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Any Sony Alpha "a-mount" user here?


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Although Sony is turning its back on users of the a-mount line, I am still an enthusiast of this line of cameras, with 3 bodies (A77, A65 and A700) and a good set of lenses (Sony 11-18/4.5-5.6, Zeiss 16-80/4-5.6, Sony 18-135/3.5-5.6, Minolta 50/1.4, Minolta 50/2.8 macro, Minolta 70-200/4 "beercan", two Minolta 75-300/3.5-5.6 and a Soligor 2x teleconverter) plus two flashes (HVL-FM58 and HVL-FM60). I love the color and sharpness of Minolta and Zeiss lenses!

 

The big problem with Sony here in Brazil is that the brand has a monopoly of maintenance stations, all in the State of São Paulo (none in Rio de Janeiro), charging absurd amounts for repairs. Even with the growth of the market in the country (many Canon and Nikon users are migrating to the e-mount line), the company continues to seem to despise its customers. To compensate for the lack of Sony gear in photography shops, I created a Brazilian user group on Facebook and thanks to it I have made excellent deals (purchases and lens trades).

 

Is there other Sony a-mount users here in this forum? How is the Sony cameras market in your country?

 

To complete my equipment, I would like to buy a full-frame (A99 or A99 II) and the Tamron 150-600mm lens, but Sony's uncertainty about the future of the a-mount line keeps me waiting. :rolleyes:

 

Daniel R.Carneiro

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

http://www.cruising.com.br

http://imagem.grupodrc.com.br

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I still have my A77, a Sony 16-50 f/2.8, a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 and a Sigma 50mm f/1.4, but I haven't shot anything with them for two or three years since moving to E-mount. I kept them for events and action but the A6300 has made that point moot and probably doomed my A-mount kit to death by eBay (unless I convert it to infrared). The A99II hinted that Sony hasn't actually pulled the plug on the A-mount, but with the advances shown in the release of the A9 and future APS-C versions with the same tech it doesn't bode well for the older mount. Availability is still good, what with Amazon and all but demand seems to be sinking fast.

 

This is actually the second mount-orphaning I have gone through. I was a Minolta user since 1972 and did the big switch in the early '80 when the Maxxum mount was introduced.

 

Dave

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Hi Dave,

 

Have you tried the a-mount to e-mount lens adapter? I kept most of my a-mount lenses because I'm thinking about use it on a future e-mount body.

 

Daniel

 

I purchased both an LA-EA1 and an LA-EA3 at different times (read as, on sale) and use them for my A-mount Lensbaby and Minolta 100mm f/2.8 macro, manual focus only. I have tried the LA-EA3 on my A6300 with the Sony 16-50 f/2.8 SSM and the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 since they are the only focus motor lenses I have in A-mount with mixed results. The Sony focuses well, but the advanced functions like eye-tracking aren't available and the Early model Sigma doesn't do well since it has it was never intended to work with hybrid autofocus. I just leave them attached to the macro and Lensbaby.

 

The LA-EA4 is supposed to work much better with it's built-in phase-detect module and focusing motor for the older screw-driven lenses. There is also a firmware update to help pass hybrid focusing signals to Sony and fully compatible lenses.

 

Dave

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  • 6 months later...

US user, very consumer-orinted/not a pro but I LOVE my A-mounts!I am also concerned that between wider availability of Canon and Nikon (BestBuy, Costco, Amazon deals, etc) and Sony's energy on the RX and Cmount lines that I'll be experiencing a mount-orphaning soon. It was traumatic when Minolta sold to Sony but they have maintained impressive inovation, but I think that innovation may move them away from a-mounts

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I too have A-mount and E-mount systems - my A-mount has seen much less use since I've gotten deeper into E-mount and they've been significantly evolving that system to be much more capable than it started out.

 

I still have my A580 DSLR, as well as an A68 I picked up last year. I sold a lot of A-mount lenses that wouldn't get much use, mostly because I had e-mount lenses now that covered those focal ranges...but I still have my Minolta 50mm F1.7, Sony 18-250mm, Minolta 300mm F4 APO, and Tamron 150-600mm lenses in A-mount. I have also occasionally used my Tamron 150-600mm lens on my A6300 e-mount body with the LA-EA3 adapter.

 

I suspect that more conversion of the A-mount system over to E-mount is the likeliest future - I think Sony will keep churning A-mount bodies occasionally until they can develop a newer adapter that is more seamless in operation...note that just a few years ago, being able to use PDAF on-sensor with A-mount lenses was impossible and the adapted lenses were either very slow, or had to use a primitive basic PDAF focus system built into the LA-EA4 adapter...but over the past year or two the development of the OSPDAF system in E-mount has been torrid, and the functionality has significantly improved especially with cameras like the A9. There's still a gap in performance when it comes to older screw-driven lenses, but if Sony can develop an LA-EA4 type adapter with the A77II's or A99II's focus system and a screw-drive motor, that could solve the issue for those with the older A-mount lenses, while the LA-EA3 performance with adapted lenses on the A9 could eventually find its way into other E-mount bodies - including possibly a larger pro-type body - that could finally satisfy A-mount shooters and allow them to buy into E-mount and still get the full performance and benefit of their A-mount lenses.

 

For now, I'll keep an A-mount body around, used sparingly, as admittedly my E-mount can really now do just about everything my A-mounts did, but better, smaller, faster, and lighter and with more resolution and better high ISO. I'd love 100% performance on my A-mount lenses mounted to an E-mount body and if that ever debuts, I'd probably purchase that new body and would officially kill off any new A-mount bodies for me.

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In 2015, when my a55 started developing some problems, I traded in all my a-mount lenses and the camera and switched to micro 4/3s, the Olympus OMD EM10 ii. I've not regretted my decision (much). I miss some of the features from Sony, but while I didn't feel they 'abandoned' me, they also didn't produce the small sized DSLR I prefer. I also wasn't going to switch to e-mount, and am rather glad about that, too, when I see the discussions about lack of new aps-c size lenses vs. FF. I continue to read up on the new cameras Sony introduces, but nothing as of yet has compelled me to make another switch.

The camera stores near me are small and seldom carry Sony products, but they do have some micro 4/3s cameras, lenses and accessories (mostly Canon and Nikon equipment, though.)

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