Sony a6400 Setup: Menu Settings to Change Before Your First Shoot

To set up a Sony a6400, change a short list of settings before your first shoot: the clock, the shooting mode, autofocus, Auto ISO, your custom buttons and, if you film, the movie settings. Sony's menu controls nearly every camera operation, so a few minutes there saves you a lot of fumbling later.

Reviewers agree the menu is the hard part. Photography Blog calls the a6400's menu more logical than earlier models but still pretty complicated, and Digital Camera World notes that most of the camera's features are reached through menus, screens, dials and function buttons rather than dedicated controls. The order below takes you from the basics to the deeper options.

Learn the physical controls first

Some things on the a6400 can only be set with the external controls, so learn them before you open the menu. The top plate has two dials and one function button. The mode dial sets the main operating mode: Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Auto, Scene and Memory Recall. The right-hand dial changes aperture in Aperture Priority and Manual, and shutter speed in Shutter Priority.

On the back, nearly all buttons sit to the right of the screen. The rear navigation dial doubles as four buttons: DISP changes the screen view, the right side opens ISO, the left side opens drive mode and the bottom handles exposure compensation. The C2/Trash button deletes images in playback and acts as a programmable key the rest of the time.

Step 1: Set the date and time

Do this before anything else, because every file you shoot gets stamped with it. Ken Rockwell's review puts it at MENU > Setup tab (the suitcase icon) > page 5 > Date/Time Setup, where you also set the time zone. Getting it right now keeps your photos in order when you import them later.

Step 2: Choose your shooting mode

Photography Life recommends Aperture Priority over Program, Auto or Scene modes for most shooting, because you control the aperture and the camera works out the rest of the exposure. Set the mode dial to A and use the right-hand dial to change the aperture.

Aperture Priority is a good learning mode. You decide how much background blur you want, and the camera keeps the picture bright enough. Move to Manual once you are comfortable reading the exposure meter.

Step 3: Set up autofocus

Autofocus is the a6400's headline feature. The camera has 425 phase-detection and 425 contrast-detection points covering about 84% of the frame, and Photography Blog reports that the AF works in low light down to -2EV.

Focus mode

Photography Life says the default AF-A mode works well for most scenarios, and you can switch to continuous or manual focus from the Fn menu when you need to. By default, the C1 button on top also changes the focus mode.

Focus area

Photography Life suggests Flexible Spot: M for selective focusing. By default there is no quick way to move the focus point, so the same guide recommends setting the center button of the rear dial to move focus points when pressed. Do this when you customize your buttons in Step 6.

Eye AF and Real-time Tracking

You do not need to hunt for an Eye AF switch. In all autofocus modes the camera detects the subject's eyes and activates Eye AF with a half-press of the shutter button. In AF-C or AF-A you can pick Auto, Right Eye or Left Eye as the preferred eye. Photography Blog notes that earlier Sony models made you hold a custom button for this.

Real-time Tracking uses AI-based object recognition with color, distance and pattern information to follow a subject, and it also starts with a half-press or from a custom button. On the touchscreen, Touch Tracking starts Real-time Tracking with a tap. For moving subjects, set the focus mode to continuous and let tracking do the work.

Back-button focus

The AEL/AF-MF button at the top right of the back performs AF/MF Control Hold by default when the switch is on AF/MF. Photography Life prefers to change it to AF On. That gives you back-button focus, which separates focusing from taking the picture. Try it if you shoot moving subjects, and skip it if half-pressing the shutter feels more natural.

Step 4: Set Auto ISO and exposure

The a6400's standard ISO range goes up to ISO 32000 for stills and video, expandable to ISO 102400 for stills. Auto ISO is a sensible starting point, but set a minimum shutter speed so the camera does not pick one too slow to hold steady.

Ken Rockwell's review uses the Standard option, which picks a minimum speed based on lens focal length, found at MENU > CAMERA 1 > page 8 (Exposure1) > ISO Setting > ISO AUTO Min. SS. Photography Life puts ISO AUTO Min. SS on the C2 button for quick changes. Raise the minimum for kids, pets or sport, and leave it on Standard for landscapes.

For brightness tweaks, Photography Life uses the bottom of the rear dial for exposure compensation rather than the Fn menu.

Step 5: Check the shutter and drive settings

The a6400 shoots up to 11 fps with the mechanical shutter and up to 8 fps with silent shooting, both with full AF/AE tracking. Precision Camera lists a buffer of up to 116 JPEG Standard or 46 compressed RAW frames at those speeds.

