In an Interview with Dpreview Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki have been asked: “Are you interested in creating lenses for Sony’s new Alpha 7 and 7R?”. The answer is:
As a major lens manufacturer we believe it’s our mission to support as many systems as possible but we have limited resources so we have to prioritize. But we’d like to.
I am sure they plan to make lenses for the FE system but as mentioned by CEO Yamaki their resources are very limited. And a proof of these limitations is that the 18-35mm f/1.8 A-mount lens (here at Amazon) got another shipment delay! Read that email from Sigma customer service:
Good morning,
Unfortunately this lens has been pushed back several times by our parent company. As of last week, we are expecting them to come in late March. However, that could possibly change again.
I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Have a great day!
Best regards,[redacted]
Sales Operations Supervisor
Sigma Corp of America
🙁
0 Responses
I think third party lens makers will be cautious in making optics for Sony mounts since it is a smaller market and Sony keeps changing direction.
Even owners of A mount cameras wonder what Sony is up to … and lens makers most likely will wait and watch how successful the FE mount really is longer term before committing resources.
– Marc
Agreed.
Are there many APS-C Sony A mount cameras currently on sale now for the Sigma zoom to be available?
There’s obviously enough of them for Sigma to change plans for it’s 30mm f/1.4 ART which initially wasn’t suppose to be released for A-mount at all.
Considering Sigma had lots of previous experience with other Minolta/Sony mount lenses I doubt it was that difficult to add an A-mount to that lens. But why would any manufacturer want to put money into the newest system when Sony has such a poor record of sticking with a format. Frankly with the quote of the Sony guy I have some reservations now against investing in an A7… I had it on a short list of next purchases but I have no desire to have another HD-DVD or Betamax on my hands, my closet is already filled with enough orphaned products.
HD-DVD was Toshiba 😛
Yes, I know my HD-DVD player is a Toshiba and it was killed by the Sony… my point wasn’t that Sony created that format, just that I don’t want to adopt any new format now until I know it is going to be around… And if memory serves me the HD-DVD was actually expected to win vs the Blu-ray early on, which gives me more cause to wait and see with the FE – sure it might look like a winner now but until I see some serious commitment from Sony it could still be another Betamax.
Even before I read Marc’s first comment in this thread I was already thinking the same exact thing! As much as I love my older Sony gear I’m reluctant to jump on the flavor of the month camera. Seemingly, Sony’s apparent strategy is that they have no strategy.
They simply have a pocket full of money with a mission statement of: Let’s build everything imaginable! Some of it will stick, and some of it won’t, who cares, move on’.
At the best of times it’s quite niche – short zoom range and very heavy. lighter than my usual 16-50 + 35/1.4 travel combination though, come to think of it…
Obviously, the issue is Sigma and Tamron are really making lenses for the massive Canikon DSLR market. You can’t just look at today’s sales charts and say, hey, the e-mount sells kind of okay so where are Sigma and Tamron lenses for it. It’s not just that Canikon DSLRs collectively bury the e-mount sales as I type this, they have a massive established user base of older bodies still in use. Plus, I’m guessing the Canikon user base is far more diverse since they have a richer ecosystem and there are more users collecting lenses than your typical e-mount owner.
Sony and Pentax DSLR bodies just tag along because the marginal cost of doing a mount mod isn’t that great.
Worse, as others have pointed out, Sony’s attention span to any tech has such a poor record what manufacturer has any faith they’ll stick to it in the long-run especially given Sony’s big financial woes? Sony is already discounting the a7/a7R which isn’t a terrific sign it’s flying off the shelves. Consolidating the APS-C e-mounts indicates that range has issues too.
It wouldn’t shock me if 5 years from now Sony decides to join the m43s herd to make even tinier cameras than the NEX/axxx since the point of that line is tiny for the sake of tiny. Plus, every time Sony changes mounts they sucker people in buying a new basic system of lenses. 😉
Buy cheap adapters. Shoot manual if they force you to (Sony focus peaking is sweat). Isn’t that the big advantage of mirrorless?
Sony France adjusting the EURO price to the worldwide price != discount.
and what to do? there will be a monut
If you’d ask the guy about any system – whatever be it FE, Nikon 1, EOS M or Pentax Q – he would give you exactly the same answer.
