'While stocks last'

[Greg Beetham]

Seems that a major retail store here is having a clearence of Sony DSLR's, unless I'm reading too much into it. But it's unusual to see so many marked down (down for here) and with freebies etc. The A550 is the only one not marked with 'While Stocks Last' but it has a free battery grip and a Tamron 18-200 Kit lens for a very cheap (again for here) $879.
http://www.cameraaction.com.au/call1300 ... sp?dept=18
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Nt ... Search=yes
Greg

[peterottaway]

It's not just Sony, I was just looking at the offers from one of the HK dealers on e-bay.

Digital SLR 779 cameras on offer

Canon 495
Nikon 216
Pentax 27
Sony 38
Other 3


It would appear that all the manufacturers are having a clean out in anticipation on new models being introduced. In fact it was the Canon cameras that went into end of model sales first, followed by Nikon and only in the last few days by Sony. The offers on the A 900 have come down about AUD 400 to AUD 500 and are only about AUD 150 more than the A 850 if anyone is interested ( AUD 2799 tax included )

Some may interpret the large numbers of close out Canons as being that Canons market share has fallen badly. But it is probably just that this dealer is mainly into selling Canon cameras.

Although just as the Canon 5d Mk 2 followed the Nikon D 700 lower in price, it could be that they are anticipating a large scale model renewal by Nikon ( and Sony ) over the next few months. Better to sell a Canon at a sales price now than they are tempted to go elsewhere.

[Greg Beetham]

I've since seen it's worldwide for Sony as far as DSLR's are concerned, I wonder if a big change is in the wind, could it be that Sony might concentrate only on the E mount....and Minolta might resume on the A mount? with the two working in close 'harmony' together.
Greg

[peterottaway]

I doubt that Konica has the money, patents, production facilities or development expertise to get back into the camera business in its own right.
It is unlikely that even all the current market players will be around under their own names in a few years time. As OEM manufacturers maybe but not as front line players.

Sony has announced that they intend to use the new e mount and sensor with a new range of video cameras. They seem to be serious about this. Although I imagine that these video cameras will be many, many times the price of the NEX cameras. The NEX cameras must be giving them the business case to develop the sensors etc required.

[David Kilpatrick]

Sony several times emphasised that Alpha DSLR system development is unaffected - new factory in Thailand to make NEX, no capacity reduced for Alpha, two new Alpha in the pipeline and further plans for very exciting models later on.

Sony now has 15% of the European DSLR market, and Europe as a result got the Japanese top men and the only two-day press launch to be held (everywhere else just got a press meeting, not a gig like this one). Europe is Sony's strongest DSLR marketplace today and they say the NEX will be counted as a DSLR for calculating future share.

They also point out that if 2008 had a sales figure of 5 for cameras like this (micro4/3rds, etc) then 2009 was up to 30 and 2010, after the launch of the NEX system, will hit 100 - a 20-fold growth in sales, almost all to users upgrading from consumer digicams and camera phones.

Their projection is to sell 10 million units of the NEX system but they did not state in what timescale or whether these two models alone, or these and immediate successors.

David

[WaltKnapp]

Sony several times emphasised that Alpha DSLR system development is unaffected - new factory in Thailand to make NEX, no capacity reduced for Alpha, two new Alpha in the pipeline and further plans for very exciting models later on.

Sony now has 15% of the European DSLR market, and Europe as a result got the Japanese top men and the only two-day press launch to be held (everywhere else just got a press meeting, not a gig like this one). Europe is Sony's strongest DSLR marketplace today and they say the NEX will be counted as a DSLR for calculating future share.

David

They may say DSLRs are unaffected by NEX, but sticking them together for share calculations does not say that. That is not a good sign for DSLR with Sony to my mind. I do not want the NEX to become the prototype for future DSLRs.

And I'll wait and see on them calling things "exciting". Too often their "exciting" has been less so or even negative to my photography needs.

Walt

[bfitzgerald]

I'd say 2009 and 2010 are weaker years market share wise in Europe. I believe 15% was 2008..I'd be amazed if it were current numbers.
Exciting is something that has not shown through of late...and I have a number of concerns on handling and ergonomics.
Sony just are not offering what I want

[bossel]

...Their projection is to sell 10 million units of the NEX system but they did not state in what timescale...

