sony a6500 lcd screen free sample

The Sony A6500 replaces the 8-month-old A6300 as Sony’s premium APS-C Alpha offering. The A6500 retains a similar outward appearance to its predecessor, featuring full weather sealing against dust and moisture ingress, but now has in-body 5-axis stabilization, a touch-enabled LCD screen, a bigger buffer for continuous shooting, new C2 | C1 custom buttons on the top plate, a high-durability shutter mechanism (up to 200,000 frames) and a redesigned menu interface. The A6500 can capture 4K 3840 x 2160 video at 30fps, along with Full HD 1080p content at 120fps, and the 24.2MP sensor features a cutting edge design that enables the A6500 to record at ISO 51200. The camera features no fewer than 425 phase detection AF points that cover almost the entire image frame, which helps ensure accurate subject tracking, and with the aid of Sony’s powerful Bionz X image processor, gives the A6500 a claimed focussing speed of just 0.05 seconds. The Sony A6500 also offers extensive control customisation, built-in Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth, a 2.36-million dot viewfinder, a tiltable 922k-dot LCD screen, and 11 fps continuous shooting with full autofocus and autoexposure. The Sony A6500 costs £1499 / $1399 / €1700 body-only.

Externally the Sony A6500 closely resembles the previous A6300, but this is no bad thing as the design and control layout are very intuitive and ergonomic. The A6500 now has a deeper hand grip that is more comfortable to hold on to. Combine it with the sizable rear thumb rest and the A6500 feels totally secure when shooting one-handed. Useful, as at 453g with battery and memory card, the new camera is 50g heavier than its predecessor. The A6500 is also 4.5mm thicker at 53.3mm, though length and width remain the same at 120 x 66.9mm. The A6500 has a tough magnesium alloy body shell that incorporates full weather sealing. Other minor external improvements include a softer eyecup, a slightly larger shutter release button and an extra custom button.

The A6500 has the same 2.36 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder as the A6300, which also features a 120fps high frame rate setting to help track moving subjects more smoothly with virtually no lag. It all adds up to an exceptionally natural viewing experience with outstanding colour accuracy, detail and contrast. The same is true of the 3-inch widescreen LCD monitor, though disappointingly this retains the same 922k resolution as the A6300. It also uses an identical tilting bracket, giving 90 degrees of upward rotation and 45 degrees downward tilt. It’s a real help when shooting from a high or low angle, but a flip-out screen would be even more versatile. Sony have finally added touch sensitivity to the screen, which makes functions like focus point selection easier and more intuitive, and it even works while looking through the electronic viewfinder, although in practice we found it frustratingly laggy and slow to use.

The A6500 is Sony"s latest camera with optical 5-axis image stabilization. Most image stabilization systems compensate for camera shake by correcting yaw and pitch. Sony claim that camera shake is actually caused by five different kinds of motion, and their image stabilization mechanism additionally corrects for horizontal shift, vertical shift and rotary motion (rolling) for both still images and movies. The A6500 offers 5-stops of compensation, with the in-body system ensuring that the A7S II can stabilize all kinds of lenses, not just those with the FE designation, including E-mount lenses without Optical SteadyShot (OSS) and A-mount lenses as well, although third party lenses without any electronic contacts only benefit from three axes of compensation, and you need to input which focal length you’re using.

The Sony A6500’s controls are almost identical to those on the A6300 and include the same dual wheel layout with a primary control dial on the top panel and a secondary rear-panel wheel that doubles as the 4-way navigation buttons. It’s a reasonably ergonomic setup, though we’d still prefer an additional control dial positioned near to the shutter release, enabling simultaneous thumb and forefinger settings adjustment. The auto exposure lock button, located directly alongside the thumb rest, is sited within a lever switch that gives the button two functions. Set the switch to AEL and you can meter light and lock exposure independently of the shutter release. But with the switch set to AF/MF, the exposure lock button instead activates manual focus during autofocussing, or switches the focus mode to auto when in manual mode. The A6500 has two new metering modes. as well two new metering modes - Highlight, where exposure metering is focused on the brightest area of the frame, and Entire Screen Avg, which maintains an average metering for the entire image. Another useful focussing feature is Eye-Start AF. By activating this via the main menu, the A6500 uses the viewfinder’s eye detection sensor to not only activate the EVF when it senses your eye, but also autofocus the camera.

But it’s Sony’s enhanced phase-detection AF system that really steals the limelight. The A6500 has a whopping 425 points, and they’re spread over almost the entirety of the sensor area. Sony claims that this is more PDAF points than any other compact system camera , and it helps the camera achieve a quoted focussing time of just 0.05 seconds. We couldn’t quite match Sony’s figures during our testing with a 16-70mm ZA OSS lens fitted, but we did record a nonetheless impressive 0.15-second lock-on speed, which when combined with instantaneous shutter response makes for extremely quick shooting speed.

It’s not just continuous focussing that gets a boost though, as continuous shooting is also enhanced. On paper the A6500 is no faster than the A6300, with both cameras capable of shooting at 11fps. However, most compact system cameras can’t shoot this fast without the LCD or EVF display lagging behind or even blacking out until the burst is over. Sony hasn’t been able to completely combat the issue with the A6500, but it has come up with a compromise. In Continuous Hi+ mode the camera shoots at the maximum 11fps with the usual screen lag, but switch to Continuous Hi mode and you’ll get a 8fps with almost no perceptible lag. Additionally, the maximum buffer for high-speed continuous shooting is now an impressive 307 frames (Fine JPEGs).

Back to the A6500’s controls and we find Sony has continued the A6300’s extensive amount of customisable controls. The rear Fn function button displays a quick-access menu of frequently used shooting settings, and you can choose which items appear on this menu. But if that’s too much trouble, there are always the two Custom buttons on top of the camera and another on the rear which can all be assigned a frequently used function for direct access. What’s more, even the AF/MF/AEL button can be customised, along with the left, right, down and centre rear panel navigation buttons, as well as the Fn function button’s role in playback mode.

By default, the Fn button activates the Sony A6500’s Send to Smartphone Wi-Fi function when in playback mode. This works in conjunction with Sony’s PlayMemories Mobile app and lets you transfer a full resolution JPEG image in a nippy three seconds. Of course, you’ll have to connect your smart device first, but NFC pairing makes this a painless process. Even if you don’t have an NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet, Sony lets you scan a QR code displayed on the A6500’s monitor and this automatically enters the SSID password so you don’t need to type it manually. The camera can also be remotely controlled by your smart device, although you’ll need to first enter the A6500’s Application tab on the main menu to activate the Smart Remote Embedded feature. Fortunately this isn’t too inconvenient as the newly revised menu system is clearer and easier to navigate than on the previous A6300 model. The A6500 also offers location data acquisition via a Bluetooth connection to a compatible mobile device.

