Industry News: The Sony Alpha a7c leaks ahead of the official announcement

[AEWest]

This looks like a really neat little camera. There is definitely a market for small body cameras and this looks like it would be the smallest full frame ILC on the market, if you can get glass small enough to take advantage of that size. If I were a Sony shooter, I'd probably be pretty interested in this as a secondary body which I could cary with little weight/size penalty. It also looks pretty inconspicuous which may be interesting for those doing street photography, or those shooting in countries where big gear collects more attention.

It would pair well with some f/4 zooms.

 

[stevensteven]

Sony tried with the RX1 but you cant beat physics just yet for lens size, tho I read an MIT research where they figured out how to make lenses less then 1” thick, even a 300mm!

What are you talking about ! What about Leica M lenses?

I’m out right now shooting with the summilux 35 1.4. Better than any Sony or canon lens ever made. Tiny as hell. It’s a piece of art.

 

[AEWest]

I think this thing is going to cost $2K, but have worse specs than the R6, so no dice there.

I know it's not realistic, but I do wish Canon would put out an IBIS equipped body in the sub $2K range.

I would love an R Mark 2 with IBIS and joystick. For my uses just about perfect.

 

[ethanz]

Comparing this to the A73 with the mount... It isn't much smaller. Maybe someone can show me how it is smaller besides the removed EVF.

 

[MaxDiesel]

As a travel photographer, I always try to pack lightweight but having a small camera body is too much of a compromise for me. Even the A7iii feels unconfortable in my hands. What I would appreciate are some small lenses, something like 15-35mm f/7.1, compact not-so-fast fish eye, compact 70-300 (I'm fine with f/7.1)... I use the 24-105 f/4 for 80% shots but I need to carry extra 2-3kg for those 20% of shots.

You’ll be happy, I read that Sony is also launching a new collapsible 28-60mm f/4-5.6 lens.

 

[jam05]

The fierce competition between camera makers seems to be creating a new golden age for photography. There are so many amazing cameras out there and they each keep trying to make them better, whether they are useful for your needs or not.

Camera sales have been tanking over the last few year actually.

 

[privatebydesign]

Camera sales have been tanking over the last few year actually.

Yes but they are still higher than pre-digital historic norms.

 

[tiggy@mac.com]

I was using an a6600 (similar form factor) for a remote camera to be left out in the woods for months at a time. Just sold it recently. If it were full frame, I'd have probably kept it for the purpose. Sony's battery management software was better than Canon's in terms of its waking up/sleeping, etc. when dealing with external batteries. But it turns out the RP is even better at the battery stuff now, and is much cheaper than this new one.

I think this will sell well in the market for which it was intended (vloggers, street photographers and travelers), but is too late to be a secondary camera to a Canon system.

 

[MaxDiesel]

What are you talking about ! What about Leica M lenses?

I’m out right now shooting with the summilux 35 1.4. Better than any Sony or canon lens ever made. Tiny as hell. It’s a piece of art.

What are you talking about... the original message wished for a FF camera sized like an old Point and Shoot. Only the RX1 is a FF Point and Shoot style/size camera. Tho your comment comes in with a 5,000$ manual focus lens, how is that equivalent to P/S camera. The Leica is a beautiful small lens, many manual focus lenses are tiny... but way off topic.

 

[lyleschmitz]

This thing would pair awesome with those tiny, cheap Samyang AF lenses that just got released for the Sonys. Fantastic travel camera. I really wish Canon would make a small rangefinder style body

 

[tmroper]

Yet another 24 MP sensor camera seems pointless to me. But maybe that really is the new APS-C, as far as the market goes.

 

[tmroper]

Only the RX1 is a FF Point and Shoot style/size camera.

So is the Leica Q/Q2.

 

[SteveC]

I was using an a6600 (similar form factor) for a remote camera to be left out in the woods for months at a time. Just sold it recently. If it were full frame, I'd have probably kept it for the purpose. Sony's battery management software was better than Canon's in terms of its waking up/sleeping, etc. when dealing with external batteries. But it turns out the RP is even better at the battery stuff now, and is much cheaper than this new one.

I think this will sell well in the market for which it was intended (vloggers, street photographers and travelers), but is too late to be a secondary camera to a Canon system. View attachment 192731

That head really "pops" for a good 3D effect.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Hardly a new concept: whack a FF sensor in an A6600 body all for the same money as an A7III.

