The Polish site Optyczne.pl (google translation here) interviewed Masaaki Oshima and Yann Salmon-Legagneur from Sony.
Here are a couple of interesting info:
1) Astro-tracer function (known from the Pentax K-3 II):
Sony says they are currently investigating how to apply it in future products.
2) Touchscreen:
Once Sony has reached a high level of quality of the touchscreen technology they will implement it on high end cameras too (The A5100 is already touchscreen).
3) RX with APS-C sensor:
There is yet no plan to make a RX camera with ASP-C sensor.
4) A6000 successor:
Sony said they are continuing to develop APS-C cameras. They cant of course comment about a possible release date of the A6xxx.
5) A-mount:
Just like APS-C E-mount also A-mount is being developed.
220 Responses
A-Mount FF camera please, it’s the only things I and many Italian Photographer are asking!
I’m italian but i’m not asking it. I want more E-mount lenses instead!
Italy is bigger than I thought 🙂
Another Italian here 🙂
So, let’s sum it up: they stopped working on A-mount or APS-C E-mount cameras…
Correct, they stopped APS-C and bet on the FF only, maybe now they wake up, I hope so anyway, there is still a big APS-C market, can they let All that go to Nikon or Canon ????
lol yesterday a SAR clairvoyant told me APS-C camera were for Soccer-moms 😉 Then i am not stunned Canikon win most prizes :)… they are enough soccer-moms for a 100s of soccer teams 😀
Well they specifically say they are continuing to develop E-mount APS-C camera, but make no specific mention of A-mount cameras.
There is no way that Sony is dropping APS-C. It will just be similar to Nikon DX… few exciting lenses, but regular body updates.
You sound like a really frustrated person.
Sony is sometimes lying – but not always.
Heh, I’m just trolling a little.
me too 🙂
What’s wrong with the current touch screens?
The translated interview will explain better:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.optyczne.pl%2Findex.php%3Fart%3D449&edit-text
Basically the current touch screens are suitable for novices, but professionals will demand a higher level when trying to touch screen lock focus in demanding situations
I would be happy if the hardware is touchscreen and it is only enabled in play-mode for browsing through my taken pictures.
This “pro” demand could later be delivered with a firmware-update.
But happy to read that Sony is considering touchscreen for higher-level bodies, too. Thank you Leica
HM.
Leica was the first who put touchscreen on a FF camera.
REAL INNOVATOR! 🙂
We’ll see if they do the same for their M-mount line-up.
Which is consistent with how both Canon and Nikon position touchscreens – they are only found in their low-end consumer bodies. Not in any flagships.
If you have an EVF then your nose will sometimes activate the touch screen and change the focus point. Very annoying.
Well, if I have my eye on the evf then the touchscreen on my camera, be it an OMD em5II or a Q, automatically turns off, so it’s not an issue..
was about to say that
Yeah, but a thought-through well rounded product, especially on the software side, is not Sony’s biggest strength. So, in Sony land, Mike’s concerns are kind of justified. 😉
Sony could give us options to disable touchscreen:
-always on
-off when eye at EVF detected
-off, expect during play-mode
-always off
Sony is the only brand I know that if they aren’t releasing stuff weekly then they have dropped that mount / series / format or whatever.
Give it a break.
I think FF e-mount is dead, no new cameras since 2 weeks!
“There is yet no plan to make a RX camera with ASP-C sensor.”
And then Ricoh breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they still dominate that niche for their GR cameras for the foreseeable future.
So sad! It would be perfect to see a RX with crop sensor
And Fuji…
But seriously, if they came up with a collapsible fast AF prime (28-35) for the A6000 they didn’t even need to make the RX.
This one in e-mount…
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~yy1s-mrt/na2.jpg
“We continue to develop the dipstick A”.
An A-mount dipstick? I cannot wait for that.
Just an observation, but notice how when Sony say they are still developing A-mount, they never specifically mention cameras.
It’s really the same non-specific evasiveness we’ve heard for the last 18 months. Will Sony ever realize how bad this is for its A-mount customers?
What happened to the new lens announcement news? Any new info? I thought they should be announced yesterday or today
Sony: “We are developing A Mount Stuff…………. Tee Hee…”
Whatever is considered to be A mount stuff… lenses?
An improved LA-EA adapter?
I would love three new versions of LA-EA adapter:
1) SLT with A77II or better AF performance and focus motor;
2) Non-SLT with focus motor;
3) Non-SLT, without focus motor, with detachable tripod mount (or no mount at all) for small lenses like new Tamron F1.8 primes etc where tripod mount on adapter just gets in the way.
I have a better idea: A non-SLT Leica SL-Mount (camera) to A-Mount (lens) with focus motor. 😀
what for?
Sorry, i was just in the silly mode. Of course, stupid joke.
A non-SLT with a focus motor might be difficult simply because getting screw-drive lenses to work well with hybrid PDAF is problematical. Screw-drive lenses have a lot of “back lash”, and it’s far from clear that sensor based PDAF alone will work well enough. So a nice idea, but the engineering may not be possible.
While it might be a challenge, in theory it should be possible to overcome.
A-mount bodies somehow managed to cope with the backslash in the screw drive mechanism, as does all the industrial CNC equipment.
Essentially there is no difference between information that dedicated PDAF module and OSPDAF provides. They both allow camera to figure out how far off focus and in which direction things are. They only differ in how precise that information is.
Stating there is essentially no difference between on-sensors PAF and off-sensor is a bit of an assumption. There may well be issues of geometry. One telling point is that on-sensor PAF points appears to have a much wider spread than off-sensor ones. I wonder if that means there is less phase differentiation closer to reaching focus (when we know that CAF starts to help on hybrid).
I don’t think CNC equipment is a good guide. That stuff has been designed from the ground-up to provide close control in machining. In contrast, screw-drive lenses were never designed for the constant micro-adjustments. After all, they date back to the early days of AF, the demands on focus perfection were probably a lot less (pixel peeking was a bit more difficult and most films wouldn’t approach 42MP equivalent). Even so, Minolta and Nikon both moved from screw-drive lenses as, presumably, they realised their inherent limitations.
I’m not saying it’s impossible to make it work well, just that there’s no guarantee that it can be made to do so or that Sony would be prepared to put all the engineering effort into what, are after all, almost wholly obsolete lenses. They might just take the view that the SLT adapter is good enough and put their investment into new stuff.
As a piece of info:
E-mount lenses report no less than THREE focus position related fields ( http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56620518 ), at 60 Hz (might be 50 on PAL bodies). I am not sure exactly what the difference between the first two is, but my guess is the following:
First field: Absolute target focus motor position (where the lens is going)
Second field: Current focus motor position (where the lens is now) – all I know is that in native E-mount lenses, this lags slightly behind the first field
Third field: Square root of absolute lens position (suitable for use in subject distance calculations).
With a screwdrive A-mount lens, you have “move foward” and “move back” commands along with MAYBE very rough “current position” data (lens-provided focus position data in legacy lenses is usually very coarse, for example Canon’s seems to be only 32 steps). I need to dig up the Dyxum lens ROM thread to see if this data exists at all. There simply isn’t any way to drive the lens with the fine precision available for native E-mount lenses.