Silent shooting has a catch. Ken Rockwell's review notes there is no warning message when the flash will not fire, and you have to turn Silent Shooting off at MENU > CAMERA 2 > page 4 (Shutter/SteadyShot) > Silent Shooting. If your flash pops up but stays dark, check this first.

For drive mode, Photography Life keeps Single Shooting most of the time and uses Self-Timer on a tripod to avoid vibration.

Step 6: Customize buttons and the Fn menu

This is where the a6400 becomes yours. Digital Camera World and Precision Camera both note that you can assign 89 functions to 8 custom keys. Photography Blog lists the customizable controls: two Custom buttons, the AF/MF/AEL button, the left, right, down and center navigation buttons, and the Fn button's playback role.

The Fn button opens a quick menu of common settings such as ISO, white balance, drive and focus modes. You choose which items appear, though Photography Life finds the defaults work well. By default, Fn in playback mode sends images to a phone.

The a6400 also has a custom menu tab you build yourself, so your favorite settings live in one place. Fill it with things you change often that do not deserve a button. The Sony Camera Menu Setup Guide covers Sony's menu layout in more depth.

A simple starting layout

Control	Default	Suggested setting
C1	Focus Mode	Keep Focus Mode
C2	Nothing assigned	ISO AUTO Min. SS
AEL/AF-MF button	AF/MF Control Hold	AF On for back-button focus
Rear dial center	No quick focus-point move	Move focus point
Rear dial bottom	Exposure compensation	Keep exposure compensation

Step 7: Save your setups with Memory Recall

Once the camera is set the way you like, save it. The a6400 has a single MR position on the mode dial with 7 memory modes in total. Ken Rockwell's review saves settings at MENU > CAMERA 1 > page 4 (Shoot Mode/Drive2) > MR Cam1/Cam2 Memory, choosing a slot and pressing the center button. To recall, turn the dial to MR, pick the slot and press the center button.

Photography Life encourages every a6400 owner to use memory recall because it makes switching between shooting situations faster. A practical split is one slot for people, one for action and one for video.

Step 8: Video settings

The a6400 records 4K at 3,840 x 2,160 using full pixel readout, oversampling a 6K image down to 4K. Digital Camera World notes it does not offer 60/50p 4K. Wikipedia's entry notes that the 30-minute record limit was removed.

Slow motion

The S&Q mode on the dial gives access to frame rates from 1 fps to 120 fps, set in the Movie1 tab under S&Q Settings. Full HD at 120 fps records at up to 100 Mbps, for 4x or 5x slow motion with AF tracking.

Picture profiles

The a6400 includes HLG, S-Log2 and S-Log3, along with zebra, Gamma Display Assist and proxy recording. Digital Camera World reports S-Log3 is said to offer up to 14EV of dynamic range. S-Log footage looks gray until you color grade it, so leave it off until you are ready to edit that way. Turn on zebras either way to warn you about blown highlights.

Stabilization and screen

There is no in-body stabilization on the a6400. Ken Rockwell's review notes it works with Sony's OSS lenses, which have stabilization built in. Keep the lens stabilizer on for handheld video.

The 3.0-type touchscreen flips 180 degrees for selfie framing. Wikipedia notes the flipped screen blocks the hot shoe, so plan where a microphone goes before you film yourself.

If you also shoot on a ZV-E10, the Sony ZV-E10 First-Time Setup Guide covers that camera, which Digital Camera World describes as sharing the a6400's technology in a different body.

Time-lapse

Built-in interval recording runs from 1 to 60 seconds between shots, up to 9999 shots, with AE tracking sensitivity of High, Mid or Low. The time-lapse photography guide walks through the shooting side.

Step 9: Connect your phone

Photography Blog describes NFC pairing and a QR code on the camera screen that enters the Wi-Fi password for you. To control the camera from your phone, turn on Remote Ctrl in the Setup4 tab first. Precision Camera names Imaging Edge Mobile as the app for transferring files. Pair at home, not on location, so you are not troubleshooting while the light changes.

Body only or kit

You can buy the a6400 body only or with the 16-50mm power zoom. Wikipedia lists launch prices of $899 for the body and $999 with the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. Ken Rockwell's review calls the collapsible 16-50mm PZ small enough to fit in a pocket.

If you already own Sony E-mount lenses, the body alone is enough. If this is your first camera, the kit gets you shooting right away, and every setting in this guide applies to both.