 

[peconicgp]

I hope Canon offers something like this. God this is exactly what I've been wanting.

Canon please make something like this... RP sensor (or better yet R6 sensor), NO EVF, NO IBIS. better yet, offer a recessed sensor and fixed F2.8 lens. (f2 even better)

Basically a full frame M6 mk II. I have one and it is a surprisingly functional and capable camera with a usable small design.

 

[secant]

Wait so it's a new concept but Sigma FP already did it?

Lets look at the price for this. Idk I feel like this is probably Sony trying to use parts from different cameras to make another model just to sell off those parts and make some money, before they design a new camera.

But either way since I bought a A6300 when it first came out and then saw them release the A6500 just eight months later I've sworn off of Sony. I've seen a lot of comparisons between the A7SIII and the R5 but I think there's really no comparison, yes maybe you can argue the A7SIII is a better video camera, but the R5 is more of a hybrid camera because it does really well in stills photography as well. Some people actually think the R5 is perhaps the best wildlife birding camera because of its animal eye AF and 45 mega pixel sensor. Try shooting birds and then crop 3x with the A7SIII's 12mp sensor. It's an apples to oranges comparison in which the A7SIII is a dedicated low light video camera where as the R5 is pretty much a hybrid thats good at both stills and video.

In the end if the A7c is priced high, people would think why not add a bit of money to get the A7SIII or R5.

 

[mb66energy]

A 35mm f2 will be superb with this. For me.

I never liked the 35mm focal length 20 years ago ... but after getting an RP with the RF 1.8 35 MACRO I learned to like 35mm Great compromise for low light and fair close ups

 

[mb66energy]

Wonder how it will be priced. Would the upcoming cheaper Eos R have similar specs to this at less than 999$.
But I don't get those minuscule and cheap full frame cameras. In the end you're gonna mount on them a big and expensive lens. And if you mount a lens with modest focal range and aperture, what's the point of going full frame? What's that on the camera? A 28-60 f4-5.6? Please. For that focal range it should be an f4. But it needs to be small so...

My observation is that (1) FF exploits more final resolution/detail from lenses and (2) the transistions (sky, leaves, etc) are smoother, more realistic - that transforms just to the cheapo EOS RP.
And about lenses: For landscape f/8 is fine usually and an adapted EF 40 or the RF 35 are compact & light & sport very good IQ wide open and go to excellent stopped down to f/4.
And cheap means "accessible" for those who do not have the money but like to have better IQ or those who have the money but do not want to spend it (like me, because I am waiting for the "perfect camera")

 

[padam]

Hardly a new concept: whack a FF sensor in an A6600 body all for the same money as an A7III.

It probably has more in common with the A7III or A7SIII than the A6600 (starting with the the screen ratio, which is not 16:9)
You can't just replace the APS-C sensor with a FF one in a tiny body like this one, it is more complicated than that (but you can probably do the reverse of that like doing an EOS R body with an APS-C sensor, if the camera was designed to be FF in the first place, e.g. bigger).

 

[DBounce]

Wait so it's a new concept but Sigma FP already did it?

Lets look at the price for this. Idk I feel like this is probably Sony trying to use parts from different cameras to make another model just to sell off those parts and make some money, before they design a new camera.

But either way since I bought a A6300 when it first came out and then saw them release the A6500 just eight months later I've sworn off of Sony. I've seen a lot of comparisons between the A7SIII and the R5 but I think there's really no comparison, yes maybe you can argue the A7SIII is a better video camera, but the R5 is more of a hybrid camera because it does really well in stills photography as well. Some people actually think the R5 is perhaps the best wildlife birding camera because of its animal eye AF and 45 mega pixel sensor. Try shooting birds and then crop 3x with the A7SIII's 12mp sensor. It's an apples to oranges comparison in which the A7SIII is a dedicated low light video camera where as the R5 is pretty much a hybrid thats good at both stills and video.

In the end if the A7c is priced high, people would think why not add a bit of money to get the A7SIII or R5.

I don’t think Sigma already did this. The fp, while great in it’s own right, is extremely lacking in some important areas:

• No AF - while it technically has AF, in practice it is unusable.
• No image stabilization (IBIS or Electronic)
• No EVF
• No flip screen

Most will find the Sony to be much easier to shoot with.