Canon EF-mount is midway between these, and in fact newer EF lenses (especially STM ones) may be functionally identical in capabilities (both lens and mount protocol) to E.
Thanks – that’s interesting. I think demonstrates the point that there are differences between legacy and modern lenses and what people might ideally want with regards to legacy lenses might not always be feasible in practice.
Personally I find it rather remarkable that such progress is being made on AF (and other) support for “alien” lenses.
Drop-in filter
Electric ND
Should be considered too.
So, basically they did not reveal anything that has not been said previously. To sum it up – “At this time we cannot comment on any future products, but we remain committed to all our product lines”.
They are probably developing a high-end A9 but will not release it until the AF is as least as fast as a DSLR. This product will have to beat both the Leica SL monster, and compete with high end DSLRs.
And in the meantime they probably have an A-mount A99 II with 42 mpix sensor on retainer. This is a product they can release at any time to buy more time for developing the A9.
I really doubt there will be A7rII sensor in A99II, if it’s released anytime soon. More likely they would go existing 36Mpix sensor route to keep the costs down.
Remember how everyone said that original A99 was priced too high (~2800$) , when it was released.
Things will be different if they release A99II now. That release will be aimed at existing users primarily, because they are trying to drive all the new customers to E-mount. If they really put A7rII sensor into A99 body and spice things up with A77II AF system and faster processing, there is realistically no way it would cost less than 4000$. At that price point it would not sell, just like original A99 did not well until heavy discounts and free grip+flash deals year later.
By the way, I would actually prefer modern 24Mpix (BSI, better than D750 high ISO performance) sensor in A99II, with fast frame rates and large buffer. I almost never need high resolution and high speed at the same time. For high resolution slow paced work and travel A7rII is good enough for me.
42 mp sensor in a7rm2 already has better high ISO than D750.
Developing new sensor is expensive thing, and what if other people want 16 mp, 20 mp or 28 mp sensor?
They’d better keep costs down, use existing 42 mp sensor and implement small RAW for those who don’t need 42 mp.
If the BionzX and sensor itself can handle the throughput, then it’s fine. But is the sensor fast enough to do full size read-out at 14bits faster than 5fps? I don’t know, but the fact that A7rII cannot do proper AF-C in Cont-HI suggests that something is not up to the speed.
Might be simpler with SLT though, since it can continue to focus while the shutter is closed and sensor is digitizing. For mirrorless they might need to add DRAM stack to buffer the data on sensor, so the digitizing can be done faster and shutter does not need to be closed as long.
I think the A99 felt too expensive at launch time, because it did not attract potential D800 or 5Diii buyers. It played one level lower, I know many here disagree, but reality tells a different story. Compared to a D610 or 6D it felt expensive.
You are probably right. Plus it was designed to be an all-rounder, doing everything reasonably well, but ultimately failing to do anything better than competition. AF system was a relative flop, especially the coverage. High ISO was not that impressive, partly due to sensor, partly due to SLT. DR was good but D800 was better. General camera interface speed was pretty sluggish and video was not that impressive either.
There are lot’s of things they could have done different. Aggressive price, say 2000$. Better AF system, say one they later developed for A77II. 36Mpix sensor.
Still image quality was pretty good, I’d say better than the 5DM3, but for me, ultimately the shortcomings in focusing (slow, super-limited coverage) are what got to me. If Sony had updated sooner, I would probably have stuck with A-mount, and I seriously considered jumping ship to Nikon but ultimately decided to go with FE, but not out of brand loyalty. The smaller form factor and ability to adapt my A-mount glass were the deciding factors. Anyhow, if they do continue A-mount, it’ll be good for the resale value of my remaining A-mount glass.
It really didn’t play one level lower though, you are comparing a magnesium bodied camera with professional features to consumer-grade 6D and D600. Hell the D600 didn’t even have pc-sync. The A99 even with its flaws was always a bargain compared to the 5DmkIII and D800.
That’s assuming that the 42MP sensor costs so much more than the 36MP one as to be significant in the cost of the flag-ship A mount body. I rather doubt that. Possibly the biggest issue would be Sony’s production capacity for the BSI FF sensor, but a new flag-ship A mount body will not sell in huge numbers.
If they went with the old sensor then they’d be giving up things like silent shutter. Electronic shutter would be a really big sales point as no DSLR can ever be truly silent. It would also probably mean giving up 4K and other advance video functions. The 42MP sensor is also has better noise and DR at higher ISOs.
As far as costs go, if a new A-mount body can utilises essentially the same sensor, IBIS and shutter assembly as the A7R II, that will be a big win.
Personally I can’t imagine a flagship A-mount camera not sporting Sony’s latest and greatest FF sensor.
> flagship A-mount camera not sporting Sony’s latest and greatest FF sensor.
But it already happened once with A99.
Yes, but this was because they sold the crown jewels to Nikon exclusively.
I assume you are thinking of the Nikon D800. Yes, that had a 36MP sensor, but rumours are that Nikon had a monopoly on that sensor. In any event, the 36MP sensor is really only better in the sense that it was higher resolution. In 2012 the D800 didn’t support EFCS, whilst the A99 did and possible the version of the 36MP sensor at the time wasn’t capable of it. So it’s arguable if the 36MP sensor at the time was better.
In contrast to that, the 42MP sensor improves on the 36MP sensor in almost all areas. It supports silent shutter, has much better video capabilities, supports good hybrid PDAF (which will be useful option with the right lenses with more AF points and higher accuracy that the separate PAF module) and it also has better basic IQ . What’s just as important is that Sony are already using this sensor in their own cameras and therefore have most of the components off-the-shelf. So in the case of the 42MP sensor, it’s unarguably a better sensor that the alternate 36MP & 24MP versions whilst with the previous generation of 24/36MP sensors this was more questionable.
Dmitry Anisimov, that’s not true. The 24 MP sensor in A99 was Sony’s latest and greatest at the time — it was not the same sensor in A900/A850, but a brand new design.
Resolution does not equal best, and that 36 MP sensor in an SLT body would have been in mistake because of the SLT mirror.
It has been explained thousand times already… The difference in SNR between 24mp and 36mp sensors is negligible…
Again, the 24 MP sensor in A99 was Sony’s latest sensor at the time of the A99 release. You are still wrong.
Nope. Sony manufactured 36 mp sensor for D800. It is widely speculated, though, that Nikon bought exclusive rights for 36 mp sensor (as steveGJ says below)
Do you even read?
I’m not arguing whether or not Sony made the D800. My point is, the D800 sensor is older than the A99 sensor which was debuted on the RX1 & A99 after the D800. It was NOT the “latest & greatest” as asserted here.
Furthermore, a higher resolution sensor does not equal superiority.
I’m glad Sony kept a 24mp sensor in A99, and hope for a new BSI version of roughly the same res in the next flagship.
>production capacity for the BSI FF sensor
I don’t see A7RM2 running out of stock and customers queuing for preorders. Am i wrong?
I merely presented it as a possibility. I don’t really think it’s significant.
Ironically, it’s the fact that Sony skimped on features to keep the A99 under $3000 that both hurt sales and weakened the product offering (small buffer, poor AF coverage, low burst rate at full res, single CPU, etc.).
Above all, Sony needs to make a great A-mount product. One of the reasons A7-series has been so successful is Sony hasn’t skimped on feature sets and priced at premium to accommodate.
