Sony has announced the new flagship mirrorless camera, in their APS-C range, the Sony Alpha A6600. The 24.2mp camera offers a number of new improvements, particularly over the A6500, from 2016, however, we thought we'd have a look at how the Sony A6600 compares with the A6500, and the mid-range A6400, introduced earlier this year. 

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What's the same on the A6600, A6500, A6400? 

Here's an overview of the features shared by all three cameras, showing what's the same between the Sony Alpha A6400, A6500, A6600: 

• 24.2mp APS-C CMOS sensor
• Electronic Viewfinder (EVF): 2359K dots, 0.70x mag
• 11fps continuous shooting*
• FullHD video recording at upto 120fps
• Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth built-in
• Microphone socket
• Single SD (UHS-I) memory card slot
• Dust and weather sealing^

* All three cameras offer 11fps continuous shooting, however, the number of shots possible is different, with the A6400 and A6600 offering up to 116 JPEG (standard) shots before slow-down, whereas the A6500 offers up to 301 JPEG images on the standard setting. ^ All three cameras are dust and moisture resistant, however the A6500 specifies that it is only dust and moisture resistant when used with FE lenses.

Read our Sony Alpha A6400 Review.
Read our Sony Alpha A6500 Review.
Read our Sony Alpha A6600 Review.
 

What else is the same on the Sony Alpha A6600? 

The Sony Alpha A6600, despite being the top of the range, flagship, APS-C mirrorless camera from Sony, still uses UHS-I SD memory cards, and has not upgraded to UHS-II support. The USB port is still a MicroUSB connection, rather than the newer USB-C connection. The screen size remains at 3inches, with a resolution of 921K. 

Also, there's still no mention of internal raw processing, and no front control wheel.

What's the same between the A6600 and the A6400?

There are a lot of new features in the A6600 if you are comparing it to the A6500 (from 2016), however a lot of the features were already introduced in the A6400 earlier this year.

Both the Sony Alpha A6600 and A6400 support 4K HDR (HLG) video recording, which is useful, as the picture profile supports instant HDR delivery, so you can upload to YouTube, or watch on an HDR compatible TV straight away, without having to process the video further. S-Log3 has been available since the A6500, however, to produce the HDR video from this you would then need to process the video.

The A6600 has added "easier ratings and protection from deletion", as featured on the A6400. The A6600 and A6400 also both offer the 1:1 aspect ratio, whereas the A6500 does not. 

The A6400 does not feature built-in image stabilisation, whereas the A6600 does, and the A6600 features a lower ISO speed of ISO50 (extended). 

Now on to what's new, and what's different? 

Here's a quick overview of the main features, and specifications of each camera, including what's different, and what's new, in each model:

Key: Bold = New or improved

* standard JPEG images
** Real-time Eye AF, surely all cameras with eye-detection focus offer real-time autofocus on the eye of a subject? We think so, however, this is likely to refer to the fact that when Sony first introduced eye-detection AF, you had to specifically activate it, and it wasn't on by default. Other camera companies have offered eye detection AF for quite some time, such as the Olympus PEN E-P3, introduced in 2011, but now that (almost) everyone is now offering it, it is the new "must-have" feature. 
*** Battery life shown as number of shots possible using the Viewfinder or LCD (CIPA standard).
 

Does the Sony Alpha A6600 have a built-in flash?

No! The Sony Alpha A6600 no longer has a built-in flash. The A6400 does, and the A6500 does.

Continue reading for the visual tour of the three cameras. 

Front View - Spot the subtle differences, if you can

Sony Alpha A6600

Sony Alpha A6400 Front

Sony Alpha A6500 Front

Apart from the obvious difference in there being a lens mounted on the A6400 and A6500, you'd be hard-pressed to actually see any major differences between these cameras from a straight-on view. Except that the A6400 has a Custom function button next to the shutter release button (and on/off switch), whereas the other two cameras don't. The infrared receiver has moved on the A6600. The grips are all different, but it's not until you see the view from the top, that you can see how different the three cameras are. 

Top View - The differences become much more obvious

Sony Alpha A6600 Top

Sony Alpha A6400 Top - 1 memory recall (custom) mode on the mode dial, and one custom button. 

Sony Alpha A6500 Top

Both the A6600 and A6500 feature two custom modes on the mode dial, plus two custom buttons, C1 and C2. The A6600 and A6400 both have an S&Q mode dial setting, but the A6500 does not. The A6500 and A6400 both feature a panoramic mode on the mode dial, whereas the A6600 does not have this. 

Rear View - We're back to playing spot the difference

Sony Alpha A6600 Rear - note an additional (C3) Custom button, where there used to be a flash release button, giving a total of 4 Custom buttons. 

Sony Alpha A6400 Rear - Note only two Custom buttons in total.

Sony Alpha A6500 Rear - There are three Custom buttons in total.

Now that you've had a look at the differences between the cameras, both looking at the specifications, and the visual differences, why not have a look at the specifications in more detail below, or have a look at our reviews of the A6400, A6500 and A6600. 

Read our Sony Alpha A6400 Review.
Read our Sony Alpha A6500 Review.
Read our Sony Alpha A6600 Review.