“We have limited resources so we have to prioritize. But we’d like to.”
Don’t get excited. He basically said “NO” in a kind way.
And their current ff lenses can be adapted…
Sigma isn’t Samyang. They don’t “adapt” lenses.
If Sigma would make it’s own FE lens it’d be completely new design dedicated to full frame mirrorless cameras. But there’s no market for that, so it’s just a pure speculation at this point.
I mean with an adapter. You may have heard of them…
Oh, I thought you mean “adapted” in a way that Samyang did it – simply extending lens barrel while leaving optical formula intact.
I wonder if that would work on af glass? Could be an option…
No, he was simply leaving the option open, like any sensible business man. If the market is there, they will take the opportunity.
You’re hoping he meant “no” full stop, because in your eyes any advancement of e-mount is bad for A-mount.
Nope, I just got used to Japanese way of saying “No”. Either you can face facts – that there are very very few people using FE cameras and perspective of change in that is rather fragile considering downfall of mirrorless – or you can live in your dreamland.
Dreamland is nicer than denial-land. Dreams can come true. Denial is the inability or unwillingness to accept the inevitable, i.e. the eventual downfall of A-mount and all DSLR legacy mounts.
Should I continue with a “wishfulthinking land” comment? Cause your “doom and gloom” comment is just that, unless by eventual demise you meant in xx years. In which case your comment is irrelevant, since xx could mean 10 or 99. In either case there’s money to be made right now and that’s what Sigma is doing.
It isn’t wishful thinking at all. I am invested in both e-mount and A-mount, so I’d be happy if they both lasted forever. I am not blind to reality, however.
i think they are actually making FE lenses…
I can see why they’re being cautious – with apsc mirrorless there’s a reasonable number of systems that they can modify the same design for. With FE they’re only going to be supporting system, so I guess they’re seeing if the numbers add up. Don’t know what the sales are like on their current mirrorless offerings, but the selection is a bit meh.
Yep. You got it pretty much right. And the selection is “meh” cause there’s no demand, even for APS-C E-mount lenses. Sigma complained in interviews that people buying mirrorless rarely purchase any native lenses beyond kits, unlike in DSLRs where a demand for additional lenses is rather high. I guess this partially can be explained by a fact that people use adapters with some very old lenses, and that a lot of them simply use their mirrorless as a compact with large sensor, without being bothered by swapping lenses (if they even know about that).
Very true – I see a lot of people shooting iPhone style on CSCs (point in right direction + hit shutter)… At the end of the day they have to know they’ll sell enough to cover the R&D costs, which are going to be steep if there’s only a limited market… Their dslr release strategy is definitely done by the numbers – canon is the priority, then Nikon, then Sony and Pensax.
Andrea… any A-mount news?
Here’s the latest A-mount newsletter:
“Sony Alpha DSLR/SLT A-mount Newsletter
Winter 2014 Edition
A-Mount News
No Content
A-Mount Reviews
No Content
A-mount Roadmap
No Content
A-mount Future
No Content
Thank you for reading the Sony A-mount newsletter! Stay tuned for similar articles in the future! Remember, we are fully committed to the A-mount!”
TbT – tragic but true
You left out the title
2014 THE YEAR OF TH A MOUNT
As the interview told, I think the PRIORITY is the point. There are nothing impossible but earlier or late
Sigma is a surprisingly small company, they can’t afford new designs every second year and FE lenses should be special. Some time ago Sony hinted about growing demand for new Sony lenses, remember? That means get Sony or Zeiss, or stay on adapters.
If anything, what I understand from this statement is:
“We currently consider FE uninteresting and have no plans for it at all. We might reconsider our stance when FE mounts get more popular.”
What’s a lot more interesting for E-mount users is this:
http://www.macotakara.jp/blog/report/entry-22646.html
Sigma DP1 will unlike DP2 and DP3 have a new optical design. Could mean that 19mm 2.8 for ILCs will be redesigned as well which would be great as the 19mm is currently the weakest in the lineup.
Sony is changing systems and protocals and does not have aclear roadmap.
3rd party lensmakers do not trust Sony for good reason as they are very likely to make surprise changes that will make current lenses obsolete on the new cameras.
