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Why Sony is really close to take over the pro market


Lorenzolalik
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A lot of pro included myself are watching really closely what Sony as been doing lately and I have to admit

that the last 2 years as been very impressive

The Sony A7R mk2 is getting pretty close to make a lot of pro switching from canon or Nikon

This is a list of well know personal suggestion that a lot of pro are waiting for before making the full switch

Sony should create a new line of camera base on the a7r mk2 spect and performance

Better focusing performance in low light

Better and easier focusing point selection

Better battery life

Better full weathers sealed body and lens

Bigger body with bigger grip to allow more battery life and accommodate bigger zoom

- full line of FE 2.8 zoom included

16-35mm 2.8

24-70mm 2.8

70-200 mm 2.8

- also a full line of 1.4 prime lens

Of course a lot of other things could be improved but with this exciting technology a lot of pro

are waiting for those small improvement to make the switch

Congratulation to Sony for bringing so many exciting new innovation and making dslr looking

like a past technology

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I agree with the above. Lenses IMO. will be key.  If SONY -Zeiss can get their quality consistency under control and produce excellent FAST native lenses (along the lines of Canon's 28-70f 2.8 etc) with the quality and IQ of their current 16-35, they will make gain a lot of ground. When you find a good copy of a SONY Zeiss lens, they are excellent. However, for native e-mount, there are not many FAST options. I think one key will be wedding photographers who are more than happy to "lighten" their load. I think SONY needs to offer a solid Flash-triggering system. 

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The better focus performance is something they are surely working on and will be better and better in every new body. 

Everything else could be solved by releasing a A9 Pro Body which is bigger, better weather sealed, bigger battery, with joystick for AF selection and so on.

Me personally I prefer the "small" body of my A7RII with a little worse battery life and so on.

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A lot of pro included myself are watching really closely what Sony as been doing lately and I have to admit

that the last 2 years as been very impressive

The Sony A7R mk2 is getting pretty close to make a lot of pro switching from canon or Nikon

This is a list of well know personal suggestion that a lot of pro are waiting for before making the full switch

Sony should create a new line of camera base on the a7r mk2 spect and performance

Better focusing performance in low light

Better and easier focusing point selection

Better battery life

Better full weathers sealed body and lens

Bigger body with bigger grip to allow more battery life and accommodate bigger zoom

- full line of FE 2.8 zoom included

16-35mm 2.8

24-70mm 2.8

70-200 mm 2.8

- also a full line of 1.4 prime lens

Of course a lot of other things could be improved but with this exciting technology a lot of pro

are waiting for those small improvement to make the switch

Congratulation to Sony for bringing so many exciting new innovation and making dslr looking

like a past technology

 

I wouldn't say anything to this list, if you're not generalising it with "a lot of pro are waiting for those small improvement to make the switch".

 

I think a lot of pro will say complete different things to any of your points. :)

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battery life?

I (a humble amateur) power - when I need to - my A7s with either an Atomos Power Station (2xF970s) or Hawkwoods V-loks (flight safe 100s via d-tap and dummy battery). How much more power does a pro need?

I speculate - a "pro" needs reliability. That is inevitably at odds with the reason I like Sony; namely innovation and cutting edge technology. And, let's face it, for a bargain price. I doubt whether there's much to beat a 1dc (5div once it appears?) for reliability - but please Sony don't go down the route of bigger & heavier even it is more robust!

Personally, I don't mind who uses Sony so long as they provide the functionality I want (not need) at the time.

Tim

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A lot of pro included myself are watching really closely what Sony as been doing lately and I have to admit

that the last 2 years as been very impressive

The Sony A7R mk2 is getting pretty close to make a lot of pro switching from canon or Nikon

This is a list of well know personal suggestion that a lot of pro are waiting for before making the full switch

Sony should create a new line of camera base on the a7r mk2 spect and performance

Better focusing performance in low light

Better and easier focusing point selection

Better battery life

Better full weathers sealed body and lens

Bigger body with bigger grip to allow more battery life and accommodate bigger zoom

