Pardon my language: But the Sony A6xxx is my pain in the ass rumor of 2015 🙂 The camera announcement got delayed twice:
First delay in Spring (Fact proven by the famous Wikileaks roadmap where the A6xxx was listed for a Sprin announcement – article here).
Second delay in Autumn (the same source who gave me the correct Sonys EU online store closure info told me afterwards the A6xxx release got delayed again).
But finally a couple of major store owners told me that Sony officially reported them the new A6xxx camera will ship in March! This means their A6000 Stock will get cleared. So in summary this is what to expect to be announced between January (CES) and February (CP+):
SR5: A99 successor (no specs known yet)
SR5: A6000 successor (no specs known yet)
SR5: New FE lens roadmap (probably at CP+)
SR4: New 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
SR4: New fast prime lens (probably 85mm f/1.4)
To all SAR readers: Wish you all the best for the new year!
125 Responses
great to hear!
but then it looks like the new A6100 will replace the A6000, which means it won’t be a pro level camera with better build quality etc…
Happy New Year everyone!
HAPPY NEW 2016 TO EVERYBODY! HOPE, THAT DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGY FREES US EVEN MORE FOR CREATIVITY.
why do they have numbers over their heads? o,O
I was as suprised as you
Ok, so it’s March, but which year? 😉
Sorry 🙂
Happy New Year!
2178 of course! 🙂
Nice it ll be for my 200th birthday!!!
Happy New Year !!!
I wonder why they are holding the 7000 naming…
I just want a NEX-7 updated (at least IBIS and 4K)
I want an updated NEX-7 too… with a 42mp Full Frame sensor! 🙂
yep, i know
Happy New Year, the newly announced Year of the A-Mount!
For the third year in a row! We A-mounters are having a solid run! 😉
Nah, 2014 was the Year of the A-Mount, and now 2016.
Are they actually announcing a new camera, or just a new and upgraded rumor to replace the one they released last year at this time?
Happy new year and new cameras!
We will finally be able to take pictures in the new year!
It would really be good if new lenses were announced at CES with availability around CP+. Still the main weakness in the A7x system is poor lens choice and availability.
It is so late that its name should be A9000 !
a6000 is still selling so well, and no mirrorless competitor is still able to present any competition (in features, performance and price) after 2 years, Sony must think it is too early! Even RUMORED possible competition like E-M1 II and X-E2s is not going to be priced anywhere close to $400 for a body, who would push Sony to upgrade? Among just released “competitors”, Panasonic GX8 is still >$1000 and cannot do good AF-C, E-M10 II is $600 and cannot do proper AF-C either, the same with G7 (no OSPDAF). X-T10 is $800, with tracking and low light sensitivity poorer than a6000 (and only 16mpix with the stupid X-Trans to add insult to injury). It is just like everybody just handed Sony the market.
Yeah, the X-T1 is on their 4.0 firmware update and still is behind the A6000 in performance, is even unfair if you compare video features.
The main thing all competitors are lacking is a reasonable price. All-important thing in the segment (which has nothing to do with luxury brands). a6000 even beats newer Rebels in this regard – no wonder it sells so well. There really is no magic, the rest of them just try to sell stuff at 50 to 200% markup over competition, and of course fail miserably just like a basic economics class would teach them.
That’s a myth already! LOL.
It’s about damn time! But I already got the a7sii in my sights so its too late
Any rumors about A7iii?
You’re kidding right? Unbelievable. They just pushed out the a7iis yesterday.
Not really. The S line is more a video camera. The R is too expensive (for me, not saying it’s a bad value). The regular version is for the rest of us mortals, and given that they’ve been releasing bodies like crazy, it’s not unreasonable to begin to speculate about the A7iii.
Wouldn’t it be an “a5” or an “a3”? Something less advanced but less expensive rather than an updated a7 model?
Sure, I’d take it, as long as it has a metal lens mount 🙂 (Call me old-fashioned). And phase-detect AF with Canon lenses. 🙂
Rather see that 42mpix sensor in a proper camera and it probably is better for sony to stay where they are at for a while and get the development costs out of the current line
Where is a9?
