by dentists to examine, diagnose, then ultimately decide on a suitable method of treatment.

Photos taken for dental photography help dentists record the relationship between a patient’s teeth with one another. Yet, these photos aren’t just of the teeth. They can also be used to determine the health of the gums, soft and hard oral tissue, as well as any other area in the mouth.

Many dentists also use dental photography to document the results of a dental procedure. It’s considered safe and easy to use and has become an indispensable tool for many dentists..may it be orthodontist, prosthodontists, aesthetic dentists.

Sony Alpha 6400 Product Review

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The Sony Alpha 6400 Mirrorless Camera is currently one of the most popular cameras on the market. It’s fast, portable, and user-friendly, even for beginners.

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Sony Alpha 6400: Body Design

This portable camera weighs less than a pound. It’s a little more than 2.5 inches high, 4.5 inches wide, and 2 inches thick. It’s practically the perfect carry around camera, allowing you to capture dental work from all angles.

We especially like the minimalist design of the camera's black exterior. Yet, its smooth edges and ergonomic grip make it more functional.

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Then, for a modern, trendy look, Sony took the buttons and placed them beside each other, discreetly out of the way. Keeping the buttons hidden is an intentional design plan. It’s meant to prevent users from getting distracted from the camera’s seamless appearance.

However, one drawback of having all these buttons close together and out of sight is that they’re better suited for people with small, skinny fingers. Otherwise, you run the risk of accidentally pressing the wrong button until, that is, you finally memorize where each button is.

Another problem new users face is that their cheeks would sometimes push up against various buttons. While it’s easily corrected, it can cause a delay in your work.

Sony Alpha 6400 Specifications

Take a look at some of the Sony Alpha’s specs that make it truly unique.

Mirrorless

The a6400 camera features a mirrorless APS-C sensor with an impressive 24.2 megapixels. In other words, you can easily enlarge your images to the size of billboards if you want.

Mirrorless cameras are often recommended for use in dental photography because of their speed and accuracy. Light simply passes directly into the lens and then the digital sensor, which then displays the image in the viewfinder onto the camera’s LCD screen.

This allows you to preview your image and adjust any setting you want for a truly customizable dental photoshoot.

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Viewfinder

Sony alpha 6400

The a6400 comes with a 3-inch tilt screen that houses a 2359K dot Electronic viewfinder. It’s clean, crisp, and basically everything you’d expect from a Sony camera.

 The frame rate is pretty standard, shooting at 11 frames per second. Nevertheless, it’ll continue to focus as it shoots in full RAW mode.

Autofocus

Yet, the star of this camera is its faster-than-lightning autofocus. It can lock in on the dental specimen you’re photographing in about 0.2 of a second! That’s probably the fastest on the market.

It does this thanks to the 425 phase and contrast-detection autofocus (AF) points. This means the camera has 425 places on the sensor capable of comparing and contrasting various points on an image. Next, the camera uses the differences and similarities to calculate two things.

The first is the distance that the lens should move. The second factor is the direction in which the lens should move.

After that, the sensor uses these two calculations to achieve perfect focus. Then, it moves the lens accordingly—all in just a blink of an eye!

Real-Time Focus Tracking

Another bonus is the a6400’s real-time tracking. This nifty feature ensures that the sensor remains locked in on your subject, aka your patient’s dental work.

It’ll continue to do so for as long as the shutter button is half-pressed. So, once the subject is ready to take the photo, the image is prepped and already in focus.

Sony Alpha 6400: Pros and Cons

Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks that stood out for us.

Pros

One feature that stood out is the camera’s accessible built-in flash and a hot shoe for attaching a shotgun microphone and other accessories. They made using the camera easier and less time-consuming.

Take a look at these high points of the a6400:

  • Superfast autofocus
  • Handy travel size
  • Captures seamless 4K video, if you want to take before and after videos of your patients.
  • Weather-sealed, sturdy body
  • Good value for the price
Cons

One downside is that the buffer time tends to be a bit sluggish at times, even if you’re shooting with a fast SD card. Yet, since shooting dental photography means the subject is sitting still most of the time, the slow buffer shouldn’t be a problem.

 Another feature many a6400 users complained of is the touchscreen. It doesn’t allow for quick or easy use when it comes to things like zoom, focus, or slide

  • Using the tilt/flip screen can be a bit awkward and clunky
  • The menu system is dense and overwhelming
  • Slightly lacking in low-light conditions
Conclusion

So, have you decided to use the Sony Alpha 6400 for dental photography? Its lightweight, minimalist design makes it a fan favorite, especially for beginners, family photographers, and orthodontists. Plus, there’s the amazing picture quality, incredible dynamic range, and high-speed autofocus. Combined, these features will take your dentistry skills to the next level!

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About the Author
Dr. Harpreet Singh Manaktala

Dr. Harpreet Singh Manaktala is a dentist who loves blogging and browse the social media. He started his blog, Dr. HSM, to help educate people about dental health and to dispel some of the myths that are out there. He has quickly gained lot of popularity online, with over 100,000 views on his blog. Dr. Harpreet is passionate about oral health and wants to help as many people as he can achieve optimal dental health.

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