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Few days ago I saw a video ("Tony Northup calls the A-mount a dead system") where on Sony Alpha Forum some expert said SLT/A Mount system is gone. May be Sony is not serious on this as they are basking in the success of the Mirrorless A7 thingy.... I am not a professional guy but I have seen many system in past, with my limited income source and Photography as a serious hobby I have used Canon, got opportunity to see some Nikon system, then moved to Sony in 2016 when I bought A99. Then I made a decision in 2016 to move to mirror less, now I have A7R and A7Rmarkii..... What I have learnt in last 20 years is we need an Artist inside us, these are tools to express our Imagination and creativity, they will always have limitations but as an Artist there is always a way to express through limited resources. May be SLT is gone, we may say 'SLT is dead Long Live SLT'..... I am still having A77Markii and have seen at many places where this system is far better than A7 in response. But who gonna tell Sony that refine it and take it above Canon and Nikon. May God help Sony. Artist like me can't ......... Now, why I said all these things............. because I still use it, its quite reliable and output is also great.... See this Video (its using A mount system): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0eW_oXp0aE&feature=youtu.be

I know this might sound ridiculous or not economical realistic, or technically impractical, but as a long time FF A mount user who haven't make the move to FE just yet, I always had this thought in my mind. I was wondering will Sony ever consider making the next FF A mount body mirrorless with on sensor PDAF? If so, it will be great beause I don't like the idea of adding a LA-EA4 between my lenses and the FE body since I have bad experince with the A77 and its SLT mirror. Do educate me if I'm woring because for the last few years, CDAF on mirrorless seems to be fast enough to compete with traditional phase detection AF (Well, at least for a portrait photographer's pont of view). My OM-D EM-5 focus as fast or faster than my A850 / A300 and it is using only CDAF, of course m43 have a deeper DOF thus much more easy to focus. And the A6000's 4D Focus seems fast enough to fulfill many photographic challenges. So, if FF E mount can achieve adequate AF performance with I don't know CDAF? Why can't A mount just be made the same way while be able to maintain legacy lenses mount without adapters and the beefy ergonomics I like becasue in my experience I tend to grip more harder on smaller bodies, which is not comfortable. A Mount = Mirrors, Traditional Ergonimic, Bigger Battery, E Mount = Mirroless, Compact Form Factor, The Mirror, it is still Nessesary? Flange Distance, Achilles Heel? The Paradox always kept me thinking... or maybe I'm just plain silly... For 2 mount system with identical sensor size (Different in flange distance of course), what is the best strategy for Sony to differenciate both product rage while both series are getting more and more convergence in terms of IQ, feature and characteristic for each literation of product release. Of course if the key factor is the flange distance which ultimately decides the ease, size and quality of the lens designed for both cases (I don't know, longer flange distance is better or the shorter one for the long run? do let me know) Imagine fitting the entire A7mk2 architecture inside a A99 body size, with less volume/size constrain to worry with, Sony can really go creative with A mount system with ample amount of card slots, ports, dails & knobs real estate, and maybe fitting in a bigger EVF, Display, bigger buffer memory, on-board storage and file manager, bigger heat sink for sensor thus 4K with 5-axis IBIS... I don't know, creativity is the limit. Anyways, just sharing my thoughts~ no biggy~ and cheers~

I am a very proud and happy user of Sony’s amazing A99 camera and have a full frame lens set ranging from 12mm to 200mm plus a TC that will take it to 400mm. At present I have an RX100, series 1, as a second camera but I am looking at getting a backup body for my A99 now that it is out of warranty and I use it on a regular basis. I have thought about waiting to see what Sony’s has in store on the A mount full frame side but also I am considering either another A99, something second hand or an A7 or mirrorless series with adapter. I have two ZA lenses and two Sigma's. I would be interested to hear the points of view from other forum members with regard to options and what they would do. Cheers Si