Nex7 is so sexy. Sony needs to go back to using those wheels.
You can buy mine when I get an A7RII 😉
Although I might just wait until they release a Full Frame ILC with the EVF in the top left corner… *annoyed*
I have one ;). Its the back up to my A7R. I use it to turn my 70-200mm into a 320mm. Still takes amazing photos even compared to even the newest cameras.
Yeah I love my NEX-7 but I want improvement in several areas: High ISO performance, Auto-focus speed and JPG engine (for most holiday & family photos).
A7RII would be perfect and would have bought it already if the EVF was in the “correct place” for me 🙂
And they are still quite vialued on the used market… you can buy a A6000 for the price of the NEX-7.
Even the box it came in us amazing, puts anything that Apples done to shame.
Happy New Years SARS!
Aaaa-cho!
I was awaiting anxiously this camera for months and I finish buying the GX8. Perhaps the A7III comes first.
Han shot first
It comes too late for me, got an A6000 at bargain price. Maybe I get it for next Xmas when prices go a little bit down, or maybe wait for the A7iii and see which one.
Nappy New Year to all SAR readers!
The prices right now on the a6000 are really attractive.
a6000 is indeed super at current prices.
No camera has brought more inexplicable whining than the future a6000 successor. The a6000 is a wonderful camera that really doesn’t have a superior in its niche yet, was just released the middle of 2014, and yet people complain like it’s 4 years old and abandoned or something. I can’t wait ’til it’s released just to shut the whiners up.
haha, what we actually want is a NEX-7 replacement… the A6000 was never really a worthy successor, thus all the whining.
Yes, A6000 is a great camera for its price, but there is room for improvement… a lot actually when comparing to e.g. Olympus OM-D series.
While I agree I can honestly say if the A6000 was a true Nex-7 replacement I would not have been able to talk myself into it as it would have been $400 more most likely. For me the A6000 was the right camera at the right time at the right price. I would spend the $1200 or so I guess it will cost if they give me all the features I talked about in my reply below. If I had never had the A6000 I don’t know if I would. I might have went with a used Nex-7 instead who knows. Most likely a used Nikon V1 truthfully though, as that was a big one on the list as well at the time.
This is a good point. I don’t know that I would have jumped on it at $1200 either; I would have just saved a little more and gone for FF model.
At the time, I was in Bedford Camera in Little Rock. I held them both. Boy did I like the A7 as well. One of the reasons I didn’t get it was the higher price of the full Frame system in general. The deciding factor for me ultimately was the size. I knew from past experience that I just wouldn’t take the bigger, heavier kit with me all the time, much less up Pinnacle mountain etc. I already had an RX100 and liked it a lot, but wanted better low light upside among other things. Different cameras for different jobs. The RX100 happily does duty at any events where they ban interchangeable lens cameras now with the A6000 an almost constant companion.
Absolutely, the A6000 has its place in the market and satisfies a lot of users. But there is a hole where the NEX-7 used to be… it’s a pity they replaced both, the NEX-6 and 7 with the A6000.
The NEX-7 was squeezed out from both the bottom (a6000) and the top (a7).
There’s ALWAYS room for improvement. This new model will probably match and better OM-D models, and then the OM-D folks will say they need improvements, and then new OM-D’s will come out that better the new Sony, and so it goes on and on and on…
True, but it’s not only new features I am talking about… I have an OM-D camera and it just feels rock solid and is a joy to use.
Things like build quality and ergonomics / usability are no novelties, so it’s quite surprising Sony doesn’t keep what’s already good in the NEX-7 and adds new features / a new sensor to it…
But anyhow, I will probably jump to FF because Sony stopped producing lenses for APS-C.
Sony already brought out the NEX-7 successor. It’s called the A7. Hit the exact same price spot at launch. It may not be what you wanted, but Sony decided to change things up a bit more.
No, it’s a different kind of camera: FF and with a EVF hump. Sorry, A7 is not a worthy successor.
It might not be a worthy successor to you, but that doesn’t change the fact it was to Sony. As to being a different type of camera, again, that’s your constraint.
