Sony’s Alpha A7 III full-frame mirrorless camera is killin’ it in Japan

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The latest camera sales data released by BCN, a Japanese retail research firm, has revealed that Sony is Japan’s market leader when it comes to full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The report (first discovered by Canon News) from BCN compares retail sales of the top five selling full-frame mirrorless cameras in Japan and the Sony Alpha A7 III emerges the clear winner.

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Image: BCN

The sales figures in this report are from March and early April 2019 and show that the Canon EOS RP had a pretty good start when it first launched. 

However, a month after its release, the EOS RP sales numbers plummeted, giving the Sony Alpha A7 III the opportunity to overtake. And in that time, the latter outsold not just the EOS RP, but the Canon EOS R, the new Nikon Z7 and its more affordable Z6 sibling combined.

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Steep descent

We found Canon’s statistic to be a little surprising as, previously, the company’s mirrorless M-series snappers (like the EOS M50) have proven successful in their home country of Japan.

It’s also interesting that the EOS RP sales slumped so dramatically as it is a more affordable alternative to the Sony Alpha A7 III. However, in terms of specs, the A7 III outdoes the EOS RP.

BCN, though, suggests that it’s the lack of native lenses for the Canon R-series cameras that has led to the slump. Currently there are four native lenses available for the R-series shooters, with six more arriving this year. Compared to that, Sony already has a huge ecosystem of native optics for its full-frame mirrorless cameras.

Given the infancy of the Canon and Nikon full-frame mirrorless ecosystem, it could just be a matter of time before Sony faces tougher competition.

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