Sony A6500 vs A6700 – Key Spec & Feature Comparison

The Sony a6500 was announced in October 2016, it was superseded 3 years later by the Sony a6600 which has now been superseded by the Sony a6700.

Since I know there are still many a6500 shooters out there, I thought you might be curious about how your 7 year old camera stacks up to the newest model.

In this detailed comparison I’ll be exploring the key differences between these two Sony Alpha APS-C cameras.

Summary

The a6700 offers many still shooting and video benefits such as real-time tracking, 4K60p and a vari-angle LCD. Superior autofocus performance and subject tracking will also help you to capture more difficult subjects. On the other hand, the a6500 is still a great camera that delivers excellent image quality.

If you are looking to upgrade your a6500 today and want to stick with an APS-C camera then you will probably be looking at either the Sony a6600 or the a6700.

The Sony a6600 is now 4 years old and doesn’t offer as much of an upgrade as jumping to the a6700 does. The MRRP of both cameras is also actually the same, unless the a6600 is on offer. I expect the MRRP of the a6600 will soon be reduced though or the camera discontinued.

Jumping to the a6700 will certainly feel like a big leap forward from the a6500 and provide you with one of the most feature rich APS-C cameras that Sony currently offers.

Key Shared Features

But just before we dive into the differences, here’s a list of the key features that they share in common:

• Dust-and moisture-resistant magnesium-alloy body
• Built-in pop-up flash
• 14-bit RAW image files
• Single memory card slot
• 2.36 million dot EVF
• Max 11 FPS (Frames Per Second) drive speed
• 1/4000 to 30 sec mechanical shutter speed
• 5 axis in-body stabilization
• Micro HDMI port
• Microphone input
• Stereo microphone and speaker

Key Spec Comparison

Now let’s just take a quick look at how the key specifications stack up.

Specification	Sony A6500	Sony A6700
Sensor:	24.2 MP APS-C Exmor CMOS	26.0 MP APS-C Back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS
Processor:	BIONZ X	BIONZ XR
Stabilization (IBIS):	5-axis	5-axis
Electronic Viewfinder (EVF):	2,359,296 dots	2 359 296 dots
Display (LCD):	921,600 dots	1 036 800 dots vari-angle
ISO Sensitivity Stills:	ISO 100-25600 (expandable to ISO 51200)	ISO 100 – 32000 (expandable to ISO 50 – 102400)
Movie Resolution Max:	4k30p	4k60p / 4k120p
Memory Cards:	Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro(M2), SD memory card, SDHC memory card (UHS-I compliant), SDXC memory card (UHS-I compliant), microSD memory card, microSDHC memory card, microSDXC memory card	UHS-I/II SD cards
Shutter Speed Still Images:	1/4000 to 30 sec, Bulb (1/8000 electronic).	1/4000 to 30 sec, Bulb (1/8000 electronic).
Max Frames Per Second :	11 (mechanical shutter), 3 (electronic shutter).	11
Price (MRRP):	$1,198.00 / £1,280.00	$1,398.00 / £1,449.00
Price Check:	B&H Photo | Amazon	B&H Photo | Amazon

Key Differences

Now let’s take a much closer look at the key differences between these two APS-C cameras.

Sensor and Processor

The Sony a6500 boasts a powerful 24.2 megapixel APS-C Exmor™ CMOS sensor designed with thin copper wiring, improved circuit processing, and an enhanced front-end LSI.

The image sensor in the a6500 works together with the Sony BIONZ X image processing engine to perform data processing around 1.8x faster than its predecessor the Sony a6500.

The Sony a6700 features a much newer 26.0 MP APS-C Back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor. This is the same sensor than can be found in the Sony FX30 which is part of Sony’s Cinema Line.

The back-illuminated structure enhances light collection, expands circuitry scale, and with the help of a copper wiring layer contributes to quicker data transfer. It also outputs data at a very high speed and minimizes noise.