Sony clearly saw FF as the next step for the serious enthusiast. That they managed to launch the NEX-7 successor with a FF sensor (and an EVF hump simply because there was no room for the EVF in the corner – the FF sensor occupied more room), and keep it at a similar launch price was quite a feat. Unfortunately, changing naming conventions and layout seems to have confused many people. Even keeping the 7 didn’t give enough people a clue.
How is it a successor if it has a different mount …
A different mount? Last time I checked they both had E-mounts. I think you mean formats. See my reply to keepcoding above.
The name of the mount is different, so, in fact, even if the are both “E” mount cameras, E lenses can’t be used on FE cameras without wasting the sensor, and vice-versa FE lenses can’t be used on E cameras without wasting the small factor of the camera. The proper lenses for E cameras are E lenses, not FE lenses. FE is a different line of lenses, made for a different kind of cameras that has a completely different philosophy behind (bigger sensor / slightly bigger cameras / much bigger lenses = uncompromising IQ cameras but not compact and portable like the E cameras). So, no. Not un upgrade, but a wholly different system, with a different mount.
That’s an awfully long reply to try and make yourself sound right, and still be wrong.
Check the side of an FE lens dude, it says E-mount.
Sure, and Nikon mount is the same in DX and FX, except… people are abandoning Nikon DX cameras because Nikon’s DX line-up sucks. I’m afraid I am not the one who’s wrong, here…
Nope. Fail…
Thanks for your reasoned argument. Oh wait…
A FF can not be a replacement for APSC it’s a different bloody sensor size.
On top of that A7 is completely different in every way from the NEX-7.
NEX-7:
– APSC(longer reach with smaller lenses)
– EVF in the corner
– 11 fps
– Tri-Navi
– Compact lenses
– Cheaper lenses
A7:
– FF sensor so you don’t get the same reach(APSC 18-200’s FF equivalent would be 27-300)
– I want/need the EVF in the corner(big nose) plus no need for it to be in the middle!
– 5 fps
– No Tri-Navi
– Big and expensive lenses
I got tired of waiting (NEX-7 came out in 2011) for the proper replacement and also I got to a point in my photography that I’m likely moving up to FF now but for all the others who still want a top APSC Sony it’s very disappointing and some rudely call them whiners.
I understand as a photographer sensor size is important to you, but for the bean counters and engineers it’s about giving people what Sony thinks they want, not necessarily what they actually want.
I’m not arguing the differences/merits between the two cameras, merely what I believe Sony management were thinking.
I understand what you are saying and I agree: Sony is trying to sell the A7 series as the NEX-7 replacement but for obvious reason it isn’t and it could possibly backfire for them.
But anyways I can understand their point of view BUT what irks me as hell is when people tell me that I’m stupid because clearly A6000 (or A7) is my NEX-7 replacement camera when I say sorry but not for me there isn’t a proper replacement camera out yet.
All I (perhaps we) want is an acknowledgement that NEX-7 line(niche) is gone and there are no replacements only alternatives. I can accept that.
I assume you don’t have one? Calling people who you don’t know whiners is not a good way to make friends. I assume you would like to continue to come here and discuss rumors so maybe you should rethink your confrontational style. Just my .2c
Now on to address you implied bafflement as to why this new camera has a lot of interest.
I have an A6000 and have used it extensively. It is a fantastic camera and you are correct that it really has no competition for its price range imho. Or at least no one matches it feature set at this price.
The reason I want a refresh and yesterday is in order of importance to me:
1. I know they could do a full bsi sensor and that would most likely give you better dynamic range and better high iso performance. I also imagine they would further increase its autofocus abilities.
2. I have a few excellent older Minolta lense I adapt and having ibis would be a very nice addition to have even if it is not as good as the in lens implementation Sony uses.
3. Weather sealing. I hike a lot in the summer. I push it a lot and sweat a lot. Sweat and this camera eventually cause it to screw up, it has happened several times and sometimes it takes literally weeks to dry out internally and function normally again. I could mitigate it somewhat by leaving it in it’s small bag more but that is no good for being in the moment and my style is to leave it out around my neck.