Again, however, premium doesn’t equal higher resolution, and flagship NIkon and Canon don’t usually offer the highest resolution sensor.
Sony should NOT increase resolution on any SLT cameras unless the sensor can both produce clean ISO 6400 and deliver a continuous burst rate to match or exceed that of A77II (12 FPS). A newly designed 24 MP BSI sensor with ISO 50-409K ISO with wide dynamic range and 12 FPS at 14bit full res would be much more useful in an SLT body than the 42 MP sensor in A7RII.
Remember, pellicle (SLT) mirrrors were first implemented in DSLRs to deliver greater performance for sports shooters. It’s time for Sony to deliver on the promise of SLT.
Exactly this is why I did not buy one Sony purposely held back on features for the A99 and that is what happened to the A77 when it was released. Pentax showed Sony how the A77 should have been done when they released the K3 it had everything Sony skimped on and Sony caught up some on the A77m2 but then look at the Pentax K3ii what it has inside is mind boggling Raw HDR, Manual control for each HDR frame, Intervalometer, Full Remote Wireless Camera Control, True Multiple Exposure, Sensor Shift, GPS, Star Tracking Feature! Ect… this is better than any Sony camera period! This what Sony should put in the next A-Mount also!
Disagree.
The 42mp sensor is not more expensive than the 24mp sensor. It is just later availabe for the same price.
In theory same size sensors should cost the same to produce. But the new 42MP sensor has a more advanced build and is therefore more difficult making. It was indeed earlier reported the yield producing the new sensor generations was lower than for older generation sensors.
In reality the 42MP sensor is in fact more expensive than the 24MP sensor, maybe even twice as expensive. This is also reflected in the price difference between 24MP and 42MP cameras as well as the RX10 II and RX100 IV cameras compared to previous generation.
But even without different production cost Sony will always put a premium on the camera using the higher MP sensor.
Now 42mp is more expensive than 24mp is now.
Tomorrow 42mp is as expensive as 24mp now.
It does not matter that it is BSI and needs a complete different production line. Any new tech needed a new production line – a more complicated prodcution line.
When NEX-7 was released, its 24 mp sensor was way more expensive than any other APS-C sensor with 14 or 16 mp. Today you get an even better 24 mp sensor inside A6000 for little money. It became standard. And tomorrow 42mp BSI will become standard for Sony-FF. And if there will be an A99ii, it is a tomorrow camera with 42 mp BSI.
Tomorrow when 42MP will be as expensive as 24MP today is year 2018. A99II should come today, next month. While an A99III released 2018-19 may have 42MP as standard it is of course a remote possibility Sony will also make a A99IIR with the 42MP sensor 50% more expensive than the regular A99II. But I wouldn’t bet on it.
It is time for a new 24-ish megapixel sensor – for a99 successor, a7-3, Nikon, etc. ideally they could produce an rx100 IV type sensor up sized for full frame for fast readout and top-notch performance. A-mount’s existence is predicated on high speed performance currently not possible in mirrorless/e-mount.
But that’s not the issue. It won’t sell well at ANY price so it makes more sense to make it everything the existing user base will lust after. They are the ones who will buy it. Sony will get better returns by aiming way high on this one I think.
More likely they keep the 24MP sensor. The advantage of SLT cameras is fast AF. More MP means slower AF. An A99II should aim to compete with the Nikon D750 with similar introduction price and better specs. Sony trying to put A99 vs Nikon D800 and Canon 5DIII was a big mistake.
I think it is clear that Sony is leaving the APS-C line, both E mount and A mount. Why did
they prioritize RX10II before a7000? Moreover, why have they produced a bunch of full frame cameras since a6000, but not a7000?
Sony is going all in for the professional photography marked with their a7 series. They hope that their hopeful APS-C customer will switch/migrate to either a7 full frame or RX10 series depending on their needs.
It is now almost a year since Samsung released the mirrorless NX500. This system camera
has 4K, touch screen, high resolution (28.2 MP), shot slow motion video, etc. Sony a6000 cannot do that, so why haven’t we seen an a7000 this year…
We may see an a7000 early next year, but it’s very clear that Sony’s APS-C line has nearly come to an end with slow development and little attention from Sony.
I disagree completely with this statement. Cheap APS-C cameras are the key to getting customers into your ecosystem (same with Nikon, Canon). There’s no way Sony is giving this up.
The A6000 is competitive with all APS-C cameras on the market, and incredible value. The rest of the APS-C line up is a mess. They know this. I expect a full revamp. The fact that Sony is taking its time is a good sign.
If a SAR claivoyant said Sony thinks APS-C were for soccer-mom, then i m not stunned they focus their R&D on FF lines
So what? Canon EF-S and Nikon DX are also for soccer moms and other amateurs. They still develop those lines because 1) profit, 2) gateway to full frame.
i did not say i agree… just that Sony may think like that and focus wrongly on FF lines when APS-C are surely more wanted and profitable because, big spenders are Geek, Technophiles, amateurs who buy cheap gears mostly.
Pro create the prestige of a brand but the amateurs, geeks and so on fill the wallet 😉
APS-C market is collapsing and Sony are doing the right thing. Reducing the speed at which they release new models. There is just not the growth in this segment to drive new products on yearly cadence nor is there competition.
When Sony do release new A6000 like camera it should be justified by the market. If that happens to be in 2017 we will just get more things in that new camera instead of incremental improvements that we would get in 2015 or 2016 model. I kind of like that
That’s where you are wrong. There no longer is much profit in the low end APS-C DSLR segment. That segment has two major issues: 1) part of it has been taken over by high end compacts and mirrorless, which provide similar performance in a smaller package; 2) existing customers are not eager to upgrade because yesteryear’s cameras are still “good enough”.
Sony has lost customers that’s for sure, and with this unclear strategy they can even lose more if they announced nothing at all soon.
The interview clearly said, the release cycle is an immediate function of the sales figures. They don’t release a A6000 successor, because the current model sells good.
Why did they update the RX10? Guess what, likely the sales figures were not satisfying? All the technology bla bla you are talking about, is secondary. If it sells good, everything is as it should be from Sonys perspective.
I disagree. A6000 sells good, but they should go for Canikon’s share. The market is shrinking.
Today customer can buy the same sensor in A6000 and Nikon D5500.
Now, if the former gets mpix bump to 32..40 and 4k video, second micro SD slot…
Plus it appears it needs to be aps-c e-mount with DSLR-shaped body.
I know what you mean, but I have the impression you did no understand what I said.
The A6000 sells good. It is secondary why it sells good. As long as it sells good, they don’t feel in a rush to update it. That’s exactly what they said.
For a big corporation like Sony money is everything. Even if their best seller would be embarrassingly outdated, they wouldn’t care if it sells like hotcakes.
I know thats not the whole story, but the essential.
Isn’t more important for Sony to implement for instance feature like 4K in their bestselling camera a6000, instead of RX10?
Sadly no. Not if it is selling well.
My guess is that if they had something ready to go, they’d release it. But since the predecessor is selling well, they have chosen to delay it rather than release something “half-baked”.
Nearly all of the original rumors regarding APS-C successor delays indicated 4k recording issues were to blame.