The a6700 also gets a processor upgrade in the form of the BIONZ XR™. This packs up to eight times more processing power than the BIONZ X found in the a6600, which was already 1.8x faster than the BIONZ X in the a6500. So that’s a lot more processing power!

ISO Sensitivity

The ISO sensitivity values between the two cameras is very similar when we look at the normal range, but the extended ISO range of the a6700 for stills goes up to ISO 102400 vs 51200 for the a6500.

	Sony A6500	Sony A6700
Normal ISO (Stills):	ISO 100-25600	ISO 100 – 32000
Expanded ISO (Stills):	ISO 100-51200	ISO 50 – 102400
Normal ISO (Movies):	ISO 100-25600	ISO 100 – 32000
Expanded ISO (Movies):	ISO 100-25600	ISO 100 – 32000

Still Image Recording Formats

The Sony Alpha a6500 supports JPEG and Compressed RAW recording formats only.

The Sony a6700 also supports JPEG and Compressed RAW but also gains support for Lossless Compressed RAW capture and HEIF (High Efficiency Image File) format. There’s also a new light image quality selection that generates less data for JPEG and HEIF images.

The a6700 also supports 14-bit RAW files when shooting with long exposure noise reduction and bulb mode, whereas the a6500 drops down to 12-bit when shooting in these modes.

Video

The a6500 supports up to 4K video recording at 30fps in 8-bit color with full pixel readout and no pixel binning, as well as Full HD at 120fps. The H.264 codec is used for compression.

The a6700 comfortably trumps the a6500 here by shooting 4K at up to 60p (50p) with only a small 1.04x crop. The a6700 also supports high-quality XAVC S-I (All-Intra) and XAVC HS formats with 10-bit 4:2:2 color sampling. H.264 and also H.265 codecs are supported.

The a6700 also supports high frame rate recording at up to 120p for 4K QFHD (3840 x 2160) but this is with a large 38% crop.

Both cameras feature an S&Q mode that enables recording of slow or quick motion sequences in camera. The a6500 supports up to 120 FPS in Full HD, whilst the a6700 can achieve 240 FPS in Full HD.

The a6500 supports S-Log 2 and 3 picture profiles whilst the a6700 gains the same color science as the highly regarded CineAlta and Cinema Line though the addition of Sony’s S-Cinetone picture profile as a preset.

The a6500 has is a video recording limit of 29:50 when the camera will stop recording and you’ll need to hit the record button again. Thankfully with the a6700 has no record limit, you are only limited by your storage capacity and battery life.

Being the newer camera of the two the a6700 comes with a few features that you won’t find on the a6500, these include:

Stills / Movies / S&Q Dial

This dedicated top dial on the a6700 allows you to set 3 dedicated memories for stills, movies and S&Q modes.

Focus Map

Focus Map lets you easily visualize depth of field when you’re shooting video. When in use, a focus (depth map) is overlaid on a display of the live view in real time, so you can easily see which areas are in or out of focus.

AF Assist

While shooting a movie with auto focus, you can change the subject in focus by operating the focus ring of the lens.

Real-time Tracking for Movies

AI-based Real-time Tracking provides a dramatic improvement in Real-time Tracking performance, automatically recognizing, tracking, and focusing on the eyes of a specified subject. Tracking can also be initiated by touch.

Active Mode Enhanced Movie Image Stabilization

Active Mode provides additional image stabilization for handheld movie shooting. The a6700 has the ability to accurately measure camera shake which is then precisely compensated for optically. However, using this feature will result in a 1.13x crop.

Breathing Compensation

Breathing Compensation crops and resizes the video to cancel-out any change in a lens’s angle-of-view (AoV) as it focuses, so there’s no distracting change of framing as you refocus.

However, this only works with select Sony lenses because the a6700 needs a profile of the breathing characteristics. You can find the full list of lenses that support this function on Sony’s website here.

This video from Sony demonstrates how breathing compensation works on the a7IV.

