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Should i get the Sony a6500
Hello everyone,
This is my first post here.
I have been looking at the Sony a6500, but I have some questions for the a6500 owners out there.
Currently I own a Canon 760d (the rebel t6s I believe), but I would like a camera that is better in low light, can shoot 120fps and 4k video. So I see the a6500 as a good upgrade.But I have been watching and reading a lot of reviews on the a6500, and now I have my doubts.
My first question regards the overheating. When I´m shooting, I´m shooting small clips for say 10 – 120 seconds at a time, so the overheating will not be a problem right?
However I would like to use it for wedding videos, but weddings are mainly indoors in my country.Then there is the dim screen. If I´m shooting in bright sunlight, using a steadycam, will I be able to see the frame on the LCD? And will zebras and histogram be visible or will the screen be too dark?
Regarding rolling shutter. Will I be able to follow a person walking or runing when paning without suffering from rolling shutter?
Sadly I don´t have the opportunity to rent the a6500.
I hope you can help me.
Kind regards
Brian -
5 Replies
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I think the 6500 is a great choice, look into loupes for the back LCD screen that will magnify and block the sun or even an external monitor.
Steve Crow
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Thank you for replying.
Actually I already have a loupe, that I use in bright sunlight on my Canon, but my concerns were when I´m using a stabilizer, then I don´t have the opportunity to use the loupe.
Will an external monitor work when recording 4K?
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If you are going to shoot short clips 10-120 seconds at a time in 4K, you should be fine at least for several clips. For indoors, if you are planning to shoot long pieces, you should still keep in mind that internal overheating may occur, even if the camera is not exposed to sun rays.
There are few tricks you can use to minimize overheating:
1) keep the battery door and the flash door open
2) leave the LCD screen away from the camera body
3) try using external batteries – it can be very helpful. For a6500 you can literally use a USB power bank that people buy to charge smartphones. -
I have had my a6500 for a month now and I agree with everything that was said here. Except I would add that while you can use a USB power bank (and I do) to supplement the battery power, you still have to leave the original battery in…so I don’t know if it helps with overheating too much. However you can use a dummy battery and a larger battery adapter though, and I hear that helps with overheating and the bigger issue of battery life (and you can also power an external monitor and whatever else too). You just have to make room on your rig for all that.
I haven’t had any overheating issues yet, but I can confirm that the rolling shutter can be quite bad at times. The three times I’ve followed someone while I’m walking without using any kind of stabilization there’s been some noticeable jello activity (and not just with vertical lines).
Oh and something else you have to adjust to is not having a headphone jack. I got around it with a Beachtek pre-amp (which also solved another issue of using two mics and controlling their recording volume…without having to go double-system).
Jesse Freeston
Documentary Filmmaker/Editor/Shooter -
Thanks for replying.
I actually bought the a6500 and have been happy about it so far.
But to answer my own questions, should others be wondering too. I haven´t had any problems at all with overheating.
The screen dims when shooting in 4K and 1080p 120fps, and it can really be hard to see anything in the display when shooting in bright sunlight around noon, but a thing I wasn´t aware of, coming from DSLR, is that the viewfinder shows everything the lcd does except the histogram, so that have helped me a lot. However it can be hard when using a stabilizer.
I have noticed the issues with rolling shutter as well. It´s worst in 4K. I could follow a person walking though.
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