Sony may eventually have had two choices:
1) Release without 4K
2) Go back to the drawing board and/or wait until they could die-shrink the BIONZ (which would likely solve thermal issues with 4K if that was indeed the issue)
If the A6000 weren’t selling well, they could have chosen 1. But it’s selling well so they’re going with 2, since lacking 4k for a new release in 2015 would likely have resulted in them getting slammed heavily in reviews. Many of us may not care, but reviewers and the general market do care about that feature checkbox.
Agreed with most of what you said.
But…
“…the general market do care about that feature checkbox.” If that would be true, why does the A6000 still selling good?
I tell you what I think: As an overall camera, the A6000 is Sonys best mirrorless camera so far. It’s their lucky shot. Why? It is responsive, more than any A7 or any NEX. A tool that does what you want and doesn’t stand in the way between you and photography. That’s why it still sells so well. Sure sooner or later they need to update the specs, but for now they are not in a hurry.
And: If they have to bump up the price of an successor too much, they could easily end the tremendous success of the A6000.
And: My impression is, that the majority of the Canon-Rebel-like customer does not much serious video. Still cameras have no video friendly form factor (without rigging them up of course). Most normal people who are “serious” vacation video filmers still use real camcorders. I my be wrong, but thats my personal observation. So, 4k is not the killer feature of the (stills camera) mass market.
New apsc E mount camera will probably have new sensor technology….probably rgbw, and faster autofocus
What I would hope for and expect is
Apsc, bsi, rgbw
42mp with comparable iso/dynamic range (mayby better) tha current a7rii, and 12fps burst rate.
The next generation of ff …if scaled up from this sensor would be about 100mp.
That would be appropriate to compete with Canon 120mp but far outperform it….sort of like the current a7sii/5dsr comparison.
Replacing 1/2 of green pixels with white won’t compensate 2.25x difference in area
The white pixel will have about 4x the sensitivity of a color pixel.even at half the size it would have twice the sensitivity.
By extrapolation the more sensitive pixels can determine overal light intensity added to the colr information of the rgb pixels, and I believe matching the performance is a very reasonable expectation.
Theee could even be other smaller improvements that could further enhance petformance.
In abou 10 years or so I expect we will finally see the implementation of Quanta sensors.
This will be a true digital sensor with a billion jots, counting every photon hundreds of thousands of times/second.
X x Y x T
For example 100 jots wide x 100 jots tall x 100 readouts would make a single pixel.
The dynamic range would be from 0-1,000,000 photons, and under 1/1000 second exposure in total darkness to full bright sunlight. Generating terabytes of data/second.
Cameras will simply need to decide how much of this data to keep and how much to throw away.
>The white pixel will have about 4x the sensitivity
what?? where is that number from?
Basic common sense.
An absolutely perfect color filter would limit light to 33.333%
They are not perfect so color filters limit light to about 25%.
The white pixel does not have a color filter, therefore it receives 4x the light of a color pixel, therefore has 4x the sensitivity of a color pixel.
It doesn’t work like this!
Spectral response curves for r,g,b pixels strongly overlap (unlike e.g. color slide film). The native maximum of sensor sensitivity is usually in green-yellow. So when we filter blue & red from green pixel, the loss of sensitivity is way way lower. Also in depends on illumination (which, is, surpsise, also usually has maximum in green!). For some types of illumintion (tungten lamp) which radiate mostly red, transition from rgb to rgbw will be more useful, but not for typical use case.
A6000 is the best selling camera still. To put new model they need several things – (1) market need – evidently not there, (2) better technology (4K and may be some AF improvements are possible but nothing really big to add to A6000, neither of those 2 will make me upgrade), (3) the combination of the previous two should make for higher priority over other ventures (evidently this is where A7 cameras where of much higher demand – there are still things to polish even in A7rII, the market demand is huge, there are many technologies Sony can put in the more expensive full frame segment.
It is a bit strange that Nikon Canon used to release flagship cameras with ground breaking tech and keep them for many years while they will rev the lower end cameras once a year. Sony is the opposite reving their top of the line to compete with Nikon Canon and their middle class A6000 and A77ii are actually getting the break through technologies and stand really well in the market for quite some time.
If you need/want APS-C camera A6000 is still the camera to beat in this segment. Fuji and Olympus have not done much to excel beyond what A6000 offers. It could be said A6000 leads them by solid margin in this price segment still. It may be Panasonic that have put out decent competition with blazing fast AF & 4K but are not as big in the market still. Samsung do not want to put a camera in this segment for an unknown reason….NX1 is simply stupidly priced product for me. I would buy A7 or D750 any day instead of NX1
A6000 was never positioned as a top APS-C camera on the line. So of course market need for top APS-C camera is there, expecially after all those tech advancements – OSPDAF, 5-axis, BSI, 14bit RAW, etc.
My guess is, the premium APS-C mirrorless ship is already sailed. It would be too expensive with relatively low sales figures.
The current A6000 is the absolute upper limit for most of this (massive) customer base. For all these “normal” people, an A6000 (plus kit lens) is absolute top level premium. Most of them would or could not justify spending more for a camera.
BTW, the days of this market segment are numbered also, as phones will get better and better.
The “problem” is their low price tag for the A7(II). There’s just not much room for a premium APS-C model before you get into FF territory.
The A77(II) has been positioned as a premium APS-C camera and has been quite successful. A premium A6000 (weather sealed, fast AF-point selection, metal body, BSI …) would be a sensible upgrade. But beside a few die-hard-APS-C shooters like myself, I doubt the market relevance. And as Kiril already said, there’s very little to add for Sony to make it look better on paper.
Though if Sony can offer a premium A6000 with FF sensor, I’m not unlikely willing to switch.
The only real issue with converting the whole line up to FF are the lenses, unless they figure a way to make a line-up of small and cheap lenses (even if plasticky), it’s hard to believe that they’ll go on that path.
Current tech, thanks to smartphones is alerady powerfull enough for FF.
For todays standards, A6000 is not top-level. It is good for a small price – call it a bargain.
-no 4K: (GH4 / NX1 / NX500)
-no IBIS: All olympus / newer Panas
-no touchScreen: (Samsung, Pana, Oly)
-no BSI: (NX1 / NX500)
-no PDAF with adapted lenses (A7Rii)
-not top notch AF anymore (NX1 was reviewed to be better)
If Sony does an update with at least 4 issues of this list solved, you can call it a top-level APS-C camera.
um Techart adapter seems to provide PDAF with canon lenses (I saw a video showing 50/1.8STM working)
This one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ssJUe-TpBk
… quite noisy for a STM lens. I always thought STM is the counterpart to the motors used in any E-mount lens.
yes, this. I’m afraid the lens could break xD
It probably isn’t that noisy in single shot AF mode.
Weird… I have that exact combination and it doesn’t seem to do that.
Admittedly I didn’t do it for on-camera recorded audio. Note that the Techart III has a bunch of known issues that still need some development, and this particular case may be related to why the EF85/1.8 USM performs so poorly. (It seems like, in general, EF lens motors are driven too fast/far compared to native E lenses. I don’t know yet if the adapter is interpreting the body’s focus drive commands improperly, or if the adapter is doing something to confuse the body resulting in excessive commanded focus drive. There is a known issue with the Techart III in terms of focus position reporting – http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56620518 )
touchscreen = NOT top-level
You only see touchscreens in low-end cameras – hell, just read the Sony interview where they consider touchscreens as being only for consumer-grade cameras.