A mount already has dual af that will only work on a few sony lenses and E mount has a new proprietary ospdaf system.
Sony has a long history of using unfair trade practices such as this to gain an unfair trade advantage.
Sony made all their early systems to only accept Sony memory sticks.
Sony had Sony pictures put movies on Bluray but not on HDDVD to unfairlly win the hd..dvd war.
If Sony were an American company thes type of actions would be illegal.
Unfortunately, You are absolutely right but Sony is not the only one that tries to monopolize everything; actually, Apple is much worse…
I think you have lost it, Baz.
Sony trades in America and is therefore subject to its laws of the land, so why has it not been prosecuted for these “unfair trade practices”? Because they have not broken any law.
You don’t have to personally like what Sony does and have the right not to buy its products, but to claim Sony have broken trade or competition laws is borderline insane and most certainly moronic.
Yeahbutno
You took a reasonable and inteligent reply to my comment and added statements like ” you lost it” and ” moronic”
Your argument would be much more effective without adding the insults, and this site would be more pleasent if we did not insult each other so much.
This site would be more pleasant if people did not spout utter rubbish. Did you consider that before posting?
lol barry, you’re crazy… Bringing up HDDVD.. hah.. oh god.
You waste a lot of effort and subject others to a lot of nonsense they dont want to hear when you try to tell people what not to post.
Instead of one statement about a topic you dont want to hear there are now eight as a direct result of you.
You not only do nothing to reduce the comments you dont like..as no one will listen to you but you actually bring more attention to them.
So take your own advice since you apear to believe it and please lose the insults.
No.
I’m a long time reader here, and have been listening to Barry. I’m convinced he has some sort of psychosis. Oh wait, he’s an artist. Carry on, Barry.
Yeahbutno
You have just proven my point.
You have no intention of listening to me when I suggest modifying your comments..so why do you think anyone will listen to you when you suggest modifythiers…i will not..unlike you however despite youre giving me good cause to do so I have not insulted you.
I got the same email a few months ago. I replied and asked who Sigma’s parent company was, so that i could contact them directly. I never got a reply.
Sony is making it very difficult for 3rd party lens manufacturers with ospdaf that with special sony systems that do not need to be created for other mounts.
Quite contrary – Sony is one of the most friendly companies for 3rd party E-mount lens manufacturers. In fact: only other more friendly system out there is m4/3 which is fully open (E-mount is open only for lens manufacturers, m4/3 is open for both: body and lens).
43 was an open standard, I don’t think that m43 is.
So specifications for the OSPADF are not released?
18-35 delay is another reason I’m jumping to a99. Tired of waiting for these lenses from them. Canceled my preorder.
There is certainly no shortage of full frame A-Mount lenses available, Sony, Tamron, Sigma and legacy Minolta glass. Not so much for APS-C.
There is nothing stopping you from using FF glass on APS-C…
It might be slightly heavier, but it also works perfectly on both APS-C and FF.
No they can be used but the focal lengths and resulting aspect ratios are designed for full frame sensors.
Most of the complaints about no new A-Mount lenses are APS-C users, since there are relatively few dedicated lenses for that size sensor.
Limited resources my foot! My guess is that Sony doesn’t want Sigma making any lens for their cameras that would take sales away from their own e-mount lineup. Think about it: Sony already invested in producing the Zeiss 24mm f1.8 and the Sony 35mm f1.8. This 18-35 would just about eliminate the need for those two lenses for less than the cost of the Zeiss. It is really amazing that you can buy a Sigma 70-200 OSS f2.8 HSM for much less than the cost of a Sony FE 70-200 OS F4. And think how so many of the lenses Sigma makes that have OS (the 120-300 OS) don’t come in Sony Alpha mount. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me that Sony should have partnered with Sigma rather than Zeiss.
The 24mm and 35mm primes you are talking about are small-ish E-Mount lenses. The Sigma 18-35 would be a huge chunk of A-Mount glass, being much larger than the current Sony SAL1650. While I agree that Sony might want to keep Sigma out, the target lens is actually SAL1650 and not in any way the tiny in comparison, E-Mount primes.
