Sony a7 V Tops Map Camera’s Sales Charts for Third Straight Month

The Sony a7 V sits atop Map Camera’s monthly digital camera sales rankings for a third straight month. The Ricoh GR IV Monochrome also had a superb debut despite its high price premium, charting just behind the a7 V.

Given that camera manufacturers themselves do not share specific sales information for camera models, and many retailers outside Japan don’t publish sales charts, Japanese photo retailers are often the best, most reliable sources for camera popularity. Map Camera’s data is particularly excellent, as the large photography retailer provides monthly sales charts for new and used digital cameras and caters to a dedicated audience of enthusiasts and professional photographers.

In the case of the Sony a7 V’s chart-topping performance for the third straight month, though, it’s no aberration. Not only has it performed well at other camera retailers in Japan, but it also had a very successful launch, per PetaPixel‘s sources in the U.S.

“The Sony a7 V has secured the top spot for three consecutive months since its release,” Map Camera writes in a translated blog post. “The a7 V achieved record-breaking sales in its launch month, securing the number one position by a significant margin. Perhaps as a result of this initial success, it experienced temporary shortages the following month. While it experienced similar periods of instability this time as well, it still managed to maintain its top position, demonstrating its immense popularity.”

“Concerns had been raised about how its higher price point compared to previous standard models might affect sales, but these appear to have been unfounded,” Map Camera continues.

While the fairly expensive a7 V’s continued success is very interesting, so too is the second best-selling camera of the month, the brand-new Ricoh GR IV Monochrome. The excellent new compact camera comes with a hefty premium over the standard GR IV, costing $2,199.95 in the U.S., up from $1,499.95. That’s a nearly 50 percent price increase for the monochrome-only version. That hasn’t stopped Japanese photographers from buying the GR IV Monochrome, though.

Released in Japan on February 13, the GR IV Monochrome has been “extremely popular,” Map Camera explains. As is almost always the case with GR-series cameras, the GR IV Monochrome’s total sales volume will be heavily dependent upon supply, as the camera sold out.

Skipping ahead to seventh place, another Ricoh GR landed on the best-sellers list, the GR IIIx. This camera swaps in a longer 40mm-equivalent lens for the GR III/IV’s 28mm-equivalent prime. The GR IIIx has been very popular since its launch in 2021, and Ricoh has not yet developed a new GR IVx camera or even announced that one is in the works. There is clearly a market for it.

The top 10 lists of best-selling new and used cameras are available on Map Camera’s website, but one more quick note to make about the February sales charts is Fujifilm’s continued success. It seems that every month, Fujifilm has the most, or nearly the most, different models on Map Camera’s sales charts. Last month was no different. Fujifilm had four of the 10 best-selling cameras: the X100VI in fourth, the X-E5 in fifth, the X-T30 III in sixth, and the X-M5 rounding out the top 10.

Image credits: Sony. Header photo created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.com.