Flagship Canon with touchscreen? Does not exist, touchscreens only found in consumer-grade units
Flagship Nikon with touchscreen? Does not exist, touchscreens only found in consumer-grade units
Flickr camera finder says
eos 7d m2: 892 average daily users
a6000: 997
Premium APS-C ship is always around. Of course there’s not as much enthusiasts out there as there are “cheapest body+kit” people. But the market exists.
I disagree here. Sony need to have focus and clear line up. So two points:
1. If we want to see ground breaking products like A7rII, A7sII Sony better keep their engineers focused on this single goal and not distract them with frequent unnecessary upgrades. You can imagine they have 100 guys working on new cameras. They can either put 90 of them on new full frame E mount and make a difference or spread them in groups of 20 to RX line, E full frame, E APS-C, A full frame, A APS-C. This way they will be guaranteed to be lagging behind everyone in every segment….I am off to Nikon if Sony do this.
2. Given Sony’s product mix top of the line APS-c like NX1 is not a good idea as it will create confusion in the market etc..
On to the features
OSPDAF on A6000 is still best in class (NX1 is probably better but is different class, Panasonic is better too but they simply seem to have superior technology than either Sony or Samsung). I also believe if there is real push Sony can make firmware update to the A6000 AF tracking algorithms that could go long way e.g. my A7ii tracks subjects more confidently than A6000 and its AF sensors are inferior older design.
5-axis is probably not good idea for APS-C as it will make the camera big and Sony sells small APS-C and big full frames in E mount. That is their current strategy and it is clear message.
14bit RAW – Sony are not adding 14bit RAW to APS-C neither A6000 not A77m2 have it. I guess they see this as differentiating point between A7 which is very close in price. Either pick slow 14bit full frame for landscape and fashion etc. or fast 12bit APS-C for sports, reportage, street etc.. This kind of makes sense to me.
Guys, allow me to be my own case –study:
I got a A5100 because of the video capabilities. Taking in account that I wanted
it for video, it was a better option than the A6000: cheaper and XAVC-S codec
that at the time was missing in the A6000. For my needs a no brainer scenario.
Now I want to upgrade my little Sony camera. Because Sony is not offering
anything new, I have two options:
1. I jump into the A7 wagon.
2. I get myself an A6000 (open box for just $500!!! Really a bargain).
So, for not been in a hurry refreshing their APSC, either way Sony got a winner
card. Because they make me move upwards to get their more expensive A7 line or
they keep on clearing old A6000 stock not having to invest in that line. One
way or another, they’d make a maximum profit.
For my next project I´d like to have 4K video (so A7 line), but I can wait (for
A7000). As you can see, they got the Sony costumer right where they wanted, not
needing to hurry for anything else until they milk well the cow.
This is basically how corporation works: based on numbers and statistics, not
in customer needs or care for a product line (name it APSC or A-Mount).
Samsung is almost double the price.
The APS-C will continue because of their video cameras that are S35.
A-mount with astro-tracer would certainly trig my interest on upgraing to a new body. That’s a much more desired function than some pixel-shift resolution enhancer.
But please include it in an affordable body, i.e. a5x or a7x.
“…We continue to develop the dipstick A and do not plan to give it up. But I can not give details about specific products Prime Minister…”
I love Google Translate. So hilarious.
i did not know Sony were into dipstick too ;)…. maybe they are working on new battery and developped the dipstick yet 😉
Nikon beat them to the dipstick with the D600. It went over real well.
Probably the next A-mount will have a combustion engine generator to satisfy its power needs. And A-dipstick for it is already developed.
😀
Should be: “We continue to develop the A-mount and do not plan to give it up. But
I can not give details about specific products premières”
Apparently, according to a native Polish speaker over on dpreview, both “bayonet” and “dipstick” are referred to with the same Polish word – “bagnetu”.
If you look at the untranslated version of the article, you’ll see that the same word was used for both the question and answer as opposed to the translation where it translated once to “bayonet” and once to “dipstick”.
The other night I want out to shoot some night skies with my A7R II and decided I would try a few shots with the A99.
It was at this moment that I realized just how good the A99 actually is. Good in hand, excellent operating speed, AF etc. .. terrible shame
It fits like a perfect glove and so does the a900. A7x fits like a too small left hand glove on a right hand!
Based on Sony’s actions, like many people I believe there will be no new A mount camera, and despite recent rumers will continue to believe that until I actually see a new A mount camera.
If Sony wants to convince me they are truly commited to A mount a new A mount camera would have to introduce significant new technology not yet seen in E mount cameras, not just an a7rii sensor in an A mount body.
Admin has recently posted rumors, without specifics, of a new A mount camera in early november. I would like this rumor to be true, I would like this to be the best Sony camera ever, and I would like a new long lens to go with it.
But we have heard these rumors many times before and they have not proven accurate.
” Wolf, wolf, wolf,…..common guys, believe me, this time it’s really a wolf”
If Sony wants to replace Canon as market leader they will not do so by defeating Canon.DSLR …Canon dslr is undefeatable….they will do so by defeating DSLR and win with mirrorless.
Succesfull A mount dslt does nothing to further that ultimate goal.
Sony will also not defeat Canikon glass. They can however win with universal glass.
Proprietary A mount that can only use A mount lenses does not further that ultimate goal.
“I have tasted lens mount freedom and do not want to return to being a lens mount prisoner.”
With a rather limited choice of A mount lenses I am a lot more likely to buy a new A mount camera if can also use non A mount ..Canikon…glass.
So I do not believe A mount has a future but would like to be wrong. A mount if continued would have much catching up to do.
All these “thorough explanations why A-mount is definitely dead” in every A-mount related thread look like you are convincing yourself.
I have been consitent both in believing A mount is dead and in wanting that belief to be wrong.
Show me the new A mount camera…!!!
And here we are coming again to eating the hat thing. 😉
Strange that you merely *believe* A-mount is dead and are no longer stating it as the absolute truth. You seemed 100% certain until a few days ago and were shouting down anyone that disagreed with you.
Absolutely no use below of the words “might”, “probably”, “may”, “believe”. Only “truth”, “is”, “will”, “never”, “absolutely”, “positively”:
“Because the truth os A-mount is dead”
“A-mount is counterproductive to Sony’s current market strategy, and therefore is no longer, and will no longer be made.”
“However there is still no “NEW” A- mount camera and never will be…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“You know as well as I do that A-mount is dead”
“But A-mount is absolutely positively dead.”
“Part of that battle is to kill off A-mount, and they have done so.
A-MOUNT IS DEAD”
“if you want a new A-mount camera you can’t have one.”
You constantly critisize me for being repetitiveand borin, and here you give many examples of how many differrent and interesting descriptions I have given for A mount being dead.
You also express your oun belief that A moun is dead, right here in this very post,
But you critisize me for my belief A mount has dead.
Your life in the muddy recesses of dark waters, alway waiting for victems to latch onto has made your brain soggy.
Life as a Candiru isn’t easy, is it ?
I made an observation and just thought it strange. I have no idea if A-mount cameras will appear in the future or not. I believe the mount has a limited future.
