p.1 #1 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
I was seriously thinking of picking up a used Sony NEX-6,A5100 or maybe an A6000. I've never owned any Sony equipment at all, so I was wondering how long they last?
p.1 #2 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
It depends on your use. If you are using manual focus lenses, they will last “forever”. If using E mount lenses, the support drops after one cycle and it is time to buy a brand new camera.
Bsmooth wrote:
I was seriously thinking of picking up a used Sony NEX-6,A5100 or maybe an A6000. I've never owned any Sony equipment at all, so I was wondering how long they last?
p.1 #4 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
realVivek wrote:
If using E mount lenses, the support drops after one cycle and it is time to buy a brand new camera.
Granted the E-mount cameras are fairly new but I never heard of Sony dropping the support after one cycle. The way your post sounds it appears that if a replacement or a successor camera comes out that Sony no longer supports the previous camera or cameras. Is that what you meant?
p.1 #6 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
realVivek wrote:
It depends on your use. If you are using manual focus lenses, they will last “forever”. If using E mount lenses, the support drops after one cycle and it is time to buy a brand new camera.
I still use my A6000 with latest Batis lenses. Your post is extremely misleading.
Mar 07, 2018 at 11:34 AM
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p.1 #7 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
If it's been used lightly and well taken care of, it'll be a fine camera for cheap and should last you years.
A quick search shows that like firmware hasn't been updated in some time, but if you're happy with the current state of the camera, then why not.
Physically, no current Sony body is going to be a rugged as a pro DSLR. My old Canon 5D2 got dragged up the side of so many mountains, smacked against rocks, tumbled down hills, dropped onto the pavement, splashed by salty ocean water, and still worked fine after a little CLA.
I can't imagine putting my A7r3 through some of those conditions.
p.1 #8 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
Depends on how well they are cared for.
An a6000 does not have a very strong mount compared to an a7 series or even something like a Canon 80d. Putting a heavy lens on it and then throwing it all over the place is not a good idea.
Mirrorless sensors require routine cleaning and that can cause issues if done incorrectly.
p.1 #10 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
There is always the Fotodiox metal mount to replace the plastic original...
elimoss wrote:
Depends on how well they are cared for.
An a6000 does not have a very strong mount compared to an a7 series or even something like a Canon 80d. Putting a heavy lens on it and then throwing it all over the place is not a good idea.
Mirrorless sensors require routine cleaning and that can cause issues if done incorrectly.
p.1 #11 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
ben_ wrote:
If it's been used lightly and well taken care of, it'll be a fine camera for cheap and should last you years.
A quick search shows that like firmware hasn't been updated in some time, but if you're happy with the current state of the camera, then why not.
Physically, no current Sony body is going to be a rugged as a pro DSLR. My old Canon 5D2 got dragged up the side of so many mountains, smacked against rocks, tumbled down hills, dropped onto the pavement, splashed by salty ocean water, and still worked fine after a little CLA.
I can't imagine putting my A7r3 through some of those conditions....Show more →
My old 5D2 went from the Mongolian steppe, to Finnish Lapland at night above the arctic circle in winter, to poaching scenes in Kruger National Park, to 4,000+ meters above Kashmir in winter, to the rarely seen hinterlands of Cambodia (places I'm confident few if any tourists have ever been).... for work.
My A7rII, so far, has been through the jungles and cities of Vietnam, deserts and a refugee camp in Jordan (last week), the Alps in winter, the misty headlands of Isle of Skye, the sea spray of Apulia, the rainforest, volcanos, and oceans of Sumatra... for work.
It continues to work like the day I bought it in 2015. Well, actually better-- with a few significant firmware-based speed-ups and improvements. That's just about the only thing I can say about my 5D2 vs my A7rII. Oh, and I once had a 35L AF mechanism jam.
p.1 #12 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
realVivek wrote:
Indeed i did mean that. People gave up making an issue of the lack of firmware support from Sony.
Sony won!
Firmware updates are not always applicable due to hardware limitations of older cameras. That is simply the norm with electronics/computers, etc. which most of the current cameras are.
For example, a firmware update that improves the AF performance but it requires a certain speed or capacity of the processor, can only be applied into a camera that has, at a minimum, the speed/capacity requirement of the firmware. The capacity and speed of the processor improves with each iteration and as such, the older cameras cannot be upgraded anymore and understandably so. It doesn't mean that it would loose its existing AF performance but it just cannot match up with the AF performance of the upgradable cameras. This applies across all brands and not to Sony only.
p.1 #13 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
Isn't Sony still selling the a7 NEW? Just checked... $798 at B&H Photo.
While I wouldn't expect them them make any improvements to the camera since it is now two generations old, they haven't stopped supporting it. They will provide repair services for it for a while, I'm sure, and they provide manuals and firmware updates on their websites for the camera. That is support.
