Sony A65

Sony A65 is Sony's Entry-Level DSLR digital camera initially announced on November of 2011. It features a 24 MegaPixel, CMOS APS-C sized sensor and has a full resolution of 6000 x 4000.

Sony introduced the newer Sony A68 (Read Full Comparison) in an effort to replace this model.

The A65 is rated #12 out of 80 in Entry-Level DSLR cameras & overall #158 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our database. Please test our Advanced camera finder to get camera ratings based on your personalized requirements.

Below is a graph of various factors used in the rating system.

The Sony A65 is part of a family of digital cameras. You can read the detailed range underneath.

You can see the A65 from various angles in the gallery here.

Below is a checklist of positives and negatives of the Sony A65 based on features which are often regarded as necessary in a digital camera.

The Sony A65 houses the Bionz chip. The spec of the sensor in the Sony A65 is 23.5mm x 15.6mm (APS-C). The 367 mm² sensor is able to capture 6000 x 4000 pixels at aspect ratios of 3:2 and 16:9. The camera comes with Image Stabilization (Sensor based). Optical stabilization is superior than digital stabilization as the latter can lead to cropping.

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The CMOS sensor has 24MP and includes a standard ISO range of 100 - 12800. This ISO can be increased digitally to a high of 25600. RAW files are supported so the user has wider margin for error.

The graphic underneath illustrates the A65's sensor dimensions when compared to other popular sizes. The A65 sensor has a crop factor of 1.5 and is shown in green.

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To get a sense of various aspect ratios, you can refer to the graphic below.

Sony A65 weighs 1.37 lbs (622 grams or 21.94 ounces) & the over all size of the camera is 132mm x 97mm x 81mm (5.2" x 3.8" x 3.2"). The weight of average Entry-Level DSLR camera is 540 grams so the Sony A65 is heavier compared with other competitors.

Photography Glossary

Underneath is a picture of the Sony A65 beside a softdrink so you can get a sense of its scale.

The top view just below will illustrate the button layout on the A65.

The A65 uses the Sony/Minolta Alpha mount and has 145 lenses on the market today. Below is a small number of the lenses we have in our collection which will work with the A65.

ModelVisualizeFocal LengthApertureStabilizedWeight

Samyang Reflex 300mm f6.3 UMC CS300mmf/6.3 260g

Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM17-70mmf/2.8-4.0 520g

Japan-exclusive Leica Leitz Phone 3 features big sensor and new modes

Sigma 18-50mm F2.8-4.5 DC OS HSM18-50mmf/2.8-4.5 395g

Sony DT 18-70mm F3.5-5.618-70mmf/3.5-5.6 235g

Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II70-200mmf/2.8 1390g

Sony 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G SSM70-300mmf/4.5-5.6 760g

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Sony DT 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 SAM18-135mmf/3.5-5.6 398g

The A65 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• Wireless Yes
• HDMI Yes
• GPS Yes

Digital cameras that come with NFC and / or Bluetooth support can be used wirelessly with smartphones. You can easily send images and oftentimes alter camera settings with no need to connect straight to the camera.

Some applications even provide a Liveview and release the shutter in case you are not near the camera. If the camera boasts a HDMI port, it can be attached to an external display. Nearly all cameras enable you to recharge the battery pack with the USB port.

The highest possible video resolution in the Sony A65 is 1920 x 1080 and you can capture in MPEG-4, AVCHD and H.264 file format. 1080p resolution offers a decent balance for video quality and file sizes but 1080p is not going to give you any room to downsample. While the camera contains a microphone port, it is missing a headphone port so you won't have the capability to keep an eye on your audio levels.

There is no environment sealing on the Sony A65 so you need to be careful in wet or dusty situations.

The Sony A65 features a 3" fully articulated display screen boasting a resolution of 921k dots.

It features a selfie friendly screen to take self portraits and group shots when required. Please be aware that the display has no touch support.

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The View Finder specs for Sony A65 are as follows:

• ViewFinder Electronic
• Resolution 2,359k dots
• Coverage 100 percent
• Magnification 0.73x

Viewfinders can be really beneficial for sunny outdoor situations which can easily make the camera screen washed out and difficult to see.

Sony A65 continuous shooting rate is 10.0 frames per second. The max shutter speed is 1/4000 seconds.

Sony A65 comes with both integrated flash as well as external flash support. The max flash sync is 1/160 seconds.

Sony A65 comes with both Phase Detect Autofocus as well as Contrast Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection focusing is a lot snappier and accurate compared with Contrast Detect focusing. The camera features Face detection making it useful for portrait photography.

The Sensor features 15 focus points to select from. It also boasts Tracking Autofocus for moving subjects. Sony A65 boasts manual focus in case it is needed for low light situations or you need more exact focus control.

The battery life (NP-FM500H) on the Sony A65 is built to last for 560 clicks as per the CIPA standards making it on par with it's competition. The average Entry-Level DSLR camera battery life is 589. Pentax K-x comes with the best (1900) battery life for this range of cameras.

Below is a number of Entry-Level DSLR cameras having the highest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Pentax K-x
A65 vs K-x1900 yesnono

Nikon D3500
A65 vs D35001550 yesnoyes

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Nikon D3400
A65 vs D34001200 yesnoyes

Canon SL3
A65 vs SL31070 yesnoyes

Sony A450
A65 vs A4501050 yesnono

The following diagram gives a outline of the Sony A65 for various categories of photography. To read more, scroll to the specific paragraph underneath.

The Sony A65 gets a score of 77 which is fantastic, meaning that it is a tremendous fit to use for portrait photos. Taking portrait photos leans heavily to sensor resolution, support for RAW photos along with the option to work with off-camera flash.

Getting a excellent points tally of 77, the Sony A65 is a outstanding option to use in street photography. A very good street photography camera has a fine balance of picture quality plus portability.

A terrific sports photography rating of 81 suggests the Sony A65 is a superb pick for taking photos of sports. A camera must have very good focusing and shutter speeds for sports photography.

Weight is extremely important in buying a travel camera. Over-all, the Sony A65 gets a nice 68 for a travelling camera which makes it a good pick to take on your vacations.

For anybody who is planning to pick a camera for landscape pictures, the most vital aspect will no doubt be image quality. The Sony A65 at it's very good rating of 75 for a landscape camera is a good fit within the current market.

A vlogging camera preferably should have a moving display screen, mic port and ideally IBIS. Taking everything into account, the Sony A65 is a great pick for vlogging as it receives a impressive rating of 78.

If you need alternatives to the A65, here is a list of the highest rated cameras which fall into the class of Entry-Level DSLR.

The line chart followed below will give you an overview of the A65 vs it's highest rated rivals suggested earlier.

There are more cameras you might consider as alternate options. To go through a full comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.