Move to the top panel and the A6500’s customisable control extends to the mode dial, where there are two Memory modes. These allow you to store two frequently used shooting set-ups for quick access, and within each Memory mode is a further four customisable sub-mode pre-sets which can be saved to your memory card. Aside from these modes, the A6500’s mode dial is fairly standard, containing the usual auto, semi auto and manual modes, plus a Scene Selection position, Sweep Panorama mode, and finally a Movie mode that works in conjunction with the video record button located on the right edge of the thumb grip.

Sony has gone to great lengths to enhance the A6500’s video abilities, as not only can it record at Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution at 30fps, but the power of the Bionz X processor can also be harnessed to record slow motion, high frame rate Full HD 1920 x 1080 sequences at 120fps. The movie-making potential is further enhanced by 100Mb/s high-bit-rate XAVC S data encoding, as well as clean video output over HDMI. The A6500 features Sony’s S-Log 2 and 3 gamma curves which enable it to record greater dynamic range, providing you’re prepared to colour grade the recording in post-production. A new setting called Auto Pwr OFF Temp. offers two options, Standard and High, with the latter extending the recording time even if the camera gets warm to the touch.

New to the A6500 is the the incorporation of a ‘Slow and Quick’ (S&Q) mode that supports both slow motion and quick motion. Frame rates from 1 fps to 100fps can be selected in 8 steps for up to 50x quick motion and 4x slow motion recording, and the footage that"s shot in this mode can be previewed after shooting without the need for a computer. The A6500 also now offers the ability to select, extract and save still images from movie footage directly on the camera, approximately 8 megapixel images from the 4K video and 2 megapixels from Full HD.

When it comes to simply snapping a still, the Sony A6500 will capture an image within two seconds of power-up. It’ll keep on shooting for a rated 350 shots per charge, which is a decrease from the A6000’s 400-shot battery life. This drops to 310 shots when using the EVF. The increased power demands of a mirrorless design means the A6500 still trails similarly priced DSLRs in terms of battery life, with cameras like the Canon EOS 80D and Nikon D7200 managing 960 and 1110 shots-per-charge respectively. At least the A6500 can be powered and charged via a USB connection, which is useful if you’re without your charger but can access a computer.

The Sony A6500 delivers some seriously impressive image quality. The A6500 generates impressively clean results with minimal grain and detail loss. At ISO 6400 there’s only a slight increase in noise and reduction in detail, making this sensitivity completely usable. Only at ISO 12800 does grain and detail smoothing become more severe, although it’s by no means unsightly. ISO 25600 is really the ceiling for acceptable image quality, such is the high level of grain, loss of detail and reduced dynamic range. ISO 51200 is best avoided due to the intrusive grain and colour speckling.

But dial things down to more sensible sensitivities and the A6500 records excellent dynamic range, especially when assisted by Sony’s Dynamic Range Optimisation. Good colour vibrancy adds extra visual appeal while maintaining accurate colour reproduction, though this of course can be adjusted to your own preference in the camera settings. Detail capture will depend quite a bit on your choice of lens, but our Vario-Tessar 16-70mm f/4 ZA OSS test glass certainly helped maximise the A6500’s potential to resolve a superb amount of detail.

The Sony A6500 has a standard sensitivity range of ISO 100 to 25600, expandable to ISO 51200. Auto ISO operates within an ISO 100-6400 range and has selectable upper and lower limits. Two levels of high ISO noise reduction can be selected – Normal, or Low – or the processing can be disabled.

The A6500 contains 13 Picture Effects, some with additional sub options: Toy camera (normal, cool, warm, green, magenta), Pop color, Posterization (mono, colour), Retro photo, Soft high-key, Partial color (red, green, blue, yellow), High-contrast mono, Soft focus (low, mid, high), HDR painting (low, mid, high), Rich-tone mono, Miniature (top, middle horizontal, bottom, left, middle vertical, right), Watercolor, and Illustration (low, mid, high).

This is a selection of sample images from the Sony A6500 camera, which were all taken using the 24.2 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

The Sony A6500 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We"ve provided some Sony RAW (ARW) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

The Sony A6500 is the best APS-C Sony camera yet, principally adding built-in 5-axis stabilization, a touch-enabled LCD screen and a redesigned menu interface to an already excellent camera, but we can"t help feeling that the 8-month-old A6300 should probably have offered most of these features already, especially as the A6500 now has an even higher price-tag than its predecessor. Sony have also missed a trick in their implementation of the touchscreen, which while being a very overdue addition is somewhat poorly implemented, so much so that you might not actually use it after all. We"d also have liked to see a second control dial added on what has now become a camera for serious enthusiasts thanks to the already mentioned price increase - maybe next time...

So, if you simply want the best APS-C camera that Sony currently offers, the A6500 is clearly the one to get. The previous A6300 model is a more keenly price alternative, however, and if you are considering the A6500 ahead of it predecessor, you owe it to yourself to check out the likes of the Fujifilm X-T2 and X-Pro 2, not to mention the Olympus OM-D E-M Mark II.

The Canon EOS M3 is a new compact system camera that offers 24 megapixel resolution, full 1080p high-definition videos, a faster auto-focusing system, and a touch-screen interface. Other key features of the EOS M3 include a tilting 3-inch LCD screen, ISO range of 100-12,800, wi-fi and NFC connectivity, and a built-in flash. Is Canon"s new mirrorless model finally a real contender? Read our Canon EOS M3 review to find out...

The new Olympus PEN-F is a new premium compact system camera boasting a gorgeous retro design and some pro-level features, including a new 20 megapixel sensor, 5-axis image stabilisation, 10fps burst shooting, vari-angle 3-inch LCD touchscreen, 4K time-lapse movies, an electronic shutter and built-in wi-fi. Priced at £999 / $1199 body-only, is the PEN-F all style and no substance? Read our in-depth Olympus PEN-F review to find out...

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 is a new premium compact system camera aimed firmly at enthusiast photographers. With a new 20 megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor, dual lens and in-body image stabilization, built-in tilting electronic OLED viewfinder, 3 inch free-angle OLED touchscreen, 4K video and photo modes, integrated wi-fi and NFC connectivity, and a weather-proof rangefinder-like design, can the Panasonic GX8 live up to its early promise? Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 review complete with sample images, test shots, videos and more to find out...

