Sony announces 'budget' full-frame A7C

Not long after Sony's announcement of the video-oriented A7S III, the company has announced a new full-frame mirrorless camera - the A7C.

Looking more like the A6600, the A7C has an all-new compact body with an electronic viewfinder in the corner. On paper at least, it looks to marry much of the technology in Sony's A7III with the smaller body of the A6000 series cameras.

The A7C weighs in at just 509 grams with a battery and memory card (compared to 650 grams for the A7III and 503 grams for the A6600). There's a 3-inch, 950K dot fully-articulating flip-out display, and five axis in-body stabilisation with five stops of shake reduction. There’s just a single card slot, but it is the faster UHS-II type. 

Along with a 24.2MP sensor, the A7C uses Sony’s hybrid phase-detection AF, with 693 phase-detection points in full-frame mode, along with human and animal eye-tracking, object tracking, predictive control and adjustable AF transition speeds in movie mode. 

The drive speed is a little slower than the A6600 (11 fps), but it matches the A7III (10 fps with continuous autofocus), and there's an 2.36 million dot EVF, compared to 3.6 million dots on the A7III. 

Video specs are solid, with 4K video at up to 30 fps, or 1080p at up to 120 fps. However all video is limited to 4:2:0 8-bit and 100Mbps bit rates. There is also S-Log2 and S-Log3. 

The A7C has the same NP-FZ100 battery as the A6600, which Sony says will get up to 680 shots with the viewfinder or 740 shots using the LCD monitor.

The A7C also has a USB-C Type 3.2 port that can charge the battery, along with an HDMI micro and both headphone and microphone ports.

The new A7C compact full-frame camera will be available in a black or two tone black/silver design from early October 2020 for an RRP of $3,299. It will also be available with a new FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 zoom lens for an RRP of $3,899. In the meantime, you can find out more at Sony.