Sony Has Discontinued the a6500 Mirrorless Camera

Sony appears to have discontinued the a6500 camera as it has been removed from the company’s official website while distributors have also marked the camera as “no longer available.”

Originally reported by Sony Alpha Rumors, the mid-range APS-C camera sat amidst Sony’s still somewhat confusing APS-C camera line and its loss reduces the total number of cameras from five down to four: the a6000, a6100, a6400, and a6600.

Sony was not immediately available to comment.

Last fall, Sony discontinued the a6300 which was announced back in 2016 and at the time boasted the world’s fastest autofocus system thanks to the highest number of AF points on a sensor.

The a6500 came just a couple of months later and leapfrogged the a6300, touting the fastest autofocus and highest number of AF points on a sensor just as its predecessor once did. The a6500 was called Sony’s APS-C flagship and would sit atop the hill until the a6600 came nearly three years later.

Somewhat strangely, Sony seemed content to add to the number of options in its APS-C interchangeable camera range rather than retire old models right off the bat. In what is likely an effort to provide a sense of choice, Sony seriously muddied the waters. At one point, consumers had six different a6000-series cameras to choose from, each with marginally different sets of features and prices. Sony has now retired both the a6300 and the a6500 and therefore reduced the confusion somewhat, however it is still likely challenging for customers to understand the differences between the a6000 and the a6100.

While the a6000-series has gratefully shrunk a bit, that reportedly won’t last for long. Rumors have been circulating that Sony is on the precipice of announcing a new APS-C camera in the a6000-series, though the final name of the camera is not yet known. Currently, it is expected to replace the a6600 and may feature a 32-megapixel sensor, 4K at up to 60 frames per second in 10-bit, feature a fully articulating screen, and a similar form factor to the a7C. For now, it is still a rumor, but Sony Alpha Rumors believes that it should see an official announcement by the end of May.