What you mean is they've stopped IMPROVING the camera. That's a whole different story. I would not expect a manufacturer to continue making improvements to the cameras once they are no longer the current leading generation of products being offered. Some might do occasionally (as I'm sure there are examples that can be cited), but this is not the norm, and it isn't what I expect from a camera.
You buy a camera based on what it is on that day; not based on what you think it might be based on a few firmware releases in the next few years (unless a promise has been made by the manufacturer for firmware that have specific performance benefits). If you are buying a camera based on this notion that it needs to improve in the future, you are placing unrealistic expectations of that camera and manufacturer.
Cameras like these aren't like a smart phone or a computer which is an open environment for development and software improvement. It's a closed system. It's more like a DVD player. While there may be an occasional FW update, you only have the right to expect the performance that it had when you bought it.
This, however is what many people are pretty sore (and rightly so) about the StarEater "feature" that Sony implemented in the a7rII camera as a FW update.
u/realVivek, you are so salty about Sony, I can't imagine why you even bother to use their gear. Don't you get heartburn just thinking about these things when you have a Sony camera in your hands? Move on! Lower your blood pressure! Life isn't worth being so salty all the time.
p.1 #16 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
Sorry if you feel that way Vivek. I don't believe anyone is attacking you here, just looking at things differently than you do apparently.
I feel like you have a clear ax to grind with Sony and from your perspective, probably justifiably so, but I am serious asking about why you stick with it? I had a Leica M9 camera and it was the absolute worst POS piece of electronics that I had ever purchased, and for $7000, which for me is a lot of money! Boy, was I salty about it. I realized that life is too short to be messing with horribly implemented cameras and I was no Leica fetishist, so I moved on to the Sony mirrorless pretty rapidly. I don't regret the move one bit.
p.1 #17 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
AGeoJO wrote:
Firmware updates are not always applicable due to hardware limitations of older cameras. That is simply the norm with electronics/computers, etc. which most of the current cameras are.
For example, a firmware update that improves the AF performance but it requires a certain speed or capacity of the processor, can only be applied into a camera that has, at a minimum, the speed/capacity requirement of the firmware. The capacity and speed of the processor improves with each iteration and as such, the older cameras cannot be upgraded anymore and understandably so. It doesn't mean that it would loose its existing AF performance but it just cannot match up with the AF performance of the upgradable cameras. This applies across all brands and not to Sony only....Show more →
Sony doesn't provide firmware updates that provide new features on older cameras even if the camera is capable.
p.1 #18 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
I still use the NEX 6, A7R and A7S. I have never updated any firmware on them. They work fine. They work well with any Sony lens I have tried. Only "issue" is none with autofocus with the Sigma MC-11 and a Canon lens as they lack the needed AF type. They still manually focus fine.
The older cameras also still produce a great image file. After looking at the hype around the the new A7III, I think my A7R is better and the A7S still easily beats it for high ISO.
As a Nightscape photographer I thought the NEX 6 was better than the A6000. I am much more comfortable with the NEX 6 at ISO 6400 than I am with the A6000 at 3200.
p.1 #19 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
Some of the commenters here seem to be really out with pitchforks over Sony.
Here's my experience as someone who bought into the E-mount system from it's earliest days:
- NEX-C3. Had it for ~3 years. No issues whatsoever. Sold it for peanuts but it was pretty dinged up by them.
- NEX-7. Bought it used in 2012 and sold it in 2015. Pretty reliable, took it on a couple trips including the Gobi desert and the China side of the border with Siberia. Eventually the LCD developed connectivity issues but it was pushed extremely hard and I was quite happy with how it held up. The LCD fix was ~$200.
- NEX-6. Two years with zero issues. Went through similar usage as the NEX-7
- A7/A7S/A7r/A7r II. No issues whatsoever in ~3.5 years.
I still have batteries from the NEX-C3 that I use with the A7r II (which is better support than what Canon or Nikon can claim). And any E-mount lens will work on any camera. The 16-50 power zoom I got in the NEX-C3 kit will totally work with an A7r II. Not sure why you'd want to do that, of course.
p.1 #20 · How are Sony cameras as far as longevity?
justruss wrote:
My old 5D2 went from the Mongolian steppe, to Finnish Lapland at night above the arctic circle in winter, to poaching scenes in Kruger National Park, to 4,000+ meters above Kashmir in winter, to the rarely seen hinterlands of Cambodia (places I'm confident few if any tourists have ever been).... for work.
My A7rII, so far, has been through the jungles and cities of Vietnam, deserts and a refugee camp in Jordan (last week), the Alps in winter, the misty headlands of Isle of Skye, the sea spray of Apulia, the rainforest, volcanos, and oceans of Sumatra... for work.
It continues to work like the day I bought it in 2015. Well, actually better-- with a few significant firmware-based speed-ups and improvements. That's just about the only thing I can say about my 5D2 vs my A7rII. Oh, and I once had a 35L AF mechanism jam. ...Show more →
