Sony promising more APS-C mirrorless lenses and cameras, no plans to go medium format
Sony did not announce a new APS-C mirrorless camera before, during or after the Photokina show as some have suggested. In a recent interview, Sony confirmed that a new APS-C based mirrorless camera will be announced by the CP+ show that will take place at the end of February (February 28th - March 3th).
Today Dpreview published their interview with Kenji Tanaka, VP and Senior General Manager at Sony - here is a quick recap:
Sony a7S III is coming "but it will take time":
Q: 4K is becoming a standard across all categories now, and the a7S II is getting rather old. Are you still interested in this market segment?
A: Of course, yes. Our a7S II customers want to create many things, and to meet their demands we are thinking about creating a successor model. But the next model should of course be more than they expect. So we’re planning a future S model right now, but it will take time.
Of course, yes. Our a7S II customers want to create many things, and to meet their demands we are thinking about creating a successor model. But the next model should of course be more than they expect. So we’re planning a future S model right now, but it will take time.
Sony currently has no plans to go medium format:
Q: Do you see any customer demand for sensors larger than full frame?
A: Right now there are a lot of things still to do with full-frame sensors, so at the moment I don’t have any ideas about starting work on new larger imaging sensors.
Sony will release new APS-C mirrorless lenses:
Q: Do you have any plans to release new APS-C lenses?
A: Yes, APS-C is a big market for us. Recently most of our new lenses have been full frame, but APS-C remains a key target.
On the question about a new APS-C mirrorless camera, Sony confirmed that a new model(s) will be announced:
Q: What is your long-term strategy for APS-C and will we ever see another NEX-7 equivalent camera with dual dials ?
A: We have to get customer feedback. The dual dial on the NEX-7, some customers appreciated it, but some customers didn’t. The APS-C market is very important for us, so we will create new models in the APS-C market, but we need to ask customers what kind of models they want.