The beginning of the end?

[classiccameras]

A58 - Joke
A3000 - Joke

Whats the next joke, there has to be one.
I agree about the number of DSLR's in use in the UK. What I see on my photo jaunts are mostly Canikon and a few Sony DSLR and SLT's with a tiny handful of Pentaxes.
Its also interesting to see the number of Canikons that were not just last years model, but from 4+ years ago and older. Their owners obviously still happy with them. I spoke to one D90 user who was not interested in up grading as he felt not much would be gained.
I hardly ever see a Olympus or Panasonic except Panny bridge cameras on my visits to country houses, steam rallies, country fairs and landscape estates.
I think just like the US, DSLR's still have a sizeable section of the UK camera market and are not about to disappear as some CSC pundits would have us believe.

[bfitzgerald]

Well subject to getting a Nikon DSLR that can actually focus with some accuracy Then I'm sure you would be happy enough with a D90 in a lot of ways a decent camera.
The A3000 is another sign of how out of touch with photographers the Sony camera Dev team are, granted it's a budget model. But honestly, can you imagine the annoyance at putting the camera to your eye only to be greeted with darkness and having to press a button to get a viewfinder! This might pass on a super cheapo Fuji bridge £69 model, it's not cutting it for something even entry level for APS-C

It's stupid idiotic and very obvious points like this that make Sony at times look like a complete novice in the camera industry. Using the Alpha name only adds to potential confusion among new users who might buy A mount lenses which simply won't fit without an adaptor. Again another obvious blunder.

I was pretty unimpressed with the A58 being honest, cheap and nasty and cut down far too much. This looks even more hilarious in the Sony line up. Some say "what are Sony thinking?" I say they're not even vaguely thinking at all, even on silly simple stuff. It's a shame the company is capable of much better than this. I really wonder who is pulling the strings in the photo division, I suspect someone who is absolutely clueless about what photographers (even budget ones) might be looking for. And I thought the bad old days of the A230 were behind us! Hidden in the specs are the EVF magnification, a mere 0.7× which is pretty lousy even compared to the smaller than expected A58's EVF size.

[Birma]

I can imagine the howls of anguish from some, but I think the QX lens / cameras look interesting. A RX100 for $450 in effect. I have the control 'pack' with me always anyway so why not add a lens and specially tuned sensor anyway.

[bakubo]

Yes, I always see lots of older Canon DSLRs (especially lower level models) when I am out and about and traveling. Same for Nikon, but much less. A friend has a Nikon D40 that he has used for years and he is still very happy with it. No interest in getting a new model yet. Recently he has started shooting raw with it.

As I have said before, if my A700 didn't have the control wheel problem I would still be pretty happy using it. Nothing from Sony since has tempted me. Because of the A700 problems though I got the wonderful Canon 60D which marked a return to problem free Canons (earlier 30D and 300D also were great). I used the A700 again recently playing with the $3 Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 I picked up in Japan recently and still thought what a shame Sony didn't make my A700 without defects.

My newer m4/3 gear sure is great for travel though.

The Nikon D90 is quite capable so why would most owners replace it?

[classiccameras]

Yes, some of the early Canons especially lower end models were quite good.
I always liked the 450D and the 550D along with the 50D. For a lower end Nikon, the D5000 was excellent and it had the same processing engine as the D90.
I believe the D90 is still available new, or am I out of date on that one.

It looks like from my point of view that the Sony A37 and A57 with possibly the A65 if you can find one were the last SLT's built to a high standard with quality parts. From there on its gone down hill.

[Atgets_Apprentice]

It looks like from my point of view that the Sony A37 and A57 with possibly the A65 if you can find one were the last SLT's built to a high standard with quality parts. From there on its gone down hill.

That is the Sony way. I had an early Playstation 2, a number of years ago, and encountered a late model, just before the PS3 appeared, and the quality difference was shocking. The casing was flimsy and buttons & mechanisms felt so cheap.

[bfitzgerald]

They have a habit of doing that with the PS line and have done for a while, the PS3 super slim is a very cheap feeling piece of kit. I suppose the idea is to cut costs, but sometimes they go too far.

UK price of the A3000 is about £369, it's not going to stand a chance in the market against it's DSLR rivals. I'm sure it will drop to £299, but the dumbed down controls and obvious design mistakes mean it's certain to be a flop.
Sony have never caused Canikon any trouble with entry models, bar the A200 which IMO was easily their best selling DSLR ever. I've seen loads around far more than any other Sony camera.

The old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it applies well here. Sony lost the opportunity to take the fight to Canikon 4-5 years ago and have never troubled them since. The A200 could have made a good platform to attack rivals, all they had to do was improved a few things, put back some bits that should have been there. A200 feels surprisingly solid v the hollow feeling A58.