4. A bigger evf view, with a slightly bigger eyecup would be much nicer. The current one gets the job done but a little bigger view would really be nice. Higher resolution is not as important to me as I do most critical reviews on a bigger screen but sure throw that in as well and I’m happy.
5. Another dial would be great and possibly a totally custom menu with every option in the camera able to be put in it.
6. 4K video. I don’t really need it but I know it will be well implemented and if they do all the others mentioned It will need to be future proofed as I will keep it a long time 🙂
I do have one, use it all the time. It might be my favorite camera ever, even over my FF bodies. I’m not saying there’s no room for improvement, that there are no additional features that wouldn’t be nice, but just that people are ridiculous in how quickly they expect the turnaround. This camera was just released in May of 2014; it’s not like it’s gone years and years w/o a replacement. The entitlement is astounding.
I am glad you have and like the A6000. I recommend it almost any time someone asks me what they should get. Not that anyone does much mind you.
I think personally you worry about other folks sense of entitlement. I don’t really see the entitlement attitude from folks but I don’t read every comment every day, so maybe they do have one.
For me I started really wanting it to come out when they had a supposed solid time frame earlier this year. It sure would of looked good under the tree! O well, hopefully it can make a nice birthday gift for myself next summer 🙂
Trust me, the sense of entitlement is strong in some people here. Lots seem to think they could manage Sony better too. Interesting that they don’t already manage large multi-national companies. 😉
Again NEX-7 is over 4 years old.
No A6000 is no NEX-7 replacement for NEX-7 owners.
There should be a cheap A6000 and a top of the line pro A7000.
We need both a cheap and a pro APSC camera.
No FF does not replace APSC, it’s a completely different thing.
Sounds like you want an A7RII.
No not really. The cost is triple, The size is more, the lenses are generally a little more to a lot more. Maybe some day but If I go full frame, and I still hike with it, I will look at a nikon dslr as well. You can have a very small general use kit with the A6000 and kit zoom. Smaller than any iteration of the A7RII.
Yeah, I just recently got an A7S (mk I), and whereas it’s small compared to a DSLR, it’s still big compared to an a6000. I love that a6000 for hiking excursions – that and a couple lenses in the pack is very light and takes up very little room.
If the A7000 get IBIS, 4K, EVF and be even faster than the A6000, I would say that the camera would be more desirable for adapting SLR lenses, with the focal reducer adapters the footprint on the APS-C body is much smaller, than on A7II.
A7Rii is a fantastic camera. And even that it is the most expensive A7, you get the most for your money. (Imo)
But good old cheap A6000 has still some other advantages: fps / size / popup-flash / faster Af
Shitty EVF and no TRI-NAVI suck on A6000.
TRI-NAVI isn’t on the A7 cameras either, so I think it’s safe to say that’s been retired, unfortunately.
In a way it is, but not in the same design.
Missing audio jack
And no level gauge.
Oh yeah, forgot about that one… ECM-XYST1M just isn’t that great.
If they made a reasonably-priced MIS-to-3.5mm adapter I’d be fine, but so far, the only thing is an $600-800 XLR adapter which includes microphones (can’t buy it separately)
On the DPReview forum, someone has introduced the term ‘metacomplainers’ to describe people who post to complain about what they see as other posters’ ‘complaining’. Here we are on a rumors forum, discussing rumors, which by definition (in this case) involve new gear that’s better than what we have, so we naturally talk about improvements that the new gear might have. And yet somehow, to some people, that’s ‘whining”.
And yet don’t see the irony in posting about that. Physician, heal thyself.
Correct – it’s impossible to win in an exchange with a metacomplainer. If you call him out – bingo! He has you again. This continues into infinity – he is always up by one.
We(the whiners) don’t want an A6xxx
My NEX-7 came out in 2011, I’ve been patiently waiting for a replacement or an updated version. That’s 4 years now and still waiting. I’ve just had enough now though. Even if they come out with an A7000(proper NEX-7 replacement) I’m not interested anymore…
By now I’ve made my mind up to go Full Frame but preferrably I would like the EVF in the corner.
