The new Sony a6300 by all accounts is a well spec photographic-video camera with the ability to accept Sonys XLR-K2M professional XLR audio adapter. Its all fine and dandy kitting this camera out for video but to omit a headphone jack in place of a useless speaker is just stupid.
“Oh but its not a professional camera” so why add S-Log2 and S-Log3 gammas to the camera if Sony don’t intend it to be used by professionals.
I have the Panasonic FZ1000 once again spoiled by having no headphone jack, I get round this by using Sony’s UWP-D16 radio mic system by monitoring via the receiver which has a headphone output, but that is no match for a proper headphone jack on the camera.
Why do manufacturers like Sony and Panasonic deliberately leave out the headphone jack in place of a useless speaker is beyond logic. I used to work in the electronics business, to add a headphone socket into the initial design would be extra pennies all your doing is changing the spec of the CPU to add an amp or add one to the double sided PCB…easy.
I will leave you with some impressive footage shot with the Sony a6300…
How come this happens more often then it should?
A product seems to have everything and then some only to lack one obvious thing?
This camera should be – or would have been – able to get into the GH sales. Wonder how much the missing headphone output will cost.
The way I would get around would be to connect it through HDMI to a monitor or Atomos, thereby using the headphone socket on that. But the reality is that everyone needs to monitor sound, not just professionals and for a manufacturer like Sony not to do so is crass.
Oh dear! You would have thought that a firm of Sony’s capabilities would understand that we NEED to know that the audio is being recorded in real time, not just being received or checked after the fact, which hopefully was the thinking behind the speaker. It begins to look like a misplaced attempt to force customers to purchase yet more Sony branded clip on kit. Not a good way to enhance a brand. Bob.
I guess if you think of this as a standalone camera you happen to be able to use with the XLR-K2M it makes a bit more sense – but still a terrible idea.
Given that I’m in the market for a smaller camera than an SLR and a good partner for my HXR-NX70 this could be a good camera, but the lack of proper monitoring would put me off.
Also, frankly, the prices for the K2M/K1M are outrageous. I can buy 2 or more well respected audio recorders for the price – Zoom/Tascam/Beachtek come to mind.
As an aside does anyone know if the removable XLR block on the HXR-NX70 would work – because effectively that connects to a smart Sony hotshoe the same as the K1M. That might be much more attractive.
It’s a domestic stills camera that can do video. The bulk of buyers will be shooting Mum, Dad and Aunty Glad and the dog and kids using audio AGC. The SLOG will sell some more Sony 6300s and some pros will buy it. There is no way I would be using this type of camera for serious interviews. Even if it had a headphone socket I doubt whether it could do selective left right monitoring selection which is something you really need to do good broadcast audio. You could manage without but life would be much easier with split monitoring. If I bought one the lack of a headphone socket wouldn’t be worrying me too much.
Why do they want to ‘get into GH4 sales’? They are doing great with the A7S 2 and the A7R 2. (They may cost more, but they are in the same market) As annoying as it is, we all know the answer as to why little features get left out. If they add every feature we want to every camera, we would only buy one camera from them. They want to spread the features over various products so that we always buy the highest priced one with the minimum specs we need. It’s just business. You can’t argue that Sony don’t know what they are doing… they are wiping the floor in the camera market at the moment.
Adding a picture style or codec is just firmware… adding a headphone socket involves hardware – an amplifier, an audio chip, digital to analogue convertors and the actual socket, not to mention the place in the body for it. It’s not a cheap addition and it would put the price up. Yes the speaker is almost useless, but this is where the beeps come from which they consider vital to the operation. If they tagged the audio from this circuit, we’d all complain about the awful quality – Sony don’t want that.
It’s under a grand for 4K… and apparently it will output 4k 422 from the HDMI… that’s pretty groundbreaking for such a small form factor.
And, if Sony say it will ship in March, then it probably will ship in March – which makes it a better bet than certain cameras i could mention (BMD – i’m looking at you)
S
It’s not just missing a headphone jack. This kind of autofocus begs for a touch screen LCD for quick and easy focus pulling, and just quick focus point selection.