Anyone is allowed to believe what they want or have opinions, but you were stating absolute truths and basically trolling anybody that didn’t agree with you.
But well done, it took precisely one reply for you to start with the name-calling. You ran out of arguments very quickly this time it would seem.
“I believe the mount has a limitrd future”
“Candiru Most feared fish in the Amazon”
“Little devil in the water”
Sorry, what? Is there supposed to be some kind of correlation there?
Most Candiru are strictly blood sucking parasites.
But rumors persist of a small number that have been displaced from thier original range.
A few are rumored to subsist by consuming tubers of the Lotus plant. The narcotic qualities of the Lotus tend to make these Lotus Eaters even less intelligent than thier native counterparts.
They do however still retain thier appetite for thier preffered food…blood…and are still highly attracted to even the most minute traces of urine.
http://www.animalsbybarry.com/
You are beginning to sound like a holocaust denier Barry. No amount of evidence will suffice.
Clever how you keep stirring the pot, but now have foreshadowed how you will save face — taking credit for Sony’s decision to produce a new a mount camera by claiming that your pot stirring is what drove Sony to do it. What delusions of grandeur!
Here is where Barry is going with this when he has the new a mount camera in his hands: Either (1) “I was correct all along. A- mount is still dead. This is the last a-mount camera Sony will ever produce. They just produced this one to appease pot stirrers like me;” or (2) “I knew a-mount wasn’t dead all along and was just stirring the pot to get Sony to produce a new a-mount.”
Your first sentence is absolutely outrageous and I hope you will have enough sense to remove it imeadiatly…!!!!!!!!
Says the man who once compared his treatment here to that of a victim of the aggressors in WWII.
Please take your faux outrage elsewhere.
Only you wold stand up and defend this comment which I will not repeat because I do not expect it to remain here for long.
Furthermore comment you refer to was used innapropriately in context and REMOVED IMMEADIATLY BY ME WITH MY APPOLOGIES.
There seems to be no limit to how low you are willing to go in an effort to insult me…but defending this comment goes even lower.
Not for insulting me, but for insilting millions of others.
I am askong Admin to delete this particular string of comments about this subjet, including both my comment and yours.
I didn’t defend the comment, I was simply commenting on your hypocrisy.
I’m not surprised you want these comments removed. They show you in a bad light… again.
You mean remove something that states my opinion of what you sound like? I didn’t call you a holocaust denier, not would I have any basis to do so. I simply compared your approach to one . . . i.e., someone who continues to make unreasonable denials in the face of clear evidence, and intentionally closes their mind to evidence and reason so they can keep espousing a particular point of view. (I guess I could have used the example of global warming, but I didn’t think of it at the time.)
I did not mean to offend you. That was not my intent. But, in any event, am I not entitled to characterize my opinion of your arguments, even if you find it an “absolutely outrageous” comparison? Do you not live somewhere where people are able to hold opinions that others might consider “outrageous” and feel free to state their beliefs? I consider many of your posts outrageous. They repeatedly assert as fact what it is only your opinion, and they shout down every attempt to provide a reasonable contrary opinion. Should I be asking you to take them all down? Look, if you can’t stand the heat, stop stirring the pot.
In your attempt to insult me you insult millions of people that can no longer stand up to your comment.
Rather than delete the refferrence that I will not repeat ypu affirm it !
The rest of your comment is not an issue
Your challrnge of me os not an issue
Your utter disrespect to the humanity of the issue and your failure to fix your lack of judgement after it has been brought to your attention make it even worse.
Per Godwin’s law, you lost. Now shut up.
A-mount is dead, face it.
If Sony ever releases A99II, it is for prestige, not for gaining profit.
I now see the future. Look . . . if Sony releases a new a-mount camera (looks like “when” now), a-mount is definitively proven to be alive. Accept it. But obviously, people like you who are invested in the concept of a-mount death, will insist that the new a-mount camera is “the last one,” so you can continue to spout your tiresome mantra. Sorry to disappoint you, but a mount is alive and well.
*ROFL*
what do you mean “invested in the concept of a-mount death”?
any of my camera gear upgrades are postponed for undetermined time.
You have invested in the death of A-Mount? Are you an undertaker? Or a secret A-Mount assassin hired by someone even more secret? LOL
I guess a vocabulary lesson is needed. Invest: “to involve or engage, especially emotionally [, as in they] were deeply invested in their children’s lives.” I hope you understand the usage now. Your welcome. P.S. “LOL” to you too.
Then I guess you don’t believe your own pablum. Why post something that you don’t really believe? You’ve been doing too much “ROLFing.” You should start posting something that isn’t pure junk.
Or to serve as a temporary bridge while they further develop E-mount interoperability with A-mount lenses.
Let’s face it – any new A-mount camera is almost surely going to be just an E-mount sensor/image processor stuck into an A-mount body. Basically, packaging an FF E-mount body and an LA-EA4 into one unit (possibly with some improvements on the EA4 side of things)
FF E-mount is Sony’s major profit center, so that’s where all investment is going to be. A-mount and APS-C will only see “trickle down” technology transfer from FF E.
Sony would be wise to sell A Mount to their friends at Hasselblad, whilst its still worth selling.
Nikon sales and profits continue tio drop.
Nikon can not sustain the level of inovation and competition that the Sony/Canon battle for dominence will require.
This would be a good time for Sony to acquire Nikon.
Sony can benefit from Nikon lenses, and from Nikon’s reputation for a proffesional level camera system.
Nikon can avoid further decrease in value to come by selling now.
If not there is a good chance that Nikon will fail.
But please, don’t rebrand to “Sonikon”
Sounds stupid. 🙂
Seriously. I don’t know the total figures of Nikon, but if Sony can manage that amount – they shall take over Nikon.
Profit down another 27% to 9.7 billion yen.
But that beat expectations of 8 billion yen.
What’s the total turnover?
Don’t know….the article I read …Nikonrumors…only had limited data.
Perhaps some of thier links will lead to more complete numbers, I have not checked yet.
Could not find a link to more data.
Search for “Nikon financial reports” and you’ll find them… right from Nikon, of course: http://nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/ar/index.htm
Their imaging division had sales of 586 billion yen and an operating profit of 56 billion yen (for the last FY). Both are predicted to go down over the next few years. Nikon’s market cap is $5.2b right now – probably a bit rich for Sony and I’m not sure it would make sense at that price. Hell, personally I’d rather see them buy Zeiss, Cosina/Voigtlander, Sigma, or Tamron – all would be cheaper than buying Nikon and focus only on Sony’s weakest spot (lenses).
Yeah – call it Niky – sounds less stupid ^^
(same pronunciation like “Nike”)
LMFAO
Why would they spend money on a failing business? What’s the point?
If they had already shut down the A-mount business it could be interesting, dslr F-mount and mirrorless fe-mount.
But now… it would be more of a burden i think.
Nikon Q1 Net Profit Down; Backs Earnings View, Lifts Sales Forecast
Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/nikon-q1-net-profit-down-backs-earnings-view-lifts-sales-forecast-20150806-00054#ixzz3pD3EarEa
So sales goes up again …
Overall consumer camera business went down the past few years due to intro of smartphones, so all camera makers suffered from that, including Nikon. Since then camera makers are mainly targeting photo & video enthusiasts and pro’s and not anymore the “cheap & low end smartphone shooter”-market. Now that everybody has a smartphone and all “cheap & low end smartphone shooters” have left the camera business, the camera business will slowly & steadily grow again.