If they were Apple, it would mean "during the first weekend"

[Lonnie Utah]

Sony just are not offering what I want

And that's your personal opinion, which you are entitled to. Nobody forces anybody to buy an product.

But what I have seen is that the "chain" camera stores here in the US, that they are offering more DSLR choices from Sony (in the form of bodies) and that the speciality stores are carrying more top of the line items (a900/850 bodies, zeiss lenses, etc) and a wider range of lenses and accessories. These two facts alone show market penetration here in the US.

Now, there are still things I wish Sony would do. I wish they would make more full frame prime lenses for example. On the other hand, I understand why they aren't. Their focus is on the entry level to mid level part of the line. Very few folks can afford an A900, but lots of folks can buy into an a380. Build the base, and folks will migrate to the top. Overall, I think Sony's stock in the DSLR is going up, not down....

L

[David Kilpatrick]

Barry, apparently the figures are current and from GFK, whatever that is.

Walt, agreed, exciting can be exit-ing for many of us - and the NEX is firmly aimed at young fun social camera users, shown tumbling around having a great time taking spontaneous pix, which the camera is really BAD at - you can't shoot a street candid even, press the shutter and it takes 2 seconds for the screen to wake up to black/dark/light, then half a second to adjust for gain, then 0.3 seconds at the fastest to acquire focus... I was unable to get ANY candid or action pix unless I was already shooting, even if the camera was turned on and ready.

Let's just put it this way - the Dimage A2 is a much faster camera in use. Sony would deny this, but if they put all the NEX functions in the A2, they would have a superb camera...

I know that new buyers will deny this. I nearly bought a Canon 550D just now in Heathrow Terminal 5. It's half an hour before the gate opens for my flight back home. I may still go for it. I want 1080p video. I don't think (and will not be thanked by Sony for not thinking) I really want the NEX.

David

[alphaomega]

I belong to the people who believe that Sony are in the DSLR business for the long term, notwithstanding the rush to get out these NEXses. The points made reminds me of rushed product introductions where the marketing people won over the engineers. It would appear to me that the development has not been allowed to run its full course. For my purposes I marvel at the quality of A350 (and A700) RAWs at 100% when taken particularly with the CZ 16-80 at low ISO settings. I am now awaiting my A550 purchased for £430 delivered. Based on plenty of user opinions I expect at least same quality as the A350 at ISO200 and better at higher ISOs. With PS CS5 and LR3 the pp Noise removal has stepped up a level. I feel we are at a level already where all I need is there to be used and the rest is up to the user. Just an opinion.
I kind of get the feeling Sony are going to stay with 14Mp sensors at APS-C level and any improvement to IQ will be marginal. The step up will be VIDEO and I do not need video in my DSLRs.

[WaltKnapp]

David-

That does not sound good. As my wife would say, the animal would be home in his jammies, laughing before you got to the photo.

And I'm actually following the NEX as a hopeful bridge camera for bike touring. Just as well I got the HX1 to mark time when my Z6 died. Figured I could at least play with some of Sony's new functions with it. I'd not mind seeing the sweep panorama or multiframe motion blur reduction in the a7xx. They are somewhat usable in the HX1.

Sony's upcoming E-Mount Camcorder looks more interesting if I was into video. Their little sneak peek video shows it with the Zeiss 24-70 mounted with the adapter. Looks actually usable while the NEX does not in it's sneak peak with that lens.

Walt

[David Kilpatrick]

They had the 24-70mm mounted up and the size imbalance is huge. But they can't make it autofocus, or even provide a green light focus confirmation.

The NEX5 is a pretty good camera and it does actually follow focus during video pretty well. The real problem is startup after sleep. Mine was set to sleep at 1 minute, screen goes black. First pressure on the shutter wakes it up, but it takes a long time to respond, and then to focus, so there is no possible way you can lift the camera and grab a shot - or get one in much less 2-3 seconds after 'wake up'.

David

[Greg Beetham]

BTW David, one of the sites on the initial launch day, I forget which, proclaimed there was a 'touch' screen on one or both NEX's, that it seems was a furphy, not actual fact at all, now that you've handled them there is no such thing I presume?
Greg

[David Kilpatrick]

No touch screen.