The Sony a6500 is the company"s top-tier APS-C mirrorless model, a 24MP stills and video camera with image stabilization. It sits above the similar-looking a6300 in Sony"s lineup, adding touchscreen capability and stabilization for enthusiasts willing to dig a little deeper into their pockets.

The Sony Alpha A6500 is an upper mid-range mirrorless camera with a 24 Megapixel APSC sensor, built-in stabilisation, touchscreen, 4k video and a powerful AF system that"s perfect for action shooters. Announced in October 2016, it comes only eight months after the A6300, but doesn"t replace it. The A6300, and indeed the A6000, remain on sale, but the A6500 becomes the new flagship APS-C e-mount body.

Three refreshes: that’s how long it took for Sony to create a camera with a sensor that can keep up with its competitors. Granted, the processing engine in the Sony a6500 is very capable and a big part of it. But then we also beg the question: Why so many refreshes so suddenly?

Not long ago, Sony announced and presented the new a6500, a successor to its successful a6300. During a recent visit to Japan, I had a chance to spend a day with the new camera and I’m happy to finally share my first impressions here. Mind you, this is only a first impressions review, dealing ONLY with the video capabilities of this new camera.

The four new features which I think are worth mentioning are the re-designed menu (more on that later), the capable autofocus system, touch screen LCD, andin-body 5-axis image stabilization. I would also highlight that the camera grip size got a bit bigger, making the camera easier to hold and work with. All the rest – such as sensor, picture quality and even low light performance – is pretty much the same as with the older a6300.

An additional advanced feature which can be accessed via the menu is the ability to extend the 4K recording time. As we all know, the a6300 would have got warm and likely shut down while recording. Although this may still happen with the new a6500, you now have the possibility to delay this by accessing the menu, changing the Auto Power OFF Temperature to HIGH, and allowing the camera to get warmer… In fact, Sony recommends using a tripod as the camera can get really hot.

During previous discussions at Sony, I emphasised the need to completely separate the video and photo camera menus – an opinion I believe many others shared too. Sony has listened, and have taken the first step in redesigning and reorganising it to make the video crowd feel more comfortable when searching specifically for a video-related function. I would say that 80% of the work is done regarding the introduction of this new menu structure, but I truly hope that they can technically achieve that last extra mile – which surprisingly is not so easy.

The new touch screen on the Sony a6500 LCD is responsive, easy to use and works well with the new faster autofocus system. Mind you, make sure to select “Flexible Focus Point” if you want to be able to look at the EVF and drag your finger across to the desired focus point.The new built-in 5-axis image stabilization works OK, but falls way behind the one found on recent cameras by Olympus.

Upon returning the camera, I was invited for a discussion with Sony’s a6500 engineering and marketing people and was asked to give my honest opinion about the new camera, My straight forward answer was:there is not enough innovation in the new model to make one move up from their current a6300 model to the new a6500.”

In terms of video performance, the two models are very similar with some advantage to the a6500 due to its new advanced autofocus system and touch screen LCD. The point is this: the a6000 was a nice HD camera. Then, with the appearance of the a6300, we got 4K and reasonably fast autofocus. In theory, what is missing from the new Sony a6500 is a “killer feature” – a unique selling point like internal ND filters, higher quality recording codec or bit rate, not to mention a headphone jack…

For those of you asking “will it ever come”, my answer is as follows: for Sony, this device is first and foremost a photo camera. Although their statistics clearly show that many users are buying into these little technical achievements and are using the camera in professional video shooting environments (see the below Sony’s official slide), they need to be convinced by seeing a critical mass of users who tell them in a clear loud voice: “we are using these kinds of cameras for our creative video work and need the extra functionality, so please give it to us without the fear of cannibalising your higher level video markets!”.

Guys, Sony reads your comments, so please share your opinion with us. Do you think they should surprise us by introducing a more video-oriented mirrorless stills camera on the a6xxx line?

My review of the Sony a6500 is based on using the camera for several weeks for both paid work and personal work. Mainly I wanted to see if it was a viable backup to my main camera, the Sony a7iii and if it would serve as a good option for casual family/travel/adventure photos.

I have been using Sony cameras for several years now, starting with the a6000 and a7ii and more recently the a7iii. With that said, I was also a Canon DSLR shooter for many years.

The build quality on the Sony a6500 appears sturdy and resilient. This is coming from someone who believes in using equipment, not babying it. What’s the point of having the camera if you are afraid to take it out of your bag?

Sure, they might not be as burly as the high end DSLR but they are lightweight making a drop less impactful and ergonomics less vital. More on ergonomics in a minute. My other Sony bodies have handled several drops without consequence. Perhaps I should review camera straps next!

Instead of having a full metal body, the Sony a6500 is a combination of plastic and metal components. Nevertheless it retains a sturdiness that made me feel comfortable about tossing it in my backpack without fear of damaging it.

Generally it felt tougher than the Sony a6000 that I’ve had for a while. Maybe that is because it is new while the my a6000 has taken a beating over the years on skiing and climbing trips. Either way, I was very satisfied with the build quality.

Another thing I was happy with was the weather sealing. It performed well even in a heavy snow storm. I have always been skeptical of Sony’s weather sealing because I felt like there should be a rubber seal like I was familiar with on my old canon lenses.

However, I have taken all of my Sony cameras out in full on downpour rain and never had an issue. The a6500 appears equally weather resistant. It’s nice not to worry about hurting my camera when I need it to help me get the job done.

The main difference between the Sony a6500 and the a7 series is the size of the body. The a6500 is even smaller. Therefore, the controls were a bit more compact and not quite as quick to adjust. There are fewer dedicated custom buttons which is only a concern if you are using the camera at events and need to work very quickly.

The touch screen was an attempt to address this problem. It seemed effective but it just doesn’t fit with my style of shooting. I like to keep my eye on the subject and let my fingers work the controls while waiting for the moment. Pulling back from the viewfinder to use the touch screen was too much of a distraction to be useful for me.

Despite lacking these two things, I was able to customize the buttons and dials to make my main adjustments quickly even for a person with moderate to large hands. The buttons and knobs are small, but are a definite upgrade from the Sony a6000. Each of the dials felt tight and tactile making accurate adjustments easy.

If you’re looking for a camera to shoot more personal work (i.e. family, travel, and adventures etc) the ergonomics and handling on the Sony a6500 are completely adequate.