My point is this: aside from the point you were making about size, all other factors being considered the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 effectively eliminates the need for the highly touted Zeiss 24 f1.8 and I think Sony doesn’t like that situation. Isn’t it kind of fishy that the Sigma 300mm f2.8 is an HSM in every mount except for Sony mount. If it were you’d have major competition for Sony’s own 300 SSM f2.8. Isn’t it also odd how Sigma used to make the 17-50 OS HSM APS-C zoom in Sony mount, but now they no longer offer the OS for the Sony. It seems to me that Sony doesn’t want Sigma on their “turf.” Just my guess.
Sigma would either need to design a new 18-35 from scratch to get it to a more reasonable size or make an incorporated adapter like samyang does amd which results im huge lenses. Even if they redesigned their lens for emount, it seems like its af would be xontrasr detwct and therefore slow. The investtment neede on sigmas part would certainly offset ajy possible sale volume.
Based on Sony’s continuing lack of high quality lenses, Fuji looks better and better each day. The long standing limited lense situation doesn’t look like it is going to change anytime soon, either. Which is a shame because Sony bodies do have some very nice features. Those nice features are irrelevant without good glass, though.
I have it on good authority that Sigma is planning an exit from A-mount this year. No future sigma lenses will be A-mount lenses and they will continue to produce and sell old stock until the design is retired.
Sigma is in the process of ramping up FE production. Its not a problem of limited resources as Yamaki claims, it is production legalities holding it up.
Your good authority is who?
In the mid 1980’s, I went to Georgetown University with a friend who is now the former head of Sigma Corp of America’s R&D division. He is still utilized on a consultation basis and has close ties to the company. I trust him over any rumors out there.
Congratulations! Your friend from Sigmas consultancy contract just got terminated affecting immediately.
Not a chance.
I work as a consultant and I am very much aware of non-disclosure agreements. I believe your friend has signed one too.
As have I in the past. I am being careful not to disclose anything that would jeopardize that. This may not seem like public knowledge, but it is not being actively withheld by Sigma.
The only issue I have with Sigma (it is entirely up to them what they make or not) is that they make repeated announcements and rarely ever keep to the proposed dates.
I remember waiting for an incarnation of the 70-200 f2.8 that was announced and never materialised…over 3 years!!!
Indeed, it was only the subsequent variant that saw light of day.
If you are going to do something and say you are going to do something, do it! If not, keep silent. That is, after all, very simple.
If they were truly committed to the FE camera system they would have created a full line of lenses to go with it. Their half-assed roll-out speak volumes about their commitment or rather lack of commitment to the product line.
Yes, because you do not need time, money and resources to design lenses. It is a simple case of clicking your fingers, magically causing a whole line-up of lenses to appear all at once.
Trouble is the comment from the Sony exec doesn’t sound like they are working on it all that much.
And if a company was going to come out with a camera it would be reasonable for them to come out with a decent line of lenses to go with it along with a formal plan describing what other lenses would be made for the camera along with a reasonable time frame for them… That hasn’t happened. Which begs the question of whether Sony is truly committed to the FE or if it is just another noodle thrown to the wall to see if it sticks.
I can answer one of your questions – FE is indeed a ‘noodle thrown to the wall’ to see if it sticks.
However.
It appears to be sticking. Sony is getting some sauce ready.
Sony is aware, and they’re working on it.
As I understand, the recent technologies exits Sony is orchestrating is going to be very good for FE mount’s future. Sony is currently migrating some of this budget and expanding the design and production outfits for FE mount lens production.
While anyone with a vested interest in the a7 or a7R wishes there were a “full line of lenses”, no new system in history has had a so called full line just 5 months after launch. Resources for both design and manufacturing are not unlimited.
There is a full line of full frame lenses for FE cameras – they start with an A. They also made the FE cameras able to use APS-C E-mount lenses for now. That’s a lot of lenses a user mount out of the gate while Sony introduces more full frame e-mount lenses. Not too mention the 5 FE lenses available within 6 months of launch cover a very broad range.
ahahahahahah goodbye 80% sony welcome 200% fuji XT1!
