Sony A6500 Conclusion

Sony A6500 Conclusion

by Mike Tomkins | Posted: 06/07/2017

When Sony first told us of the A6500 late last year, we must admit we felt a mixture of surprise and bewilderment. Following very closely in the footsteps of the A6300, the Sony A6500 was in many respects extremely similar to that camera -- much more so than we'd have expected given that the duo launched just eight months apart. The A6500 is based around the same 24.2-megapixel, APS-C sized image sensor as previously featured in the A6300, and also retains its point-dense AF system, tilting LCD monitor, flash setup, storage, battery and wired / wireless connectivity options.

The Sony A6500's much larger buffer makes sports shooting far more satisfying

But our confusion quickly evaporated once we learned that the A6500 wasn't a replacement for the A6300, and that both cameras would sit side-by-side together at retail for the foreseeable future. So what differentiates the pair? Well there are several significant difference, but for my money, the really big deal here is an extremely worthwhile increase in buffer capacity. This helps to alleviate one of our main complaints with the A6300, as its much more limited buffer meant that it was pretty easy to run out of shots and have to wait for the buffer to clear. (And buffer clearing is traditionally a weak spot of Sony's otherwise-excellent cameras.)

Even though the A6500 has the same limited write speed as does the A6300, since both conspicuously lack support for high-speed UHS-II SD cards, you notice it keeping you waiting much less often because it takes much longer to completely fill the buffer. And on those thankfully rarer occasions when you do run up against the buffer capacity, a new indication on the LCD at least gives you a sense of how much longer you'll have to wait for the buffer to clear.

Additional buffer memory might not be a sexy change, but it's unquestionably one which makes the Sony A6500 a more satisfying camera with which to shoot sports and other active subjects. And it comes accompanied by several other feature additions and refinements which are also very welcome.

For one thing, the Sony A6500 finally sports a touch-screen overlay on its rear-panel, tilting LCD monitor, a feature we've been asking for at every opportunity. The new touch-screen makes AF point selection much more intuitive, for landscape-orientation shooting at least. (And although it can initially prove a little confusing for portrait shots, it works just great there too, once you realize Touch Pad Area function should be set to "whole screen" for best effect in this orientation.)

And the Sony A6500 also debuts a brand new in-body image stabilization system, a first for a Sony APS-C camera. If the attached lens has its own built-in stabilization system, that's still used for for yaw and pitch correction, while the in-body system supplements the lens-based one for roll and horizontal / vertical translation correction. And if your lens lacks built-in stabilization at all, the new in-camera system does it all, giving the Sony A6500 another significant advantage over the A6300.

Nor do the tweaks stop there. The Sony A6500 features a subtly restyled, more comfortable body with an extra customizable button, as well as a more comfortable viewfinder eyecup and a refined viewfinder. And Sony has also reworked the A6500's user interface, providing menus that, even if they're still a bit sprawling, are now rather easier to navigate menus

And on the image quality front, the Sony A6500 also brings a modest improvement in high ISO noise levels if you're a JPEG shooter. If you prefer raws, though, then the A6300 will keep up just fine as there's no noticeable difference there.

The Sony A6500 keeps all the best features of its much-loved sibling

In other respects, the Sony A6500 is very similar to its sibling, the A6300 -- and for the most part that's great news. Everything we loved about that camera, we get to keep on loving here. The A6500 sports the same solid build and premium feel, the same great image quality and generous lashings of performance. It also uses the same top-notch autofocus system as in the A6300, which is extremely point-dense and yet still works even at the Sony A6500's highest burst capture rate of 11 frames per second.

And of course, the A6500 isn't just for stills, either. You can shoot really great 4K footage in-camera or via uncompressed HDMI output to your external recorder of choice. The Sony A6500 can also shoot good-quality Full HD video, although HD content does look decidedly low-res after you've gotten used to ultra high-def. And Sony has provided a range of fun and useful options for high speed or low-frame rate video, allowing you to speed up or slow down the world as your artistic needs dictate.

The occasional weak points are relatively few and far between. As mentioned previously, it still takes a while to get to grips with the sprawling menu system even if it's now much better organized. The movie button is poorly located and tends to induce camera shake when pressed, and videographers will also mourn the absence of a headphone jack for audio levels monitoring. Sony's native lens selection is also still not as broad as those of some competing systems, although many rivals' lenses can be adapted for use with Sony's camera.

These few shortcomings are all shared with A6300 though; really the only cons specific to the A6500 are its significantly higher pricetag and an approximate 10% reduction in battery life to CIPA testing standards.

In a nutshell, the Sony A6500 takes an already-great camera and turns it into a really excellent one. It comes highly recommended by us, and is a clear Dave's Pick to boot!