For the occasional overhead or very low shot, the flip out screen is very handy as well. I sometimes find myself using it to reach up or to the side to get a unique perspective that wouldn’t be possible without the tilt-able rear screen.

The electronic viewfinder on the Sony a6500 is crisp, vibrant, and bright. Even in low light, the viewfinder was accurate and helped me achieve proper exposure. I did find that it is a little dim to shoot in full sun, even with maximum brightness.

On a few occasions the illuminated screen caused me to underexpose a little but that works well with my style of shooting. I often find myself underexposing to preserve the brightest parts of the image. It is easier to recover shadows than highlights.

Both the EVF and the flip out screen are designed with usability in mind. They have the ability to make my job easier and quicker so I can focus on getting the shot.

Along with the small form factor, the Sony a6500 comes with a small battery. This became an issue for me mainly in cold weather. At more comfortable temps, the battery seemed adequate, however, I would definitely recommend keeping a few extras with you, if you plan on shooting a lot.

In future iterations, I hope that Sony will upgrade to the new Z series batteries which I rarely find myself needing more than 2 for a full (10+hr) day of shooting.

The focus on the the Sony a6500 was accurate and faster than I expected, only a slight bit slower than my a7iii. The other big advantage on the Sony a6500 is Eye AF – combine this with tracking AF and you’ve got a powerful combo for tack sharp portraits.

I was very impressed with the images coming out of the Sony a6500. The dynamic range is awesome (13.7 stops) and the color seemed better than I expected (on par with the a7 series).

When shooting side by side with the Sony a7iii, I was able to include both images in a gallery without much color correction (not the case with the a6000).

The Sony a6500 has a wide range of lens options. Though it seems like more recently Sony has focused on their full frame lens lineup (fully compatible with a6500), there are still a wide range of options specifically designed for crop sensors.

The main advantage of crop sensor lenses is their smaller/lighter build. For my style of shooting as a wedding and adventure photographer, my top 3 lenses for the Sony a6500 would be:

1. Sony E 16-70mm f/4 This is a fantastic all around lens with an equivalent focal length of 24-105mm. It’s a sharp and sturdy feeling lens that covers a wide range of focal lengths. A great starting lens for someone just getting into photography or a pro that needs a backup that covers a large range.

2. Sony E 10-18mm f/4 Because of my passion for shooting outdoors, this is an awesome lens for capturing the environment. It goes super wide with an equivalent focal length of 15-27mm while staying sharp and feeling like a high quality full frame lens. The extremely wide focal length makes it less ideal for portraits but you won’t have any trouble fitting the all the action into the frame!

3. Sony E 24mm f/1.8 I think this an awesome lens for people to improve their photography with. Many old pros swear by the 35mm focal length (this is a 36mm equivalent). It will inspire you to “zoom with your feet” and fill your frame with your subject. I also really appreciate the fast 1.8 aperture when shooting in low light. This fast & sharp lens pairs well with the a6500.

4. Sony E 35mm f/1.8 Everyone needs a “nifty fifty” and this lens provides an awesome medium focal length with a fast aperture for shooting in low light. It is an inexpensive and popular prime lens. The only downside I experienced was a little softness around the edges of the frame so be sure to keep any important subjects out of the corners when framing up scenes with this lens. A great value to add to your kit.

5. Sigma 16mm f/1.4 This awesome fast, wide angle, prime lens would be my go to for astrophotography with the a6500. At f/1.4, it has the speed to capture the night sky at an equivalent focal length of 24mm. This would also be great for capturing wide landscapes and action/adventure.

One question people often ask is which should I choose, the Sony a7ii or the Sony a6500. I think this question comes up because they are similar in price. The difference lies in their feature set. They are intended for different purposes.

With all the pros and cons, I think the main thing it comes down to is size/money. The Sony a6500 is an amazing camera in a pint sized package. It is the little brother of the full frame a7 lineup.

Therefore, if you want a fast and capable camera, go with the Sony a6500. If you’re getting started as a pro and want to go full frame, get the Sony a7ii.

In many ways the a6500 is quite similar to the a6300 (see review). The 24.2MP APS-C sensor and 4D focus systems the same, as are its video capabilities, 11 FPS, and viewfinder. Its form factor and dial arrangement are also the same as both the a6300 and the entry-level a6000.

Sony has also increased the buffer in the a6500, allowing it to capture up to 307 full-size JPEG files or 107 raws, all at the 11fps burst rate. That’s a huge improvement over the a6300′s 44 JPEG and 22 raw limit.

While the sensor is the same as in the a6300, the a6500 has a faster large-scale integration (LSI) chip and image processing algorithm. This is a serious help in the noise-reduction arena, where it keeps detail while effectively reducing noise at the mid-high ISOs.

Another key difference is price. The while the Sony a6500 is coming in at around $1100 right now (body only), the Sony a6300 is at a quite affordable $822 (with kit zoom lens).

So if touch screens aren’t your thing, you don’t need the IS, and/or you don’t do a lot of low-light photography, you’ll save around $300 going for the a6300.

Personally, I prefer the a6500. The touchscreen really helps with focus and the new LSI chip really makes a huge difference. Add to that the fact that the IS works with both stabilized and non-stabilized lenses and $300 doesn’t really seem like that much of a difference. But I already have FE lenses I can use with it. If you’re starting out from scratch and don’t have much of a budget, the a6300 might be the right choice.

Full frame or crop sensor – which to choose? There are a lot of similarities between the APS-C a6500 and the full-frame Sony a7iii, with a key difference being the price tag. (The a7iii is still hovering just short of $2000, body only.)

Both cameras have an E-mount, have decent continuous burst speeds (10fps for the a7iii and 11fps for the a6500), and live view with blackouts up to 8fps. They also both have WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth connectivity

The a6500 inherited the flat-topped design of the a6300 and a6000 APS-C models. It also has a viewfinder at the top left of the body rather than in the middle. The grip, though larger than the a6300, is still quite a bit smaller than the a7iii as well.

The Sony a7iii, on the other hand, has a bigger, sturdier build. The increased size (and weight!) allow it to offer more dials and buttons for easier control. These include an additional control dial, as well as an AF-ON button and an AF joystick.

The a7iii’s larger body also allow give it room for a dual SD card slot. One slot is standard UHS-I while the other is UHS-II compatible. The a6500 only has one slot and it’s only UHS-I compliant.

