Intersting rumor abour upcoming A7xxx APS-C Sony camera. (SR4)

If rumor is correct, body will be weather-sealed (sort of). However, that's not the interesting part as I don't think weather-sealing was the main thing that was desired in NEX-7 successor. What is mind blowing is that logically Sony shall come up with a new line of weather sealed lenses?! Or at least revision 2 of already available (meaning maybe they will also revision optical IQ as well). Now IMHO that would be very welcome I think.

Sony is doing it with alpha lenses too. The f2.8 70-200 now sells for $3000, and the 70-300 sells for $1100.
I'd expect a 30% price incease and little to no real improvements.
This fits with Sony's new 'premium' price plan.
I doubt the a6000 replacement will have any significant improvements either besides AF marketing and weather resistance marketing - like the a7ii.
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Cameras with mirrors - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

GoneMirrorless said:

Sony is doing it with alpha lenses too. The f2.8 70-200 now sells for $3000, and the 70-300 sells for $1100.
I'd expect a 30% price incease and little to no real improvements.
This fits with Sony's new 'premium' price plan.
I doubt the a6000 replacement will have any significant improvements either besides AF marketing and weather resistance marketing - like the a7ii.
--
Cameras with mirrors - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

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It still remains to be seen what kind of camera it will be. IMHO just weather sealing and faster AF won't urge lot's of a6k users to upgrade. It has to be something substantial in the image IQ department, like IBIS, or better high ISO or something else. Maybe they can put 4K for 15min like Samsung did with their nx500, but again just 4K alone won't be enough to raise the price and push a6k users to upgrade. It may be a good camera for users coming from older "NEX" series though.

I think Sony got itself in the corner with their fantastic a6k. There's simply not much left to improve without raising price of camera. Pricing is going to be a tough decision for Sony. Price it too high and you'll risk users migrating to FF, price it too low and things may get even worse (profit cut and even undercutting sales of FF in case if this new camera will be too good).

Lens situation is also delicate, since there are almost no weather sealing lenses at all in aps-c. Why would Sony introduce a weather-sealing body if there are no lenses for it? If that is the case then i hope Sony will show a roadmap for aps-c lenses, I'm sure users will appreciate it.

Donny out of Element here said:

GoneMirrorless said:

Sony is doing it with alpha lenses too. The f2.8 70-200 now sells for $3000, and the 70-300 sells for $1100.
I'd expect a 30% price incease and little to no real improvements.
This fits with Sony's new 'premium' price plan.
I doubt the a6000 replacement will have any significant improvements either besides AF marketing and weather resistance marketing - like the a7ii.
--
Cameras with mirrors - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

Click to expand...

It still remains to be seen what kind of camera it will be. IMHO just weather sealing and faster AF won't urge lot's of a6k users to upgrade. It has to be something substantial in the image IQ department, like IBIS, or better high ISO or something else.

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Exactly.

You didn't specifically mention it, but I seriously doubt it will have higher resolution.

Donny out of Element here said:

Maybe they can put 4K for 15min like Samsung did with their nx500, but again just 4K alone won't be enough to raise the price and push a6k users to upgrade.

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I'm only interested in stills, so video capabilities won't influence me.

Donny out of Element here said:

It may be a good camera for users coming from older "NEX" series though.

I think Sony got itself in the corner with their fantastic a6k. There's simply not much left to improve without raising price of camera. Pricing is going to be a tough decision for Sony. Price it too high and you'll risk users migrating to FF, price it too low and things may get even worse (profit cut and even undercutting sales of FF in case if this new camera will be too good).

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My SWAG is release price will be $900-$1000US body only.

Donny out of Element here said:

Lens situation is also delicate, since there are almost no weather sealing lenses at all in aps-c. Why would Sony introduce a weather-sealing body if there are no lenses for it?

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To complement weather-sealed FE lenses? Looks to me like Sony may be trying to appeal to a "pro" APS-C segment, perhaps as a handier, more portable weather-sealed second body to FF.

Donny out of Element here said:

If that is the case then i hope Sony will show a roadmap for aps-c lenses, I'm sure users will appreciate it.

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Yes, that would be nice.

Donny out of Element here said:

GoneMirrorless said:

Sony is doing it with alpha lenses too. The f2.8 70-200 now sells for $3000, and the 70-300 sells for $1100.
I'd expect a 30% price incease and little to no real improvements.
This fits with Sony's new 'premium' price plan.
I doubt the a6000 replacement will have any significant improvements either besides AF marketing and weather resistance marketing - like the a7ii.
--
Cameras with mirrors - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

Click to expand...

It still remains to be seen what kind of camera it will be. IMHO just weather sealing and faster AF won't urge lot's of a6k users to upgrade. It has to be something substantial in the image IQ department, like IBIS, or better high ISO or something else. Maybe they can put 4K for 15min like Samsung did with their nx500, but again just 4K alone won't be enough to raise the price and push a6k users to upgrade. It may be a good camera for users coming from older "NEX" series though.

