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 p.2 #15 · Do you feel Sony is falling behind on the low to mid range FF market? | |
old-gregg wrote:
As someone who was switching to mirrorless very recently, I can share how the competitive landscape feels like to a newcomer.
Nobody is even close to Sony. The lens selection is unparallelled, and not just against other mirrorless vendors, but against any other camera system that existed in the history of photography. And that's just the quanitity. When I look at quality, the story is the same. The GM line of lenses simply has no rivals. If you are a prime shooter like me, nobody offers anything even close to the line of 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm. They have consistent build, optical quality, and (where reasonable) similar filter sizes. Same materials, same AF motors, same focus hold button on the left. On every lens. Even the Canon EF line, probably the most numerous and storied in the SLR world, can't offer this level of consistency. Their primes are all over the map in terms of build, quality and features.
The story continues in the world of zooms. The GM version of the classic trio of 16-35mm, 24-70mm, and 70-200mm are, again, offer consisten build, handling and quality which leaves nothing to competition to pick on. And then you have f/2 zooms that are simply superb. It's worth mentioning that Sony's opennes to sharing the mount with 3rd parties ensures that the similar abundance exists for value buyers. The Sigma's i-line for the E-mount is a prime example of this. And finally, Sony's consistent focus on optimizing the speed/weight ratio is rarely talked about but it's a huge boon to working photographers.
The bodies don't matter nearly as much as the glass. Everyone shares the same sensors anyways, and temporary advantages in firmware, like the AF performance, usually get eroded over time anyway. But here again, Sony is demonstrating consistency. Their cameras tend to be more compact, complimenting compactness of their lenses, kind of completely making Fuji X-platform pointless. They proiritize physical customizeable buttons over stupid secondary LCDs, and they're not ashamed to steal from the best. Any contemporary Sony body offers the best features from both Canon (thumb wheel), Nikon (power switch), and Fuji (physical buttons and aprture rings) instead of sticking to sub-optimal ergonomics for historical reasons.
Defendable differentiation, as opposed to gimmicks, takes real effort in the form of dedication and perseverance. I am convinced that Sony has build a lead that will last them quite a few years.
That's why the A1 II, despite not delivering new gimmicks, has been sold out immediately after its release, folks. And this is why it will continue to outsell competition even after the recent price hike....Show more →
That sums it up. It's a great system because the lens selection is phenomenal. Of course, nobody has a perfect system. I always wish that I could set up my Sony cameras so that they don't change settings accidentally.
I suspect that few of us have the time or inclination to keep track of small differences in camera bodies among brands, and even fewer will switch systems because of modest price differences in camera bodies.
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