What of the A7000 has a sensor that is better than any full frame to date? What about the lenses you have now?
it will be newer not sure it will outperform the FF ( just in low light performance and colour depth it will be a bit far behind FF)
I don’t need many lenses and there are good APSC ones plus I’m happy to use FF glass on it…
A7x line was renewed in less 2 years even though it praised by everyone ;)… Then why should we wait for a APS-C A7RII alike camera when they know it will be sold as much as with A6000 :D…. Don’t they want to earn their money?
The first generation a7 bodies were pretty immature leaving a lot desired for many users (internal 4K in the S, ibis / less shutter shock in the R and faster AF in the a7). Plus the ergonomics were not beloved. A faster update was needed before a competitor could steal the thunder and release a much improved full frame mirrorless.
The Axyz cameras are more mature by comparison thanks to evolving out of the NEX-6 & 7 predecessors.
Good point but now Sony makes me hungry of features which ll be great on a A7000 ( bsi, ibis, 4k if they add fans;) in body, allowing update of lossless cRAW when released) even at 1500-1800 $
If the delay of the a6000 successor means IBIS will be introduced to the aps-c lineup it will have been worth the wait for most users.
And bsi
Not even the A700 successor?
“was just released the middle of 2014”
Beginning of 2014. January announcement, February sales in the US.
OK. Doesn’t really change anything at all…
The issue is that there are some features that have shown up in the A7xII line that people REALLY want to see in an APS-C body.
There are two features I really want to see, either one will make the body an insta-buy for me as long as there aren’t any “steps back” compared to the A6K:
IBIS
A7RII/A7II adapted lens AF algo
The latter might show up in a firmware update, if that happens, I won’t worry nearly as much about whether a successor shows up.
If neither of these are in the next body, I’ll be making the jump to FF.
By that standard, the lineup of “supposed to be announced” lenses for FE mount was a pretty big pain in the ass rumor too. 8!?! Try none.
SR5 – it will not ship by March. It will not even be announced. You read it here first. You’re welcome.
The announcement of a future announcement will be announced! Nikon style. 😉
It’s Difficult to Make Predictions, Especially About the Future
I think this camera will actually ship April 1st
we can expect surely a A6xxx but maybe not a A7000 as Sony managers are in love with their FE line and will not want to spoil the FE camea sales
I guess that’s the day they finally announce a decent lens line-up for the apsc E-mount line 😉
sony is disappointing me. bought an expensive camera but no lens have been announced at all. 8 lenses my ass
I don’t think there is anything wrong with a 1.5 to 2 year update cycle for this body. I’d be surprised if the a7 update cycle doesn’t get bumped to at least 2 years.
Ordinarily I’d agree but the a7sii seemed like a temporary make-do until Sony could impliment it’s new AF technology onto the a7s chip and until it could finally internal or at least external 10 bit 4k.
Well, the a7s being video centric the AF is a secondary concern. Additionally, adding all those PDaf points to the sensor could, from what ice read, decrease sensitivity.
My guess is that A6xxx was put off because of the success of A6000. As long as A6000 kept selling well, it made little sense to bring out a new model.
I never got the A6000. Not because it was bad but because my NEX-7 was so good. It’s now the oldest digital camera I have.
Sony’s realeases have always been shrouded in mystery. The month after I bought my NEX-7, they were cleared at a much lower price. Then A7 was released, which at first appeared to be the successor.
The NEX-7 is a pleasure to use, like an extension of my hand. I know I’ll always get the pictures when I use it. I do hope Sony comes out with a camera that keeps the same usability but takes a big step forward in terms of technology.
The leaked documents from the Sony hack were enough to indicate that Sony DID have something planned for last spring – obviously it got delayed. Why? I’m not sure, many of the rumors indicated 4k thermal performance issues, which does make sense given the 4k recording issues some of Sony’s larger bodies had.
That said, since the A6000 continued to sell well, once the plan slipped, my guess is Sony deprioritized it compared to their FF cameras, especially once the A7RII was so well received. Sometime in the fall, one of their execs outright said they didn’t feel a need to rush out a new APS-C body specifically because the existing ones were selling so well (as in: dominating their category on Amazon as one example).