As far as the LCD screen is concerned, both cameras have 921k-dot resolution. The a7iii articulates a bit more, but that’s pretty much the only difference.

The Sony a6500, on the other hand, has a smaller, APS-C sized Exmor CMOS sensor. Its maximum native ISO sensitivity is 25600 (51200 when extended). That’s a big difference.

The Sony a6500 uses fewer points (425 phase detection and 169 contrast detection), but still does an amazing job. In normal light I often couldn’t tell the difference.

The buffer capacity is significantly different on each camera. The Sony a7iii can up to 177 frames in JPG format and 89 in Raw format in a single burst, while the a6500 can go up to 233 JPGs or 107 Raw frames. Keep in mind though, with the difference in card slots – the a7iii has a UHS-II compatible option – the difference in performance might not be so noticeable.

Shutter speed is another place where the two cameras differ.They both use an vertical-traverse focal plane type shutter that produces fewer vibrations than previous shutters, but the a7iii is considerably faster, reaching into the 1/8000s. The a6500, in comparison, reaches its limit at 1/4000.

As far as the flash is concerned, the a6500 comes with a built-in flash. The a7iii comes with a hotshoe. (This works for me, as I don’t use built-in flashes much at all.)

One of the biggest advantages the a7iii has over the a6500 (other than sensor size) is battery life. The a6500 uses the older NP-FW50 battery, which has notorious poor performance. The a7iii uses the larger NP-FZ100 battery, which gives an average of 710 photos with the LCD monitor or 610 shots with the EVF. That’s more than double what the a6500’s battery can do.

In the video realm, the a6500 and the a7iii are pretty similar. Both cameras can record in 4K up to 30fps and 100Mbps, and Full HD up to 120fps. (Here, the UHS-II cards will come in handy.) The only real differences that I can see are that the a7iii has HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) and can record in both full frame and APS-C format.

For travel though – especially in places where I’d worry about the safety of my gear and/or want to carry around less, the Sony a6500 is a strong contender.

The Sony a6500 didn’t gain any additional video capabilities over its predecessor, the a6300. Both cameras shoot amazing video. The main difference is that the a6500 comes with 5-stop IS, which is a big deal.

The only thing really missing is that there’s no headphone jack. The only way to monitor the audio is watching the levels on-screen or by plugging in an external monitor with audio out.

Also, for Vloggers the screen doesn’t articulate all the way up to where you can see it. That’s probably a deal breaker for some folks who vlog a lot, and reason enough to spend a bit more on another certain camera – see the Sony a6400 review.

When it was first released, the Sony a6500 went for around $1,500. Definitely at the upper end of the CMOS world. It’s come down a bit since then to around $1,100, which honestly is a bargain for a camera with all of these features.

If you already use a Sony full-frame mirrorless (i.e. something in the A7 series) and are simply looking for a lighter shooter for travel, you don’t have to invest in any other lenses, as the FE lenses work just fine on the a6500. They’ll be a bit heavier, but can definitely save you both money and hassle.

On the flip side, there’s something to be said for simply slapping on the excellent Sony 35mm f/1.8 and having a tiny, full-functioning setup with you everywhere you go.

The best Sony a6400 bundle I’ve found is this one. It comes with the awesome Sony FE 50mm F1.8 (full-frame) lens and a number of other handy items including: a camera bag

The price seems a little too good to be true, but the seller has a 99% positive rating. Worth a shot if you don’t already have a camera, and the bundled lens will really help you make the most of the a6500’s sensor.

There are a number of great accessories available for the Sony a6500, many of which can seriously augment your camera’s abilities while still maintaining it’s relatively small, compact size.

Check out this guide to accessories for Sony cameras for a more generic look at useful products. For now, let’s take look at a couple of the most popular, both to do with the battery:

Given the Sony a6500’s poor battery performance, it makes a lot fo sense to invest in a third party Sony a5000 battery grip. It can definitely extend your battery time – if you’re shooting video it can turn a 6-battery day into a 4-battery day when doing video.

As mentioned before, the Sony a6500 still uses the smaller batteries that Sony has been moving away from. The a6500’s battery life isn’t particularly impressive. Being used to the a7iii, I definitely noticed a big difference.

I probably had to charge the a6500’s batteries 4x more than the a7iii’s, but it’s not really a fair comparison. The battery technology in the a7iii is still fairly new.

Conversely, the longer lasting batteries of the Sony a7iii are considerably larger and heavier than the 6500’s, and you can pick up third party batteries for the a6500 much cheaper.

The fastest way to drain the a6500’s battery is by shooting 4K video – you’ll get maybe 65 minutes tops. So if you’re planning on doing a lot of video, make sure you buy plenty of extra batteries and/or a battery grip.

Another option is to get a third-party. The a6500 comes with an 1100mAh battery (good for bout 310 shots without strobe) but third party 1500mAh options are easy to find, like these I recommend, which increase battery life by around 30%.

Of course, this isn’t that unusual these days and it is pretty frustrating that Sony’s mirrorless cameras aren’t sold with separate battery chargers. For road trips, though, it’s pretty cool.

That being said, there is indeed a firmware update available for the a6500 that was released just last month – v1.06. The only real change this update makes is improving the overall camera stability (Sony doesn’t go into detail as to what exactly that means.)

If you’re looking for a main body to use professionally, I would say the Sony a7iii is still the best investment, but the Sony a6500 isn’t far behind.

The main advantage of the a6500 is its smaller form factor and thus smaller lenses. In addition to being smaller, the lenses are much more affordable.

The size being the main advantage of the a6500 is also where it falls short for me. The short battery life and too compact controls are enough to make me hesitate to rely on it too much. The last thing I need is to miss a shot because I can’t change my settings fast enough or my battery died.

However, the Sony a6500 certainly works as a viable backup to keep in the bag in case your main body has a problem. Where it really shines is as a small/lightweight camera for traveling or having on you all the time to document the adventures of life.

As Sony"s new flagship APS-C camera, the 24.2-meagpixel A6600 has a lot to live up to. First of all, it had to follow the A6500, launched in 2016 with innovative features like 4K 30 fps video, fast 11 fps shooting speeds, in-body stabilization and face- and eye-tracking. For a couple of years, nothing else on the market could touch it.

What"s more, the A6600 arrived just after Sony"s 61-megapixel A7R IV full-frame mirrorless camera -- possibly the best camera I"ve ever seen. From a competition standpoint, Sony is also under pressure to top Fujifilm"s X-T3, which has a higher-resolution sensor, more 4K video features and much better handling than the A6500.

