Stable, fast and versatile, Sony's Alpha a6500 is a suitable APS-C format mirrorless camera that is well-suited to both photo and video applications. Revolving around a 24.2MP Exmor CMOS sensor and BIONZ X image processor, crisp image quality is delivered with a wide expandable sensitivity range up to ISO 51200, along with accelerated readout speeds for internal 4K30 and Full HD 1080p120 video recording with full pixel readout. The processor further benefits video creators as it includes an S&Q (Slow & Quick) Motion setting that allows Full HD video to be captured at various frame rates ranging from 1 to 120 frames per second.
The stills also benefit from a decent processing speed that allows burst shooting at 11 frames per second for up to 301 JPEGs in a burst, as well as 14-bit raw file output. 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization, which complements both photos and video, minimizes the effects of camera shake on all attached lenses and supports working with longer shutter speeds. The sensor and processor combination also uses 4D FOCUS, which uses a 425-point phase-detection system with wide coverage and a contrast detection system with 169 areas for fast and accurate focusing.
Tested Features of Sony a6500
- slow-mo
- 4k video
- iso
- grains
- color tone
- W.B
- picture style
- blur
- bokeh
- low light
- picture quality
- touch screen
- auto light optimization
- burst shoot
- autofocus
- Sharpness
Sony a6500 features a rating in Photography
- iso range: 10\10
- color tone: 9\10
- white balance: 9\10
- background blur: 10\10
- bokeh effect: 10\10
- grains coverage: 10\10
- highlights & shadows detail: 10\10
- autofocus: 10\10
- jpeg quality: 9\10
- continuous shooting speed: 10\10
- depth of field: 10\10
- live view photography: 9\10
- eye tracking: 10\10
- flashlight photography: 10\10
- HDR mode: 10\10
- Touch Screen Focus: 9\10
- sharpness: 10\10
- image stabilization: 9\10
Key features of the Sony a6500
- Fast autofocus with 425-point phase-detection AF/169-point auto-contrast
- 5-axis image stabilization
- 24.2 megapixel Exmor® CMOS sensor
- FPS: 11 with continuous autofocus and exposure tracking.
- 4K video recording with full pixel readout / no pixel binning
- ISO for still images: 100-25600 (Up to ISO 51200 in extended ISO range.)
- ISO for movies: ISO 100-25600
- Battery Life: Approx. 310 frames (Viewfinder); 350 (LCD monitor)
- Buffer: up to 307 frames (approx. 36 seconds) of high-speed continuous shooting
- Eye AF available with AF-C
- Resistant to dust and moisture
- Multi-slot reader for Memory Stick Duo™/SD memory cards
- Maximum resolution 6000 x 4000
- Lens mount: Sony E
- GPS: None
- Format: MPEG-4, AVCHD, XAVC S
- Articulated LCD: Tiltable
- Maximum shutter speed: 1/4000 sec
This focusing system also enables High-density Tracking AF for more efficient and accurate tracking of moving objects in the image frame. Ever more versatile and fully featured in both photo and video, the A6500 is a fast and accurate imaging tool for capturing multimedia. Complementing the imaging capabilities, the A6500 also has a robust magnesium alloy body that is dust and moisture-resistant to work in harsh environments. The compact profile features a high-resolution 2.36m dot OLED XGA Tru-Finder electronic viewfinder for clear, crisp viewing at eye level, and this EVF features a 120fps tracking mode for smooth tracking of fast-moving subjects.
Outdoor Photography Test of Sony a6500
There is also a rear 3.0″ 921.6k dot touchscreen LCD monitor and it has a tilting design that allows shooting from both high and low working angles, and the touch screen design allows for intuitive touch focus control. In addition, for wireless remote control of the camera or simply sharing images online, built-in Wi-Fi with NFC enables connection to a mobile device for intuitive wireless control. 24.2MP Exmor CMOS Sensor and BIONZ X Processor The 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor pairs with the BIONZ X image processor to deliver smooth, fine image quality with minimal noise and high sensitivity from ISO 100-25600 that can further be expanded to ISO 51200 for working in low light conditions.
