Sony Just Announced Two New Full Frame Cameras with Zero Fanfare

Sony Just Announced Two New Full Frame Cameras with Zero Fanfare

Sony has very quietly released two new cameras that bring incremental upgrades to the a7R III and a7R IV.

The new a7R IIIa and a7R IVa bring a minor update to the two bodies, bumping the resolution of the rear tilting LCD screen from 1,440,000 dots to 2,359,296 dots and bringing a small improvement in battery performance. Interestingly, the articulating screen on the a7S III and the tilting screen on the recently released a1 — both 1,440,000 dots — remain unchanged.

In addition, Sony has removed its logo from below the LCD screen and boosted the performance of the USB port.

What has prompted the changes is unclear and the product pages on the Sony website still list the original products under their original product codes — the ILCE-7RM3 and  ILCE-7RM4 — as well as the new products — ILCE-7RM3a and ILCE-7RM4a — albeit without prices listed for the updated versions. There is currently no price information available for the newly announced cameras.

Speculation as to what has led to Sony’s announcement and to why it has been made so quietly includes the possibility that certain components are becoming harder to source and that a bigger announcement could disrupt sales for retailers stocking the older models. Neither of the new cameras has been listed on B&H Photo.

Do you have any thoughts on what led to these upgrades? Will you now be hoping to pick up an a7R III or a7R IV "Classic" at a discount? Let us know in the comments below.

Andy Day's picture

Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fairly useless dog. He has an MA in Sociology & Photography which often makes him ponder what all of this really means.

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11 Comments

Too many A7R3 and A7R4 on the market. Sony needs new model numbers so they can keep the retail price up.

If they'd updated the A7R3a to include the real weather sealing, that would have been much more interesting.

How many cameras do we need?
There are more cameras in the market then the photographers. Plus we have good smartphones can take great images.
Soon we are going have to export the spare cameras in Mars.

Tons of older fully funtional cameras too. I wonder if eventually the used market prices will crash with so many cameras out there.

Sony will alienate all thise who just bought the A1 4 weeks ago with the inferior LCD screen. If they were smart, the would retrofit every A1 with the new screen. This is shitty Sony marketing. Talk about a decision rhat could push people to other brands like Canon

yeah, this is an embarrassment for a flagship product to have a fisher price lcd screen. the r5 has a 2.1m pixel lcd screen and has way more functionality.

Should I or not ....... I just might have to upgrade lol

Upgrade the camera to get a higher res lcd?

The Sony a7S III sell for around $3500 with its 12 mp LOW LIGHT ability and PS new enhance you get flawless 48 mp IMAGES if you need to print big....this is MAYBE the best of all available cameras on the market today. This PS release also brings back into play previous BIG DOT sensors.

HUM!!!!!

I own an A7R4 and A7lll. I could care less about the LCD screen. I have been pondering picking up an A7R3 for the mid size sensor, With the ''new A7R3a'' the older model with out the ''A'' should be cheaper. I will pick one up.

Just purchased a Sony A7rii with 2000 clicks minty fresh, i am keeping all my Nikon glass for my D800, but thinking about an adapter before buying zeiss Sony glass. Needed a 4k dci and 4k full video solution that can shoot hi-res stills as well. New resolution for the flip panel or even eyepiece view doesn't help the image, give me focus perfection on video, better battery power and better frame scratch resistance and weather sealing first.

Honestly there’s way too many cameras I think all brands should take a moment and chill