Sony A6300 Image Quality

Here we compare the Sony A6300 to its predecessor, the A6000, at base ISO. As expected, image quality is very similar, but the A6300's image is a bit sharper and crisper, though it does however show stronger moiré patterns in our red-leaf swatch. It's possible Sony has reduced the strength of the A6000's already weak AA-filter for the A6300, or even removed it entirely. Also notice the stronger shift from yellow to green in the olive oil bottle, and slightly reduced saturation as well.

The 24-megapixel APS-C A6300 clearly out-resolves the 16-megapixel APS-C Fuji X-T1, and it produces a sharper image, too. However chroma noise is lower from the Fuji despite the higher base ISO, and the X-T1's colors are in general more pleasing. Thanks to its X-Trans sensor we don't see any aliasing in our tricky red-leaf swatch like we do from the Sony, however the Fuji struggles to render certain types of fine detail accurately, like the small red text in our Samuel Smith bottle label. The Sony somewhat exaggerates the offset printing coloration in the mosaic bottle label which the Fuji entirely eliminates.

The Sony A6300 closely matches the 24-megapixel APS-C Nikon D7200 in terms of resolution, though there are plenty of differences otherwise. The D7200 image has lower chrominance noise which is perhaps why the red-leaf swatch isn't as detailed, while the A6300 image has lower luminance noise. The Nikon image contains much more obvious sharpening halos as seen in the olive oil bottle crop at the top, but the Sony exaggerates the offset printing coloration in the mosaic label which the Nikon attenuates, perhaps also treating it as chroma noise. Overall, colors are more pleasing and vibrant from the Nikon, with much less of a shift to green in its yellows.

The 20-megapixel Panasonic GX8 is actually fairly closely matched in terms of resolution here, because its 4/3" sensor has only 112 fewer pixels than the 3:2 A6300 on the vertical axis and we frame this shot vertically. Still, its smaller sensor and higher base ISO means noise is higher from the Panasonic, which does impact fine detail. Sony's default processing also produces a sharper, crisper image with higher contrast, giving its image much more "pop." Overall, we prefer the Sony's colors here, even though the yellow to green shift is stronger than the Panasonic's. The GX8 does not however generate the moiré patterns produced by the A6300 in the red-leaf fabric.

Here we compare the 24-megapixel APS-C A6300 to a full-frame sibling with the same pixel count, the Sony A7. As mentioned in the intro, the A7 can be purchased for roughly the same price these days, so that's something to consider if you don't need the speed and other advanced features the A6300 offers. Here at base ISO, we see very similar image quality from the two siblings, though noise is a bit higher from the A6300, and colors aren't quite as good. Both show obvious moiré patterns in the red-leaf fabric thanks to weak or absent AA filters, however the A7's are more prominent.

It's evident that Sony has tweaked its default noise reduction algorithm since the A6000, as fine detail in the mosaic and in the red-leaf swatch has improved. Noise appears just a touch higher from the A6300 so it seems as if Sony has backed-off a bit on its heavy-handed approach to noise reduction, but when comparing RAW files without noise reduction applied, it does look like the A6300's sensor has improved high ISO noise characteristics as well.

At ISO 1600, the A6300 is still able to resolve noticeably more detail than the X-T1 in most areas of our Still Life target, however the Fuji produces a cleaner image with a finer, more consistent "grain" pattern, and it continues to render the subtle, low-contrast detail in the red-leaf fabric much more faithfully than the Sony. The Fuji's image is however slightly soft looking compared to the Sony's, but continues to display better colors.

The D7200's fairly strong blurring of the red-leaf fabric jumps out in this comparison, and its rendering in the mosaic crop appears softer as well, but its noise "grain" is much more natural and film-like than the A6300's. Colors from the Nikon continue to be warmer and more pleasing than from the Sony.

The Panasonic GX8's higher noise means its noise reduction has to work even harder now at ISO 1600, and it shows. Fine detail suffers more than from the Sony especially in the red-leaf fabric, and Panasonic's area-specific noise reduction starts to generate some unwanted artifacts along edges and at transitions between differing subject matter. The A6300 produces a more pleasing, crisper, and more vibrant image, but its noise grain is coarser and more obtrusive than the GX8's.

Here at ISO 1600, the A6300 compares surprisingly well to the full-frame A7. The A7 does produce a cleaner image with slightly better detail, but the advantage isn't as much as we anticipated. Both still however show signs of moiré patterns in our tricky red-leaf fabric, however the A7 produces a much smoother rendering which may look less detailed, but much of the apparent detail from the A6300 is false. Still, the A6300 performs well at this sensitivity.

The A6300 continues to retain better detail than the A6000 at ISO 3200, with less blurring due to default noise reduction. We believe some of the improvement is from cleaner output from the newer sensor as well, giving the processor less noise and therefore more detail to work with.

Similar to what we saw at ISO 1600, the A6300 continues to resolve more detail at ISO 3200, but the X-T1 produces a cleaner albeit softer image with fewer noise reduction artifacts. It is however amazing that the Fuji is still able to reproduce the fine pattern in the red-leaf swatch so well while the Sony produces just a rough facsimile.

Once again, the A6300 and D7200 retain similar levels of detail in most areas, however the Sony produces a slightly crisper image overall. The Nikon's noise pattern is more natural and film-like, though, and its colors are warmer and more accurate. And while the A6300 seems to do better in the red-leaf fabric, much of the apparent detail is heavily distorted at this ISO, as mentioned previously.

The Sony A6300 pulls further ahead of the Panasonic GX8 at ISO 3200. While the GX8's image looks cleaner, stronger noise reduction has smeared away more fine detail, and smooth edges have become more distorted as well. Overall, the Panasonic's image looks dull and drab compared to the Sony's, though it still has less of a yellow to green shift.

The advantages of a full-frame sensor are usually more evident at ISO 3200 in terms of detail retention and noise, however advances in sensor technology and processing since the A7 came out do appear to mitigate them, allowing the A6300 to produce an image that is at least in the same ballpark in terms of detail and noise. Still, the A7 does produce a cleaner image with better detail (particularly in the red-leaf fabric), but perhaps not by as much as one would expect.