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The sensor features a unique design that uses thin copper cables, improved circuit processing, and an improved front-end LSI to increase light-gathering ability, reduce noise, and increase reading speed, which contributes to video recording. The sensor and processor combination also utilizes an industry-leading burst speed of 11 frames per second for up to 301 standard JPEG images or 107 raw images in a single burst with AF and AE, and enables 14-bit raw file output for a wider range of tones and colors. . 5-axis SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilization Packed into the slim a6500 is the powerful 5-step SteadyShot INSIDE 5-axis stabilization system, which compensates for five different types of camera shake that occurs during handheld photography and video.
This allows users to confidently use any lens, even custom lenses, for critical shots without experiencing blur due to camera shake. At long focal lengths, the system corrects tilt and yaw settings. Macro shots and high magnification shots, on the other hand, will benefit from the inclusion of horizontal and vertical shift compensation. All shooting styles will benefit from tilt compensation. All 5-axis stabilization will work in all circumstances, even when used with third-party lenses and adapters or lenses with built-in optical stabilization. 4D FOCUS The powerful 4D FOCUS system, which covers almost the entire sensor area, includes 425 on-chip phase-detection points along with 169 contrast-detection areas for precise focusing in just 0.05 seconds.
The density of focus points of this hybrid AF system also enables High-density Tracking AF technology, which is adept at tracking moving subjects in various lighting conditions. The use of phase-detection points also allows the use of A-mount lenses via the optional LA-EA3 or LA-EA1 lens mount adapter with full AF compatibility. The apt 4D FOCUS system also lends itself to a variety of focus functions for improved accuracy, including Lock-on AF, which maintains focus on moving subjects throughout the use of a configurable frame that is set to the desired moving subject and Expand Flexible Spot. , which uses the adjacent focus points to maintain focus on moving objects even if the originally selected point loses focus.
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Additionally, Eye AF can be used to focus on eye-detected subjects in portraits and is available in both AF-S and AF-C modes. Autofocus can also be used in conjunction with the Focus Magnifier function for critical focus when homing in on minute subject details. In addition to autofocus, the a6500 also features Peaking MF, which benefits manual focus control by highlighting sharp edges of contrast for a more objective way of getting sharp focus. UHD 4K Video Recording Internal UHD 4K movie recording is possible at multiple frame rates up to 30 fps and based on the Super35mm recording area and 20MP (6000 x 3376) effective resolution, 2.4x oversampling provides greater detail and full pixel readout is possible, which is free of pixel binning, for better quality images with reduced moiré and aliasing.
Full HD 1080p recording is also supported at up to 120 frames per second, and both resolutions use the 100Mbps XAVC S format contained in the MP4 wrapper with 4:2:0 sampling. 120 fps high-speed recording also allows for 4x and 5x slow-motion video recording with the frame rate set to 30p or 24p. In addition to internal high-definition recording, the uncompressed HDMI output also allows the use of an optional external recorder for clean 4K recording with 4:2:2 sampling. 4K video recording also takes advantage of the ability to produce 8MP photos during playback by taking a still from the movie and saving it as a separate file.
indoor Studio Photography Test of Sony a6500
Custom color profiles and gamma support S-Log3 are available for S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log-3 and S-Gamut3/S-Log3 profiles, which allow up to 1300% wider dynamic range for smoother tonal and color transitions, along with increased sensitivity and clarity in shadows and mid-tones. These profiles also lend themselves to greater compatibility within a professional workflow and pair well with the Cineon Log gamma curve for versatile post-production grading and color control. The S-Log3 gamma setting also offers an impressive 14ft wide dynamic range for better control over highlights and shadows, while the S-Gamut3.A Cine profile can be used to emulate quality.
What's up guys, in today's Tech Gear Talk we are going to take a look at one of Sony's best APS-C mirrorless cameras, the a6500. This camera shares many of its basic specifications with the really popular a6300, but with some improvements. We'll talk about why it's the camera of choice for many people for both photography and video, as well as whether it's a good choice for vlogging and YouTube content creation in general.Looking at this particular range of Sony cameras, we start with the a6000 as the entry-level option, the a6300 as the mid-range option, and now the a6500 at the top of the market.
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My goal with each product review is to give you a detailed overview of the product's features as they relate to actual use. If you find this useful, please let me know by giving it a like and hitting the subscribe and notification buttons for more camera and tech reviews.
This is going to be a pretty detailed review, and each camera has its pros and cons, so if you're serious about your research, I suggest you take the time to watch this video to the end.
The A6500 comes with a truly impressive 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor with "front-end LSI", which stands for Large Scale Integration. It is essentially another chip that provides more computing power. This new processor does a really good job of reducing noise and increasing read speed, which is great for video.