It could have been remarkable, but still … it looks like an interesting camera.
Again… a touchscreen costs how much? And all those smears and finger prints? You really want that?
Accept it for what it is and if it’s not what you need, buy something else.
If you want to use it as a main camera, use the Tascam 70D. This will give you 4 XLR inputs, and audio monitoring. The mix is output to the camera as well as recorded in the Tascam. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1086798-REG/tascam_dr_70d_4_channel_audio_recording.html
HDW : The Tascam would look like a carbuncle on such a small camera, great value for money and excellent sound recorder.
Actually, this 701D is probably much better … http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1189478-REG/tascam_dr_701d_linear_pcm_recorder.html
Here’s a photo of the Tascam 701D with a Sony A7s II mounted on top. The A6300 would be a little smaller.
I haven’t used one of these Tascams, but I’m thinking of getting one.
Lots of cool features: Auto-record-start and stop when you push record on the camera, individual channel monitoring capability, dual record, decent built in mics, HDMI input/passthrough, even timecode input. It would work as a decent stand-alone field recorder too.
For $600 US … not bad.
http://www.genkosha.com/vs/images/SONY_SET.jpg
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1162970-REG/sony_clmfhd5_clip_on_5_inch_full.html
Headphone jack, and will run off same batteries as the A6300 too.
@Charles: I have tested the NX70 XLR module via Sony’s adapter on my FS7 and AX100. The result: it doesn’t work – anyway, I found the cable to be too short. I bought the XLR-K2M.
The A6300
Having no headphone jack is annoying. However, I think that what Sean J. Vincent writes above regarding ‘beeps’ makes a lot of sense. Japan, amongst many countries, have laws that require any digital camera (including smartphones) to make a shutter sound. The reason here in Japan is primarily due to people secretly taking lewd photographs in crowded public places such as on trains and on escalators. I tend to feel that Sony’s hands were somewhat tied on this one and I can only hope that they will develop and sell a headphone jack adapter that uses the Multi-port.
HDW : Andrew can I draw your attention to “Silent Mode” where the camera is noiseless on the Sony A7s, Panasonic GH4 and the FZ1000 so I think your talking nonsense.
I’m not shore about still cameras but all mobile phone cameras in Japan have shutter sound for the reason as Andrew mentioned above. It’s not a law on this but it’s a standard that the mobile phone industry in Japan have agreed on. The gh4 and a7s are a bit to big to have as a “pervert camera” on the tube so wouldn’t fall into the same category.
Actually, Andrew Jones is right. It’s not nonsense. The default set-up for any camera in Japan and some US states is that it has to make a sound when taking a photograph. It can be disabled on some cameras…but it has to be on by default. It’s the same with phone cameras.
Did pre-order, but big disappointment with lacking audio monitoring possibility, but could it be possible to monitor audio with a HDMI to HDMI audio extractor connected to HDMI port..???
If A6300 would allow for “mirroring” of the LCD in firmware…(coonecting a device to hdmi port without loosing EVF/LCD montoring on the camera itself)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1080P-HDMI-Extractor-Splitter-HDMI-Digital-to-Analog-3-5mm-Out-Audio-HDMI2HDMI-/151897909458?hash=item235dd228d2:g:WVsAAOSwp5JWWWyU
Does anyone know if Sony has a plan for headphones on this cam as yet? I find it interesting as I read about it on the net that only HD Warrior has raised the issue of no headphone jack. It is really bizarre that they would include all kinds of pro features and leave out something so obvious! Is there some kind of solution to this that does not turn this into a “Frankenkamera”? I know it’s all the rage with DSLR video, but I really don’t like DIY bits and pieces unless they fit seamlessly onto the base camera system.
I love that Sonyad. Not boring at all. It is a nice teaser for might be a good lens for $$$
I L O V E IT
oh
with no headphone jack !
Is there a cheaper way to connect a microphone to the a6300, than buying the £476 Sonys XLR-K2M professional XLR audio adapter?