First Sony FX3 image leaks – looks a lot like an Alpha (it even has the logo)

The first photo of the Sony FX3 has leaked and it shows a rather interesting design – at least, interesting for a camera in the FX lineup. It’s not so unusual for Sony Alpha mirrorless users, though, and particularly not A7S II and A7S III users who’ve been using this form factor of camera for a while now. In fact, it looks so much like the Sony’s typical mirrorless form factor that it even has an Alpha logo.

The image, naturally, comes via Nokishita, and while there’s only a photo with no specs, it has been registered with the FCC. It’s expected to have 8K video and share many features similar to the Sony A7S III.

It’s unusual to see a dedicated video camera with the ILME code instead of the usual PXW code (like the Sony FX9), although recently released Sony FX6 is also ILME and looks nothing like this. It’s also quite amusing to me to see companies using this form factor for more serious video cameras. We saw it with the Blackmagic Pocket 4K and Pocket 6K, Sigma have been espousing the benefits of video on the Sigma fp. And while it is part of the alpha stills lineup, the A7S III is undoubtedly designed for video. Now, they’re doing it with the FX3.

It’s a far cry from the “DSLRs aren’t designed for video, the form factor’s terrible! You need to buy all these extra bits to make it work! Get a real video camera!” proclamations when the Canon 5D Mark II was released with its video features. Now, more and more people realise that no matter what camera you get, whether it’s a mirrorless or a more traditional style video/cinema camera, you still need to buy the extra bits. And the small form factor, typically used for stills cameras, is proving to be quite valuable for video shooters, due to the compact size and low weight.

Also a little odd is that this camera is rumoured to be able to shoot 8K. That might not seem very strange given the recent Sony A1 announcement, which also shoots 8K, but when compared to the FX6 and FX9, you’d think this would be a lower-end and not-as-capable model. If it does shoot 8K, I expect “the catch” will become immediately apparent once Sony actually announces the camera.

There’s no news on when Sony will officially announce the new FX3, but we’ll keep you posted as we find out more.

[via Nokishita]