The A6600 has in-body stabilization, a key feature that its rivals lack, and packs other promising features like a bigger grip and battery, along with improvements to its famous AI-powered autofocus system. However, Sony did not upgrade the three-year old sensor. Can it can hold its own against its full-frame stablemates? Can it beat the X-T3?

A lot of fans were hoping that Sony might reboot the A6500"s rather plain, ergonomically-deficient body and go with something that looks more like the A7R III. That didn"t happen. The A6600"s body is pretty similar to the previous model, except for one important detail: a much bigger grip.

Unfortunately, that"s where the ergonomic improvements end. The A6600 has the same button and dial layout as before, bar some minor nip-and-tuck work. That means it still lacks a front shutter/aperture dial and a joystick control for focus. It"s inexcusable for Sony to leave those things out on a flagship, $1,400 camera, especially when you can find them on all its competition.

Like before, the A6600 has a microphone input, and Sony has also added a headphone port. That"s a nice addition, as serious videographers can monitor sound while they"re doing interviews and other chores.

Sony"s uncanny autofocus system, with 425 phase and contrast detect AF points, still delivers more in-focus shots than those models. The latest feature is what Sony calls "real-time tracking" and "real-time eye autofocus." What that means is that Sony has increased AF speeds to the point that you can touch to select a subject, and it"ll track them in real time.

Overall, Sony still has the best autofocus and face-tracking AI of any APS-C camera. It was able to handle everything I tried, from tracking people playing at a pond, to a musical group in low light, to dogs running around.

And while you can shoot pretty long bursts of up to 99 shots at maximum resolution, it takes ages and ages for the buffer to clear. That"s likely because of the relatively slow write speeds from the UHS I slot that Sony inexplicably decided to use. When that happens, you can"t shoot anymore and many of the camera"s functions are inoperable.

One of the Sony A6600"s biggest advantages over similar cameras is the five-axis stabilization. The system lets you shoot in much lower light than would otherwise be possible. With five stops of shake reduction, I was able to take photos at shutter speeds down to around 1/15th of a second, provided my subject didn"t move around much. On other cameras, including Nikon"s Z 50 and the X-T3, you"ll need to use lenses with built-in stabilization — and many of the best primes don"t have that option.

While it has the same sensor as the A6500, Sony did a good job sprucing up the A6600"s image quality. It has a new Bionz X processor, and Sony rejigged the algorithms, using the same ones on the A7R IV, to improve the color accuracy and sharpness.

Overall, image quality is a strong point on this camera thanks to Sony"s faster processor and improved color science. Again, keep in mind the rolling shutter issues that can happen in electronic shutter mode. If you or your subject move around a lot, you"re going to get skew that can potentially ruin a photo.

With a full-sensor readout and super-sampled 30 fps 4K, along with full HD at 120 fps, the A6500 was an excellent video camera in 2016. But in 20190? Not so much. The A6600 carries over those same specs, and still only supports low bit-rate, 8-bit video. In the meantime, its rivals have moved on. The X-T3 and Panasonic"s GH5 can handle 4K at 60 fps and also record 30 fps 4K with 10 bits (billions) of color, both externally and internally at up to 400 Mbps.

You still get sharp super-sampled 4K video, and with Sony"s latest algorithms, colors and skin tones look realistic and natural. Sony also has added V-Log2 and V-Log3 options to maximize dynamic range in post. However, that feature is somewhat crippled by the lack of 10-bit output and low 100 Mbps bit rate, which means you"ll have less flexibility when you go to adjust the footage.

That said, Sony"s excellent autofocus system is an advantage here. If you flip it into face and eye detection mode, you"ll keep your subject in focus more reliably than on the X-T3. Despite the recent improvements, though, it still occasionally lost focus on my subjects. As such, Canon still holds a slight lead over Sony with its Dual Pixel autofocus system.

The A6600 is a decent vlogging and general-purpose video camera thanks to the flip-up screen and headphone output. I tried it out in face-detection mode, and at close vlogging range, it rarely lost focus. Because of the flip-up screen, however, you can"t just mount an external mic on the hot shoe — rather, you"ll need to get an accessory like Sony"s shooting grip kit, including an external microphone bracket.

Given Sony"s technical leadership in the camera industry, the release of the A6600 is a head-scratcher. If you were looking for a mirrorless APS-C camera three years ago, the A6500 was the best option, hands down. Now? I"m not so sure.

Sony did make a few decent improvements, adding real-time tracking and real-time eye AF to its class-leading autofocus system. It"s nice to have a bigger grip and incredible battery life for both photo and video shooting. And the five-axis in-body stabilization gives the A6600 a leg up on its rivals, particularly when using un-stabilized prime lenses.

However, it"s bizarre that Sony didn"t update the sensor over the last model, considering that it"s the world"s leader in sensor technology. The bad rolling shutter was the biggest weakness of the original A6500, and it"s now back to haunt the A6600. In 2019, it has to compete against the X-T3, Z 50, Canon"s M6 II and Panasonic"s GH5, none of which have rolling shutter that"s nearly as noticeable. I also wish it had two faster card slots and more advanced 4K options.

Although Sony’s new A6500 looks very similar to its A6300 sibling, for $400 more it adds some really impressive features that make it a great choice for action photographers. We had an extensive two-day, hands-on session with Sony’s latest flagship APS-C mirrorless interchangeable lens camera – using a variety of lenses and photographing various subjects – and we got a very good sense of what this camera can and cannot do.

If you gave the A6500 a quick glance without zeroing in on the logo, you’d think it was any other member of the best-selling A6000-series. Although it has similar dimensions to the A6300 (about a pound with battery and card, body only), the surface has a slightly different matte finish and there’s a beefier, more comfortable grip.

Besides the addition of a three-inch touchscreen (one feature we wish the A6300 had) and the aforementioned improvements, the A6500 and A6300 are otherwise built off similar specs: a 24.2-megapixel APS-C sensor; 11 frames-per-second burst shooting; 425 phase detection and 169 contrast detect autofocus points; top ISO of 51,200; 1/4,000 shutter speed; 0.39-inch electronic viewfinder; and the ability to capture 4K video.

As with all Sony mirrorless cameras, the A6500 uses E-mount lenses, and we had an excellent selection of E-mount glass to choose from during our two-day test session. Beyond these native lenses, through an optional adapter you can also attach Sony A-mount as well as third-party lenses from Canon and other brands.

