Sony α6500 Flash Replacement

Written By: Jackson Furie

Comments: 11

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

40 minutes

Introduction

The flash unit is responsible for producing a flash of light, helping illuminate dark scenes. If the flash feature is not working on your camera, you may have a faulty flash unit. Verify that the flash feature is not disabled and check other software settings before considering replacement. This guide will show you how to replace the flash unit if the cause of failure is physical. This replacement will require a JIS 0 screwdriver, JIS 00 screwdriver, JIS 000 screwdriver, opening tools, spudger, and tweezers.

Tools

Step 1

Verify the camera is powered off by setting the switch to OFF.

Step 2

Flip the camera upside down.
Slide the battery compartment lock to OPEN to unlock it.

Step 3

Push the blue lever aside to release the battery.

Step 4

Remove the released battery from the compartment.

Step 5

To access the back of the camera remove the screws attaching the LCD screen hinge to the camera body.
Remove four 3 mm JIS 000 screws.
Remove one 3 mm JIS 00 screw.
After dismounting the screen hinge be careful to avoid tearing the black wire ribbon connecting the screen to the camera body.

Step 6

Grasp the viewfinder eyecup; slide it up and off the viewfinder.

Insert an arrow to show which way is up.

Simon Lin - 15/11/19

Step 7

Press the flash popup button on the back of the camera.
Remove one 5 mm JIS 00 screw from inside the flash compartment.
Remove one 4 mm JIS 00 screw.

Step 8

To remove the top of the camera you must remove the back first.
Remove the 2.5 mm JIS 00 screw from the side of the camera near the viewfinder.
Use the opening tool to pry off the small cover.
Remove two 2.5 mm JIS 00 screws from underneath the cover.
Remove a 5 mm JIS 00 screw from underneath the cover.

Should the first one (red) be 4mm?

brendon.coetzer - 05/06/20

Step 9

Remove three 2.5 mm JIS 0 screws from the back face of the camera.
Remove one 4 mm JIS 00 screw from the underside of the lip that overhangs the back of the camera.

Step 10

Remove four 4 mm JIS 0 screws from the bottom of the camera.

Step 11

Flip the battery lock switch to open and open the battery compartment.
Remove three 2.5 mm JIS 00 screws from the top of the battery compartment.
You may need a longer or thinner screwdriver to reach the screws in the battery compartment.

These 3 screws were 4mm on my camera. Mine may have been disassembled previously.

jkenny23 - 16/03/20

Step 12

Use the plastic opening tool to begin prying off the back of the camera from the side.
Continue to loosen the back until you can open it from the bottom.

Step 13

Open the back of the camera.
Use tweezers to remove two ribbon connectors from underneath the back. One connects to the LCD display and the other connects to the right side behind the battery compartment.
Ribbon connectors can tear easily. Grasp the plastic ends (not the ribbon) when removing.

Step 14

Use the plastic opening tool to peel down the rubber grip around the handle at least 1 cm.
The adhesive holding the rubber grip down should be strong enough to reattach when you are done. If not, you may need an adhesive to reglue it.
Remove one 3 mm JIS 000 screw from underneath the rubber grip on the right side.
Remove one 4 mm JIS 000 screw from the left side.

Left side contained a 3mm screw as well on my camera. Mine may have been disassembled previously though.

jkenny23 - 16/03/20

Step 15

The last screws holding the top on can be accessed once the back of the camera is removed.
Remove one 2.5 mm JIS 00 screw from the top next to the flash mount.

Step 16

Insert a long, thin JIS 00 screwdriver through the two holes and into the battery compartment; remove the two 5mm JIS 00 screws inside it.

Step 17

Use the long, thin, screwdriver to remove one 5 mm JIS 00 screw inside the camera accessible below the dials from the back.

is there a simple way to remove that knob what is switching between programs (Manual, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority)

My camera, during video recording is swithing by herself between programs and at the same time stopping video recording, and I’m thinking that maybe it needs a bit of contact cleaning

Daniel Croitoru - 23/01/21

Step 18

Use the plastic opening tool to gently lift up the shutter button assembly.
Grasp the front grip from the top and bottom and pull it off. It should come off easily with the shutter button out of the way.
The shutter button will still be attached by one ribbon cable once the front grip is removed.

Can you do a teardown of the top from a sony a6400? Because this from part with the shutter button is not separate as in a6500, in the a6400 is part of the top as a one piece and I havent found any dissassembly process for the a6400.

artur_jeronimo - 10/01/21

Step 19

Remove one 2.5 mm JIS 00 screw from where the shutter button assembly used to be.
Remove one 3 mm JIS 00 screw from the side of the camera.

Step 20

Carefully unplug the two ribbon connectors attaching the top assembly to the rest of the camera.

How can I plug the flash ribbon connector back in when reassembling the camera? I successfully replaced the flash, following your guide, but now I am stuck as I can't figure out how to plug that connector in. The plug appears to be hidden.

Christa Rohrbach -

Step 21

Remove one 3mm JIS 00 screw from each side of the flash.
Remove the casing of the flash.

Step 22

Place the top of the camera top down.
Remove one 2.5mm JIS 00 screw.

Step 23

Remove the flash from the top of the camera.

Step 24

Pry off the plastic cover over the wire ribbon on the flash pop-up.
Use the spudger to loosen the adhesive holding the wire ribbon down underneath the flash mount.
Pull the flash bulb and wire ribbon out to replace.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Jackson Furie

Member since: 10/10/19

817 Reputation

4 comments

I would like to know how do I take out the top cover only in order to access the on/off switch, it seems impossible to find this, after a long search I am loosing hope hahaha.

artur_jeronimo - 08/01/21

Hi. To get the button removed you actually will need to follow the steps on this guide through step 18. Unfortunately the process is more complicated than it needs to be but in order to remove the front grip and access the button you will need to follow all the steps before. Look at steps 17 and 18 in detail to see the exact process of removing the button housing.

Micah Fitzgerald - 08/01/21

I would just like to let you know that I successfully replaced the flash unit. Thank you very much for this guide. I only had trouble finding the plug for the ribbon cable from the flash unit to reconnect it. In your photo, the ribbon cable is already disconnected, and I could not remember where it was plugged in. But finally, I found it and everything is working.

Christa Rohrbach -

On step 24 is the flash bulb and wire ribbon all one piece? Is it one part as far as replacement? I think that is what my camera needs. Do you have a recommendation on where this part can be ordered from? Appreciate the help!

Thanks,

Amy

ajones -