Impressions from Sony a6500

According provided by Sony a6500 camera (Sony ILCE-6500) many thanks to the official representative of Sony in Ukraine.

Sony a6500

Sony a6500

Detailed descriptions of the technical specifications of the Sony a6500 are on official sites Sony.ru, Sony.ua, sony.comon which the camera is positioned from 'The palm-sized all-around all-star' to 'Professional pocket camera'.

The main differences from the a6300 model:

  1. the a6500 is a newer model introduced in November 2016, while a6300 was presented 8 months earlier (in February 2016)
  2. a6500 received a proprietary stabilization system built into the camera. a6500 can compensate for 5 kinds of camera movements. It is stated that the effectiveness of the stabilizer reaches 5 steps! The a6500 stabilizer works wonderfully. An indication of the focal length for manual lenses is provided. Thus, with the a6500, you can use the stabilizer with any lens.
  3. a6500 got bluetooth
  4. The a6500 has a touchscreen display that lets you, for example, set the focus point or area. At the same time, it is impossible to navigate the menu by touching and other usual actions.
  5. the a6500 has a slightly redesigned control (another programmable button has been added) and a redesigned menu.
  6. frame buffer the a6500 increased about 5 times! Can take off about 100 frames in one series in RAW format!
  7. a6500 uses the same sensor as a6300but with an additional LSI chip, which helps to create a better picture at high ISO values, it increases the buffer and improves the quality of the video. I did not notice a significant increase in noise reduction.
  8. The a6500 was able to shoot Full HD at a frame rate of 120 fps, which makes the Slow Motion effect possible.
  9. The a6500 uses a new shutter rated for 200.000 operations (this is just 5 hours of continuous operation at a speed of 11 fps). It is a pity that the minimum exposure was left at 1/4000.
  10. other details have been changed or added, for example, overheating control, additional settings white balance, the ability to save 8 MP images from 4K video etc.
Sony a6500

Sony a6500

Sample Photos

Examples of photos from this camera can be viewed (and / or download their source) in lens reviews Sony FE 3.5-6.3 / 24-240 OSS (SEL24240) и Sony FE 1.8 / 50 (SEL50F18F).

Sony a6500

Sony a6500

My experience

In general, Sony a6500 - good camera / camcorder with great potential. In general, I am delighted with modern technology. The sediment was left only by the focusing system and some lags in control.

'4D Focus' technology used by Sony a6300, showed itself very well with a whale lens E PZ 16–50 mm F3.5-5.6 OSS. The same technology is used in the Sony a6500 camera, but when used with lenses Sony FE 3.5-6.3 / 24-240 OSS (SEL24240) и Sony FE 1.8 / 50 (SEL50F18F) no miracle happened. The focusing speed is limited by the capabilities of the motors and the logic of the lenses, in general, there is no need to talk about high speed. All these 'Lightning fast focusing speed'are just the dreams of marketers. Worst of all, focus tenacity is on par with ancient DSLRs.

Usually, everything is simple with SLR cameras - the vast majority of DSLR cameras, except for some renegades like Canon D30/D60, the center point of phase focusing is cross-shaped. In difficult shooting conditions, such a point is a kind of panacea - turned it on and got an accurate and fast focus. With Sony a6500 this 'trick' does not work. In any focus mode and with any focus areas / points, getting the camera to focus on what I want is not always possible.

Sony a6500 often clings to the background (behind the background), ignoring the subject. In the general case, work as the central focus point on some Nikon D40 it’s much more convenient and comfortable for me because of more confident tenacity of focus and unambiguous focusing on the object that the camera was aimed at. Why 11 fps and a buffer for 300 frames if everything is out of focus? Why 425 phase focusing points if Nikon D40 with three points grabs the focus much more tenaciously? Perhaps I got some negative experience with the camera and these lenses, many other reviews praise the focus of the Sony a6500.

Still, there are positive aspects of focusing - its accuracy.