Concerning the stability of the Nikon company the past few years, Nikon stayed profitable and thus healthy, even with the dropping sales. Taking into account the huge amount of Nikon lenses sold historically, it is together with Canon the most solid camera maker to continue doing business with. That is the reason why sales goes up again, people want to attach these huge amount of lenses on new Nikon camera bodies while now and then upgrading or renewing some lenses. Together with their newer & improved lenses (ie the F1.8 prime series) and the ever continuing pro business, they will simply continue. Historically, the intro of the smartphone business will only be a short hick-up in the cable …
Concerning Sony, it is great to see Sony keeps innovating at a high pace, this will push Canon and Nikon also to improve certain tech, but of course at a lower pace. Let Sony (together with their customers) catch the fire burden of this new tech’s issues & flaws until it gets matured, and exactly at that point in time Canon & Nikon will copy the matured tech and simply create additional sales with it …
Nikon does not have to copy Sony technology because they are willing to buy Sony sensors, this isulates them from the escalating cost of R&D.
Canon on the other hand continues to use thier own sensors which are destned to fall further and further behind Sony in the sensor gap.
Yes Canon will continue to develope better sensors….but Sony will continue to develope better better sensors and the gapcwill increase.
As you point out Nikon has value…these values are precisely where Sony is weak.
Sony would benefit greatly by purchasing Nikon, and Nikon, while remaining profitable is losing value.
If a deal can be worked out both companies would benefit, and Sony would be in a stronger position to battle Canon.
Sony would also be very wise to keep Nikon management and allow them to continue to run it like a real camera company.
I understand your point, but how will Sony benefit ? When taking over Nikon they will have one additional product line to maintain and further develop. We have seen with the Minolta A-mount how that story is getting more and more difficult to keep it managed towards the customer … The more mounts you deliver to the customer, the more internal competition you will create inside the company. And that is commercially dangerous because it will also confuse the customers about the lack of one clear and unified company’s strategy. When taking over Nikon, Nikon customers will pause for a while buying Nikon equipment because they will want to understand exactly what will happen with the F-mount (certainly remembering what is happening to the A-mount today), while the current Sony customers will also start to pause buying because they also want to make sure the E-mount is still going to be the main development line for Sony.
Therefore, pure commercially, I think it is better for Sony to 1) continue to compete Canon in the pro movie business directly as they do greatly today 2) Benefit of its great sensor quality & sales via partners (like ie Nikon) and capture more market share from Canon through partners and 3) keep innovating & create niche market segments like the FF mirrorless cameras today since there is simply no competition today so it means they can eat 100% market share within this market segment.
Anyway, future will point out what will happen, since we as customers have no influence at all in what is going on among these companies, certainly not the big multinationals
Hybrid F mount, A mount Canon mount, and E mount to accept them all.
Alternatively a removable mount plate with alternate plates for each mount. Mount plate can be made extremely solid and rigid.
Yeah, on paper this is all possible of course :o) In practice however customers want “their mount system” to be “the main one & the best one” and they will not buy this story (we know how difficult we as customers really are to deal with ;o). Especially because (if technically possible at all) you will indeed need some extra mount system (an electronic + mechanical plate or adapter) and this will scare many customers. Compared with their equipment today, they don’t need all this stuff in between the camera body & the lens. So it does not really look very appealing to them …
Supporting a 3rd mount is a great idea.
Barry, your capacity to state as fact things you clearly no nothing about has no apparent limit. That said, the image in my mind of the reaction of Nikon snobs to a Sony takeover was quite amusing. Think of it. To quote Dr. Peter Venkman: “Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together . . . mass hysteria!”
I just want to see the world burn.
Your Forum looks awesome… I think Ren Kokkwell didn’t like being banned.
A-mount development = LA-EAx adapter development. Deal with it.
I hope so
And E-mount body development to improve capabilities with LA-EAx (see A7RII + EA3)
No APS-C RX… Bummer.
It depends actually, I can forget RX APS-C if they made a poor man’s RX1, A7II sensor and collapsible 28mm. NEX7 design.
There is an Ricoh GR, which is so good that it dominates that segment. Nikon tried to compete with the Coolpix A, which is a very good camera too, but failed miserably. Without the GR in existence, it could possibly make sense for Sony. But with the GR out there…
Yes, but both have a 28mm equivalent lens, and I prefer 35mm.
Oh my- I didn’t know that camera existed. Oooooo..I like that. I wish it had a rangefinder on the side or some kind of optical viewfinder. That is nice, and cheap to. This could be a good fit for me. I don’t like fuji unfortunately.
Yeah, the legendary film GR’s had little viewfinders, but then the LCD could not be that big. It fills almost the entire back. I didn’t have used the famous film GR’s because I was shooting Leica back in the days, but the digital APS-C Ricoh GR is one of the best cameras I have ever used. This includes Leica M! No joke.
Of course it has flaws, slow low light AF, a fragile retractable lens. But with the snap mode the camera is incredible responsive even in cases the AF has problems. Handling and usability is the best I have seen on a camera this small. And the lens is on par with an Leica Emarit-M 28mm/2.8. I’m dead serious. Super sharp across the field, almost zero distortion. If you readt the reviews I have even the impression it has no sample variation, because I did not found a single review that was not raving about the lens.
Fuji: I absolutely love the design. To me, the X100 is one of the best looking cameras ever. I tried the X100. No chance against the GR in my book. The camera felt not responsive. EVF is laggy. It was a joy to play around with it. But for street, I was not impressed.
Well, you sold me on that. So do you suggest a GRI or II. I’m going to buy one. Looking at it makes perfect sense as it’s truly pocket-able. Lens looks impressive as well.
The GRII is the same as the GRI. They just added WiFi/NFC, a slightly bigger buffer and AF during video. Forget about the video, it’s totally crap. I suggest the GRI used. If you don’t like it, the resale value is pretty stable.
There is one minor gripe in terms of usability: The exposure compensation switch (+/-) at the top right at the back, is quite prone to accidentally hitting it with the thumb. The “-” (down) is a little narrow to the thumb rest. If you get used to the camera you will learn to feel the button blindly. After some time I did not hit the button accidentally anymore. But thats important to any camera, you have to “know” it.
And like any mini camera, the battery life is….#*+!%&§… You guess right.
Yes, that’s the greatest compact, but a different focal length would be nice to complement the gr. Say 35 or 40 f2.8 or f2 (~50-60 equivalent) with collapsible lens. That would allow for many to have only two pocketable compacts, with no need for an interchangeable lens camera. I think there were a sufficient market for such a camera.
Sony should put a 28-70mm f2.8 fixed lens on Sony A6000 like form factor and release it as apsc rx for ~$1000. Will be a super hit.
Why is mister cockwell banned? He was good with parody
He has a knee jerk reaction to criticism. He starts of sober and falls off the bandwagon. We then end up with a thread full of derogatory replies.
LOL, nice description. I already guessed some kind of social awkwardness.