Sony just don't have the ability to see "what worked" and "what has not worked". No idea why it's blindingly obvious where the misfires have been.

[classiccameras]

Yeah, the A200 still had the KM legacy which Sony chose to ignore on future A mount bodies.

I wish KM would re enter the Digital DSLR market. Sony don't own the name just the technology, and thats easily got round.
Back in the 35-mm SLR days it really was the big 4, Canikon, Minolta and Pentax.

[Greg Beetham]

I saw a thread recently (dpr open forum) where someone claimed that Minolta was always a bit player, and here was me thinking back to when the 7000 was released and it turned into one of the biggest selling cameras of all time, yep Minolta was just a speed bump according to that guy.
Greg

[classiccameras]

Apparently, KM have filed a few patents for M/4/3 lenses!

[alphaomega]

Sony Imaging are a funny lot. One moment a super product and the next c**p or both at the same time (ILC3000 and Zeiss 16-70E). there is no consistency. My RX100 and NEX-6 are "World Class". Would'nt touch the ILC3000 and some of the other stuff Sony have released, but I could add my E 55-210 and 10-18 to the good stuff category. As long as the good stuff continue to appear I am not too unhappy.
I also notice the prevalence of DSLRs with kit lenses even carried by small women who would be better off with a NEX-6 and 16-50 pancake or a quality bridge camera such as the Pana Lumix DFC-FZ200. Amazing but true. I don't think that Sony have been too clever in advertising the advantages of their NEX cameras. Also the EVF option on NEX is too expensive. Anyway I am quite happy with the Sony equipment I have amassed. No need to upgrade but I still would like a NEX-6R with 20Mp sensor and improved EVF fitted with Zeiss 16-70 kit lens at no more than £1150. Do I need it? No. Would I like it? Yes.

[classiccameras]

We have all given Sony a bashing and deservidly, but quite frankly my A37 and A57 are the 2 best DSLR/SLT i have used. The picture quality is brilliant and the sensor on both the NEX and Alpha mount bodies is the one to beat. No wonder Nikon and Pentax use them, although there has been a little departure by Nikon for the D5200, it now has a Toshiba sensor as does the D7100 and possibly more to come.
The trouble with Sony is, they have never been able to get the best out of their own sensors like Nikon and Pentax have. Strange.

[bfitzgerald]

We have all given Sony a bashing and deservidly, but quite frankly my A37 and A57 are the 2 best DSLR/SLT i have used. The picture quality is brilliant and the sensor on both the NEX and Alpha mount bodies is the one to beat. No wonder Nikon and Pentax use them, although there has been a little departure by Nikon for the D5200, it now has a Toshiba sensor as does the D7100 and possibly more to come.
The trouble with Sony is, they have never been able to get the best out of their own sensors like Nikon and Pentax have. Strange.

Well yes and no. I'm still trying to get my head around the SLT aspect, the light loss is one thing maybe not the end of the world but it's a compromise to a degree. The other thing is the EVF aspect which is "ok" in some ways but once you start using a really good OVF, honestly I find it hard to want to use the A57.

Today I was taking a few shots with the film 7, and frankly it blows the A57's EVF apart there is really no comparison at all. Sure the A57 is usable, it's ok in low light, but it sucks in normal lighting. The higher SLT's have better OLED EVF's but they're more prone to clipping and contrasty, though higher res. I'm still not convinced about this EVF only road Sony are on. Warts and all the A57 is overall a pretty good camera has to be said, AF is fast and mostly accurate, the sensor is good (bar the blooming issue), but it's only pretty good because it was "fairly cheap", and ok build wise. There are too many quirks to really call it a top range camera. Saying that if the best Sony can do for an A57 update is dumb it down with the A58 that worries me quite a lot.

[bakubo]

Today I was taking a few shots with the film 7, and frankly it blows the A57's EVF apart there is really no comparison at all.

Yes, the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/Alpha 7 has a great viewfinder. I bought one in January 2002, my last film camera, and put about 3-4 rolls of slide film through it. I then bought a Minolta D7i and haven't used film since. Too bad. My $599 Maxxum 7 still sits unused and got almost no use.

I remember these comments about it:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/colum ... 4-06.shtml

Two of the main reasons: it has the brightest, cleanest finder you have ever laid eyes on, and it has wonderful, superfast, super-positive autofocus. Minolta claims that the Maxxum 7's autofocus is the world's fastest. I'm not in a position to dispute or confirm that claim, but let's just say I can believe it.

[Birma]

Looking at the SAR site this evening it certainly doesn't appear to be the end of A mount. Now the A3000 is out of the way it appears some more interesting stuff is on the way.