Sony a6500

Sony a6500

Prices

Actual prices for the Sony a6500 camera can be found in the online catalog here or here.

Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.


All Sony E-mount cameras with APS-C sensor


All Sony E lenses for APS-C

Fix Lenses:

  1. Sony 11 mm f/1.8 (announcement) [2022, black, AliExpress price]
  2. Sony 15 mm f / 1.4 G (announcement) [2022, black, AliExpress price]
  3. Sony 16 mm f/2.8 (overview) [2010, silver, AliExpress price]
  4. Sony 20 mm f/2.8 (announcement) [2013, silver, AliExpress price]
  5. Sony 24 mm f / 1.8 ZEISS ZA (overview) [2011, black]
  6. Sony 30 mm f / 3.5 MACRO (overview) [2011, silver, AliExpress price]
  7. Sony 35 mm f / 1.8 OSS (announcement) [2012, black, AliExpress price]
  8. Sony 50 mm f / 1.8 OSS (announcement) [2011, black/silver, AliExpress price]

Zoom Lenses:

  1. Sony 10-18 mm f / 4 OSS (announcement) [2012, black, AliExpress price]
  2. Sony 10-20 mm f / 4 G PZ (announcement) [2022, black, AliExpress price]
  3. Sony 16-50 mm f / 3.5-5.6 PZ OSS (overview) [2012, black/silver, AliExpress price]
  4. Sony 16-55 mm f / 2.8 G (announcement) [2019, black, AliExpress price]
  5. Sony 16-70 mm f / 4 OSS ZEISS ZA (announcement) [2013, black, AliExpress price]
  6. Sony 18-50 mm f/4-5.6 (overview) [2014, black]
  7. Sony 18-55 mm f / 3.5-5.6 OSS (overview) [2010, black/silver]
  8. Sony 18-105 mm f / 4 G PZ OSS (announcement) [2013, black, AliExpress price]
  9. Sony 18-110 mm f / 4 G PZ OSS (announcement) [2016, black]
  10. Sony 18-135 mm f / 3.5-5.6 OSS (overview) [2018, black, AliExpress price]
  11. Sony 18-200 mm f / 3.5-6.3 OSS (overview) [2010, silver, AliExpress price]
  12. Sony 18-200 mm f / 3.5-6.3 OSS LE (announcement) [2012, black, AliExpress price]
  13. Sony 18-200 mm f / 3.5-6.3 PZ OSS (announcement) [2012, black]
  14. Sony 55-210 mm f / 4.5-6.3 OSS (announcement) [2011, black/silver, AliExpress price]
  15. Sony 70-350 mm f/4.5–6.3 G OSS (announcement) [2019, black, AliExpress price]

Third-party autofocus lenses for Sony E APS-C:

Many interesting manual solutions are provided by Chinese manufacturers and brands. 7Artisans, TTartisan, Meike, Neewer, PerGear, Kamlan, Brightin star, Mitakon Zhongyi, Venus laowaFujian, ARTRALABAstrHori other. Autofocus Speed ​​Boosters are also interesting Viltrox Canon EF -> Sony E 0.71X и Metabones Canon EF -> Sony E 0.71X... List of full-frame cameras and lenses Sony FE (Full Frame E) here

Results

Sony a6500 - TOP Crop mirrorless camera from Sony. Huge burst speed, huge frame buffer4K video, built-in image stabilizer, 425 phase focus points and many other important and pleasant little things make it very attractive to buy and use.

So far the camera is in my hands, you can ask some specific questions about the Sony a6500 in the comments and I will try to answer.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

Add a comment: Pokemon

 

 

Comments: 120, on the topic: Impressions from Sony a6500

  • B. R. P.

    Right! The whale is.

  • Vladimir

    So all the same, Sony A7II kit + sony fe 85 1.8 will be a good choice for the family (photos and videos), or better than a DSLR?

    • KalekseyG

      Just for the family, why not. But with such a price tag ?!