As with the company’s previous press preview events, Sony typically provides a wide variety of subjects to photograph while we get a feel for the camera, and this event, held in Austin, Texas, was no different. Here’s what we had to photograph: our two-day hands-on experience started with rowers on the Colorado River that runs through the city, a visit to a local skate park, and then St. Edwards University tennis, lacrosse, and basketball teams in action, followed by a concert featuring rock guitarist Ian Moore and his band. The next day we went to a ranch to photograph several rodeo events such as calf-roping and barrel racing. Then there was a chance to capture Flying Disc Dogs that, naturally, catch Frisbees in the air. Models were also hand for static shots.

Nearly of these subjects had one thing in common: motion, with varying speeds. Since the A6500 has a maximum burst rate of 11 fps, we were encouraged to fire away, thanks the humongous buffer that lets you keep shooting and shooting.

Among the lenses used most often during the hands-on were the 85mm f/1.4 prime and 70-200mm zoom, but we also used the 16-70mm f/2.8, 28mm f/1.8, and others. By far and away the 85mm prime was a favorite and it’s one of Sony’s more expensive lenses, at $2,200 list. The ability to go so wide open lets us shoot at a fast shutter speed during a concert and it even worked well with tennis and rodeo action. (Since the A6500 uses an APS-C sensor, multiply by 1.5x for the 35mm equivalent focal length.)

We were impressed with the AF and burst speeds. While it didn’t produce as many keepers as the Nikon D500 DSLR, the A6500 was no slouch capturing quick action. Also impressive was the overall color accuracy and dynamic range. When you enlarge a good quality APS-C image, there’s really no reason for the majority of photographers to go for a more expensive full-frame sensor.

Where the A6500 fell short was its touchscreen LCD, which was not very responsive. This could be due to the fact that the cameras we used were early samples. We’ll wait to test a final sample before we make a definitive judgment in a full review.

Another disappointment is the poor battery life. Although mirrorless cameras are inherently smaller than DSLRs, the A6500 battery provides a fraction of the juice. “Battery Exhausted” appeared more than once on our display screen. Fortunately, we had spares at the ready. And for the umpteenth time, we’ll complain about Sony’s convoluted menu system. Enabling the High Frame Rate setting is as obtuse as ever, which is a shame since it’s such a cool feature for capturing slow-motion clips.

Although predominantly using the A6500 as a still camera, we shot 4K videos as well. Focusing and color quality were quite good, as seen in the scenes of rowers, musicians, and rodeo riders. Sound is so-so but that’s to be expected from pinhole stereo mics. For those serious about moviemaking, the camera has a mic jack and hot shoe for accessory mics.

One of Sony’s Artisans of Imagery, Patrick Murphy-Racey, was on hand to give tips. He’s a noted sports photographer and offered some secrets for taking good images, no matter what brand of camera is being used. His advice: Use the fastest shutter available, open your aperture as wide as possible (lowest f/stop number), and adjust the ISO and exposure compensation for the proper exposure. For some action Murphy-Racey suggested we use single shot rather than burst mode, or what he calls “spray and pray.” Realize this is a general rule, so use the technique that works best for you. We liked the single shot method tip, but used “spray and pray” as well.

Before the Ian Moore gig, Chad Wadsworth, another Sony Artisan and noted concert photographer, gave pointers for shooting a performance. He advised turning off the AF illuminator to eliminate the red beams of light that are emitted, and turning off auto preview on the LCD. Wadsworth also recommended we practice proper etiquette when shooting in the concern pit: be courteous to other shutterbugs around you, and don’t hog a good spot.

You’ll find the camera body, rechargeable battery, and AC adapter. The battery is rated 310 shots, per CIPA, but in the real world of shooting bursts and video, you’ll get much less. That’s why it’s absolutely a must that you buy a spare or two. In fact, Sony gave us three for our testing, so enough said. Sony also supplies a strap, cap, USB cable, and eyepiece cup. Software is available for download to handle files, as is the PlayMemories Mobile app for connecting your iOS/Android smartphone or tablet.

The A6500 is essentially the A6300, but better. The A6300 is one of our favorite mirrorless cameras, garnering an Editors’ Choice award. (It’s still available for sale; the A6500 is not a replacement model.) If it’s anything to go by, then we expect the A6500 to be a winning camera after we put it through a full review. Like the A6300, the A6500 delivers super stills, 4K and super-slow-motion videos, and great performance. It addresses the cons we had with the A6300, namely the lack of image stabilization and touchscreen.

We hope the A6500 doesn’t exhibit any overheating issues that have been reported by A6300 owners. The A6500 should be another best-selling mirrorless camera from Sony. Just consider spending extra for spare batteries and quality lenses that do the 24.2-megapixel sensor justice.

I say surprising because although it sits below the Sony a6500 in the line-up and costs around $300 / £300 less, in many ways the newer a6400 is actually the better camera, and not just a little bit better either, it’s a LOT better!

In this comparison article I’m going to be taking a closer look at 15 key differences between the Sony a6400 and the a6500, and hopefully help you to decide which one is best for you.

I think it’s worth mentioning that the Sony a6400 was announced in January, 2019 and the Sony a6500 was announced in October, 2016. So the a6400 is the newest of these two cameras by quite some margin.

Both the a6400 and the a6500 feature a Sony APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor with approximately 24 megapixels, the BIONZ X image processor and a front-end LSI. Unfortunately Sony does not provide the exact specifications of their sensors or processors and often just mentions “new generation or newly developed” in their marketing literature.

The processor in the a6400 is capable of driving Sony’s real-time Eye AF and tracking, along with the new Animal Eye AF which the a6500 does not support. So we know that the processor in the a6400 has been improved dramatically over the one found in the older a6500.

Autofocus performance is one area where we start to see some very clear differences between the a6400 and a6500. These differences include the time taken to acquire focus, the number of phase and contrast detection points, as well as features like real-time eye AF, animal eye AF, and real-time tracking.

According to Sony the a6500 takes 0.05s to acquire autofocus, yet incredibly the a6400 requires just 0.02 seconds. Since I’m fortunate to own both of these cameras (although my a6500 will soon be sold), I can definitely attest to the improvement in AF performance that the a6400 delivers.

Both cameras have the same number of phase-detection points (425) that cover 84% of the image area and help to capture subjects more accurately no matter where they are positioned in the frame. When we look at the number of contrast detection points the a6400 beats the a6500 with 425 points vs 169 points.