As always with cameras, the bigger the sensor, the better, as a bigger sensor can use more information to create a better image with more detail and better dynamic range.
Sony has paired this APS-C sensor with a BIONZ X image processor, which together enable continuous shooting at 11 frames per second. Now, if you shoot standard JPEG, you can get 301 frames, and in raw, you can get 107 bursts in one burst, with autofocus and auto exposure. That's pretty crazy.
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So this is a great setup for photographers and videographers and the image quality of this camera is really impressive. Thanks to the new processor, the camera is also very sensitive and quick to control. It turns on really quickly and you are ready to take pictures or videos almost immediately.
From a photography standpoint, it's a super solid camera. It takes excellent pictures with great colors and clarity. I'll cover this more in the next section, but for video users, this will give you really nice and sharp video, and this powerful sensor will let you shoot 4K video as well as full HD.
Next, I want to talk about some of the main strengths of this camera: video resolution and frame rate, as well as image resolution for photography.
The A6500 can record UHD 4K video at 24, 25, and 30 fps and Full HD or 1080P up to 120 fps. And that's really impressive for a small mirrorless. Choosing a frame-per-second setting is related to how you want your final video to look. If you want a more cinematic and soft look, use 24 frames per second, if you want a sharper look, you can shoot at 60 frames per second. I like to get the best of both worlds, so in shooting at 30 FPS.
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4K video essentially records footage that is 4x larger than Full HD. This gives you a lot more pixels to work with on each image. And that has several advantages. I don't want to go into too much detail here, but I'll put a link in the description and in the corner to another video where I explain why you might want to shoot in 4K.
There are problems with the camera body overheating when shooting 4K video for a long time. There is a setting for Auto Power OFF Temp that can be set to standard or high. Most people report around a median of 20 minutes of recording time for the STANDARD setting and over an hour for the HIGH setting. These of course vary depending on the ambient temperature.
Night Photography Test of Sony a6500
Next, let's talk about slow motion. The A6500 can shoot Full HD video at 120 fps, which is something I love. That's a really nice feature to get out of a camera at this price point. Depending on what the frame rate of your final video is, this gives you a lot of flexibility with slow motion.
For example, I edit my videos at 30 frames per second, so when I slow down from 120 to 30, I actually slow it down by a factor of 4. .Ok, let's move on to the lens options. The A6500 uses the Sony E mount and I'm showing it with the 16-50mm lens. With the 1.5 crop factor of the APS-C sensor, I get a 24-75 35mm equivalent and built-in image stabilization.
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It's a pretty basic lens and would work well for beginners, but it's not very fast, so it only opens up to 3.5 and is limited to 5.6 at larger focal lengths. When I say "fast" I'm talking about aperture and how much light this lens can let through. If you want me to go into more detail about this concept, let me know in the comments section and I'll make a video covering it.
However, this is where the advantage of interchangeable lenses comes into play. If you want a faster lens, if you want to go wider or add some telephoto options, you have nice lenses from Sony and other vendors.The selection isn't as wide as Canon or Nikon, but there are some great options, especially at the higher end. At the lower end is the Sony 50 f/1.8, the 35mm 1.8 if you want to go wider, and even the 55-210 if you want to be able to zoom in on subjects that are far away.
This isn't a lens review, so I don't want to spend too much time on it, but if you have the money to spend, there are some excellent options that I'll include in the description.
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Ok, that brings us to the next topic, which is autofocus. And I'll discuss this with both the photo and the video. The a6500 uses a 425-point phase detection system that Sony says can focus in just 0.05 seconds. This system is then also used to track moving objects as they move through the frame.
The nice thing about all these focus points is that you can easily set the focus area off-center and then compose shots with the subject off-center without having to focus and then reframe. Using the touchscreen, you can tap an area to set it as the focus point, or you can drag the focus point across the screen while looking through the viewfinder.
There's also a continuous autofocus feature that you can use for shooting, so you can select your subject and the camera will follow it throughout the frame and keep it in focus. So see how this system works, I can click on a subject and then shoot it and the a6500 will refocus on each exposure.
Wedding Photography Test of Sony a6500
For video, you can select any point on the screen as a static focus point, which is really nice if your subject is off-center. This works for both fixed and continuous autofocus. You can also select a subject and have the a6500 track it and keep it in focus.
