The market for cheaper full-frame cameras are an alluring one, and if rumours are anything to go by, Sony is gearing up to release a $1 000 (just under R11 000) full-frame NEX-sized camera at image fair Photokina later this year.
An anonymous source told SonyAlphaRumours “that the camera would be similar to the NEX-5, viewfinder-less, and cost right around $1,000.” If it turns out to be true, it would make the new model the cheapest and smallest full-frame camera.
The NEX-5 was released by Sony in 2010, and is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. It has an APS-C imagine sensor, and is capable of 14.2 megapixel stills and seven frames per second continuous shoot mode. After a successful run, it was eventually replaced by the 16 megapixel NEX-5N in 2011.
The rumour does seem to hold some weight, as Sony patent a design last year that describes Full Frame NEX-5 alike camera body.
But according to PetaPixel, there are a number of reasons why Sony might not develop such a camera.
“There are a lot of reasons why this might not make sense for Sony — for example, at the rumored price point,” the site says, “This camera would likely eat into its APS-C mirrorless sales — but the company did patent a design just like this last year, so there is some indication that this is at least on Sony’s mind.”
Sony’s Alpha 3500, a new E-mount mirrorless camera which replaced the A3000 (which has been the entry-level camera in the Sony range up until now) was released in SA in April 2014.
[Source and image – SonyAlphaRumors]