Import User LUT files

You can now see exactly how your footage will look in post-processing whilst you are still shooting. The α6700 allows you to import a custom LUT (Look Up Table) that can be applied to the camera’s monitor image while recording, providing a preview.

Auto Framing

First seen in the Sony ZV-E10 the Auto Framing function automatically crops and re-frames the image while using AI to track your subject. The video below demonstrates how it works.

https://youtu.be/GfVmCmgWiSc

In-camera Time-Lapse / Interval Shooting

The in-camera time-lapse function allows you to create time-lapse videos actually within the a6700. This was never supported with the a6500 and although the a6600 allowed you to set an interval timer it would not compose the time-lapse in-camera, this would need to be done in post.

Stabilization

Both cameras feature Sony’s In-Body Stabilization (IBIS). The 5-axis in-body optical image stabilization mechanism detects and compensates for camera shake along five different axes, including angular (pitch and yaw), horizontal, vertical and rotational, for stabilization equivalent to a 5-step faster shutter speed setting.

As mentioned previously, the a6700 also features the Active Mode Enhanced Movie Image Stabilization which is not found on the a6500.

This does apply a 1.13x crop to the footage but this allows the camera to move the crop around, within the standard video regions, to correct for more dramatic motion than the sensor shift alone can provide.

The a6700’s gyro data is also saved into video files so that you can apply more powerful digital correction in Sony’s Catalyst software.

Here’s a short video demonstrating how Active Mode works with the Sony a7SIII.

Autofocus

The a6500’s autofocus system is definitely no slouch, but compared with the much newer a6700 it is certainly now showing its age.

One of the key differences between the two cameras is that the a6500 does not support real-time tracking, and although it can detect human eyes an additional button press is required to activate this.

In contrast the a6700 detects and tracks human eyes as soon as you hit the focus button, along with the eyes of animals and birds. It can also do this is movie mode which the a6500 does not support.

The a6700 is also equipped with an additional AI processing unit that enhances its AF performance compared to the a6500.

Not only does the a6700 recognize humans but also animals, birds, insects, cars, trains and airplanes.

Heads and bodies are also recognized in addition to eyes for humans, animals and birds too.

Phase & Contrast Detection Points

The Sony a6500 has 425 phase detection points that cover 84% of the image area, making it easier than ever to lock-on and track your subjects across the frame.

In contrast the a6700 improves on this with up to 759 phase detection points, covering approximately 93% of the image area when shooting stills.

Lowlight AF Performance

When focusing in low light the Sony a6700 has a one stop advantage over the a6500. This might be a decisive factor if you shoot a lot in dark or poorly lit places.

• A6500: EV-2 to EV20 (ISO100 equivalent with F2.0 lens attached)
• A6700: EV-3 to EV20 (ISO100 equivalent with F2.0 lens attached)

Shutter

Both of the cameras feature a dual Mechanical / Electronic shutter with a shutter speed of 1/4000 to 30s for still images and 1/4000 to 1/4 for movies.

However, when shooting with the electronic shutter the a6700 allows you to increase this maximum speed to 1/8000sec. This is great option to have when shooting wide-open with fast lenses during the daytime.

The a6700 also has a trick up its sleeve to help with flicker when shooting under artificial lights and using the electronic shutter. A Variable Shutter option lets you manually adjust the shutter speed to check the impact of flickering on the monitor. This is supported whilst shooting both stills and video.

Drive Speed & Buffer

Both cameras support a maximum frame rate of 11 fps when shooting in Hi+ drive mode with their mechanical shutters. However, the a6700 also supports 11 fps with its electronic shutter whereas the a6500 drops down to 3 fps when using its electronic / silent shutter.

Buffer

There is a difference however when we compare the size of each cameras buffer capacity. This is important if you are shooting a lot of continuous bursts because a smaller buffer means you will have to stop shooting sooner to allow the buffer to clear.

