Sony A7S availability details are finally official

Sony has announced the release date and the price of the A7S, a mirrorless camera with a full frame image sensor and E-mount lens support announced in early April 2014.

There are several smartphones which are capable of recording videos at 4K resolution. For some odd reasons, the dedicated camera industry has failed to release affordable products that can capture 4K footage.

Thankfully, everything has changed earlier in 2014 when Panasonic has announced the GH4, a Micro Four Thirds camera that shoots 4K videos. As stated above, Sony has quickly unveiled its own 4K camera in the body of the A7S, but the company has failed to announce its release date and price.

The announcement has been made now, right after the introduction of the Sony RX100 III compact camera. Unfortunately, the news is not quite good, as the device will be somewhat expensive, while its launch date is still two months away.

The official Sony A7S availability details are in: early July for $2,499.99

Sony A7S will be released in early July for a price of around $2,500.

Sony has announced that the A7S release date is July 2014. The Panasonic GH4 has already become available at some stores where it has quickly gone out of stock. However, it seems like the stocks will be replenished as of May 25.

This gives the GH4 a two-month advantage over the A7S and, when you consider the price tags of both cameras, it is obvious that Panasonic has the edge regarding availability.

Speaking of the price, Sony will sell the A7S for exactly $2,499.99. This is $800 more expensive than the GH4 and it is a huge problem for the PlayStation maker.

It is widely-known that the E-mount full frame mirrorless camera cannot record 4K videos internally. It can only do so with the help of an external recorder, such as the Atomos Shoghun, which costs around $2,000.

Furthermore, the GH4 provides a much quicker autofocus system as well as support for 10-bit 4:2:2 output whereas the A7S offers only 8-bit 4:2:2 output.

Sony A7S still has its trump cards in the battle against the Panasonic GH4

The advantages of the A7S are a full frame sensor and a maximum ISO sensitivity of 409,600. However, the FF sensor has only 12.2 megapixels, while such high ISO settings are adding a lot of noise, so you will not be using them so often.

Amazon has already put the Sony A7S up for pre-order at a price of $2,498, while the Panasonic GH4 can be pre-ordered for $1,698.

By taking all variables into consideration, which camera would you buy and why? Let us know in the comments section below!