Sony Alpha A6500 Camera Review

The Sony Alpha A6500 is the third version in the Sony Alpha A6000 series, announced not long after the A6300, the camera offers a number of upgrades, including built-in 5-axis image stabilisation, a tilting touch-screen, improved grip, plus more. The camera features a 24 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, records 4K video, and shoots at 11fps. The A6300 and A6000 will remain on the market, offering alternative price points for this series. 

Sony Alpha A6500 Features

The Sony Alpha A6500 features a 24 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, 11fps continuous shooting (with continuous AF) and is capable of shooting up to 307 shots continuously. The camera adds in-camera 5-axis sensor-based image stabilisation, a 3inch touch-screen, and features high-speed AF with 425 AF points and phase-detection focus.

The 3inch tilting screen is now a touch-screen that can be used to set the focus point, but can't be used to scroll through the menu system or select items there. It can be used in playback to zoom into photos. 

Sony Alpha A6500 - New Shutter Unit and 5 Axis IS

The camera has a new shutter unit, rated for 200,000 shots, and this has been re-designed to fit in the almost the same size body as the A6300, whilst also fitting in the 5-axis image stabilisation system that moves the sensor.

Like the A6300, the camera features 4K video recording, plus high-speed FullHD video recording at up to 120fps. There are numerous shooting modes, including full manual controls, custom modes, as well as smart Auto shooting, scene modes, and a panoramic mode. 

Like other Sony cameras, Wi-Fi, and NFC are built-in and the A6500 supports Sony's PlayMemory Apps, and if you register your camera with them, you will get two apps for free including a Star Trail and Multiple Exposure app. There are other apps available for free, as well as some paid apps. The A6500 also features Bluetooth, and this can be used to add location data to images.

Updated over the A6300:

• New metering mode (highlight-weighted mode, entire screen average mode)
• Enhanced spot metering (linked to focus area, standard or large)
• Finer exposure compensation adjustment (1/6-stop increments)
• Location info via Bluetooth
• Enhanced remote camera control (storage destination, raw and jpeg)
• 8mp stills can be extracted from 4K movies
• Touch-panel AF system
• Slow and quick motion 1-100fps, for up to 50x quick motion and 4x slow motion (FullHD)
• Improved buffer for 269 shots at 11fps, and 307 shots at 8fps
• 5-axis image stabilisation (sensor-based) - up to 5 stops

Being the third A6000 camera, with the previous two cameras remaining on the market, we thought we'd show a quick comparison of main differences of these three cameras:

* with weather-sealed lenses ** Whitemagic

Following on from the A6500, Sony has introduced the A6400 in January 2019, and A6600 in August 2019, if you'd like to see how they compare, have a look at our A6400 vs A6500 vs A6600 comparison.

Key Features

• 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• 5-axis sensor-based image stabilisation
• 3inch tilting touch-screen (touch-AF), 921k dots
• 2.36m dot EVF, 0.7x magnification
• New front-end LSI and BIONZ X
• 425 Phase Detection AF points (with 84% sensor coverage)
• 0.05sec AF
• 11fps continuous shooting with AF 
• 200,000 cycle shutter unit rating
• 4K video (30,25,24p) 100Mbps (from 20mp / 6K image)
• ISO100 to ISO51200
• Dust and moisture-resistant magnesium alloy body
• 3inch tilting touch-screen, 
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC

Sony Alpha A6500 Handling

The Sony Alpha A6500 design has been improved slightly, with the camera now featuring two Custom buttons (C1 and C2) on top of the camera, and a third Custom button on the back. The grip is larger than the previous model, and has a textured rubber cover than extends round to the back of the camera, where there is a lip for your thumb. There is quick access to ISO, exposure compensation, and drive mode using the 4-way controller / scroll wheel. You can also get quick access to settings using the Fn/Function button, and these on-screen settings can be customised so that you have access to your favourite settings. However, strangely, despite the camera having a touch-screen, you can't use the touch-screen to change these settings.

The camera feels well built and even the battery cover feels good, with a thick plastic used. The camera features a magnesium-alloy body that is weather-sealed, when used with a weather-sealed lens. The tilting screen and pop-up flash use metal hinges making them strong even when extended out of the camera. The memory card slot is in under the camera, in the same place as the battery.

The inclusion of in-camera image stabilisation has resulted in a heavier camera compared to the A6300, with an increase of 49g, although this increase isn't too much with the camera feeling compact and easily stored in a compact camera bag, or large pocket, particularly with one of the smaller lenses. There are 425 phase-detection focus points covering a wide-area of the sensor, and having a touch-screen it is easy to set the focus point using the screen. 

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) looks good, with a high resolution of 2.36m dots, and 0.7x magnification. The "Hi" speed "live-view" continuous shooting mode has been designed to give minimal blackout between shots, and shoot at 8fps, making it easier to track subjects. The screen looks good, although it's worth noting that the screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio so photos appear smaller on it than they would if it had a 3:2 aspect ratio. 

The menus are now colour coded, so that each main section has its own colour, for example, Photo1 (Photo options) is colour coded in red, Photo2 (Mostly movie options) is colour coded purple, etc. This is welcome, however, the photo section now has 14 pages of options (up from 9 on the A6300), and the Photo2 section has 9 pages of options. This is because Sony has organised the options into more logical categories, however, this means that some pages have only 1 or 2 options on them. You can see the options and layout of the menus in the video below: 

Wi-Fi features - Wi-Fi, and NFC are built-in and the A6500 supports Sony's PlayMemory Apps. There are apps available for free, as well as some paid apps. The A6500 also features Bluetooth, and this can be used to add location data to images. You can use Wi-Fi to send photos to a smartphone, a computer, view images on a TV, as well as use NFC to set up the connection. 

Battery life - Battery life is rated at 350 shots when using the screen according to Sony / CIPA test results, which is reasonable, although is 50 fewer shots than the A6300. You can also power the camera using a portable USB charger if you need to.