This does not seem promising for the announcement of the Sony A7V. I do not believe Sony will announce a new Alpha camera if it cannot keep up with production of its flagship model.
I stopped at my local retailer in Providence, RI, USA. They are part of a nine location chain of stores. As of yesterday, June 3, they had one (1) preorder in their entire system for the FX2. I don’t know how the camera is being received in other places, but I would call that a disaster for the northeastern United States. I’m an FX6 and FX3 owner who has been waiting to see what Sony plan to do as a replacement for the FX9. After the disaster called FX2, I’m not so sure I trust Sony to keep pace with the changing marketplace. Time will tell of course, and I don’t have to make any decisions in the next few months, but if I don’t see a competitive FX camera by the end of the year, I will start making plans for a change.
UPDATE: Now a Swiss retailer sent me this (SAR note: Did hide the store name as Manuel didn’t tell me if I can make it public):
I’am Manuel and working in Switzerland for a Renthouse & Reseller for Cameragear. I can confirm so far, we have zero (0)! preorders for the FX2 so far… So your statement looks about right to me so far.
This prompted me to contact my contacts in stores, who confirmed that the number of pre-orders for the FX2 is extremely disappointing. Through my affiliate links in the US and the EU, I have received only 6 pre-orders in total. Considering that, statistically speaking, 1-2 of these pre-orders will be canceled, the result is rather disappointing.
I hope this is a lesson for Sony: in a world where the competition never sleeps, you can’t afford to fall behind for long. We need cameras with significant updates and a little enthusiasm!