	JPEG L Extra Fine	Compressed RAW	Lossless Compressed RAW	HEIF
A6500	233 Shots	107 Shots	–	–
A6700	143 Shots	59 Shots	23 Shots

Rather surprisingly the buffer on the a6700 is actually smaller than the a6500. I’m not quite sure that Sony was thinking here.

Electronic Viewfinder and LCD Display

Both cameras feature an electronic viewfinder (EVF) and an LCD display.

Electronic Viewfinder (EVF)

Apart from a very slight difference in the eyepoint the viewfinder is identical between these two cameras.

	Sony A6500	Sony a6700
EVF Type	1.0 cm (0.39 type) electronic viewfinder (XGA OLED)	1.0 cm (0.39 type) electronic viewfinder (XGA OLED)
Field Coverage	100 %	100 %
EVF Resolution	2,359,296 dots	2,359,296 dots
EVF Magnification	Approx. 1.07x (35mm camera equivalent: Approx. 0.70x) with 50mm lens at infinity, -1m-1	Approx. 1.07x (35 mm camera equivalent: Approx. 0.70x) with 50 mm lens at infinity, -1 m-1
EVF Eyepoint	Approx. 23mm from the eyepiece lens, 21.4mm from the eyepiece frame at -1m-1 (CIPA standard)	Approx. 22 mm from the eyepiece lens, 19.4 mm from the eyepiece frame at -1 m-1 (CIPA standard)
Refresh Rate	NTSC mode: STD 60fps / HI 120fps, PAL mode: STD 50fps / HI 100fps	NTSC mode: STD 60fps / HI 120fps, PAL mode: STD 50fps / HI 100fps

However, according to Sony the EVF of the a6700 has twice the brightness of the a6600 and a wider 33-degree viewing angle. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that this will also apply when comparing the a6700 viewfinder to the one from the a6500.

LCD Display

The a6500 features a touch sensitive 7.5cm (3.0-type) wide type TFT LCD with 921,600 dots. This is tilt-able up by approx. 90 degrees and down by approx. 45 degrees. Due to this limitation it’s not the best camera for framing yourself if you want to vlog.

The Sony a6700 features an improved vari-angle LCD design. Although the resolution only sees a very modest increase to 1 036 800 dots, there is a big change to how it moves.

The a6700 LCD can be flipped out to the side and also rotated approx. 270 °. This will help you to shoot and vlog comfortably from a variety of positions.

Improved Menu and Touch Control

The a6500 features Sony’s older menu design which was never particularly intuitive and disliked by many.

The a6700 has a much improved and more user friendly menu system, along with touch functionality that has trickled down from Sony’s full-frame cameras such as the a7IV and a7RV.

With the a6700’s new menu and touch controls you can now easily activate key functions, select a focus point or subject to track, or trigger the shutter.

Swipe functionality has also been added. Swiping in from the left or right edge of the shooting display reveals touch icons that allow quick changes to the shooting mode and other settings.

Camera Body & Controls

Both cameras share a similar camera body but not identical, with the a6700 gaining some important control improvements over the a6500 along with a little extra weight and size.

Each camera’s dimensions and weights are as follows:

• A6500: W/H/D: 120.0mm x 66.9mm x 53.3mm (approx. 453 g, approx. 1 lb)
• A6700: W/H/D: 122.0 x 69.0 x 75.1 mm, (approx. 493 g / approx. 1 lb 1.4 oz)

Sony A6500

Sony A6700

There are a few key differences that should be pretty easy to spot when you compare these two cameras.

First the a6700 is larger and a little heavier than the a6500. The size of the grip has increased to provide room for the larger capacity Sony NP-FZ100 battery.

The a6500 includes a built-in pop-up flash which is absent from the a6700, just like it is from the a6600.

One of the biggest control improvements is that the a6700 now gains a front control wheel. This helps to make it more comfortable for shooters who switch between full-frame and APS-C bodies.