      • northpoint

        And what about a slightly lower price tag for a family?

    • UstasFritZZZ

      Family of oligarchs or what? For a family, any soap box or phone of your larvae will do.

  • Ttmurka

    I think some people do not correctly perceive this device, after all, this device is valuable for its video capabilities. But panas in the video is probably better for this price. And as a camera he is so-so.
    The A6500 is a compromise between video and stills.

    • Valentine

      And what's wrong with him? I know a man who at one time did two 6300 commercial shoots. Naturally, all with good optics and processing. It is difficult to make any special complaints.

    • klg

      Panasy is nonsense, only manual focus and a small matrix - the picture is darker (or throw in more money on the lenses) and there is no depth. If Panasonic then it is better to take Iphone Xr ... Panasonic is PR

      • Dmitriy

        IPhone XP doesn’t shoot even at the level of 5 year old soap dishes (which currently cost 20-50 bucks), and it can’t shoot at the camera level either. physics.

  • Vladimir

    Arkady, good afternoon.
    How do you control shutter speed in manual mode? Aperture - wheel. Perhaps, setting the settings for the aperture, something set the wrong one. Help.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Good day. Take a look at the instructions, I do not remember for 6500

  • ZI ZI TOP

    About the selection of the required focus point. You can, after all, activate the existing touchscreen, poke at the desired point on the screen - the camera will focus quite quickly and tenaciously there and the shutter will work. Voila. True, this is already without EVI, you have to sight on the screen ...

    • Stefan

      Nope, the touchscreen can be used by aiming through the viewfinder, here, of course, the question of convenience arises, but this can be done, but in general there are a lot of focusing presets, you just need to get used to it, after a DSLR (I use Nex) it was also inconvenient when I could have a central point to "catch" the object in focus and only then build the frame

  • Vladimir

    Arkady, good afternoon. Like a camera 6500 to take pictures of yourself. I use a delay of 10 seconds, but I get frames that are not sharp. At what point does the camera sharpen in this case? Maybe you need to set certain settings - which ones?
    Thank you in advance.

    • klg

      Twist it with manual focus ... it will be for sure))

  • Andrei

    How good is the stabilizer in the Sony A6500? And is the A6300 or A6000 worse?

    • klg

      If a monopod is better for a photo, it is cheap for $ 30, for the price of the A6500 stabilizer it is better to buy a good lens with a stabilizer or a Steadic compact FeiyuTech G6 Plus and Sony A6300

  • Vladimir

    Arkady, good time of day.
    There is a problem with the A6500.
    I shot in RAW format, but the sharpness of the originals had to be added to get more or less sharp pictures. I switched to jpg and installed on page 3/14 in Auto Mode - Intelligent Auto. As I understand their instructions, the camera should do 1 shot. In AUTO mode, it takes 1 frame, and in modes A, S it takes 2 or 3 frames and processes them for quite some time. What settings can still influence this process or is this normal? Please help me figure it out.

  • Anna

    Good afternoon! thanks for the review! Now I just choose a mirrorless mirror up to 85, I stopped at a000 or a6500. Head around, of course, this will be my first camera. As far as I understood, a7 lenses are very expensive, you don’t really get around to it, but the quality on a7 is worse. what do you advise?

    • Pokemon

      Anna, friendly advice: If this is really your first camera, then I recommend starting with something simpler with the lens in the kit.
      If you really want the BZK so much, I recommend the Canon 200D / 250D.
      No need to start with expensive cameras, even if you have money for it.

      • Pokemon

        Sorry: Canon EOS M50
        As an option for something light and compact, albeit with a mirror - 200D / 250D

    • Michael

      Anna, to be honest, I would recommend that you choose mirrorless or crop 2.0 or immediately full frame.
      Most likely the crop of 1.5 / 1.6 Kenon and Sony will be closed due to their meaninglessness, so this is probably not the best investment.
      If you need something budgetary, lightweight, for traveling, with a huge selection of lenses, an excellent camera stub, 4K video, then take a look at the new Panasonic GX9, there are many reviews on the u-tube.
      Of the full frame, the hit of the season is the Sony A7 III. There is a first version for less than $ 1000 with a lens.
      On Sony, through a metabon adapter, you can put Kenon lenses (a huge selection) while maintaining AF.