I think Sony got itself in the corner with their fantastic a6k. There's simply not much left to improve without raising price of camera. Pricing is going to be a tough decision for Sony. Price it too high and you'll risk users migrating to FF, price it too low and things may get even worse (profit cut and even undercutting sales of FF in case if this new camera will be too good).

Lens situation is also delicate, since there are almost no weather sealing lenses at all in aps-c. Why would Sony introduce a weather-sealing body if there are no lenses for it? If that is the case then i hope Sony will show a roadmap for aps-c lenses, I'm sure users will appreciate it.

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It all makes sense. Sony doesn't want us to buy $300 lenses anymore. They would rather us buy a $1000 55 f1.8 non-IS lens over a 50mm f1.8 OIS lens.
They are going to push those ff lenses on apsc owners now with talk of weather sealing and better quality, while 'refreshing the old apsc lenses with 30% price inceases - just like they are doing with alpha mount.
This is how they plan to make selling cameras more profitable - their primary goal.
--
Cameras with mirrors - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

rjjr said:

rjjr said:

Lens situation is also delicate, since there are almost no weather sealing lenses at all in aps-c. Why would Sony introduce a weather-sealing body if there are no lenses for it?

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To complement weather-sealed FE lenses? Looks to me like Sony may be trying to appeal to a "pro" APS-C segment, perhaps as a handier, more portable weather-sealed second body to FF.

rjjr said:

If that is the case then i hope Sony will show a roadmap for aps-c lenses, I'm sure users will appreciate it.

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Yes, that would be nice.

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My guess would be that if Sony does release an APS-C camera with weather sealing, the will obviously start to start to redesign some of the APS-C lenses to be weather sealed or design new weather sealed ones. One would think that Sony would also have it available with a weather sealed kit lens when it is released. Selling a weather sealed camera with a regular kit lens would be asking for trouble. They have shown that they can make reasonably priced (in a kit) weather sealed kit lenses with the 28-70. There have been some rumors about a weather sealed kit lens a few months back so hopefully some of that is actually true.

I would expect that if the new camera only adds weather sealing, better AF, and some other minor features and controls over the A6000, you are probably looking at no more than $800 for the body. If it also has 4K and or IBIS, it starts to get dicey. I'd say $1000 starts to get expensive in the line up when an A7 can be picked up for that price. Full frame is not for everyone and there are probably a few that would pick a more expensive APS-C over a cheap full frame. Canon does have this situation where the 7d ii is more expensive than the full frame 6d so anything is possible.

Sony seems to be going after Nikon and Canon high end users with their FF cameras and lenses.

I don't think their is much to improve in APSC cameras. Maybe a NEX-7 replacement with PDAF.

Habs Fan27 said:

One would think that Sony would also have it available with a weather sealed kit lens when it is released.

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Yes, that would be nice as long as it also has better IQ/performance over the previous kit lens. It would also raise the kit price.

Or maybe Sony wants to sell weather-sealed APS-C bodies to owners of weather-sealed FE lenses.

GoneMirrorless said:

They are going to push those ff lenses on apsc owners now with talk of weather sealing and better quality, while 'refreshing the old apsc lenses...

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Yeah, that sounds not at all familiar... cough cough Canon cough...

GoneMirrorless said:

Sony is doing it with alpha lenses too. The f2.8 70-200 now sells for $3000, and the 70-300 sells for $1100.
I'd expect a 30% price incease and little to no real improvements.

Click to expand...

When you look at the new lenses there are a lot more improofments, if you like them or not is up to you. Differences between the old and the new ones? Faster AF, better (nano) coating etc. But especialy better AF motors make the new lenses realy better and more expensive. Again everybody must decide for themself if it is enough to upgrade.

GoneMirrorless said:

This fits with Sony's new 'premium' price plan.

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Yes the A6000 is the other component of the that Premium priceplan of you. Look how that camera, that is the successor of the Nex 6, better in most cases is a lot more expensive then the Nex 6 was at launch! BTW the A6000 was at launch about $200 cheaper, has a better sensor, better AF, etc.

GoneMirrorless said:

I doubt the a6000 replacement will have any significant improvements either besides AF marketing and weather resistance marketing - like the a7ii.

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When the rumors are true (that is always hard to tell) then the camera spoken of is not the successor of the A6000, but more the successor of the Nex 7...

GoneMirrorless said:

--
Cameras with mirrors - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

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... and they kicked me out at the same time...

Sony is going to release a higher spec APS-C camera -- even as a rumour, that seems a reasonable guess. APS-C sells well for Sony, it is a reasonable entry path for system buyers, and many users prefer the rangefinder sized bodies.