That’s the myth which gets retold over and over again until it becomes a “truth.” The “leaked documents” really didn’t tell us anything.
Why not go into a new direction and bring out an aps-c with in lens shutter? An RX-1 with interchangeable lenses at a moderate price point.
I think they are ready to get rid of the shutter.
BSI, stacked sensor can avoid rolling shutter without losing DR.
I’d like to see already a “pro level” aps-c camera from sony. A new BSI or already an aps-c stacked sensor with not too high mpixels… and take the Body of the current A7m2 inkl. IBIS and call it “a5”.
Get my money…Sony 😉
Why would you need to keep pixel count low if everything has been taken care already by engineers?
Physics…..
you can never have enough Speed & low light performance… its still an aps-c sensor. Do we realy need more than 24mpixels on an aps-c sensor?
Aaand i forgott… no lowpass filter;-)
No, we really don’t need more pixels.
It depends, if they make one with on sensor HDR you’ll want the many pixels as possible.
It has been shown by Sony in an article that may have been on here long ago that more pixels do not mean less performance with the modern tech they have developed. I love the increase in crop ability the jump from my 5n 16mp to the A6000 24mp gave me. I would like 30 or 32mp with the other goodies you have mentioned. As far as the low pass filter goes good point. Make it like the RX1 MKII where it is off, low and high. Perfect 🙂
Specficially, BSI negates a lot of the traditional disadvantages of high-density sensors – which is why it was used in small-sensor cameras first.
Physics does not care if 100 photons are catches by 1 cell or by 4 adjacent cells. With technical improvements like BSI higher pixel count is no more a low light disadvantage any more – in theory. In Praxis the A7Rii showed that it is kind of close to A7S lowlight performance. (If you don’t go into the extreme and start a comparison between an unusable and a very unusable pic)
Sony have stated that they are now going to be focusing on FF – FE – the fact that there have not been any lenses for a long time and no rumors of any new indicates to me that we can kiss E APS-C mount bodies good buy from Sony – I personally think they will aquifer Olympus Camera division in the next years and therefore inherit the M43 so the E APS-C will have to go – it was interesting that when Sony bought a big chunk of Olympus camera division that so soon after Sony had IBIS in their bodies –
So when that happens you have the EM1 M2 except not APS-C but M43 with a Sony sensor – It is ironic that Sony is now making M43 sensors – Panasonic is using one of them in the GX8 –
The EM1 M2 or EM2 will most likely have a stacked sensor similar to the EM5 m2 – and the EM1 m2 or EM2 is a Pro body – I really do not see Sony producing a Pro E APS-C mirrorless body – they have always considered the E mount a beginner camera – except they attempted to make it a more Pro with the NEX7 but it utterly failed – the NEX7 had a good sensor for that time – but it had lots of other issues like a terrible menu system – no Mode Dial etc etc
APS-C RX700 would be a great companion to my Minolta X-700.
NEX7 design with a fast pancake prime between 28-45mm… Dreamy.
Will ship in March – odd that there are no real rumors of specs – there should be some leaks of real specs by now – but we have been getting rumors about the NEX7 m2 or A7000 for how long now ?? 🙂 the A6000 has been very good seller for Sony – and the main reason is price – ( of course a good camera ) – so I cant see Sony putting IBIS and 4K and a new sensor and what else new into the A6100 as it would have to bump the price to over $1000 – for crying out loud the RX100m4 is over $999 and a 5min 4k which is a joke –
The other thing that is troubling is that there have not been any E APS-C mount lenses from Sony in a long time – there are no rumors that there will ever be any more –
My speculation is that Sony as they say will put priority on FE mount – so like they said there will be a cheaper FF E mount – meaning cheeper then the A7 and A7M2 – indicating that they are about to DROP the E APS-C mount – I have a gut feeling that at some point Sony will acquire Olympus Camera division – so at that point they will have the M43 mount – so the E APS-C will not be practical – It is interesting that the A6000 has been one of their best sellers however the E APS-C mount has been poorly supported lens wise –