PMA round up

[bfitzgerald]

Vidgamer, you seem to miss the points made. Sony won't be helping themselves by making life hard with the crippled A mode, that was a specific point made, and a very valid one. Deter? Sony need people to "want to buy Alpha", not to put them off.

I'm not saying "sony sucks" I'm saying the make some very questionable decisions.
I'm also sure Pentax are aware some folks hit ebay and buy a bunch of MF lenses to use on their K-mount cameras, difference is Pentax don't try to stop you or make life hard. Maybe some People will buy a K mount camera as they can source some very nice and affordable lenses?

That's just one example, I'm fully aware of what Nikon do, they cripple things low down too, which is one reason I've a lot less interest in their system. No need for Sony to copy other companies and their mistakes.

[Greg Beetham]

I'm wondering what would happen if Pentax were to bring out a FF camera sometime...that would liven the camera scene up a tad, Samsung could probably bash out a sensor for them if they wanted one. Only thing is, how many FF lenses do they have left over from the film days?
Greg

[peterottaway]

If rumours are correct then Pentax is finally set to announce the Pentax 645 D perhaps with the 39 mb Kodak sensor.

The price was said to be less than the Nikon D 3x .

[Greg Beetham]

Yeah, the Pentax 645 was a pretty good cam, it was already fairly electronic-ish, I thought it was more likable than the Mamiya 645, the only thing about MF cameras is, they were always a bit slow...and heavy, and you usually have to lug a bunch of large heavy primes around as well, (zooms few and far between), on the upside though, they do take magic photos.
Greg

[alphaomega]

Peterottaway wrote:

If rumours are correct then Pentax is finally set to announce the Pentax 645 D perhaps with the 39 mb Kodak sensor.
The price was said to be less than the Nikon D 3x .

I just purchased the latest issue of UK Popular Photography today and they had a comparison of the EOS 7D with 5Dmk2. Conclusion "As this investigation has shown, new deelopments in sensor technology mean that the APS-C format EOS 7D is capable of resolving almost as much detail as the full-frame EOS 5D Mk2 and the results have similar level of noise". They are also comparing A850 with A550 and D300s with D3s. So stand by for Canon issuing FF cameras in the near future with an upscaled 7D sensor to say 36Mp and Pentax can kiss godbye to their 645D at 39Mb. In fact I would venture to suggest that if Sony do not produce a capable A7XX at 17-18Mb and upgrade the A900 to A950 at 36Mp they will probably eventually be blown out of the water by Canon at the speed with which this company releases upgraded products. Canon is a formidable competitor when they have been "stirred up". Nikon will also fall back if they remain tied to Sony sensors. Reference FF Pentax suggestion above, I would say that Samsung have no longer any interest in producing DSLR sensors. Only chance for Pentax would probably be to ask Sony for supplies. Just my modest opinions.

[bfitzgerald]

I heard about the Pentax MF digital, you know MF, it's not for average joe, but it has a market no question.
I only mentioned Pentax in passing, it just seems to me they are for want of a better word, more erm..Minolta ish, than Sony appear to be currently. Granted not the biggest system, and only 2 bodies currently (some say a mid range one is on the way), but I like some of their ideas, K-7 looks very nice, K-x looks like a budget shooters dream come true specs and features wise, with only the lack of AF points in VF the real downer.

I've been reading up quite a bit on both, and I'm left wondering why Sony's models are so basic and crude in comparison. Pentax have some fine ideas and are not scared of packing in stuff, even into lower end bodies. I'd like some of that A mount please, I've had enough p&s on steroids!

[Vidgamer]

Vidgamer, you seem to miss the points made. Sony won't be helping themselves by making life hard with the crippled A mode, that was a specific point made, and a very valid one. Deter? Sony need people to "want to buy Alpha", not to put them off.

They may not have been helping themselves... so why did they do it? Are they clueless and just didn't realize that they dropped the feature? Do they think users would be confused that a manual lens would meter correctly in A-mode? It's not as if I'm happy they dropped the feature or that I think it's great, but perhaps they do.

I don't think they are purposefully trying to put people off of Alpha, but perhaps they think that noone will notice until the camera is purchased. As I said, I haven't even had the need for the feature, so I don't think that many people will be put off anyway.