Weather sealing of some description seems a good guess too -- it is likely not that expensive to add, and gives the marketing department something to promote ... I'll stick my neck out and say it will disappoint some users, and be unimportant to many others. But it will give the salesman something at the counter to talk about!



FE vs E lenses. It would be nice to see some new options in E mount, but the hard truth is the FE lenses are options for APS-C users. Sony is not alone in focussing their best efforts in the FF line -- duplicating what will likely be low volume lenses in both FE and E is probably a non-starter. A faster 16mm? Maybe. Or a 'new improved' one anyway -- let's hope for more than just a lens colour refresh (I think the 16 and the macro are the only remaining non-black crop lenses). Maybe a longer lens -- something that pushed the FL up to 300. But don't be surprized if the faster better weather sealed future lenses are all FE ... Canon has never offered a single 'L' lens in crop configuration as far as I know -- in the low volume world of expensive lenses, might as well go all in.




The big change will come when Sigma starts offering their range of big zooms in native E-mount -- and I'm guessing they will when they think the E-mount user base is large enough -- but those lenses too will be FF, usable on APS-C ...


Much is made of the small size of the APS-C cameras being the 'primary' reason for buying them. I can't argue with other buyers, but it was only a marginal issue for me. I'm not a fan of the size of modern DSLR FF cameras, but neither is the compact rangefinder style APS-C body perfect. I believe value for money -- however the buyer defines it -- will decide where the new entrant goes. Once you're on board, few users will change systems. Posters here that buy this, sell that, swap entire systems -- they are outliers. The typical buyer buys a camera. Then maybe down the road adds a long zoom (but the majority add nothing), the more advanced user adds a prime or two. The number of buyers that will end up with a range of primes and choices in zooms is frankly not enough for Sony to be making big plans for. Same for Canikon. I have a lot of friends with 'a good camera' and no extra lenses. A few with an assortment of lenses. And other than the 'fellow posters' here no one with as many lenses as I have -- which makes me, and us, something a ways from the typical buyer.



JMHO

Pieterbaan said:

Yes the A6000 is the other component of the that Premium priceplan of you. Look how that camera, that is the successor of the Nex 6, better in most cases is a lot more expensive then the Nex 6 was at launch! BTW the A6000 was at launch about $200 cheaper, has a better sensor, better AF, etc.

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Get ready to be chirped about the A6000 not having the level gauge or the same 'feel' as the Nex-6 so it is a step back . The fact that the A6000 was cheaper and better than the Nex-6 means the new model will probably be priced lower than what the NEX-7 was at release.

Habs Fan27 said:

Pieterbaan said:

Yes the A6000 is the other component of the that Premium priceplan of you. Look how that camera, that is the successor of the Nex 6, better in most cases is a lot more expensive then the Nex 6 was at launch! BTW the A6000 was at launch about $200 cheaper, has a better sensor, better AF, etc.

Click to expand...

Get ready to be chirped about the A6000 not having the level gauge or the same 'feel' as the Nex-6 so it is a step back . The fact that the A6000 was cheaper and better than the Nex-6 means the new model will probably be priced lower than what the NEX-7 was at release.

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Yes, it would need to be much cheaper than the NEX-7 was at release. There are other competitors now, and the comparably priced A7 sets an upper limit. The NEX-7 was revolutionary in 2011; the new camera won't be the kind of huge step above the a6000 that the NEX-7 was above the NEX-5 back then.

Until proven to be true...when true it's no longer a rumor

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Donny out of Element here said:

If rumor is correct, body will be weather-sealed (sort of). However, that's not the interesting part as I don't think weather-sealing was the main thing that was desired in NEX-7 successor. What is mind blowing is that logically Sony shall come up with a new line of weather sealed lenses?! Or at least revision 2 of already available (meaning maybe they will also revision optical IQ as well). Now IMHO that would be very welcome I think.

Click to expand...

I'm fine with paying more for a newer model. All I really care for now is whether it will have IBIS though...

[No message]

Improvements are always welcome. In addition to those mentioned I hope they'll also improve the speed and iq of the EVF and the lcd and add a few more updated lenses. I'd love to see a 16-70 with improved optical specs as well as a higher quality tele (better than the 55-210) that is still light and manageable.

I was told the following:

Touch screen

Full art screen

25% size and weight savings

Improved EVF

Jerry R said:

Sony seems to be going after Nikon and Canon high end users with their FF cameras and lenses.

I don't think their is much to improve in APSC cameras. Maybe a NEX-7 replacement with PDAF.

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What about low light / Hi-ISO performance? The 24MP APS-C models are not exactly low-light specialists (no surprise here) and could really benefit from at least some improvement in that regard, not only with an updated jpg engine (NEX-7 > A6000). If it comes to shooting in bad light I much prefer my Fuji over the NEX-7 (even downsized to 16MP) - in good light/lower ISO it's the other way around.