New Sony a6500 Adds Touch Screen/Pad & IBIS, But Will it Overheat?

I shouldn’t be surprised to hear a new a6500 model mirrorless camera was released but this camera isn’t a replacement to the a6300. Sony is adding another model to the Alpha a6 lineup. The a6500 has a 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization system and a new enhanced front-end LSI processor that works together with the BIONZ X image processor. This allows the a6500 to shoot faster and have a huge buffer for stills. It should also help with rolling shutter in 4K and Sony claims will reduce noise and increase sensitivity, but did Sony address a common problem these days with the newish mirrorless camera? Overheating. I had a heck of time with the a6300. I tried everything but couldn’t get it to stop overheating with normal use in both 4K video and stills. I gave up.

UPDATE. Oct 13th.

Philip Bloom was at the Sony event and tested the a6500 for overheating side by side with an a6300. The a6300 overheated in twelve minutes and the a6500 went for the full 29 min 59 seconds. The high temperature warning icon did appear but the camera didn’t shut down. Philip also reports the rolling shutter is the same as the a6300. Encouraging news! I hope this is a production model. At the a6300 Sony event in Miami for the a6300 no testers had overheating issues in video with the preproduction models. Looking forward to getting my review camera from B&H as soon as it ships. This could be THE camera to have if it in fact doesn’t overheat.

With the addition of the IBIS 5-Axis SteadyShot and extra LSI processor the camera will need to use more power or at least I think it would. The a6500 uses the same tiny battery seen in all the mirrorless cameras so expect the same battery life as an a7rii or a7s ii.

As you can see here in this top view of both the a6500 on top and the a6300 on bottom the grip on the a6500 is a little bigger. Now having a bigger grip is great for holding the camera but it’s also where the camera gets hot too. The battery goes inside the camera where the grip is placed. Having more room could let the heat escape better. One can only hope this will improve the overheating issues that plague the a6300.

DP Review

“Sony has said nothing about changes in thermal management, so it’s likely the camera won’t be able to shoot for the full 29 minutes in warm conditions or capture similarly long clips back-to-back. However, with the latest firmware, we haven’t encountered overheating when shooting clips to edit together, so it’s only extended shooting that’s likely to be a problem.”

This quote from DP Review on the a6500 is some what worrisome. I find it strange that Sony won’t address the issue of overheating while adding more features.

Camera Labs

there’s a new menu option which changes when the over-heating warning icon appears: there’s Standard or High options, the latter simply allowing the camera to keep operating even when it’s getting hot, although protection will still kick-in to prevent any damage. When shooting with the earlier A6300, I found the body could get quite hot to touch, and revealingly Sony’s engineers recommended using the A6500 on a tripod when the temperature warning had been adjusted – not to do with stabilisation, but because the body may become uncomfortably hot.

I do find this interesting. Sony might be allowing the camera to get hotter without shutting down by adding a Standard and High heat warning in the menu. I’ll have to test the camera to see if it is as bad as the a6300 copy I had, but I’m okay with a hot body just let me continue shooting!

The body is larger but it doesn’t appear to be that noticeable using these images. A true side by side will have to be done to get a better idea on the actual size.

5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization system.

The a6500 includes flat log profiles for higher dynamic range. S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log-3 and S-Gamut3/S-Log3 plus good old S-Log2.

The a6000 is fantastic little beast of a camera that performs really well and now is a bargain if you pick one up used. Okay back to the new kid on the block. the a6500. Sony did some nice upgrades with the new release.

When looking through the viewfinder the touch screen will also be able to be used as a touch pad. Using your thumb you can change the AF points anywhere on the screen. I really want to try this out. A whole new way to control focus is exciting. This is what we get when AF systems get more advanced. I’m very excited about it. For gimbals face detect on the a6300 is amazing and now with touch pad AF control things just got very intresting. This is a new feature now showing up in a few cameras like the Canon M5 but unlike the a6500 the M5 has limited video feature like no high frame rates or 4K video. Adding a touch screen is a treat and will make auto focusing in both video and stills mode very cool. With every new camera Sony has done a great job advancing auto focus functionality in both stills and especially in video. Face tracking in video works really well on the a6300.

On the stills side the buffer has been improved. You can now shoot continuously for 20 seconds. Thats over 200 images! This takes the a6500 into a much more pro type camera especially if you consider the auto focus. It rivals and pretty much beats the a7r II.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS

• 24.2MP APS-C Exmor CMOS Sensor
• BIONZ X Image Processor
• XGA Tru-Finder 2.36m-Dot OLED EVF
• 3.0″ 921.6k-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
• Internal UHD 4K Video & S-Log3 Gamma
• S&Q Motion in Full HD from 1-120 fps
• 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization
• Built-In Wi-Fi with NFC
• 4D FOCUS with 425 Phase-Detect Points
• Up to 11 fps Shooting and ISO 51200

I really wish the new a6500 had a fully articulating screen like the GH4 or the RX100 IV that either tilts to the side and flips or tilts up over the top in selfie style. This would make the a6500 a must have camera for me. I shoot myself for reviews and vlogging. A selfie position is needed so I don’t have to use a monitor or just guess if I’m framed up for walk and talk shooting. With the new touch screen I sure hope Sony also updated the menu system. This is a must. The a99 II has a updated menu that puts menu options for video in the same section making it much easier to navigate.

Sony added an extra custom button on top. Love these! Two is always better than one right?

The Sony a6500 has some nice upgrades. IBIS, touch screen and hopefully won’t overheat. It also brings over the best of the a6300 too. Image quality is great on the a6300 as well as the auto focusing system and  full HD 120 fps mode is nice to have. Will the rolling shutter be improved over the a6300? I doubt it but it’s manageable if you shoot around it. Now. Is it enough for current a6300 owners to upgrade? At $1399. it’s approximately $400 more than the a6300. I personally think it is. I really liked the a6300 a lot but it seriously drove me crazy. I will get my hands on the a6500 as soon as I can and give it run. Are you interested in the a6500? Do you think it’s worth an upgrade or add a second body along side the a6300. Now as for. Is this better than an a7s II or a7r II? Thats a tough call and will have to see after some testing.

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Filed in: 4K • Featured Post • Mirrorless • New Release • Sony