Sony A6500

Just announced.

New APS-C flagship camera: Sony A6500

Available by end November in US / Canada, and December in Europe

US$1,400 / CA$1,750 / €1,700

24.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor with ISO 51,200-max

- Better at high ISO than A6300?

BIONZ X image processor with new front-end LSI

- A99-II development?

0.05-second Hybrid AF (Phase-detect first, then contrast-detect to tune)

- Same-ish.

425 AF points, a world's highest

- Better frame coverage?

11 fps capture for 24 seconds (High mode, fine image quality) complete with AF and AE

- May never need it but, holy crap!

Five-stop, five-axis IS for the first-time ever in an APS-C camera, without increasing body size (tested with Sony 55mm f/1.8, pitch / yaw directions and long-exposure NR disabled)

- As a manual lens user, my heart goes pit-a-pat...

Touch-screen with touch AF / touch pad function (shift focus by dragging fingertip on LCD while monitoring EVF)

- Never used one but it may have potential for some types of shooting.

Internal 4K video oversampled from 6K, looks like it crops on all sides

- Same-ish.

Palm-sized camera body

- Same-ish. (in a good way)

10 customizable buttons

- Same-ish.

Opinions?

I may not pre-order but If my A6000 succumbs to shutter cycles or has an "accident"....

Dave

Menu redesign as well.

Rumored to be rolled out to older models.

Dave

I think if they make it easier to use other brand lens, or Sony A mount without adapter I think I would sell everything to get it.

JOhn

I think if they make it easier to use other brand lens, or Sony A mount without adapter I think I would sell everything to get it.

 

JOhn

Tough to mount the A-series without an adapter since the distance from the flange to the sensor is very shallow on the E-mount. (Which is why almost any other lens brand can be adapted.) An A-mount lens mounted directly on an E-mount camera would focus well behind the sensor. That's why the A-mount adapters are an inch thick.

If you have fair number of A-mount lenses, the LA-EA4 adapter with the phase-detect built in lets them work on the e-mount cameras the same as on A-mount. Same speed and everything.

If the A99II is a success, we may see a mirrorless, full-frame A-mount someday. Maybe?

Personally, after shooting a wedding this weekend with a pair of featherweight A6x00s, it may be a while before I give up being an Alpha APS-C shooter for something bigger. Especially now that IBIS has been stuffed into the smaller body.

Maybe my A77 will go up for sale after all and I'll convert the A6000 to infrared...

Dreaming....maybe.

Dave

I'm annoyed.. wish the A6300 had some of these features, but not going to spend $1400 for them... Some comments below...

Just announced.

 

New APS-C flagship camera: Sony A6500

 

Available by end November in US / Canada, and December in Europe

 

US$1,400 / CA$1,750 / €1,700

 

24.2-megapixel CMOS image sensor with ISO 51,200-max

 

- Better at high ISO than A6300?

BIONZ X image processor with new front-end LSI

 

- A99-II development?

0.05-second Hybrid AF (Phase-detect first, then contrast-detect to tune)

- Same-ish.

 

425 AF points, a world's highest

- Better frame coverage?

 

I believe it's the exact same AF system. Just a tad faster due to the faster processor/LSI chip.

 

11 fps capture for 24 seconds (High mode, fine image quality) complete with AF and AE

- May never need it but, holy crap!

 

The buffer on the A6300 is respectable. This takes it to a pro-sports level. 99% of users will never need a buffer like that, but it is kinda cool.

 

Five-stop, five-axis IS for the first-time ever in an APS-C camera, without increasing body size (tested with Sony 55mm f/1.8, pitch / yaw directions and long-exposure NR disabled)

- As a manual lens user, my heart goes pit-a-pat...

 

Most of my lenses are OSS, won't affect me. But huge for some users.

 

Touch-screen with touch AF / touch pad function (shift focus by dragging fingertip on LCD while monitoring EVF)

 

- Never used one but it may have potential for some types of shooting.

 

Actually, this is big. I prefer fine control over AF, so often use a single point of expandable single point. But moving the point with the control wheel is annoying. This should make it much quicker and easier to move the AF point. This may actually be the biggest part of the upgrade.

 

Internal 4K video oversampled from 6K, looks like it crops on all sides

 

- Same-ish.

 

Palm-sized camera body

 

- Same-ish. (in a good way)

 

10 customizable buttons

 

- Same-ish.

 

 

Opinions?

 

I may not pre-order but If my A6000 succumbs to shutter cycles or has an "accident"....

 

Even if I could refund my A6300 for the full $1000, I don't know if I'd pay the extra $400 for this.

 

Dave

Well this falls into my shopping wheelhouse - wait for new model to come out, then scoop up the prior model that meets all my needs for less $$$.

My Ireland trip next year is looking better and better!

Well this falls into my shopping wheelhouse - wait for new model to come out, then scoop up the prior model that meets all my needs for less $$$.

 

My Ireland trip next year is looking better and better!

Sadly, the A6000 hasn't really dropped in price all that much. Since Sony is likely to continue production and marketing on the A6300 for the forseeable future, it will likely hover at or near it's current pricing for some time.

The new camera has a few features I wanted in the A6300 and a few that I just discovered I want, but none that I need enough to pre-order. As I mentioned above, I will likely pause until I need to replace a current body or until the reviews prove it to be somewhat above sliced bread in the world's history of innovation.

It's sort of funny that I feel the need to whine about Sony pushing out great technology too quickly!

It truly is a great time to be a photographer!

Dave

I knew within seconds of the A6300 announcement that I'd be replacing my A6000 as it particularly addressed the very areas I most needed or wanted to see improvement - the additional focus points and area, better high ISO performance, and ability to work 'natively' with the LA-EA3 adapter. It fulfilled every need and is my absolute favorite camera.

