The AF. It was 2019, 2 years after A9 release. I was using Canon 1DXII and at the time believed Nikon D6 was slightly better but the A9 was obviously best. Being 2 years after release, there had been plenty of time to absorb all the user feedback. The price had dropped to about half the cost of the 1DXII. It became a no brainer.
Compactness. Design. Customization options. Lens selection. Overall, the best compromise between all the pros and cons for my personal needs at that time (2023).
After shooting Canon for more than 20 years I rented the A9. It's AF was better and more consistent than the 1DX-II. Also enjoyed dealing with a lighter weight body. That was July 2019. A year later I had totally switched over to Sony and have been there since.
techsterman1955 wrote:
I’m new to this. Why did you select Sony gear and not others.
Lot of very capable and highly desirable choices available in 2026.
I remain with Sony alpha because they remain at the top of their game continuing to lead the industry in key technologies and innovation across their cameras, sensors and lenses. Also, Sony offers and maintains a large variety of camera models at multiple price points and the largest offering of Emount lenses consisting of both system and 3rd Party of any other comparable system.
Started with NEX-6 then presently with A6700 and A7V. Love the compactness, third party lens options like Sigma 28-105/2.8 and 17-40/1.8 and the new white balance system (A7V).
I like certain cameras from all the major makers, each offers something I see as a notch above their competitors. Unfortunately I have yet to find a single camera that does it all best. So for me it’s down to who wins my current battle of compromises? Currently that’s Sony for a compact body that does what I want, offers great AF and great higher ISO performance, coupled with a selection of smaller, relatively fast high performance lenses, 1st or 3rd party.
Most here use more than one manufacturer’s products. I was using film Leica ‘M’ cameras and what passed as Canon’s flagship camera 1DMk3. Sony came out with their line of NEX mirrorless cameras. They were much smaller and neither the NEX, nor the !DMk3 were full frame. Over time I collected a large assembly of Sony glass and have been in and out of Sony for years. Today, Sony represents the most consequential sensor manufacturer and has always produced cameras with firsts and fastest.. and to some extent recent lens offerings have been small and light for what they bring to the table.
I've been using Sony since the original A7. It was my first forray into photography and I haven't switched because Sony has been at the top when it comes to technological advances in cameras and lenses.
In addition, Sony FE mount gets great third-party support.
Sony is not perfect and I'm not opposed to switching brands, but there has been no compelling reason to do so.
I started shooting film when I moved to Tokyo in 1996 (Pentax compacts, then Canon SLRs up to EOS-3). Then moved to Canon DSLRs from 2002. Got a bit tired of the size and weight of my 5DMK2 and 24-70 f2.8L I was primarily using around 2012 and decided to get a NEX-6 as a 2nd system. I really enjoyed it and started adapting lots of manual focus glass. Then moved to FF mirrorless from A7R as soon as it was launched in 2013. Updated the camera every couple of years and now I'm primarily using A7CII. Also got a Sigma fp and Fujifilm X-S10 as side systems, but I primarily shoot with Sony.
The compact bodies are very enjoyable to me and I've acquired a lot of native E-mount glass on the way so there's no real incentive to switch my main system. There are also no strong competitors in the smallest and lightest EVF-equipped FF mirrorless category that I prefer.
Went Sony (A7III) in 2018 because I wanted mirrorless full frame (EVF made so much more sense to me than an optical viewfinder), and Canon and Nikon hadn't their mirrorless systems out yet. Aside from that, I knew about the excellent dynamic range, low light capabilities and AF. Only the lens selection was not great.
I had the right instinct because Sony really took off in the following years, and quickly the E-mount became the mount with the biggest lens selection.
If I began today, I would probably also consider Nikon. But as it is, I am content with my great A7RV I use since 2024.
techsterman1955 wrote:
I’m new to this. Why did you select Sony gear and not others.
I do select many others. I have Nikon, Canon, Sony and other gear. Sony has the sensors. Nikon has the lenses. Canon has the ergonomics. So if I could put a Sony sensor in a Canon body and use (mostly) Nikkor lenses I'd be in great shape.
Using Sony bodies is unpleasant and not enjoyable, but I do it to get the hi-res images. I just bought the a7rVI and it is the same suffering as ever. But when I think about what we had to do years ago to get that kind of IQ, 4x5 or maybe 6x9-6x17 this is better.
I got tired of carrying big cameras and the original 7r was really amazing. I transitioned with adapters for the lenses at the time and then fell in love with old lenses (m42 etc) just so much you could do with sony and at the time there were apps you could add to the camera so it was just dynamic.
I was getting back into wedding photography and kept reading about mirrorless and eye AF and it sold me. Changing systems is a colossal waste of money so, here I am.
techsterman1955 wrote:
I’m new to this. Why did you select Sony gear and not others.
I used Nikon DSLR's and film cameras professionally but as soon as I tried my first Sony A7II I was hooked on mirrorless and having a live view EVF. Sold all the Nikon because they were dragging their feet, saying things like, "Mirrorless just isn't there yet", even though I knew it was, and that mirrorless was the future going forward. I’ve been very happy I made the switch years ago and I enjoy using Sony bodies that are compact, very customizable, E-mount lenses that work on both full frame and aps-c bodies, the quality and durability of Sony bodies/lenses, the flexibility and dynamic range of Sony RAW files, great AF in general including eye AF and other subject tracking, plus great quality lenses that are sharper, smaller and lighter than competitor's equivalent lenses. Regarding lenses, I love the G and GM lenses plus the variety and multitude of 3rd party lenses available - from Zeiss to Voigtlander to Viltrox and others - something for every budget and purpose. I also have had great experiences with Sony Pro Support at a reasonable yearly fee, enjoying evaluation loaners and discounted repairs (although I've only needed one or two repairs over the years with Sony as opposed to many more during my Nikon days). Plus this is a small thing, but it really bugs me that competitor's cameras use two different memory cards for their cameras, I like Sony's approach of their cameras using either SD or CFexpress type A for the same slots. Overall I see nothing out there in the market that would entice me to switch.
I was a long time Canon shooter, but got tired of waiting for a decent Canon mirrorless body and in late 2015 I picked up a Sony A7RII and never looked back. Shooting the A7RV now and still happy with the decision to switch.
On rare occasion I will admit I miss the Canon EF-85mm f/1.2L. It was such a gorgeous hunk of glass.
I think it comes down to lenses, both the selection available with the open mount, but also the quality, size/weight and price of Sony GM and G glass at this point.
I've tried switch back to Canon and Nikon with their later models, but the glass keeps me with Sony. And at this point I am just more fluent and confident when using Sony, even if I thing the ergs are sub-optimal.