Oh, the famous youtube commenter`syndrome 🙂
For video electric ND and stepless aperture ring could be useful (like Vello and Novoflex Nikon F to E adapters) 🙂
Better start to research improvement of foveon. Particulary its high iso capability. Because, in my opinion, no a7r2 5dsrd810 dont come close with base iso IQ to sigma’s aps-c sd-1 merril.
To bad sigma doesn’t have the resources to further develop the tech. Foveon FF for the win. I’d buy it.
APS-C RX would be a killer product and it might affect the sales of the remaining alpha cameras.
The A7000 is rumored to cost $1500. I think the question Sony is struggling with is ‘will it sell at that price’?? My bet is it will, but only if there’s *very* significant improvements over the A6K.
Is 4K, IBIS, weather resistance, and variable LPF enough? Will they add touch-screen??
My bet is it will not sell.
$1500 is way too much for 90% of the A6000 customers, which are no enthusiasts but normal people who want a top quality camera (compared to their phone or point-and-shoot). It is the average Canon Rebel type of customer, the APS-C relies on.
An A7000 would play in the High-End APS-C range which is absolutely not comparable with the A6000 market. The air in this High-End segment is very thin, since there are affordable FF cameras available.
I agree, for video features people will rather go for a GH4 at current bargain prices. For picture I personally will add few hundreds bucks more and go FF (A7II).
That’d be a tough one. If the buyer really needs that fast AF/fps, then maybe, but otherwise that’s only like $100 off from the A7II.
GX8 is kind a goal for the A7000 in my opinion, it does basically everything well.
Premium build as well.
This is ridiculous. Why would Sony give a meaningful interview only to an obscure Polish site, leaving the rest of the world puzzling over a lousy automated translation? And I don’t know anything about Sony’s org chart – who are these 2 guys? Google Translate doesn’t even work, on my Surface RT browser, so I can’t read the interview yet.
“…an obscure Polish site…” have you even the slightest clue what you are talking about?
I have no problem if you don’t like Poland, you may have your reasons.
But “optyczne.pl” is one of the biggest and best camera review sources I have ever seen. Totally credible people. Very detailed, well informed reviews. The only downside is that the main site is in polish, which I don’t understand.
They also run the famous lenstip.com site, which is in english. Also one of the best lens review sources available. For me, they are in the same league as dpreview.
Calling them obscure is just as ignorant as it sounds. Jeeez…
Perogies.
Yummy.
I’m sure Poland is a beautiful country. I love their sausage. If this web site is such a big deal, I have to wonder why they don’t offer an English version and increase their readership by about 1,000 percent. And how do you know their reviews are “detailed and well informed” if you don’t read Polish?
Sorry for being so harsh, but “obscure” sounded a bit off the charts for me.
I agree, I also don’t get why they don’t translate their main site. Maybe their main focus is on the lens tests on lenstip.com. You should check out some of their reviews. As I said, they are detailed and well written. In my opinion one of the most credible review sources around.
PS: Google Translate is your friend.
Comparing them to dPreview is insulting. They are much better in what they do than dPreview is. Only being privately owned in non-english speaking country means that they have nowhere near the money for promotion that dPreview does.
ignorant as you are… buahahaha… it’s really hard to find. congrats buddy 😉
A99 hasn’t got a full magnesium chassis like D800 and 5DIII. The front is not magnesium. In build it is somewhere in no man’s land between D800 and D600. That was the problem. Too expensive at introduction for enthusiasts and not enough competitive with Canon’s and Nikon’s Semi-Pro cameras.
In a sense, D750 is sort of what A99 was aiming at.
That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Sony doesn’t have enough of a pro following and all the misplaced hype about the translucent mirror degrading image quality. Nothing to do with build quality (which the A99 is top notch) or Enthusiast’s weak wallets.
My A99s have been going strong for 3 years now particularly compared to my partners 5D Mk 2s and Mk 3s. Sony weathersealing is on point.
Any pro photog who shoots with A99s will tell you that they are more than competitive with Canon and Nikon offerings. My clients and publishers certainly seem satisfied.
Even if you stick with your claim, their pricing was right between the D600 and D800 anyway.
http://www.frankwithersphoto.com
http://www.myparadisephoto.com
Why people don’t believe that you can achieve the same performance and full compatibility with A-mount lenses on a Full featured E-mount and a high end adapter?
because there is no high end adapter. you cant even turn on the AF assist beam with the adapter, and the AF coverage on LAEA4 is hideously tiny. maybe one day i can achieve a mount performance with an adapter but that day is certainly not here yet.
Agreed. I love the idea of a high-end, compact camera like that, yet can’t afford to blow $3k on a fixed-lens camera. If I could get an APS-C version for half that, though…
Because thus far adapter options are pretty poor. I just want an LAEA5 adapter with at least A99II capabilities but we don’t even have that camera yet! Full frame should be about no compromises in regards to the higher end of consumer friendly priced digital gear. Adapters- as of now- introduce to many compromises.
Masaaki Oshima: Kontynuujemy rozwój bagnetu A i nie planujemy go porzucać. Nie mogę jednak podać szczegółów odnośnie premier konkretnych produktów.
Masaaki Oshima: We continue to develop A-mount and do not plan to give it up. But I can not give details on specific products.
Well there we have it. New A-mount products are coming!
Note: Google couldn’t translate the last bit very well because it said Prime Minister so I omitted the word “premier.” Can we assume the last words should be “specific premier products” ? That would make sense to me that Sony considers A-mount to be their premier line of camera products.
It refers to introduction date (literally first appearance)
It should be “specific products premières”.
pre·miere
1. To have the first public performance.
2. To make a first appearance in a public performance.
We cannot comment on future products.
We will develop it if customers are interested.
I’ve heard this over and over from Sony.
This interview was pointless.
Haha.. That’s one of the most basic skills required to be an executive: Giving extensive interviews and long speeches without saying anything.
All the camera companies seem to be doing this now. In fact it’s the new standard in corporate “communication”. Send out a couple of stylishly dressed guys with instructions to set up events, show up, smile and say nothing. It’s just a smug, patronizing way to insult the intelligence of your users.
Get ready to see those cost cutting measures show up in Nikons future DSLR’s.
most important news for me: a-mount continue! thanks Sony! on the other hand having such things to say… should even not exist! But, so far happy for the news about a-mount! really cool!
Kokkwell has been banned? Why?
Most A-Mount users usually consider a full size DSLR body as an essential feature. That is totally understandable for me. It’s not for me, I have small hands and dont use big lenses. There are so many different colors of photography. Which is good.
Sony has in the last two years, prioritized the a7 series and the RX series. I do not think
that is a coincidence. Look at RX10II; it is almost as good as any system camera (with several lenses) with focal length 24-200 mm and an aperture 2.8. As I understand, there is no lenses for the Sony e mount system APS-C with larger focal length than 200mm. I myself wonder to get a RX10II, because then I only bring my single camera for many occasions and not my NEX with all of my lenses. For me, as a hobby photograph, it will cover many of my needs.
We cannot eliminate that this is what Sony thinks. The advanced photographers, who uses
Sony APS-C, will migrate to full frame a7 serie and the less advanced APS-C photographers
will choose camera like RX10XX.
That is why the question of APS-C sensor and RX10III is very exciting!!. Time will show.
In the long run the Sony A mount series are dead of course, the question is how fast Sony will kill it and how this is done.