Dirk, I share your cautious skepticism, and for once am content to sit on the side lines and watch developments without involving my bank account : -)
Sony is no stranger to high end consumer products. Their Plasma wide screen TVs are some of the best, and the price reflects this.
One can only hope that quality mentality is transfered to the making of a DSLR. However, if they do not use Zeiss AF lenses, with some fast aperture primes, they will not penetrate the semi-pro and pro market. Why? Because switching systems is a MAJOR creative and financial decision.
Leica has managed to accomplish this on a limited scale only because current R lens owners are buying them, or a few Pros with limited DSLR needs are switching to Leica from Nikon or Canon to get at the R lenses ... which supports my point concerning the need to use an established name like Zeiss. Another ex&le is Fuji with their S series DSLRs. They've continued with limited sales because of the Nikon mount, and their cameras offering an alternative look and feel (nice skin tones for ex&le).
My fear concerning Sony is the same as yours Dirk. Like Kyocera, they are a stubborn company when it comes to listening to the consumer... and when semi-pro and pro shooters are not listened to, the word spreads quickly in these days of the web.
They indicate the use of internal stabilization. This indicates the sensor will be smaller than full frame unless there is new technology beyond the current Minolta in-camera IS. Less than full frame will be a mistake IMO, and limit their penetration into the semi-pro and pro market. The advanced amateur market is not large enough, or influential enough to sustain any DSLR camera company alone.
It is hard to convey the challenge that the future offers up to a company. Along with the Camera and Lenses, the firmware and software are now major considerations ( as we all learned with the ND, and you are experiencing now Dirk).
To give you some idea of the quantum leaps being made in firmware/software here's one I recently experienced:
Hasselblad/Imacon just released new Flexcolor software. Embedded in the software was a firmware update that automatically loaded into the camera when tethered to my computer. Now get this: it corrects any aberrations by reading what lens is mounted via the data-bus ! And it works!
Other future challenges will come from Canon IMO. While folks like Joseph love their R-1s (as well they should), a hundred thousand wedding photographers/ semi-pro / and Pro shooter have gone with with the 5D which IS a true landmark camera.
I did a professional shoot yesterday that required everything be shot available light. The light changed from only needing ISO 320 to really needing ISO 1600 and for a few shots ISO 3200.
Properly exposed, even the ISO 1600 shots are hard to tell from the ISO 400 shots at the 5X7 size the art director will be using.
Coupled with the fast Canon primes and high ISO performance, this tool was the only choice I really had.
How does this translate into practical use for the advanced amateur shooting that once in a lifetime vacation? It means you can shoot all those sun filled images like shown above, then walk into a dimly lit church and reset the ISO to 1600.
What's the point? To me it indicates the need for Sony to provide a DSLR with full frame, high ISO sensor, and relatively fast lenses that carry a pre-determined image quality like Zeiss is able to do.
Anything less will not dislodge me from my current, highly versatile system.
Sony is no stranger to high end consumer products. Their Plasma wide screen TVs are some of the best, and the price reflects this.
One can only hope that quality mentality is transfered to the making of a DSLR. However, if they do not use Zeiss AF lenses, with some fast aperture primes, they will not penetrate the semi-pro and pro market. Why? Because switching systems is a MAJOR creative and financial decision.
Leica has managed to accomplish this on a limited scale only because current R lens owners are buying them, or a few Pros with limited DSLR needs are switching to Leica from Nikon or Canon to get at the R lenses ... which supports my point concerning the need to use an established name like Zeiss. Another ex&le is Fuji with their S series DSLRs. They've continued with limited sales because of the Nikon mount, and their cameras offering an alternative look and feel (nice skin tones for ex&le).
My fear concerning Sony is the same as yours Dirk. Like Kyocera, they are a stubborn company when it comes to listening to the consumer... and when semi-pro and pro shooters are not listened to, the word spreads quickly in these days of the web.
They indicate the use of internal stabilization. This indicates the sensor will be smaller than full frame unless there is new technology beyond the current Minolta in-camera IS. Less than full frame will be a mistake IMO, and limit their penetration into the semi-pro and pro market. The advanced amateur market is not large enough, or influential enough to sustain any DSLR camera company alone.
It is hard to convey the challenge that the future offers up to a company. Along with the Camera and Lenses, the firmware and software are now major considerations ( as we all learned with the ND, and you are experiencing now Dirk).
To give you some idea of the quantum leaps being made in firmware/software here's one I recently experienced:
Hasselblad/Imacon just released new Flexcolor software. Embedded in the software was a firmware update that automatically loaded into the camera when tethered to my computer. Now get this: it corrects any aberrations by reading what lens is mounted via the data-bus ! And it works!
Other future challenges will come from Canon IMO. While folks like Joseph love their R-1s (as well they should), a hundred thousand wedding photographers/ semi-pro / and Pro shooter have gone with with the 5D which IS a true landmark camera.
I did a professional shoot yesterday that required everything be shot available light. The light changed from only needing ISO 320 to really needing ISO 1600 and for a few shots ISO 3200.
Properly exposed, even the ISO 1600 shots are hard to tell from the ISO 400 shots at the 5X7 size the art director will be using.
Coupled with the fast Canon primes and high ISO performance, this tool was the only choice I really had.
How does this translate into practical use for the advanced amateur shooting that once in a lifetime vacation? It means you can shoot all those sun filled images like shown above, then walk into a dimly lit church and reset the ISO to 1600.
What's the point? To me it indicates the need for Sony to provide a DSLR with full frame, high ISO sensor, and relatively fast lenses that carry a pre-determined image quality like Zeiss is able to do.
Anything less will not dislodge me from my current, highly versatile system.