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. 

Sony Alpha A6500 Performance

The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.

Speed - We took a number of shots to test the camera's responsiveness, from switch on to the first photo, shot to shot, focusing speed etc. We take a number of shots and then use the average to ensure accurate and consistent tests, making it easy to compare with other cameras.

Shutter response and focus speeds are both excellent. Continuous shooting is very good at 11fps with continuous AF active. There is a much-improved buffer compared to the A6300, shooting 316 JPEG images, and 112 raw images.

Sony Alpha a6500 Sample Photos

Sample Photos - Eye-AF is designed to focus on the subjects eye, however in our shooting experience, this feature did not make an appearance without first enabling or switching on "eye-detection focus" specifically, and compared to other companies eye-detection focus (which just works automatically), it is much more awkward to use*. Your experience may differ. Even saying this, the camera focuses well on subjects faces and can produce sharp photos, with pleasing skin tones. Flash performance is good with no signs of red-eye in the photo. * In later Sony camera's they introduce "Real-Time Eye AF" which works automatically without first having to be specifically selected.

Exposure is reliable, and the camera has a number of options to improve the dynamic range recorded in the photos, including DRO (Dynamic Range Optimisation) and HDR (High Dynamic Range). Colour is good, even when shooting at higher ISO speeds, and the camera produces good photos.

Sony Alpha a6500 Lens test images

Lens Performance - We used the Carl Zeiss 16-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens which is equivalent to 24-105mm in 35mm terms, making it a versatile lens to use, with reliable focusing. Images were particularly sharp in the centre of the frame. Chromatic aberrations and purple fringing can be an issue into the corners of the frame, although switch on lens distortion correction and this problem should go away. The camera has options for shading compensation, chromatic aberration compensation, and distortion compensation. 

Better macro performance can be achieved by using a dedicated macro lens, and for ultimate image quality, a prime lens is recommended.

Sony Alpha a6500 ISO test images

ISO Noise Performance - The Sony Alpha A6500 produces images with low levels of noise, and good levels of detail from ISO100 to ISO1600. There's a slight drop in fine detail at ISO3200, but results are still good. Detail drops again at ISO6400, but noise is well controlled, and this should provide good images. ISO12800 is on the edge, as noise increases, and detail is reduced. You may find these images usable if resized, or further processing is applied. ISO25600 and above is best avoided if possible. 

There is a slight improvement over the A6300, with a little more detail retained as the ISO speed increases. ISO6400 produces usable images, and there is much better noise reduction at ISO12800, compared to the A6300.

Sony Alpha a6500 White-balance test images

White Balance Performance - Auto White Balance (AWB) produces a warm result under tungsten light, with the Tungsten preset giving a more accurate result. AWB performs well under fluorescent lighting, and there are a number of fluorescent presets available if needed. 

There are now options that can be set for Auto White Balance so that you can choose whether you want the correction to be stronger or weaker. "Priority Set" in AWB options are now: Standard, Ambience (Warmer), and White. However, the difference these settings make is quite subtle in our shots, and if you want truly accurate results, then you're still best using manual white balance or one of the presets.

Sony Alpha a6500 Digital filters

Digital Filters - There are a number of customisable creative styles where you can alter contrast, saturation and sharpness. There are also a large number of picture effects, that let you apply digital filters to images including Retro, Toy camera, Posterisation, Miniature and selective colour to name a few, although when shooting using the creative effects, the camera will record JPEG images only. The camera features an automatic panoramic mode, that stitches the photo as you pan the camera from one side to the other and results are good. If you don't get the speed right then you can end up with the camera leaving a grey area at the end of your panoramic image, although this can easily be corrected later on your computer. 

Video - The camera offers 4K UHD video recording at a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels with frame rate options of 30p, 25p, and 24p. When using 25 or 24p, the camera will use the full sensor width which is a Super35 equivalent, and compress the 20 megapixels down into a 4K / 8mp resolution, giving extremely sharp and detailed 4K videos. There are a number of compression options including XAVC S, 100MBps (MP4 wrapper). You can also record high-speed FullHD video at 120fps (NTSC) / 100fps (PAL). The focus performance of video is also very good, with 425 phase-detection AF points on the sensor. 

The addition of a stabilised image sensor will be welcome, and for this reason alone, the new camera will be interesting to Sony E lens users. This makes handheld video much more stable. The camera has a microphone socket so that you can upgrade the sound quality compared to the stereo internal microphones.  

There are options to adjust AF drive speed, AF tracking sensitivity, as well as options for S-log3 gamma, S-log2 gamma, S-gamut3, Picture profiles, Timecode / User bit, Gamma display assist, Focus peaking, Zebra display, Clean HDMI output (QFHD 3840x2160), and the camera gives you an ISO range of ISO100-25600. However, there aren't as many options available as the recently reviewed Panasonic Lumix GH5. 

Additional videos can be found on the ePHOTOzine YouTube Channel.

 

Value For Money

The Sony Alpha A6500 is now available for £949 body only (Feb 2020), which makes it much more affordable compared to the RRP of £1499 body only. Here are some more alternatives to consider:

Sony Alpha A6600, 24mp, 4K, IBIS, 11fps, Z battery for extended battery life, £1249 body only
Sony Alpha A6400, 24mp, 4K, no IBIS, 11fps, £899 with 16-50mm lens
Sony Alpha A6300 - 24mp, 4K (no in-camera IS), 11fps stills, £849 body only 
Panasonic Lumix GH5 - 20mp, CINE-4K, 5-axis IS, 12fps stills, 30fps at 18mp, £1299 body only 
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II - 20mp, CINE-4K, 5-axis IS, up to 60fps stills at 20mp, £1199 body only 
Fujifilm X-T3 - 26mp BSI CMOS sensor, CINE-4K 30fps, 4K 60fps, no IBIS, up to 30fps continuous, £1199 body only

Have a look at more options in our Top 10 Best Premium Mirrorless Cameras article, or have a look at the Top 10 Best 4K Video Cameras. You'll also need to buy a memory card and a case or bag to keep your camera safe and protected - have a look at our complete guide to camera bags.

Sony Alpha A6500 Verdict

As an updated version of the A6300, the Sony Alpha A6500 adds a number of new features, including 5-axis sensor-based in-body image stabilisation (IBIS), as well as a much larger buffer so you can shoot hundreds more continuous shots at 11fps.

There is also the welcome addition of a touch-screen, which can be used for Touch-AF, as well as playback. Unfortunately, it can't be used to change settings or go through the menus. The menus have been updated, with colour coding, and a more organised layout, but this has resulted in numerous pages to scroll through, and it would be nice if all of the video options were in their own section. There are improved white balance options, as well as an improvement in noise performance, which makes the already great image quality even better. 

The A6500 is now available for £949 body only (Feb 2020), making it much more competitively priced, as well as good value for a camera with in-body image stabilisation. However, since the release of the A6500, Sony has introduced both the A6400 and A6600, both with improved image quality and noise performance, as well as updated focus systems. If you don't need in-body image stabilisation then the A6400 would save you some money, and if you want the better battery life, then the A6600 offers excels in this area.

The Sony Alpha A6500 offers a wide range of features, including excellent image quality, fast focusing and continuous shooting, all in a compact camera body, with good build quality. There's also a good range of lenses available. We're not really a fan of the menu system update, but saying that, there are worse menu systems out there, and it shouldn't take too long for users of this camera to get used to it.

The Sony Alpha A6500 offers excellent image quality in a compact camera, with 5-axis image stabilisation that will help with both video and photos.

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