Sony Alpha 6500 vs Sony Alpha 7

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha 6500 and the Sony Alpha 7, 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 7 was introduced in January 2014. 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 7.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha 7 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 7 have 3.0" Tilting screens with 922k dot and 1,230k dot resolutions respectively. Tilting screen makes cameras very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Sony Alpha 6500 also features 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 7 has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 2,359k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

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 7 features a 24.3 megapixel Full Frame CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.8 x 23.9 mm and a total area of 571.2 mm². Its native ISO range is 50 - 25,600.

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 APS-C sensor in Sony Alpha 6500 its crop factor 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. Due to Full Frame sensor in Sony Alpha 7 its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha 6500

Sony Alpha 6500 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is 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 on Sony Alpha 6500) 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 on Sony Alpha 6500

Sony Alpha 6500 has a built-in Bluetooth (version 4.1) 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 7 has a Micro HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony Alpha 6500 and Sony Alpha 7 come with NP-FW50 battery pack with battery life of 350 shots on Sony Alpha 6500 and with battery life of 340 shots on Sony Alpha 7.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha 6500 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC/Memory Stick Duo Hybrid (UHS-I) card slot. Sony Alpha 7 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC, Memory Stick Duo/Pro Duo/Pro-HG Duo card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha 7 has Electronically controlled Vertical-traverse Focal-plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha 6500, and up to 1/8000 sec on Sony Alpha 7. Sony Alpha 6500 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Sony Alpha 7 can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Focusing

Both cameras have Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with Sony Alpha 6500 having 425 focusing points and from -1 to +20 EV detection range and with Sony Alpha 7 having 117 (25 cross-type) focusing points. and Sony Alpha 6500 having from -1 to +20 EV detection range.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony Alpha 6500 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 lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha 7.

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 7 has no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/160 sec on Sony Alpha 6500 and 1/250 sec on Sony Alpha 7.

Sony Alpha 6500 body has dimensions of 120 x 67 x 53 mm (4.72 x 2.64 x 2.09") and Sony Alpha 7 body has dimensions of 127 x 94 x 48 mm (5 x 3.7 x 1.89"). Sony Alpha 6500 weighs 453 g (1.00 lb / 15.98 oz) and Sony Alpha 7 weighs 474 g (1.04 lb / 16.72 oz).

Sony Alpha 6500

Sony Alpha 7

120 mm

67 mm

127 mm

94 mm

67 mm

94 mm

53 mm

48 mm