Sony a6700’s HDMI and USB-C Ports, Explained

If you want to connect your Sony a6700 to a computer, there are two different ports you can use for it: a micro HDMI (Type D) port for video output, and a USB-C port for charging and data. They look quite similar, but they’re not interchangeable, and they’re used for different purposes.

For video stream output, the a6700 uses what is known as a micro HDMI port. It’s also known as Type D.

As you might guess from the “micro” in the name, that’s the smallest of the HDMI plug types.

It’s easy to confuse with mini HDMI (Type C), which is the other small HDMI plug. Don’t get that one; they’re different connectors, and a mini HDMI cable will not fit the a6700.

Micro HDMI also looks a lot like the micro USB port on older cameras, and that’s a different connector again, so a micro USB cable is no use here either.

HDMI cables for the Sony a6700

The main practical implication of this is when choosing which HDMI cable to get for the a6700.

The a6700 doesn’t come with an HDMI cable as standard.

You’ll want to choose one with a micro HDMI plug on one end and whatever HDMI plug type you need for the device you’re connecting to (the most common is a full-size HDMI (or Type A). It’s also possible to get adapter plugs, but I’m a bit leery of those because it’s another potential failure point.

One other thing worth checking on the cable: for 4K output, Sony specifies a Premium High Speed HDMI cable. So it’s worth looking at how the cable is rated, not just what plugs are on the ends.

You can see some of the photos I’ve taken with the Sony a6700 in these posts:

– Sony a6700 Sample Images / Image Quality Tests (general collection of sample images under a variety of conditions)
– Sony a6700 High ISO Sample Images (focusing on high-ISO images taken under low-light conditions)
– Sony a6700 High ISO Test Images (similar to above, but focused on sequences of images throughout ISO range for side-by-side comparison)

I also have a bunch of other posts on shooting with the Sony a6700.

The HDMI port is used only for video streams

The Sony a6700 has two ports that look similar. One is a USB-C port. The other is an HDMI port.

The USB-C port is used primarily for charging and data transfer. So it’s used for connecting to wall chargers, portable chargers, and computers. Most immediately, since the a6700 doesn’t come with a separate battery charger or a USB cable, you’ll probably want to be using that port right away to charge the battery in the camera.

For charging in the camera, the USB-C power source needs to supply at least 18 watts (3 amps). A weak phone charger or an old USB-A port often won’t reach that, which is why some people find the battery barely gains charge overnight. If you’d rather charge outside the camera, Sony’s separate chargers are the BC-ZD1 and BC-QZ1.

The a6700 has a USB Streaming mode as well. It uses the UVC and UAC standards, so the camera shows up as a webcam and microphone in most conferencing and streaming apps with no drivers or Sony software needed. Resolution goes up to 4K at 30p, with 1080p and 720p options below that.

The HDMI port is used only for a video stream. If you’re hooking the camera up directly to a TV or external recorder, that’s the one you use.

It is possible to output that video stream to a computer, but for that, you need an extra device (or dedicated software) that can convert the video stream to the kind of data that the computer can work with (it’s known as an HDMI capture card, even though they’re generally not actually cards anymore). The a6700 also has a USB Streaming mode, which gets video into the computer over USB-C without a capture card at all.

One setting to know about if you’re feeding a recorder or a capture card: by default the camera can send its shooting information along with the image. To get a clean output with none of that overlaid, go to MENU → Setup → External Output → HDMI Info. Display and set it to Off.