      • Pokemon

        “From the full shot, the hit of the season is the Sony A7 III. "
        This is an awesome “first camera. Please also advise A7RM3 with Zeiss glasses.
        "There is a first version for less than $ 1000 with a lens."
        The first series is all sick and crooked. And the A7 of the first series generally came with a plastic bayonet or its mount. There are a lot of complaints and complaints about the first A7. From the second series - the rules.
        But advising FF to a beginner is game.
        "Most likely the 1.5 / 1.6 Kenon and Sony crops will be closed due to their pointlessness, so this is probably not the best investment."
        Michael, so you are the Anonymous who drowns for a double-crop and for the quick death of a crop?
        There is such a character in Arkady who constantly drowns for the near death of the Nikon / Canon crop. This will not happen before Vovochka leaves power. Those. not soon.
        To advise a double-crop with its missing DD and inflated prices for EVERYTHING is extremely strange.

    • Michael

      Options: Olympus M10 II and Olympus M10 III.
      Canon m50 is a raw camera, with unsuitable video, no camera stabilizer, a very limited choice of native lenses, reduced functionality. Pokemon did not work with her, but advises ...
      If you put the lenses through the adapter, it’s better to buy Sonya immediately, and the full frame will be, and the stabilizer, and video, and manual lenses will open.

      • Pokemon

        There will be no newbie “making love” with manuals.
        A6500 / A6300, like some twice-crop type GH5 / GH5s, take 4K videographs for shooting.
        Why advise Sonya with their prices for NORMAL glasses?
        For a beginner, a whale and any cheap camera are enough.
        If it is really needed and the person understands why and where it will be used.
        I advise you to take inexpensive cameras as the first ones. due to some ineptitude, the FIRST newcomer's camera will NEVER be opened. Here, either a person switches to shooting from an iPhone and throws shooting on the camera, and the camera itself on the mezzanine or a person comes to the fact that he begins to understand what exactly he wants to shoot - birds, horse racing / sports, portrait / weddings, street.

        • Michael

          your logic is incomprehensible.
          where did I recommend “A6500 / A6300 as well as some double crops like GH5 / GH5s”?
          Anna asked a very specific question about mirrorless and a budget of up to 85K.
          Your recommendation - Canon m50 - is not the best for a beginner, to put it mildly, for the reasons above.
          Just for a beginner, a chamber stub is a useful thing. Just for the girl, the size, weight and convenience of the system matter.
          Therefore, the Panasonic GX9 (like variants of the Olympus M10 II and Olympus M10 III) are inexpensive cameras with great features and access to a huge amount of optics for any money.
          Well, or as an option - a full frame of Sony A7 in all variations, with access as a family to excellent but expensive lenses or to the largest base of Kenon lenses through the metabon.

          IMHO, very bad advice "For a beginner, a whale and any cheap camera is enough." - to buy if only that, this will be the result, then the smartphone is really better, because what is bought is just what will fall on the shelf, such as the Kenon m50.

