Sony Unveils APS-C Sensor Camera, a6500 with High Speed Continuous Shooting of 11 FPS

Sony unveiled its latest flagship APS-C sensor camera, the α6500, which is equipped with High-speed continuous shooting at up to 11 FPS with high-capacity buffer memory of 307 shots (around 36 seconds)*.

Just this month, Sony introduced the newest member in their line of mirrorless cameras: the Sony α6500. It was just in February of this year when the digital imaging leader unveiled the α6300 which was marketed as having the fastest autofocus (AF) in the world as well as having the highest number of AF points. The Sony α6500 builds on what made the α6300 great along with new features aimed to help users take more high-quality creative photos whenever and wherever.

The Sony α6500 was introduced as the new flagship APS-C camera and like the α6300, features the same 4D FOCUS system that allows the camera to lock a subject in about 0.05 seconds, which happens to hold the record for fastest AF acquisition time in the world.

Just like the α6300, the latest addition to Sony’s mirrorless camera series also has 425 phase detection AF points which also holds the record for the highest number of AF points on an interchangeable camera in the world.

Rather than just be a rip-off of its predecessor, the Sony α6500 also comes bearing even greater gifts of its own.

High-speed continuous shooting at up to 11 FPS with high-capacity buffer memory of 307 shots

The new α6500 can shoot images at up to 11 frames per second with continuous autofocus and exposure tracking, and up to 8 frames per second in a live-view shooting mode that makes it easy to track fast moving subjects. At the same time, it combines all of the benefits of an electronic viewfinder with the immediacy of an optical viewfinder.

The camera can shoot at these high speeds for up to 307 frames thanks to its expanded buffer, which, along with the fast response speeds described above, are all achieved with the support of a new front-end LSI chip that has been added to the camera. This new front-end LSI also serves to enhance both still and video image quality.

Ceaseless clicks with In-camera 5-axis optical image stabilisation

One of the most exciting developments in the new α6500 is the implementation of 5-axis image stabilization for the first time in a Sony APS-C sensor camera. Through a total revision of the internal design of the camera, this newly developed stabilization system fits entirely within a body that is nearly the same size as the α6300. This innovative 5-axis system provides a shutter speed advantage of 5 steps3, ensuring that the full resolving power of the sensor can be realized, even in challenging lighting conditions.

The shake compensation provided by the system works with a variety of lenses, including E-mount lenses without OSS (Optical SteadyShot) stabilisation and A-mount lenses when used with a compatible mount adapter. When an E-mount lens with OSS is mounted, pitch and yaw are compensated in the lens and horizontal, vertical and roll axes are also compensated in the camera body, resulting in optimal 5-axis stabilization.

Furthermore, with a simple half press of the shutter button, the effect of the image stabilization can be monitored in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen, allowing framing and focus to be accurately checked and continually monitored. This is available even when a lens without built-in shake compensation is attached.

Blending flexibility with new Touch Screen functionality

The new α6500 comes equipped with touch screen functionality, allowing users to lock focus on a subject simply by touching it on the screen. This is a powerful complement to its advanced AF system and video shooting capabilities. The α6500 features touchpad functionality. When utilising the viewfinder for framing and shooting, the LCD screen can be used as a touch pad. Simply drag a finger across the screen to shift the focus point from one area to another.

Unmatched AF Capability with 425 phase detection AF points

Sony’s new α6500 camera utilises the same 4D FOCUS system as the α6300 – a Fast Hybrid AF system that combines high-speed phase detection AF with extremely accurate contrast AF, allowing it to capture and lock on to moving subjects in as little as 0.05 seconds1. It also features 425 phase detection AF points and High-density Tracking AF Technology, which significantly improves subject detection and tracking performance.

The camera’s 425 phase detection AF points, focusing tracking and accuracy are also available when using non-native A-mount lenses with Sony’s LA-EA3 mount adaptor. Additionally, it includes silent shooting, Eye AF in AF-C mode, AF in focus magnifier modes, Expand Flexible Spot AF and more.

4K movie recording

The new α6500 becomes the latest Sony interchangeable lens camera to offer internal 4K movie recording, as it can shoot 4K (3840 x 2160p) video in the popular Super 35mm format on the full width of the image sensor. When shooting in this format, the camera uses full pixel readout without pixel binning to collect 6K of information – approximately 2.4x<8> (20MP equivalent) as many pixels as 4K UHD, and then oversamples the information to produce high quality 4K footage with exceptional detail and depth.

The α6500 also focuses exceptionally fast during movie shooting thanks to its Fast Hybrid AF system, which enables touch focusing for professionally smooth focus shifts, whilst also offering adjustable AF transition speed and AF tracking sensitivity. The camera supports the XAVC S codec<9> during video shooting, which records at a high bit rate of up to 100 Mbps during 4K recording and 50 Mbps during Full HD shooting – ensuring maximum detail and clarity in both video formats.

Other professional calibre video features include the ability to record Full HD at 100fps at up to 100 Mbps. This allows footage to be reviewed and eventually edited into 4x slow motion video files in Full HD (25p) resolution with AF tracking.

New on the α6500 is the incorporation of a ‘Slow and Quick’ (S&Q) mode that supports both slow motion and quick motion. In this mode, frame rates from 1 fps to 100fps can be selected in 8 steps for up to 50x quick motion and 4x slow motion recording. Footage shot in this mode can be previewed after shooting without the need for a PC-based post processing.

The camera also offers S-Log gamma recording for wide dynamic range shooting – approximately 14-stop latitude in S-Log3 gamma setting – and supports S-Gamut for a wider colour space. Both options allow for greater creativity for processing video post-production.

Furthermore, shooters can now select, extract and save still images from movie footage directly on the camera. Approximately 8MP images and 2MP images can be extracted from 4K modes and Full HD modes respectively.

Enhanced Operability and Reliability           

The new α6500 has a refined design, maintaining the mobility of the α6000 series while adapting much of the usability of Sony’s acclaimed α7 II series. The new model features the same high contrast, high-resolution 2.4 million dot XGA OLED Tru-Finder™ as the α6300 that offers exceptional corner-to-corner visibility.

New hardware features on the α6500 include a magnesium alloy body and a high-durability shutter with a tested life span of approximately 200,000 release cycles.<14> It also has several design features that are borrowed from the α7 II series of full-frame cameras, including a robust lens mount, a recessed grip to improve handling, a larger release button, and ten total custom buttons including ‘C1’, ‘C2’ and ‘C3’. The new α6500 also has an improved operation feel for its mode and control dials and rear face buttons, as well as a softer eyepiece cup for more comfortable usage.

On the software front, there is a new overall user interface that allows for a much smoother process for searching and adjusting menu settings, as well two new metering modes – Highlight, where exposure metering is focused on the brightest area of the frame, and Entire Screen Avg, which maintains an average metering for the entire image.

The camera is Wi-Fi, QR and NFC compatible. It is also fully compatible with Sony’s PlayMemories Mobile™ applications available for Android™ and iOS platforms along with Sony’s growing range of PlayMemories Camera Apps. The α6500 further offers location data acquisition via a Bluetooth connection to a compatible mobile device and an updated menu structure to deliver a smoother navigational experience.

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