- full line of FE 2.8 zoom included

16-35mm 2.8

24-70mm 2.8

70-200 mm 2.8

- also a full line of 1.4 prime lens

Of course a lot of other things could be improved but with this exciting technology a lot of pro

are waiting for those small improvement to make the switch

Congratulation to Sony for bringing so many exciting new innovation and making dslr looking

like a past technology

A lot of pro included myself are watching really closely what Sony as been doing lately and I have to admit

that the last 2 years as been very impressive

The Sony A7R mk2 is getting pretty close to make a lot of pro switching from canon or Nikon

This is a list of well know personal suggestion that a lot of pro are waiting for before making the full switch

Sony should create a new line of camera base on the a7r mk2 spect and performance

Better focusing performance in low light

Better and easier focusing point selection

Better battery life

Better full weathers sealed body and lens

Bigger body with bigger grip to allow more battery life and accommodate bigger zoom

- full line of FE 2.8 zoom included

16-35mm 2.8

24-70mm 2.8

70-200 mm 2.8

- also a full line of 1.4 prime lens Of course a lot of

other things could be improved but with this exciting

technology a lot of pro are waiting for those small

improvement to make the switch Congratulation to Sony

for bringing so many exciting new innovation and making

dslr looking like a past technology

WOW !!! THAT is toadally ridiculous ! EVERYthing you

suggest is antithetical to what makes Sony worth the

switching. Take any giant SLR and replace the mirror

with an EVF and thaz the camera you've described. Let

Nikon andCanon update their current monsters to live

view cameras [which in time they must acoarst do ... ]

but let the Sonys remain Sonys.

 

There is NO definition of a "pro" camera by specs.

The only definition is who uses what to make money.

Sony is the Citroen of cameras. Nikon and Canon are

the Ford and Chevys. You want a Chevy ? Buy one.

Don't be suggesting Citroen should build more Chevys

or Fords. There's plenty of them available from the

current sources.

 

Don't take it personally. You're not the first to

say what you've said. But the whole bunch of you

are on the wrong forum.

 

Speaking not as the Fictional Character some folks

have named "Pro", but speaking as an actual working

long-career photographer, I can tell you that *WE*

often loooove weird fascinating little cameras and

use them a whole lot ! .... for our own bemusement,

cause our actual working tools [that you all lust

after] are no fun at all. Personal gear is what it

is, and tools are what they need to be, and never

the twain shall meet [except in fool's fantasies].

 

`

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The new line up for Sony FE 2.8 lenses looks close (sony alpha rumors):

 

Three different sources sent me messages during the last couple of days saying that Sony is preparing the launch of the very first f/2.8 FE zoom. I am still not 100% sure about the specs and release date but so far I have been told:

1)
Current FE zooms will get “updated” to be faster (f/2.8) and also of higher optical quality

2)
One of those should be the 70-200mm f/2.8 FE lens. Reminder:Sony registered a new 24-70mm FE GM lens (
)
.

3)
Announcement is likely to happen some time AFTER the Sony A68 announcement (scheduled for November 5th).

It is also unclear if Sony will announce those lenses for real or just on an updated roadmap with a real lens release in 2016.

 

A lot of what is on your "wish list" looks like it may be the A99ii. The A7rii will likely remain small - that is half the draw to mirrorless.....

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I would think the top priorities for "ground,pound ,and deliver" pros would be reliability, consistency, and timely repairability. Given the current excellence in image quality across the industry, Sony could really grease the skids with an improved,coherent, Eco-System highlighting support.

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I totally disagree with Lorenzolalik, that would be a new camera system.

 

Small camera, smaller lens is the way to go on the A7. If A9 comes to existence it could be that.

For the A7, I would ask:

1- make it faster and faster to use without going thru very bad menus

2- allow review while recording to card, don't block the camera

3- Make it easier to use and configure

4- review menus completely

5- make all configurations compatible with RAW format, most are only compatible when recording in jpg (Pro's use Raw)

6- Free WiFi from ridiculous PlayMemories app

7- Make lenses better, smaller and lighter, cheaper then Canon/Nikon, not more expensive

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Small camera, smaller lens is the way to go on the A7. If A9 comes to existence it could be that.

 

 

BTW it's too late, the die is cast. Sony are bringing out bigger and heavier wide aperture lenses for their mirrorless full frame system. Even if you felt betrayed to the point you petitioned Sony to cease and desist from rolling out heavy, fast lenses, they would probably ignore such pleas, and bring them out anyway.

