Sony is now one of the world’s largest mirrorless camera brands alongside Canon, but in recent years it has strangely ignored one important person – a hobby photographer. Well, according to rumors, that is about to change in the next few months with the launch of the new APS-C camera.
Usually reliable Rumors about Sony Alpha says that “a trusted source told me that there is definitely a new E-mount APS-C camera coming just before or at most early summer.” This means that the “new high-end model” should appear before July.
While further details are scarce, there are apparently two possible contenders for this new model – the Sony A6700 (which will replace the aging Sony A6600) or the more expensive Sony A7000, which could effectively be a kiddie version of the Sony A1 flagship.
For photographers who have been waiting for a Sony APS-C camera for years, this would be great news. The last time Sony released a hobbyist-friendly camera aimed at photographers rather than videographers was in September 2019. That would mean Sony fans would have to wait almost four years, during which time many would understandably jump to the best mirrorless cameras from Canon or Fujifilm.
Sony has certainly been busy releasing new cameras over the past year – we’ve seen the Sony A7R V, Sony ZV-1F, Sony FX30 and Sony A7 IV, as well as some new lenses for both full-frame and APS-C cameras. But the new photocentric the APS-C body with all the latest autofocus, menus, image stabilization and battery tech was a glaring omission – until this year, it seems.
While these are just rumors at this stage, a credible source and the credibility of the claims suggest that any casual photographer with an E-mount lens collection – or any hobbyist photographer looking to buy a new camera – should hold off on buying a new camera. in the next few months and we’ll see what Sony will finally serve APS-C.
Analysis: The long wait is over
Cameras with APS-C sensors have traditionally been favored by street photographers, landscape photographers, and anyone who cannot justify the cost or overall weight of a full-frame camera. This makes the rumored Sony A6700 or A7000 a potentially exciting launch – so why did Sony wait so long?
While this seems like an odd omission, it’s probably a practical answer to big changes in the photography industry. As the best camera phones started to scale heights that simply weren’t possible a few years ago, the demand for less expensive photocentric cameras has declined since the introduction of the Sony A6600 in 2019.
Meanwhile, a huge area of growth for camera makers lies in providing the best YouTube cameras for the ever-expanding creator economy. This is exactly what Sony is focusing on with the introduction of the Sony FX30 (APS-C video camera) and in particular the ZV series of cameras for vloggers and video learners.
The good news for photographers who prefer Sony or already own E-mount lenses is that Sony hasn’t completely abandoned them. Instead, it looks like Sony just prioritized its video and full-frame models, meaning we could finally see class-leading autofocus (and other goodies) coming soon to a photographer-friendly camera APS-C.