On the top of the a6700 you will find a dedicated movie record button in-place of the C1 button on the a6500. There’s also an extra dial on the a6700 that allows you to have 3 dedicated memories for stills, movies and S&Q. The a6500 only has 2 memories and these can’t be individually programmed for stills and video.

The C1 button on the a6700 is now found on the right side of the camera where the movie record button is on the a6500.

On the rear of the cameras the AF/MF switch on the a6500 has been replaced by an AF-On button on the a6700.

Full-time DMF

Full-time DMF is a feature that is only available on the a6700. This works when shooting stills with AF-C or AF-S autofocus. With DMF you can rotate the lens’s focus ring to switch to manual focus mode at any time, making switching focus on the fly super easy and fast.

Focus Bracketing

Focus bracketing is only available on the a6700, not the a6500. With focus bracketing the a6700 can automatically shoot up to 299 images with sequentially shifted focus points according to intervals and a sequence specified by you. This allows you to pick the perfect shot, or post-process multiple shots to achieve incredible depth of focus. There is no option to automatically combine images in-camera unfortunately, this needs to be done in post.

Memory Cards

The a6500 features a single memory card slot accessible through the battery compartment that supports: Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro(M2), SD memory card, SDHC memory card (UHS-I compliant), SDXC memory card (UHS-I compliant), microSD memory card, microSDHC memory card, microSDXC memory cards.

The a6700 also features a single memory card slot but this supports the much faster UHS-II SD cards as well as UHS-I cards The memory card slot location has also moved to the side of the camera, this should make it easier to change if the camera is mounted on a tripod or in a cage.

Load / Save Settings (CAMSET)

For this first time in the a6xxx Series you can now save/load camera settings to/from a memory card. You can save up to 10 settings per memory card. You can also load settings from another camera of the same model.

The a6500 offers a more basic option that allows you to save up to 4 (M1 through M4) to a memory card, then recall the settings using the mode dial.

Battery & USB Charging

The Sony a6500 uses the smaller capacity NP-FW50 battery whereas the a6700 gets the larger capacity Sony NP-FZ100 rechargeable battery.

Shooting stills the a6500 achieves approx. 610 shots (Viewfinder) and approx. 710 shots (LCD monitor) (CIPA standard) with a full battery. Shooting movies (actual) will get you approx. 115 min (Viewfinder) or approx. 125 min (LCD monitor) (CIPA standard).

The a6700 can achieve approx. 550 shots (Viewfinder) and approx. 570 shots (LCD monitor) (CIPA standard). Shooting movies (actual) will get you approx. 95 min (Viewfinder) or approx. 100 min (LCD monitor) (CIPA standard).

So despite the larger capacity battery in the a6700, the a6500 is still able to shoot a few more still images and a little more video. This is most likely due to the faster processors in the a6700 requiring more power.

Although the a6500 can be charged via USB the a6700 supports USB PD (Power Delivery) for fast in-camera battery charging. This supplies 3 to 4 times more power than what is possible with the a6500.

Live Streaming / Webcam

The Sony a6500 does not support live streaming in-camera but it can be used as a webcam through the use of Sony’s Imaging Edge Webcam software, the resolution is however limited to 1,024 × 576 pixels.

With the a6700 you just need to connect the camera to a computer or smartphone via USB, then select “Live Stream (USB Streaming)”.

The a6700 can also function as a 4K (2160p) webcam with advanced AF that makes online meetings and live streaming events even smoother.

Connectivity

The a6500 supports 2.4 Ghz wireless connections and bluetooth. There’s a Multi/Micro Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0) terminal and a Type-D HDMI micro connector. There’s also a 3.5 mm Stereo minijack for a microphone.

The a6700 supports 2.4 Ghz / 5 Ghz wireless connections and bluetooth. It supports SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.2) for even faster data transfer. There’s also a Type-D HDMI micro connector and a 3.5 mm Stereo minijack for a microphone.

The a6700 also has a 3.5 mm jack for headphones which you won’t find on the a6500.