 

The weight and compactness of a system are largely determined by the lenses rather than the body. If Sony are going to make larger FE lenses, which due to the short flange distance are larger than their DSLR equivalents anyway, they might as well make larger body MILCs too, and the professional a9 series will likely be just that, while leaving the a7 range as a prosumer range of compact FF camera. Having a tiny body overwhelmed by a huge lens just makes things seem imbalanced. And I say that even though I have small hands.

 

Some may say that 1970s SLR bodies used to be smaller like an a7 body, but then again zooms were less prevalent back then, and did not have autofocus and image stabilisation. Times have changed, and being retrophile isn't the professional photographer's first concern however cool that may look. 

 

A professional photographer isn't going to forgo buying an a9 body just because it's the same size as a Leica SL or DSLR. Getting the shot is what matters even if that means carrying around an SLR medium format camera. Usually, only consumers choose a camera principally to get a lighter system. As a professional photographer, you are likely to have multiple bodies anyway, in which case if you need to reduce your weight for plane travel and location work, you can just get an a7 body in addition to an a9 body. You can then shoot with an a7 and an a9 body together in many situations, or leave the a9 (along with heavier lenses) behind when weight matters. 

 

Lastly, even if the a9 followed the example of the Leica SL by being virtually the same size as a DSLR, it still has a size advantage in the sense that if Canon or Nikon added IBIS to a DSLR it would be even bigger. IBIS is going to become increasingly important because higher resolution sensor cameras (36MP and greater) are prone to having images degraded by the effects of subtle hand shake. In that sense, MILCs use their size advantage to pack more features into them.

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  • 2 weeks later...
The Sony a7ii is my first pro camera, formerly replacing my Sony a5100 and I believe that Sony is really doing something noteworthy and I love this camera but there are some cons and/or mistakes Sony has made:

 

1. Battery usage is not impressive, it was acceptable an the 5100 but the battery is small and when used on the a7ii with the CCD motion correction it uses battery 30%-50% faster.  It's abysmal and I take 5 batteries with me normally but  need a minimum of 3 in order to do anything serious.  Of course one can just buy more batteries ($50 each for official Sony ones, or two for $15 on Amazon for 3rd party) this is nit picking.  The other option is the add-on grip although it adds a lot of girth and only allows for 2 batteries where 3 would have been ideal so it's not worth the money to address power usage.

 

2. The camera buffer is great if you just shoot JPG (amateur mistake) but not impressive if you shoot in RAW+JPG (the only way to fly), and this leads me to my next point, because once the buffer is full it must write to the card in order to continue.

 

3. The write speed to memory cards is acceptable but not impressive.  Write speed from articles I read was claiming an average 35MB/sec despite how fast the card is.  I bought a 95MB/sec card because I do a lot of video at the full 50mbit quality and often switch between video and pictures and every second counts while I'm waiting for the buffer to flush.  Despite the benchmarks I've read, I went from a 45MB/sec card to a 95MB/sec card and the buffer flush was substantially faster, possibly twice speed.  I'd like to see a more thorough benchmark done on write speeds because they had something wrong.  I would honestly spend the money for those 300MB/sec cards at $100 for 32GB if the camera supported them at full speed because waiting for the buffer to flush is like waiting for paint to dry when somebody is waiting on me to take their picture which for me is every time I'm out doing events.

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Lotta picky complaints from peeps with unrealisic expectations,

peeps who may have chosen the wrong system for the wrong

reasons. OTOH, I vaguely remember wedding/event work [etc

etc etc .... etc] routinely successfully handled by miraculous

cameras that did NOT require several battery changes per job,  

but burdened by framing rates limited by muscle coordination

between shutter finger and winding lever. Also, altho frequent

battery replacement was unheard of, you did hafta rewind and

reload film every few dozen frames. No one lived in fear of an

SD card failure. The equivalent of twin card slots existed only

as a patent drawing, for a 72 shot camera that held two rolls of

film and alternated frames between the two. This was NOT to

lessen the burden of rewind-reload, cuz it takes twice as long

to reload such a camera [hypothetically, since it was never in

production]. The real reason was cuz everyone experienced a

case of lab-destroyed film ... or directly knew of it happening

to an associate. How many of us REALLY know of one actual

case of card failure ? Surely someone somewhere. Overblown

paranoia usually springs from some real instance of bad news.    

