It's the same old story: Sony announces another new camera that appears to be a complete model, but is difficult to understand amid the fury of those who claim that it does not make any sense. There is no Alpha A7S III written on it.
However, those who see the new Sony FX9 datasheet might be encouraged by what Sony has included here, as many features would be equally practical in a future A7S III model.
The sensor is the most obvious - it's a 19M Exmor R backlit Full Frame chip. This is a considerable advance over the Super 35mm sensor on the old FS7 model; Its resolution alone makes it a logical candidate for inclusion in an A7S III.
The sensor is capable of recording 6K video, though like the sensors inside the company's A9 and A7R IV models, it's downgraded to 4K before launch.
It has a dual ISO base of 800 and 4000, a Super 35mm option, and a hybrid gamma-register mode, while a wide dynamic range exceeding 15 EV is also promised.
Sony's fast hybrid AF system is also built in, thanks to the sensor's phase-detection pixels that work with the more standard contrast-detection AF system. This has long been a feature of the Alpha line, although the system spans 96% of the frame, horizontally and 94% vertically. For comparison, the latest addition to the A7R IV has a system spread across 99.7% of the sensor's height and 74% of its width.
Sony also claims that the FX9 is the world's first full-frame camera to carry a variable electronic ND filter, which would certainly also be a welcome feature in a future Alpha model.
All of that would make perfect sense in a new Alpha A7S III, a model that has had a reputation for some time. However, in the absence of confirmation from society, we will simply have to wait and see if it meets our hopes.