The Sony a7 III Is the Bestselling Mirrorless Camera in Japan, Has Outsold Nikon and Canon Combined

The Sony a7 III Is the Bestselling Mirrorless Camera in Japan, Has Outsold Nikon and Canon Combined

New sales data has revealed that Sony is leading the mirrorless market in Japan. Despite Nikon making their mark with the Z 6 and Z 7, and Canon with its EOS R and RP, it is Sony who has prevailed when it comes to sales figures.

The data, published by BCN, has now showed that Sony’s a7 III is the runaway success, managing to outsell all of Nikon and Canon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras combined.

Upon its release back in February of this year, the Canon EOS RP initially outsold the a7 III. However, in the months since, their positions have switched. Canon’s sales fell, while Sony’s continued to rise. Despite retailing at some $700 higher than the EOS RP, the a7 III took a leading 42% market share, as of April 2019. The Canon EOS RP, Canon EOS R, and Nikon Z 6 were the second, third, and fourth best-selling full-frame mirrorless cameras, respectively. However, their sales combined only account for 35% of the market. Sony’s a7 II takes fifth place.

So, why is the a7 III so favorable in Japan? BCN speculates that the EOS RP’s fall in sales could be due to full-frame mirrorless camera customers being “less sensitive to price differences.” They also suggested that Sony’s ecosystem already has a large number of native lenses, meanwhile the Canon RF system still currently only has four.

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A 28-year-old self-taught photographer, Jack Alexander specialises in intimate portraits with musicians, actors, and models.

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44 Comments

Fear not, it'll spread. :P

Maybe Sony is selling more because it’s a better camera?

"The Sony a7 III Is the Bestselling Full Frame Mirrorless Camera in Japan, Has Outsold Nikon and Canon Combined"

Fixed that for you, seems you missed a couple of words.

It's well deserved. Good to finally see canon loosing the first place after years of stagnation and zero r&d investment.

Congratulations on all the success of people who picked the correct camera brand. That’s the hardest thing you can possibly do as a photographer. Your consumer choice will reward you for the rest of your life. You deserve to be celebrated.

:D

And now if you take a bad photo, you can't blame it on the camera anymore :(

That explains the growth trend of sterile and color imbalanced photos in people's portfolios.

Your portfolio must be named, “unworthy” since it’s not even good enough for you to post.

I want to see what percentage of those sales that are the cheaper Japanese language only version of the A7iii.

I went from Nikon to Fuji and my friend has the A7R3,I never understood what people mean by saying bad colour science until I saw the results from a Sony camera.Truly amazing camera but the colours are mess

Really ? Please do tell Bill.

I'm reffering only to Jpeg sooc.were bit washed out but nothing can't fix in lightroom

Gotcha, but it's kind of pointless since we compare jpeg engines then, and now we have gone from talking accurate color reproduction to very subjective taste and preferences. If one rely on jpeg engine Sony has not been the strongest in the past, that I'll give you. I would not know though since I haven't shot jpegs for over a decade. :-)

I never shot jpegs until i switched to fuji...They are that good...especially for portraits and weddings,ready to go with only minor fixes like straighten the images

In a blind test even Canon users preferred the colors from Sony over others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMfCDujQywY

I saw that video and it's funny

it demonstrates that Sony has the best color science for the majority of photographers by a wide margin.

Bill Zidis Be careful making comments like that around this part of the internet. “Most” people that defend Sony mirrorless colors don’t have much hands on experience with other brands.

Also, if you’re a hybrid shooter, none of these cameras can shoot raw natively, which greatly impacts the colors when shooting video.

I believe the a7R3 or even the A3 is better camera in specs and image quality than my Fuji's but i tested them one week and i didn't like the handling and the ecosystem. I'm not a hater,i appreciate every company

That's fine that personal preference, but claiming Sony has messed up colors without any references to back it up is kind of pointless.

As for Chad's assumption that Sony shooters have no experience with other brands.. well that says more about him than anything else...

Everything is personal anyway,i chose a camera system over the other because according to what i believe is better for me and my needs. Doesn mean there are bad cameras and good. You gain something you lose something

Correct color reproduction shooting raw with a GMB can, of course, be objective. but the test needs to be controlled to draw any conclusion. Such as shooting raw, same raw converter, lens, etc.

Comments like Sony colors are bad or messed up are just pointless and ignorant at best. (I realize your comments was not meant as such, so I'm not counting you)

There are so many factors that come into play when we start to talk color rendition, which I bet the majority that spout of these kinds of comments really has no clue about.

In the end, as you state, we choose the tools that work best for us and our needs. Happy shooting!

Paul Lindqvist I said “most” Sony fanboys haven’t had much experience with other brands with proper color science and management. You fanboy-ism says more about you than my statement.

It you need any references, look at any review from any respected photographer or filmmaker and they all say the same thing. The Sony specs and AF are amazing, but their color and ergonomics are lacking on their mirrorless offerings.
No company currently makes the perfect camera. With photographs, it’s not as bad since you can manipulate their raw photos more than their compressed video codecs.
IMO, anyone saying otherwise is in denial.