 

Did I mention lotsa picky complaints from peeps with unrealisic

expectations ? I did ? Howbout dat.

  

`

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I thought the original point of this camera was to have a lightweight camera system that had a full frame sensor : )

 

To me, trying to use the original A7 series as a professional camera is like trying to climb to the 2nd story of a building using an expensive step ladder. An equally priced full sized ladder is a rugged and more useful tool, but not nearly as capable, nor designed for the same use.

 

I admit the E-mount itself has potential, but I never expected the A7 series to equate into a professional line. The idea of transitioning the "R" line to a professional system was confusing to me. I was hopeful for an "A9" line to create a separate identity for Sony's professional camera. Instead Sony hiked the price $900 from the original MSRP of $2,300 to a staggering $3200. Putting it in the league of the Nikon D810 and the Canon 5Dmk3. At that price range, Sony is suggesting the "R" line is now an "Expert" camera with an emphasis on image quality. Looking at the list of its features, one would certainly assume so. In the end, your camera is simply a tool, just use the right tool for the right job.

 

Just my 0.02

 

I'll transition completely when Profoto releases TTL-S for Sony. I've invested in my lightscaping tools than in the Sony system.

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I'm just happy to go about doing my thing with my "toy" cameras (A7s, A6000, rx1004). Makes no difference to me whether a "pro" uses one or all (it certainly doesn't make me a better photo/videographer). I daresay a pro is capable of getting superb results in most circumstances irrespective of the tool. Me? I benefit from the innovative if fragile cutting edge technology. And as above appreciate the small form factor (albeit the toys look ridiculous with a Shogun and a v-lok attached!)

All from a man who almost bought a MacPro because it sounds better than the "look at me I'm an amateur" iMac...

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As of 11/26/2015 Sony website - when selecting camera options via their filter system when E-mount is selected the APS-C button is no longer active - could this mean that all new Sony E-mounts cameras will be FULL FRAME? When selecting the A-mount, the APS-C button is still selectable.

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A lot of pro included myself are watching really closely what Sony as been doing lately and I have to admit

that the last 2 years as been very impressive

The Sony A7R mk2 is getting pretty close to make a lot of pro switching from canon or Nikon

This is a list of well know personal suggestion that a lot of pro are waiting for before making the full switch

Sony should create a new line of camera base on the a7r mk2 spect and performance

Better focusing performance in low light

Better and easier focusing point selection

Better battery life

Better full weathers sealed body and lens

Bigger body with bigger grip to allow more battery life and accommodate bigger zoom

- full line of FE 2.8 zoom included

16-35mm 2.8

24-70mm 2.8

70-200 mm 2.8

- also a full line of 1.4 prime lens

Of course a lot of other things could be improved but with this exciting technology a lot of pro

are waiting for those small improvement to make the switch

Congratulation to Sony for bringing so many exciting new innovation and making dslr looking

like a past technology

 

 

There is an conflict, I know pro's who do not want to carry any heavy gear anymore!  With the stunning quality of high ISO possibilities, high speed glasses are really not so important anymore!

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I tend to agree that if you fulfil all those requirements you end up with a D800, so why not just use one of those?

 

I like the small(er) form factor, and using smaller primes.

Having said that, I covered a wedding for a friend (couldn't hire a pro) and did miss a fast 24-70. I mostly used the 16-35/F4 and 55/F1.8. On the wide end I really had to use ISOS 12,800 which then required a lot of post processing.

 

Hopefully Sony will do what SAR are predicting and bring out a new A9 with e-mount compatibility. Then the pros (not me) can lug that around and use the A7s as back up and personal use.

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I tend to agree that if you fulfil all those requirements you end up with a D800, so why not just use one of those?

 

I like the small(er) form factor, and using smaller primes.

Having said that, I covered a wedding for a friend (couldn't hire a pro) and did miss a fast 24-70. I mostly used the 16-35/F4 and 55/F1.8. On the wide end I really had to use ISOS 12,800 which then required a lot of post processing.

 

Hopefully Sony will do what SAR are predicting and bring out a new A9 with e-mount compatibility. Then the pros (not me) can lug that around and use the A7s as back up and personal use.

IBIS, evf, 4k video, slog and 42mp are all important features in the a7 series that arn't featured in the d810

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