The A6500 excited me immediately too -but really only in one key area - the addition of IBIS, which makes it a real contender to replace long-lens A-mount use for me, since I can now mount my 150-600mm lens and have it stabilized. However, the other improvements, while noteworthy, are not things I 'need' or in some cases even want (huge buffer is amazing, but I simply would never hold the shutter down that long...menu redesign doesn't really matter to me since I customize all my buttons and Fn controls anyway...might have a very slight improvement in high ISO, but the A6300 is already amazing in that regard...touch screen I would turn off and disable on minute-one...video spec changes don't apply to me as I don't shoot video).

So for me, this camera is a wonderful upgrade from the A6300, and I might end up getting one down the road, mostly to get the exact same wonderful camera I have with my A6300, but with IBIS added. But it's not something I feel I need to jump on with a pre-order...I'll watch for early reviews and user comments for a few months and decide then.

Yup..IBIS.

Lots of bits with shiny newness, but the IBIS is the one that got my attention.

Dave

Sadly, the A6000 hasn't really dropped in price all that much. Since Sony is likely to continue production and marketing on the A6300 for the forseeable future, it will likely hover at or near it's current pricing for some time.

:D

I have until May to keep my fingers crossed - either way I'll wind up with one, just don't know the cost yet...I have the wife convinced that the best bet is to replace per Pentax with my a6000, then I get a new a6300 - and we'll have a more capable but lighter weapons load for the trip.

I surprised how quickly the a6500 was announced when the a6300 came out not that long ago.

What will we see with the a6700 in the Spring?

I surprised how quickly the a6500 was announced when the a6300 came out not that long ago.

 

What will we see with the a6700 in the Spring?

Psychic focusing.

;)

Sony has had a great run with the A6x00 cameras and is probably stacking the deck like they did with multiple iterations of the RX100.

I just wish that each step wasn't $400. They are worth the money, but slightly beyond my impulse buy threshold. :)

Dave

 

The A6500 excited me immediately too -but really only in one key area - the addition of IBIS, which makes it a real contender to replace long-lens A-mount use for me, since I can now mount my 150-600mm lens and have it stabilized.

Justin - I hope you are dry and safe with Matthew hovering around your area.

Would IBIS make a difference with your 70-300mm zoom or would it be redundant?

Best wishes,

Tom

Justin - I hope you are dry and safe with Matthew hovering around your area.

 

Would IBIS make a difference with your 70-300mm zoom or would it be redundant?

 

Best wishes,

Tom

On lenses with OSS, the IBIS divides the work to provide 5 axis stabilization. 2 axi are provided by the lens, while sensor shift corrects the remaining 3.

I can't equate the degree of difference, but in theory, you'll get a bit of extra stabilization with the IBIS.

Thanks for the good wishes in the hurricane. We were quite lucky that the hurricane, which was forecast to deliver its western eye wall to our area, jogged a bit north and east as it approached our coast - which pushed the hurricane winds farther out to sea as it passed us - we never got any more than tropical storm force gusts and rain.

As for the IBIS - it would be fairly minimal as Havoc mentioned when it comes to existing e-mount lenses WITH stabilization...there may be a slight difference or gain, or possibly none at all. Stabilization in the FE70-300mm lens is already extremely good.

The biggest positives for me would be the benefits it would provide if I wanted to use my unstabilized Tamron 150-600mm lens via the LA-EA3 adapter - or any other A-mount lens for that matter - as they would all be able to enjoy the stabilization...and some of the very nice lens options within E-mount that I hadn't considered because of the lack of stabilization may now be very good and viable options. For example, I had considered other 30mm to 35mm fast prime options for my A6000, but in the end went with the SEL35mm F1.8 because it was stabilized. Most reviews show the Sigma 30mm F1.4, and some of the Loxia lenses, may be sharper especially wide open, but lacking stabilization I ruled all of those out as I use this particular focal length and lens all handheld and with fairly slow shutters in very low light. With the A6500, these lenses suddenly look like wonderful options over the SEL35mm F1.8.

I'd also enjoy using some of my manual lenses stabilized, including my Konica 40mm F1.8, Voigtlander 35mm F1.4, and Chinon 55mm F1.7.

The a6500 is what I wanted a year ago when my a55 was dying. With a large collection of A mount lenses and no A mount camera that suited me, I traded the whole bunch in for micro 4/3s, an Olympus OMD EM10ii and equivalent set of lenses, and got money back! Since then, I've added the tiny Panasonic GM5, an interchangeable lens camera the size of the original RX100 (traded in the RX10 and RX100 for it, as I wasn't using those either). There are things about Sony I really miss, or I haven't yet figured out how to make my new cameras do, but while the a6500 looks good on paper, I've gotten pretty used to the small size and weight of the m4/3 cameras. While I love Justin's bird pictures, I'm more into macro and that works well on my little cameras.

Hi all -

Considering upgrade to the either A6300 or A6500. For those with the A6500, I wanted to better understand the wireless setup. I've looked around the web and reviewed the Sony manuals online but can't find a definitive answer.

Is it possible to set the camera so that WI-FI is disabled i.e. in Airplane Mode, but to have Bluetooth enabled? Disabling WI-FI should extend the camera battery working session time (as it does on my A6000).

I want to be able to have the camera sync to the Play Memories app on my cell phone so that I can get location and time sync from my cell. When we travel, multiple people are shooting with cameras. Having GPS synced time across all cameras makes importing into Lightroom a snap. Yes, I know I can apply bulk time adjustments in LR, but it is a hassle remembering to take photo of the clocks or the same thing simultaneously for sync purposes later.

Thanks in advance,

Paul