I’m not really to concerned as I’d take a Zeiss lens any day over a Sigma. I think its kind of a good thing as it keeps the riff raff out you might say. Only those truly interested will commit as others just like to complain cause they don’t have the lenses they want or are to cheap to buy the ones offered, they even fanatically search the internet for places to post why they don’t like said camera and lenses they have no interest in, you have to ask yourself would any sane person be doing that…Maybe they are bots.
“fanatically search the internet for places to post why they don’t like said camera and lenses they have no interest in…”
… that’s exactly what you just did.
Mirrorless is a strange market especially now that Metabones released the speedbooster and alternatives are all over ebay now.
M43 filmmakers love using the canon/nikon mount sigma 18-35 1.8 on a speedbooster.
So i can understand the caution of sigma releasing lenses for FE or A because sony is on the shelf and is ultra slow at filling out their lens selection
I’m excited for the flagship Axxxx with tri navi. hopefully its a APS-C mirrorless sports camera spec’d to make all those Nikon D400 dreamers jump over to sony. (weathersealed, high buffer, high fps, optional 1.2x crop, AF-On, extra fn button on the front beside the lens on grip side would be super) Photographers with active kids would love that I know I would.
Today marks the one year anniversary of Sony not announcing an Sony A-mount products. They haven’t even released an anticipated release of A-mount anything.
A-mount is dead, dead, dead…
Dan
A today E tomorrow
E-mount, possibly. FE-mount, no way.
FE on day later.
If Sony will abandon A mount for thier convenience you csn be 100% sure they will abandon every one of thier systems when it becomes convenient.
That is why I do not believe sony will abandon A mount. The company can not possibly survive the consequences of that move.
No one will buy a new system frim a company that abandoned all thier original customers and is absolutely certain to do it to all thier current and future customers.
That is why I do not expect that to happen.
My hope is that mayby the long wait for a new A mount camera will actually be for something worth waiting for. Not another minor improvement.
Folks, let’s get one thing straight – there is no such thing as FE mount. Sony has two mounts – A-mount and E-mount.
In the A-mount category, there are lenses which cover crop sensors, as well as lenses which cover full-frame sensors.
The same thing holds true for E-mount, i.e. there are E-mount lenses, which cover only crop-sensors, and there are E-mount lenses which cover full-frame sensors. Those E-mount lenses, which are capable of covering full-frame sensors are referred to as FE lenses, BUT THE MOUNT IS E-MOUNT.
To better illustrate this, look at this image of the full-frame 35mm Zeiss:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81kJDKjiubL._SL1500_.jpg
See how is clearly states “E-mount”? This is an FE lens (since it covers full frame), just like it as a Zeiss lens and an autofocus lens and so on, but the mount is E-mount. How hard is this to understand?
You may be technically correct, but it has become convention to describe Full Frame ILC lenses. The mount is E-mount, but APS-C cameras and lenses are viewed as an entirely different system than Full Frame. One has a future, and one doesn’t.
nothing could be wronger.
i use full frame lenses on my aps-c camera, and almost all third pary, build a lot more full frame lenses, cause you can easily convert it to cropped sensor (usually those lens work very good on crop, cause of better center detail, wich becomes very good detail along all the lens in a cropped sensor)
you just have a longer focal lenght (for example i have a 70/210 wich is something like 95 -303
usualli the mount is based on the full frame one, cause full frame has the vignetting, or cropping problem with cropped lenses, instead the opposite has just problem with very wide lens (in that situation, if you have an aps-c you buy an aps-c lens)
This is true. It is going to be a ‘soft transition’ by Sony, which they’re already in the midst of. They’ll never announce that development has ceased for A-mount; from the user perspective nothing will change. What you will see, one by one, are products that sell out or are marked as discontinued. Once everything is discontinued, the brand will be gone.
This began early last year, starting with some accessories such as G and Zeiss lens hoods. They are no longer producing them a-al-carte for sale by 3rd party suppliers. If you need to buy a replacement, you must go through Sony Service or Parts directly and the divert the needed sale item from production stock.
Next, you’ll see consumer grade APS-C A-mount items evaporate, beginning with the A58 (with no replacement being announced) and its associated APS-C SAM lenses.
Following this, you’ll start to see Full Frame A-mount cameras and lenses disappear from in-stock status.