The a6500 features the older style hot shoe, whereas the a6700 gets the new Multi Interface (MI) Shoe that enables cable-less connection, directly transferring the digital audio signal for high-quality sound without degradation, while also supplying power.

The Sony ECM-M1 shotgun microphone (B&H Photo) was launched alongside the a6700 and compliments the camera nicely thanks to its sleek looks and 8 audio recording modes.

The Sony a6500 can also be controlled remotely using Sony’s Imaging Edge Mobile App but functionality is limited.

The a6700 supports Sony’s newer Creators App for remote control and file management.

The Sony RMT-P1BT Bluetooth Remote (B&H Photo | Amazon) is also supported by the a6700 not unfortunately not by the a6500.

Firmware Updates

If you need to update the Sony a6500 firmware then this is only possible though a cabled connection to your computer. For Mac OS users this can be quite troublesome because it triggers security flags making it tricky to install. For Windows users life is a little easier.

The a6700 makes this process a whole lot easier by allowing you to update the firmware via memory card instead.

What’s in the Box

The box contents of each camera are very similar except the a6700 box does not include the AC-UUD12 AC Adaptor or a Micro USB cable.

Sony A6500	Sony A6700
Sony A6500 Body	Sony A6700 Body
Rechargeable Battery: NP-FW50	Rechargeable Battery NP-FZ100
AC Adaptor: AC-UUD12	Shoulder strap
Accessory shoe cap	Body cap
Body cap	Accessory shoe cap
Eyepiece cup	Eyepiece cup
Micro USB cable
Shoulder strap

Price

The Sony a6500 has now been discontinued. But when it was available to purchase it was priced around $200 less than the a6700.

The A6500 has an MRRP of: $1,198 / £1,280

The A6700 has an MRRP of: $1,398 / £1,449

Conclusion

The a6700 offers many still shooting and video benefits such as real-time tracking, 4K60p and a vari-angle LCD. Superior autofocus performance and subject tracking will also help you to capture more difficult subjects. On the other hand, the a6500 is still a great camera that delivers excellent image quality.

Here are the key features from the A6700 that you won’t find on the A6500:

• 26 MP back-illuminated sensor
• BIONZ XR processor
• 4k60p / 4k120p
• S&Q 240 FPS in FHD
• No record time limit
• Active Mode enhanced movie image stabilization
• UHS-II SD card support
• Front dial
• USB 3.2 with Power Delivery
• 3 Memory Recalls + CAMSET
• Lossless RAW & HEIF file formats
• 14-bit RAW when shooting long exposure noise reduction and bulb
• 1/8000sec shutter speed (electronic)
• Anti-flicker shooting and variable shutter
• Import User LUT files
• 759 PDAF points
• Real-time tracking of humans, animals, birds, insects, cars/trains, and airplanes
• In-camera time-lapse creation
• Auto framing
• Focus breathing
• Focus bracketing
• Focus map
• AF Assist
• Full-time DMF
• Touch shutter
• Bulb timer settings
• Firmware updates via memory card
• NP-FZ100 battery

If you are looking to upgrade your a6500 today and want to stick with an APS-C camera then you will probably be looking at either the Sony a6600 or the a6700.

The Sony a6600 is now 4 years old and doesn’t offer as much of an upgrade as jumping to the a6700 does. The MRRP of both cameras is also actually the same, unless the a6600 is on offer. I expect the MRRP of the a6600 will soon be reduced though or the camera discontinued.

Jumping to the a6700 will certainly feel like a big leap forward from the a6500 and provide you with one of the most feature rich APS-C cameras that Sony currently offers.

Please let me know in the comments below if you found this comparison helpful or if you have any questions.

Finally. Please don’t forget to take a look at our friendly Alpha Shooters Community Forum before you leave. Thank you!

Reviews

To learn more about these two cameras I’d recommend watching the following reviews from Gordon Laing.

Sony A6700 Guides & Resources

Sony A6500 Guides & Resources