          • Pokemon

            “Just for a beginner, a camera stub is a useful thing. "
            It corrupts. You need to get used to some simple and primitive things and smoothly switch to modern things.
            “Therefore, the Panasonic GX9 (like variants of the Olympus M10 II and Olympus M10 III) are inexpensive cameras with great capabilities and access to a wide range of optics at any price.”
            Double crop is not a system (s)
            Mikra is not a system. And I’m sure that it will disappear, and crop / 1.5 will take its place.
            On Micra there is no way to make a sensor under 8K. Just physically.
            "Well, or as an option - a full frame of Sony A7 in all variations, with access as a family to excellent but expensive lenses or to the largest Kenon lens base via the metabone."
            For a man who didn't hold anything heavier than an iPhone?
            "IMHO, very bad advice" For a beginner, a whale and any cheap camera is enough. " - just buy something, the result will be the same, then the smartphone is really better, because what you bought is just what will fall on the shelf, such as the Kenon m50. "
            And another option is to buy a crop twice and get DD as on an iPhone, or as an A7R option with Zeiss glasses. Either all or nothing. This is a bad approach. And you impose it carefully here on the forum.

            • Michael

              "Double crop is not a system (s)"
              This is a bad approach. And you are carefully imposing it here on the forum.

              “It corrupts. You need to get used to some simple and primitive things and smoothly move on to modern things. "
              What for? did you sincerely learn to drive a cart and harness a horse only then to drive a Renault car with automatic transmission, power steering, etc.?
              Do you recommend learning turbo pascal to use google maps later?
              Why waste time on things that are hopelessly outdated and no one else needs you?
              As a result of your advice, the camera lays on the shelf and uses a smartphone with an optical stabilizer, one button, sophisticated AF and a dedicated processor for processing up to 15 frames in the buffer.

              “Micra is not a system. And I am sure that it will perish, and a crop / 1.5 will take its place. "
              This is just your opinion. So far, Kenon has actually stopped developing lenses and cameras for mirrorless crop as well as Sony. Unlike micra.
              The reason is simple - the size and weight of a 1.5 / 1.6 crop is hardly distinguishable from a full frame. On the area of ​​the frame, I was close to the micro

              "For someone who hasn't held anything heavier than an iPhone?"
              Anna asked very specific options. That is why I recommended mikra as the most lightweight and compact version with a quality indistinguishable from crop 1.5.

              • Pokemon

                "And you are imposing it carefully here on the forum."
                I do not impose it on anyone here, I do not impose it. This is just a frivolous system for Japanese housewives, which will soon die out, literally as soon as 8K goes to the masses.
                Next year they plan to shoot the Olympics in Japan in this resolution.
                "What for? you studied sincerely "
                I studied still on soap dishes and phones. And I sincerely believe that for a beginner, the first camera the simpler the better. They can completely get off the D7000 or 60D from the flea market. In order not to regret about 5D + 24-70 / 2.8 drowned in a waterfall in Cuba or something like that.
                "This is just your opinion."
                This is my opinion and the opinion of Arkady. And also this opinion of such a school subject as Physics.
                “Anna asked very specific options. "
                Anna did not write what and how she was going to shoot on these cameras, which someone good advised her.

            • Michael

              “And another option is to buy a crop twice and get DD as on an iPhone, or as an A7R variant with Zeiss glasses. Either all or nothing ”
              Pokemon, links above, pairwise comparison of double crop and full frame.
              first try to learn what new matrices, technologies and so on are before once again expressing something strange. Maybe for a change you will talk about what you worked with and what you understand?

              • Pokemon

                Michael:
                1) I do not see the link.
                2) "paired comparison of double crop and full frame."
                Michael ... how would you explain ... in literary Russian ....
                I am not interested in looking at such a stupid comparison. I do not want and will not spend time on this. For this is nonsense.
                3) Michael, do you happen to be a sect? M4 / 3 is like one of them.

              • Pokemon

                “First try to study what new matrices and technologies are”
                1) I’m not interested in matrices with an area of ​​less than CROP / 1.5.
                2) I am interested in the presence of BSi and matrix stub, as well as the abundance of inexpensive glasses on the secondary.
                The Fuji crop has crop matrices on BSi and cameras with a stub, and soon there will be both. However, I do not impose on everyone (unlike you) and everyone on Arkady’s forum here the purchase of Fuji.
                3) Michael, have you watched the prices of Olympus ED 12-40mm f / 2.8 Pro / Panasonic 12-35mm f / 2.8 / Panasonic Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f / 2.8-4.0 for a long time?
                This is a natural MMM to sell glass on a matrix with a marigold for that kind of money.