I'm not saying "sony sucks" I'm saying the make some very questionable decisions.
I'm also sure Pentax are aware some folks hit ebay and buy a bunch of MF lenses to use on their K-mount cameras, difference is Pentax don't try to stop you or make life hard. Maybe some People will buy a K mount camera as they can source some very nice and affordable lenses?

I thought this about the A100, but about Minolta AF lenses, that it's a great way to save money. And Sony hasn't disabled that. I don't think I gave that much thought to fully manual lenses until later. (And even though my camera has the non-crippled A-mode, I still haven't bothered.)

This is a very niche feature, and I'd be curious to know why it was dropped, and while I enjoy speculating, I guess we're just not in a position to know.

That's just one example, I'm fully aware of what Nikon do, they cripple things low down too, which is one reason I've a lot less interest in their system. No need for Sony to copy other companies and their mistakes.

Yeah, their limitations did seem more severe. But what about their mid-range?

I have a co-worker who is leaning towards Nikon, but I dunno what to recommend. I told him he needs to check the feature list, but, frankly, he's just going to use it as a P&S, so it probably doesn't matter. He's the perfect customer for the A500, but has too many others around him that own Nikon. Sony still has a long road ahead. Reminds me of the old saying, "Noone ever got fired for buying IBM [PCs]."

[bfitzgerald]

Vidgamer, we can ask ourselves what Sony are doing..but only they really know!
Not just about crippled A mode, that's just something that might put off "some", not all.
I'm pretty sure Sony were playing about with the A230-380, making it smaller..and their sales chart indicated to me they were looking for massive sales. I think they were attempting to cash in on the micro 4/3 small sells aspect, and trying to pull newbie users in. But clearly that has not happened. That's my take on that, I've no firm info on that one, but it seems rather interesting anyway.

Bottom line, I don't think Sony really get that the DSLR business is about as far removed from your average p&s user as you can get. There is a sense or brand loyalty, that goes far beyond a casual £99 compact buyer. It's a complete system, and I've known people who are way older than me..who are sticking to a brand and they have done for 40+ years. This is serious stuff, we meet people, talk to people, you must have a happy userbase, you must inspire confidence in your products. Sony have failed on both the counts, and the problems started A230-380, their lack of FW addressing concerns, the warm over job A850 again, uninspired, and the A5xx range, just not packing enough punch to stand out.

They need new people at the top, but I'm fast losing interest..and gaining a lot more, looking at alternatives..that don't restrict my options.

[Greg Beetham]

Perhaps Sony decided that there were too many error codes developed by using a non pinned, non chipped lens in A-mode, the lens release button would signal that 'something' had been mounted but the comms pins were generating errors when the 'something' was interrogated. The A700 (and the KM5D, KM7D, A100) can apparently still function (get an exposure reading and work the shutter), despite the errors, but it looks like Sony decided to stop that behavour in the A900 and A850, and make non chipped lens only usable in M-mode.
Sony could have put the MD lens list on a menu for the user to select from (primes only), so the camera has an idea at least, maybe Sony could make an MD/A-mount adapter with a chip as well one day...but I won't hold my breath.
Greg

[Birma]

Just musing about other things at PMA, what about that UWA APS-C Sigma? 8-16 I think - sounds interesting. Will this fit in about the same price range as the 10-20s or be more expensive? Will it take regular filters?

[Javelin]

Posted on DPR was a link to a german site with not really anything new. but linked off of that was a video that shows the new mirrorless being used and it might have been shot with DSLR video

http://www.sony.ch/lang/de/hub/dslr/2/kompaktkamera

[Javelin]

Heres something strange. at the beginning they have silhouettes of "the system" and it labels the cameras A100, A700, A350, A900 and A550...How does THAT make any sense ?

[pakodominguez]

Heres something strange. at the beginning they have silhouettes of "the system" and it labels the cameras A100, A700, A350, A900 and A550...How does THAT make any sense ?

yep: this is not a cybershot.
I guess we'll see lots of compatibilities with the Alpha system: lens adapters, flash system, RAW files...

[David Kilpatrick]

It's a timeline, A100 to A550, that's all. The implication is that the Evilpha is the next step in the timeline.

David

[Javelin]

Ahh thats how it makes sense. strange was to show the evolution of an unrelated camera though, that is if they are going to continue with SLR's.