Sony discontinues A-Mount DSLR camera models

Sony discontinues A-Mount DSLR camera models
Sony discontinues A-Mount DSLR camera models

It seems Sony has quietly discontinued the last of its DSLRs. The a99 II, a77 II, and a68 cameras are no longer available from dealers and they are removed from the company’s official website.

Sony Alpha Rumors first spotted that Sony’s full list of cameras on its official website is no longer showing any A mount DSLRs. As of now, it is not clear, when exactly Sony discontinued these products. Sony was not immediately available to make a comment.

The most recent news involving Sony’s DSLR mount was dated September 2020. At that time, Sony announced an adapter dubbed LA-EA5 adapter that would bring the company’s mirrorless autofocus performance to A-Mount lenses.

The adapter promised to deliver “full support” for focal-plane phase-detection AF, wide-area focal phase-detection AF coverage, real-time Eye AF for both humans and animals, and real-time Tracking and AF/AE tracking for SSM/SAM lenses at up to 11 frames per second.

Sony discontinues A-Mount DSLR camera models

Also, the adapter was designed to make the transition to mirrorless easier for Sony DSLR holdouts. Before this adapter, Sony made its last announcement regarding A-Mount in 2016. It should be noted that back in 2014, Sony launched a77 II and even back then, there was an overwhelming sentiment that Sony would soon abandon it.

The 2014’s model impressed with its 79 autofocus points, 15 of which were cross-type. It came with translucent mirror technology built into Sony’s SLTs and offered 12fps for up to 60 high res JPEGs with continuous autofocus.

Sony launched a68 in 2015. It came with 4D autofocus. It used 79 AF points. At that time, Sony claimed, this device is the world’s best among interchangeable cameras with dedicated phase-detection AF sensors.

The a99 II was launched in 2016 and it goes down as the final DSLR from Sony. It sported a new backside-illuminated full-frame 42.4MP Exmor R CMOS sensor with a special “gapless-on-chip” design for improved light gathering and fast data readout. With this device, Sony first integrated 4D autofocus into a full-frame sensor.

Back in 2015, some reports suggested Sony has no plan in going forward with the A-mount system. However, quite surprisingly, the company launched a99 II in the next year which indicated the company might not discontinue the format. Now, it seems, factors like poor sales or company direction has resulted in the demise of A-Mount.

Alice Jacob
Alice is the senior writer, responsible for managing news updates at thenewspocket.com. She is also very passionate about Stock market updates and setup and always looking around to use them in an innovative way in daily life.