    • Michael

      Anna, here are the capabilities of the Panasonic G9 (the GX9 is the same in the picture) compared to the latest mirrorless full frame
      https://micro43club.pro/threads/panasonic-lumix-s1.33291/page-7
      As they say, it is better to see once! As for me, the Panasonic G9 has shown itself quite worthy, the full frame is certainly better, but the Panasonic G9 is very good.

      UPD
      here are links to pictures from this full frame mirrorless
      https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48002179532_c94fb7fb36_b.jpg
      https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48013252741_08e766bd37_b.jpg
      https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47998435942_b40bb7aa17_b.jpg

      • Pokemon

        Cameras NOTHING without quality fast lenses.
        Buying lenses at such prices, on cameras with a marigold-sized sensor, is simply insanity or sectarianism.

      • anonym

        X ... is your micro, typical smartphone photos - everything is flat and uninteresting.
        If a girl is willing to spend a certain amount on the system,
        Why advise to save and buy (poop) a compromise?

  • Nikolai

    Very interesting camera. I have 2 SLRs from Nikon, some good lenses. But I'm not a professional and I use cameras only for family purposes, they are bulky with lenses and heavy. I decided to sell everything and buy Sonya. What choice has become? Advise A6400 or A6500. Thanks.

    • York

      Yes, nevermind.
      You can shoot anything, even with a bucket, even with a "watering can", everything ultimately depends on you.
      Which is more convenient, then take it.

      All this “compactness” is nonsense, nothing more.
      Go to the store, pick up Sonya and put on it a normal bright glass.
      And appreciate ergonomics.
      And look at the price and choice of lenses - new and secondary.
      And only then draw conclusions.

      Good high-aperture optics are neither cheap nor compact.

  • Kirill

    I saw a booster on Ali for this family (6300,6400,6500), but in these cameras the SD card is inserted from below into the Bat compartment, but how to insert a card with a booster screwed on? Maybe someone came across?

    • Dmitriy

      If by a booster you mean a battery grip (an unfamiliar word for me), then nothing (((I take off the photo through the cable with the battery grip installed. Without it, working with heavy lenses is tough as the camera is small and light.

  • Dmitriy

    With an 18-105 mm Sony lens, everything was fine with the focus. What is the point of testing a new camera with ancient lenses? It is a pity that Arkady did not have a good lens on the test. Autofocus is of course aimed at the area of ​​greatest contrast (not always where you need it) so that the focus point is often indicated with a finger and then everything is fine. Autofocus is good enough even in video when zooming and moving the subject and camera is not mistaken (although the speed is not always enough), you can see here https://www.instagram.com/p/B675J2yAhyF/
    I bought the camera in September 2018 so that the latest firmware (updated in May 2019), maybe this also affects.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      C'mon, at the time of the creation of the review in 2017, the Sony FE 1.8 / 50 lens was completely new (announced in March 2016), and the 24-240 is also quite new, announced in 2015.
      But the native 18-105 / 4 is older than both of them :)

  • Dmitriy

    The Sony website directly states that 0,05 s. with an E PZ 16-50mm f / 3,5-5,6 OSS lens.

    And my E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS until last year was one of the two G lenses for APS - C I misrepresented my thought about lenses yesterday.

    Personally, everything suits me in the camera, although maybe my lens for its photo capabilities (by resolution) is rather weak.

    It is a pity that the new kit 16-55 2.8 G has just recently been released))).

  • Ilya

    Tell me, on which lens were the photos taken in this review?

    • B. R. P.

      Quote: “Examples of photographs from this camera can be viewed (and / or downloaded from their sources) in the lens reviews Sony FE 3.5-6.3 / 24-240 OSS (SEL24240) and Sony FE 1.8 / 50 (SEL50F18F).”

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