Yeah Chad, you have to excuse me, but I'd take my own experience as well that of the DP's I've worked which has shot with everything from Sony mirrorless to, Alexas and RED's. I'd take that over you generalization and assumptions.

Keep calling every differing opinion fanboyism, if that floats your boat.

Unfortunately I think that you are the one thats assuming. And likewise, everything I said is based on experience.

I shoot with Red cameras, c300 II and the Sony FS7 regularly and the Alexa Mini occasionally. My daily cameras are my 1Dx II and 2 Fuji XT3’s. I sold all of my Panasonic GH5 and canon bodies except the 1Dx II after testing out the Fuji system. It’s an amazing piece of gear especially for the price. We also have 2 Bmpcc 4K cameras in house.

I did gave Sony mirrorless cameras test runs on numerous occasions, but couldn’t stand the feel of the camera nor the colors for non-stylized edits.

I am a DP and colorist who happens to be a color nazi. Everything I said is just my unbiased opinion based on my experience in this industry.

I was a Canon fanboy, but I try to not have biased opinions, but instead one based on hands on experience and not based on forum comments and YouTube reviews by people with biased or views paid on sponsorships.

Unbelievable... "...my camera is better than yours..." Seriously guys, how old are you? It's an article about the Japanese market. Yes, Sony sold more cameras. That's it. Everything else is Kindergarden.

And btw, every brand has it's pros and cons

But, but, but the Nikon Z6 was the best selling camera with two buttons on the front next to the mount with a dedicated photo /video switch. The Canon EOS R was the best selling full frame mirrorless camera with a multifunction touch bar with high bitrate 4k video and a flippy screen. The Sony A6400 was the best selling magnesium body camera with a range finder style EVF and single card slot. The Fujifilm X-T3 was the best selling APS-C mirrorless camera with a soft shutter release button that also has a dedicated shutter ISO and shutter dial.
.
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Canon had the most combined TOTAL camera sales in Japan.

Sony is also visually very appealing, A7 designs are so well balanced. Love it. I think that attracts consumers as well as they are all great cameras anyway.

Same for Fuji and Olympus. I recently took a friend to B&H in Manhattan to look at cameras. She said 'no!' to Canon and Nikon with zero hesitation. 'thats a grandpa's camera'.

Shows you that opinions vary. If Sony made the best cameras ever, I wouldn't buy one BECAUSE of its design. Miserable in hand ergonomics. Subjective? Yep! But it's why I've not switched to mirrorless.

Now, Nikon and Canon have chosen to design their mirrorless to closer emulate their DSLR line and had Canon had 2 card slots in the R, I might have switched.

Sony I believe attracts new consumers to the market, which for amateurs, a nice looking design is a major factor. My first camera was a Sony A6000 for 800€, to me as an amateur newbie it was exactly what I was looking for - small not to attract attention, cool looking and cheap. Only later I found out that I was capable to get amazing quality images. After a while I started doing photography professionally, yes, with the same A6000. Being agile helps me so much so I don't know, as I said, they are all great cameras.
Cannot comment much about hand ergonomics as I don't know what that is. Is it about being comfortable to aim?

I think you might be onto something there. I got into digital photography a bit more seriously by using a GoPro (don't laugh) as it was discrete but powerful. I then went on to invest in an A7ii.

When you get into your 60s and arthritis creeps in, ergonomics becomes a whole lot more important. It begins to make the difference in whether you can continue working at all.

Makes sense, a young professional with disposable income will buy a Sony or Fuji over almost any DSLR. Since CaNikon are so synonymous with DSLR they will have trouble gaining traction on their mirrorless systems.

The older, resistant to change, crowd will probably never sway from their comfort zone but as in all things they will be left behind.

FYI: Their are always exceptions to the rule but pointing them out doesn’t disprove anything.

if this is about Mirrorless and not Full Frame Mirrorless, then why no mention of Fujifilm and Olympus?
Fuji's XT3 and XT30 are killing it in every aspect compared to the full frame mirrorless cameras. And are quire a bit more comfortable for the wallet.

Dont like toy cameras. I'll stick with my D4.

I’m praying that someone helps you edit in the future because right now you’re destroying every file you get from your “professional” setup.

Sony and Canon make good cameras. I understand that Canon came out already with some good glass for its system. But Very Expensive. Ok with adaptor it works with old lenses. For people without Canon lenses maybe buyers see more value in Sony 3rd generation system especially since it's gotten so much favorable press and was out of the gate before Canon's ff mirrorless system.

Maybe someone of the Sony fan boys can tell me how to record raw on card1 and jpeg on card2? And why accepts slot 2 only slow performing cards.

Instruction manuals come with every camera and are available to download from Sony in just about every language; you could start there.

Sincerely - Your Favorite Fanboy

HaHa, thanks Eric, have a printed one but couldn't find anything about it (and sorry, didn't want to offend anybody ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqWpsXb8Ryw

That took two seconds on google to find and as for the "slow performing cards", my Sony card has a read speed of 260 and write of 100. Does just find in my second slot and has never slowed my A7Riii or A7iii down at all.

Sincerely - Still the Reining Champion Fanboy