Sony Alpha 6500 vs Sony Alpha 6600

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 6500 and the Sony Alpha 6600, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony Alpha 6500 was introduced in October 2016 and Sony Alpha 6600 was introduced in August 2019. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 6500 over Sony Alpha 6600.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 6600 over Sony Alpha 6500.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony Alpha 6500 and Sony Alpha 6600 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 922k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Sony Alpha 6500 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic viewfinder with 2,359k dot resolution and Sony Alpha 6600 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,359k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage and 1.07x (0.71x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Sony Alpha 6500 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 366.6 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 51,200 in boosted mode. Sony Alpha 6600 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 32,000 and expands to 100 - 102,400 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Cameras are equipped with BIONZ X processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution.

Lens Mount

Cameras have Sony E lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1.5x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n, 2.4 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Sony Alpha 6500 and Sony Alpha 6600 have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.1 on Sony Alpha 6500) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

NFC

Cameras have Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Sony Alpha 6500 has a Micro HDMI and Sony Alpha 6600 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 6500 comes with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots and Sony Alpha 6600 comes with NP-FZ1000 battery pack with battery life of 810 shots.

External Storage Slots

Cameras have a single SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I) card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 6600 has Electronic shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 6500, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 6600. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps.

Focusing

Both cameras have Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 425 focusing points. and Sony Alpha 6500 having from -1 to +20 EV detection range and Sony Alpha 6600 having from -2 to +20 EV detection range.

Exposure

Both cameras' exposure metering ranges from -2 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 6500 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 6600.

Flash

Sony Alpha 6500 has a built-in flash with maximum range of 6.00 m at ISO 100 and also accepts external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe or Wireless connection. Sony Alpha 6600 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected via Intelligent Hot Shoe or Wireless connection. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on both cameras.

Sony Alpha 6500 body has dimensions of 120 x 67 x 53 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 2.09") and Sony Alpha 6600 body has dimensions of 120 x 67 x 69 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 2.72"). Sony Alpha 6500 weighs 453 g (1.00 lb / 15.98 oz) and Sony Alpha 6600 weighs 503 g (1.11 lb / 17.74 oz).

Sony Alpha 6500

Sony Alpha 6600

120 mm

67 mm

120 mm

67 mm

67 mm

67 mm

53 mm

69 mm