You can compose a shot with multiple layers and then tap to focus while recording and the a6500 will automatically switch focus points. It does this relatively quickly and usually doesn't search for focus. Although I have noticed that it tends to go past the focus point and then come back into focus.
Overall, the autofocus system for video is really good, not as good or as fast as Canon's dual-pixel autofocus, which is my favorite so far, but still really nice. There are times when it searches for focus, especially in low light and low contrast. If you shoot video, vlog or create content for youtube, this will work really well for you.
One of the main things that frustrated me is that the focus point indicator is a medium to dark gray square, so after selecting a point that you'll see turn orange when I drag it, it goes back to gray. and I found it hard to see in different lighting conditions. I wish there was a setting where I could change the color or keep it orange or white.
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Another great feature of the a6500 for video is that it has a 3.5mm microphone input. It's really great if you're looking to up your audio game and want more production value. With the 3.5mm microphone input, you can use an external microphone instead of the camera's microphone. So you can easily attach a shotgun microphone and mount it on top of the camera and you're good to go. It is a really light and compact device that you can easily take with you anywhere.
You can use it for vlogging or recording interviews or anything else where you want to pick up directional sound instead of using an omnidirectional mic that's on the camera and would pick up sounds from all directions equally. We have audio levels on the screen, which is something I love when I'm behind the camera because I don't have to go to the menu area to check the levels.
But since the screen doesn't flip, I can't see the levels when the camera is facing me. I have to point the mic in the opposite direction, then test, then turn it back and hope it's the same. It's not an ideal workflow, but it works, but I wanted to mention it because I think these are the types of real-life situations that make a difference when you're actually using the camera.
Now I can also use a lapel mic if I don't mind being tethered to the camera. Or I can even take it to the next level and go wireless with my Sennheiser AVX with XLR to 3.5mm adapter.
Now I get the performance of a lapel mic and can move around completely free and still get the perfect sound. It's also easier for me to set audio levels because I can walk behind the camera and see them before I start recording because the distance between me and the mic doesn't change as I move. Now I can get different types of shots without having to change anything about my audio.
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The a6500 shares the same form factor, or body size and shape, as both the entry-level a6000 and the mid-range a6300. So if you already use one of these cameras, the a6500 will feel very familiar in your hand.
It's a magnesium alloy, rangefinder-style body, and of course, since it's mirrorless, it's super compact. It also has a nice seal around the buttons for dust and weather resistance. The grip is nice and deep and Sony has covered the entire right side with rubber so you always have a good grip and don't have to worry about it slipping out of your hand. Sony has built in a high-resolution XGA Tru-Finder OLED electronic viewfinder. The picture quality is excellent. It's super bright and sharp and makes a great impression the first time you look at it.
Now let's take a look at the new 3-inch screen, which is okay at best. The image quality on it is really nice and it can be tilted up to 45 degrees for overhead photography. It can also be tilted up to 90 degrees when the camera is on the slider or when controlled from above.
Let's talk about my issues with this screen. First, it cannot be rotated 180 degrees up or sideways to face forward. So it's pretty useless when you're on camera like I am now. Most people might not care, but if you're using this camera as a content creator and plan to be in front of the camera, take this into account because you can't really tell if you're well shot or in focus. This is especially true if you're hand-holding the camera towards you and walking around, you won't get visual feedback on your framing. You can do it with practice, but it's not ideal.
The second problem with this screen is that it is touch-only. You can tap or drag to focus, but you can't use the screen to control any of the camera or menu functions. And what I do, I constantly strive for. Since I'm using the screen to focus, then I press the function button, my instinct is then to click the screen again and make a selection. Then when that doesn't work, I go back to using the controls on the side.
I really don't understand why Sony did this. They've clearly invested in a touch screen that has the ability to detect when I touch it, so why not extend that ability to full camera functionality? At this price point, this is something I think is a pretty big mistake from Sony.
The last thing I want to discuss is screen brightness. Well, my first impression was… it's not really clear and it's hard to use. With a little more research, I found out that Sony intentionally dims the screen when shooting 4K or 120fps due to overheating issues with the a6500. There is a monitor brightness setting, but it is disabled in the modes I just mentioned. If you shoot 24, 30, or 60 fps in Full HD or 1080P you can use it and the screen is really nice and bright.
Overall, the image quality on the screen is excellent, but I wish Sony had added a few more features here that would make this camera completely blow away other options in this range.
