Suzanne Humphries
Without any fanfare or discussion, Sony seems to be pulling the plug on selling its A-mount DSLR cameras. The cameras in question—the a99 II, the a77 II, and the a68 models—are no longer listed on Sony’s website.
Even third-party retailers are listing the cameras as “no longer available.” The change was first noticed by SonyAlpha Rumors, though Sony has yet to make a statement and confirm this. There is no exact knowledge on the specific date these cameras were phased out or when Sony apparently made this decision, only that they are no longer available.
Given Sony’s fairly recent shift of focus from DSLRs (Sony uses the term DSLT, actually, for fixed translucent mirrors) to mirrorless cameras, the change does make sense. In fact, the last new DSLR Sony announced was the A99 II, announced back in 2016, though it did release an adapter in September 2020 that would allow E-mount users to use A-mount lenses.
The Sony a77 II debuted in 2014 with a whopping 79 autofocus points (including 15 that were cross-type). Sony’s a68 was released in 2015 and had 4D focus. Lastly, the a99 II came in 2016 with a glorious backside-illuminated full-frame 42.4MP Exmor R CMOS sensor and a “gapless on chip” design, which surprised everyone as it came out an entire year after reports abounded that Sony would not be making any more A-mount models.
via Engadget
