Sony announced the A6500 back in October and on Tuesday, Sony India has brought the successor to the famed A6300 to India. We've reviewed its predecessor in the past, which continues to be one of the best mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras in the market. The A6500 takes it up a notch by adding in-body 5-axis optical image stabilisation, touchscreen support and faster image processing speeds.
The camera goes on sale in the third week of December for a price of Rs. 1,19,990 for the body only. The A6500 borrows many of the features we've already tested on the A6300 like the 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, 425 PDAF points, 11fps burst shooting, 4K video and features like silent shooting, Eye-AF, etc. The dimensions are also nearly the same as the older model; however the A6500 is a bit heavier at 410 grams. The camera also features Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth for pairing with a smartphone. You can use the PlayMemories Android and iOS app to copy pictures and video to your device and also use your phone as a remote viewfinder.
What's improved is a larger buffer, which now lets you shoot up to 307 frames. Reviewing the images you've shot in burst mode should also be quicker due to the front-end LSI chip which speeds up processing times. However, the biggest features to have been added to the Sony A6500 are the 5-axis image stabilisation and a touchscreen LCD. While Sony's SteadyShot stabilisation in the lenses does a decent job, it's no match for proper in-body stabilisation. The 5-axis stabilisation makes its way for the first time to Sony's APS-C cameras and claims to offer a compensation equivalent to using a 5-stop faster shutter speed. This works with all E-mount and A-mount lenses (via an adaptor). The touchscreen on the Sony A6500 allows for additional tricks like pulling the focus by simply dragging your finger across the screen.
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