Both cameras support Human Eye AF (images only), but only the a6400 supports real-time eye AF which works together with the shutter button. With the a6500 you need to press an additional button to enable eye AF. The a6400 also allows you to specify 3 different options: left eye tracking, right eye tracking, or auto. Eye AF is supported in both AF-S and AF-C modes but is not supported when shooting video.

The Sony a6500 does not support Animal Eye AF and Sony has not announced any plans to add this support via firmware update. Most likely the processor in the a6500 is simply too slow to support it. Whereas the a6400 has been designed with Animal Eye AF in mind from the ground up.

Another feature that the a6400 boasts that the a6500 doesn’t is Real-Time Tracking. With the real-time tracking function you can simply touch the monitor to activate Real-time Tracking for either stills or movies. The camera will instantly lock onto the target subject and keep it in constant focus. This is possible due to a newly developed subject recognition algorithm that processes spatial information based on color, subject distance (depth), pattern (brightness), and face and eye information at high speed in real-time.

The Sony a6500 has a native ISO range from a base ISO of 100 up to 25600, it’s also expandable to 51200. The a6400 trumps the a6500 here again with a native ISO range of 100-32000 which is also expandable up to ISO 102400.

In the following video from Jason Vong he mentions that the a6400 performs slightly better than the a6500 in low light between ISO 1600 and ISO 6400, but beyond this the a6500 appeared to have slightly sharper images with less noise reduction.

Both the a6400 and the a6500 use the same Sony NP-FW50 battery. However the processor in the a6400 has been improved considerably, not only is it faster but it’s also more power efficient. One of the simplest battery life tests is to see how long each camera will shoot 4k video before the battery is exhausted.

The a6500 will shoot 4k video for approximately 1 hour and 7 minutes before the battery is exhausted (you need to restart at 30 minute limit), whereas the a6400 will shoot 4k video for 1 hour and 22 minutes before the battery is exhausted, an improvement of around 15 minutes over the a6500.

However, not having IBIS in the a6400 is really not a big deal at all. A lot of lenses including the popular Sony E 18-135mm and 18-105mm all feature Optical Image Stabilization (OSS) built into the lenses themselves, therefore IBIS in the camera body is not required.

I mounted my Sony FE 100-400 OSS lens to both my a6400 without IBIS and my a6500 with IBIS to see if it made any difference, but even at 400mm I didn’t notice any significant improvement in stabilization with the a6500.

Both cameras also feature a touch sensitive 3-inch LCD screen with 921k dots of resolution. The a6400 touch screen is the most advanced as this also lets you trigger the shutter by touch and also control the new real-time tracking feature by touch.

Only the Sony a6400 will let you rotate the screen up 180° for selfies and vlogging. The a6500 only allows you to tilt the screen up by approximately 90 degrees and down by approximately 45 degrees.

With both cameras when using the mechanical shutter can you achieve the maximum speed of 11fps (Hi+), but at this setting you will lose live-view (you see the last picture taken instead of a live view of your scene) and will notice more blackouts on the EVF or LCD screen. When you select 8fps (Hi) then you get live-view and very short blackouts making it far easier to track subjects such as birds in flight.

If you switch to silent shooting mode by using the electronic shutter, then the a6400 yet again trumps the a6500 since it can shoot at 8fps, whereas the a6500 only supports 3fps.

The a6500 does win when it comes to the buffer size since it will shoot 233 extra fine JPGs or 107 raw files before the buffer is full. The a6400 will shoot 99 extra fine JPGs or 46 raw files before the buffer is full.

The Sony a6400 is the only camera that supports interval shooting (time-lapse) in the camera itself. If you want to create time-lapses with the a6500 then you will either need to purchase the Play Memories Time-Lapse App which costs around $10 or purchase an external intervalometer like the PIXEL FSK *.

Here’s the first time-lapse that I shot with the Sony a6400. I know it’s not the most exciting of time-lapses so hopefully I’ll be improving upon this very soon.

With the a6500 there is a video recording limit of 29:50 when the camera will stop recording and you’ll need to hit the record button again. Thankfully with the a6400 this limit has now been removed and you can record for as long as you like, or at least as long as your battery or memory card will last. The a6400 also gets improved autofocus performance for movie recording, touch to track, and as mentioned earlier the battery will last for around 15 minutes longer when shooting 4k video.

Overheating has also been improved with the a6400 and although in my own tests it did still overheat it lasted twice as long as my a6500 before the overheating warning came on and the camera shutdown. However, I’ve seen many overheating tests where the a6400 has recorded for hours without shutting down, so my a6400 could possibly be faulty.

The a6500 does sport a slightly larger grip than the a6400 which makes it a little more comfortable to hold. You’ll also find two custom buttons on the top of the cameras whereas the a6400 has only one.

Like I mentioned earlier, only the Sony a6400 will let you rotate the screen up 180° compared to the a6500 which only allows you to tilt the screen up by approximately 90 degrees.

The a6400 also gets a visualized setup screen for customization. On the custom settings screen, an illustration showing the camera’s operable components shows you at a glance which button or switch you’re assigning, and when you’re setting up the function menu you can view the structure of the actual function screen.

One other big difference that you will notice when using these two cameras side by side is the speed that you can navigate the menus. The a6400 is around 3x faster when it comes to navigating the menus than the a6500. Also the startup time of the a6400 is again around 3x faster than the a6500.

With the Sony a6400 firmware update version 2 Sony also added support for their new RMT-P1BT bluetooth remote control. This remote is not supported with the a6500 at this time, although it remains to be seen if Sony will introduce support with a future firmware update.

The Sony RMT-P1BT Remote Commander is a great remote control option for the Sony a6400. The RMT-P1BT operates using Bluetooth connectivity which provides a reliable connection even in bright sunlight or when there are obstacles between the remote and the a6400.

There are only really two advantages that the a6500 has over the a6400. The first is IBIS which as I’ve mentioned isn’t all that important unless you are using lenses without OSS built-in and you have no desire to use a gimbal. The second is the buffer size which is only really beneficial if you are shooting a lot of continuous images.

The a6400 however has numerous advantages over the a6500 including the real-time eye AF, animal eye AF, real-time tracking, bluetooth remote support, built-in interval shooting, no 30 minute recording limit, HLG support, improved battery life and overheating performance, much faster to start and navigate through menus, and best of all it’s around $300 / £300 cheaper!

Since purchasing the a6400 my own a6500 has only been collecting dust and will soon be sold. Hopefully that makes it fairly clear as to which camera to buy!