This is how every discontinued Sony product flow has worked in the past. For example, the Sony AF500 f/8 Reflex lens slowly started showing as ‘back-ordered’ for several weeks all over the web. Eventually, retailers started cancelling the orders when Sony notified them that “there would be no more stock expected of this item.”
Is this going to happen with E-mount? My opinion; YES. APS-C has a limited lifespan and it is reaching the end of it. But it will be several years before this happens.
EF-Mount is what Sony is betting the farm on. EF-Mount is where R&D money is going. Will FE-Mount succeed? I think so, but there’s no guarantee. This is Sony, afterall.
For the recor
IBM, Purdue Chicken, Coca Cola, Pepsi and many more have been succesfully prosecuted for unfair trade practices much less extreme than Sonys actions
Back when we still made computers in the USA IBM gave technology to other US computer manufacturers fr free in order to help them compete against the Japanese.
The US courts ruled that that was unfair trade and stopped them from doing so.
As a result computers are no longer made in the USA.
At the same time forieghn TV makers including Sony determined that 15″ tvs were the cornerstone of our market and sold vast quantities of them BELOW COST supplemented by the Japanese government in order to destroy our tv industry.
In a desperate attempt to hold on the US tv industry marketed 19″ tvs and Japan responded by selling 19″ tvs below cost with government subsities.
No action could be taken against any of these companies including sony because they are not US companies.
We no longer make tvs in the US.
So my original statement about unfair trade practices is true and can be backed up by many other examples
So besides your insuts being unjustified the statement you based them on is wrong.
Many people have expressed disappointment about the lack of native FE lenses for the new FE cameras. For perspective, how long did it take Canon to produce a full line of lenses for the EF mount when they changed to that mount?
I am one person is waiting for the second generation a7 or a7r models. I really like my mirrorless cameras (Em1, Em5, and Nex 6) and the majority of my shooting is with them. I jumped into Olympus products for the 5 axis, touch screen LCD and fast AF since Sony wasn’t offered those features in a Nex model. But I still like Sony colors better and will buy a Sony model when they offer what I want. It was a hard decision to buy another set of lenses for another system but I really like their 12-40 f2.8, 60mm macro and 75mm f1.8 lenses. I just came back from a trip to AZ and it was so nice to carry the EM5 and Nex6 in small fanny packs with a few lenses each. I am pleased with their IQ and I have no desire to carry a dslr around on a trip.
first time posting on here and all i can say is damn you people moan way too much. i started off as an a-mount user starting off with the a200 then the a65. i recently sold my a65 and the 50mm f/1.8 DT lens i had for it it to buy the LA-EA3 adapter for the a7 i purchased you know why? because it made bloody sense. i can still use my full frame lenses on my a7 with no issues at all yes it has no auto focus for screw drive lenses but the focus assistance in the a7 makes manual focusing a dream. some of you need to quit moaning about the tiniest things. hell after a day shooting with my a7 i already decided to sell my a65 as i just loved the feel of the a7, even with my massive hands it was really good to shoot with.
theres only two potential markets for fe type lens
a7 and leica, plus if its not too bulky you could use it on the crop sensor camera’s too
Disqus? What happened?
Please leave Image Stabilization in your A-Mount lenses. I would buy them and use them with the LA-EA4 if you would. Alternatively how about some FE lenses with IS?
Sigma can make good money on FE lenses as Sony’s offerings are mostly all very expensive Zeiss primes – and Sony is doing away with A-mount lenses – I think Sony will cut into the
Canon and Nikon DSLR market and of course System Cameras or Mirror-Less are getting more popular so Sigma simply has to join that race –
I think most would welcome less expensive glass but still good glass from Sigma –
So Sigma has a choice of Sony, Fuji and M43 – and of course they have produced lenses for M43 which have done so so – but I think mostly because there are so many lenses in M43 – they where competing lenses like the 20mm F1.7 from Panasonic which is a good lens and not that expensive – I think they would have been better of making E-Mount lenses as there are not that many E-mount and of course now not that many FE mount – Fuji is covered so I would not advice Sigma to make lenses for the X-series unless they continue to be top sellers –
The NEX6 has been a top seller and looks like the A6000 will take over as well – so Sigma, make some E-mount – a fast 24-70mm F2.8 a 30mm F1.4