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I shoot Sony and I now have Sony envy...


pierces
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Sony just announced their New Alpha 1 professional camera. It looks like they found somebody's drunken wish list and said: "Why not?"

 

sony-hero.jpeg

 

image.thumb.png.09280a674505f21b1daa88741bd4b659.png

 

Sadly, I had to buy a car recently and can't quite justify the $6500 ticket price. Though I must say the price seems reasonable considering the specs on this beast. "Reasonable" for a pro that needs this much horsepower. Not for a happy hobbyist like me who wishes to maintain marital bliss.

 

Dave

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41 minutes ago, tommui987 said:

I guess Sony has abandoned us APS-C users.

 

 

I hope not. I still use the A6300 quite a bit. (Also works as a killer web-cam!) I can see why they are beefing up the Full-Frame offerings with all the Mk IIs coming from the competition. Realistically since the A6400 is still #1 in mirrorless cameras on Amazon (#2 actually, but since the Kodak FunSaver disposable film camera is somehow listed as #1, I'm just going to make a judgement call), there is still a significant market demand out there for the format.

 

I would expect something coming along before too long. Either the long-awaited A7000 super APS-C or I would even be interested in them doing to the APS-C series what the did with the A7C and make a truly pocketable APS-C body with a compact zoom. Maybe an improved 16-50 PZ? 

 

In any case, it is good to see that their developers aren't hiding in a cave somewhere...or if they are, they took all the good stuff along. 🙂

 

Dave

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The A6600 answered my APS-C wishes quite well - and it's a beast of a camera.  In fact, until now, nothing in the full-frame camp tempted me...the A7RIV had enough resolution to match or exceed the A6600 when cropped to APS-C, but the focus tracking wasn't as good.  The A9 had superior focus tracking, but at 24MP full-frame it didn't put anywhere near the number of pixels on subject as I can with the A6600 - and the A6600's focus and tracking is the best in the APS-C market still.  This is the first Sony that attempts to combine the A7RIV's resolution with the A9's speed and e-shutter, and it looks killer.  But then at almost 6x the price of my A6600, it certainly had better be!

I can afford it, but would it be worth putting that money towards this camera?  Probably not - I get what I need and want from the A6600 for almost all my needs, and it's just a fun hobby.  But it's the most tempting salvo from the full-frame side that I've seen yet.

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We all need to ask ourselves some basic questions.  Do any of us really need 50 px??  Do any of us really want to invest $6500 in a body just for fun?.  Finally how much of this is the camera and how much is the guy holding it??  It was 9 years ago or so when I was still working, using Canon gear, 1D MkIVs when I went to the photo show in NYC and my good friend Rick the Canon rep showed me the new 1D X...more mpx, more speed, better low light ISO quality etc, etc. I asked him for the price and it was about 7 grand.  I thought for a second and told him " I need at least two bodies, that is 14 grand and I am 64 now so the numbers don't make sense, especially since my Mark IVs are not that old".  I pushed those Mark IVs 4 more years and it was fine. The moral?  New gear is great, it is fun but we all need to remember unless we are rich or a working pro, can we really justify the change? the investment?  Oh, today I use a Sony a6400 and it works fine for me.  Yes the camera looks really cool and exciting and if I was rich or still working I would be drooling....

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It looks like our small sample has a consensus. "Awesome pro tool...not for me."

 

Admittedly, if I had stupid amounts of discretionary income, I would buy it in a heartbeat just so I could play with the awesome tech. I might even purchase the matching $2,500 Xperia 4k 5G smartphone/monitor to stream family gatherings to the moon and back. In real terms, I am a middle-class photo hobbyist who loves to travel and would rather budget to take my A7III (or maybe an A7IV later this year 😉) on a nice trip to take pictures of awesome scenery than sit at home with my $6,500 camera body taking hours of 8k video and 30 50MP pictures per second of not much.

 

The reason I am moderately excited about it is that it shows that the R&D nerds over at Sony are still cranking out neat new stuff and eventually things like stacked full-frame sensors and faster processors may trickle down to the enthusiast cameras. Even little things like the articulating screen and menu redesign on the A7sIII that will probably be a new standard are a welcome step forward.

 

It's a great time to be a photographer. Any kind of photographer.

 

Dave

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And of course there's some minor trickle-down to consider.  This bleeding edge tech generally finds its way downhill over time, or slightly lesser versions of it.  For example, just the difference between the 'real time AF tracking' on the A6600 compared to the 'lock-on AF tracking' of the A6300 is enormous - and clearly the A6600 benefitted from some trickle-down tech of the A9.  It didn't get the A9's system, or E-shutter but it definitely got vast improvements in tracking stickiness and speed.  The fact that camera companies can keep pushing the limits at the top will benefit lower-priced bodies too.

 

I admit, I can afford this camera if I really wanted it, but just don't feel it's the best way to spend $6500 for my own needs at this time, so I probably won't.  Had I owned one of the two recent winning lottery tickets, I can assure you I'd have pre-ordered this camera by now...along with some really nice watches and cars I've had my eye on.  Clearly, I did NOT have one of those tickets.

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2 hours ago, zackiedawg said:

Had I owned one of the two recent winning lottery tickets, I can assure you I'd have pre-ordered this camera by now...along with some really nice watches and cars I've had my eye on.  Clearly, I did NOT have one of those tickets.

 

You would have suddenly had a lot of very dear friends and probably a bevy of relatives you never met before!

 

That's why I fervently hope I never win the lottery!  (Said that just in case reverse psychology has any effect on luck or fate...)

 

Dave

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I must admit it does sound amazing

16 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

We all need to ask ourselves some basic questions.  Do any of us really need 50 px??  Do any of us really want to invest $6500 in a body just for fun?. 

Have to agree on this Mr Click, does all this tech take a better a picture... isn't still the person holding the camera... are not they the one whom takes the great pictures ??

 

I am all for tech... but there come a time..  is it needed..

 

Says he with an 11 year old camera, which some would say is a dinosaur, like the person behind the camera.....lol..

 

Cheers Don  ( from 8 year old laptop )  

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Some food for thought....just to complicate things even more.

https://fstoppers.com/originals/why-sony-a1-actually-shows-how-canon-winning-mirrorless-game-546294?fbclid=IwAR1G7HgvS7U-_ZzLswvKlOl7fitpX13MVQQtinGZEWhy-mcuPIkX39qfL2I

 

with all of that said, I am still sticking with what is in my bag, Sone a6400. 10-18 f4 and the 18-200 f35 to 6.3.  My back and my knees and my bank account thank me.

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I have come to the final conclusion that I am a picture taker and not a photographer. I know about the triangle, shooting in the different modes, and some other things. But I have learned in the 15 years of owning a DSLR camera that I take picture and don't take photographs. I simply don't have the eye for it. Others that do and know how to really compose a shot it is great for them. Me, I see something I like and snap a picture. Even when I get a picture that I think is really good, I do not spend hours manipulating it in software. I pretty much take what comes out of the camera and done with it.

 

Don't get this wrong, I envy those of you that have an eye and the artistic ability for it. I simply don't have it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 1/26/2021 at 10:18 PM, Mr. Click said:

We all need to ask ourselves some basic questions.  Do any of us really need 50 px??  Do any of us really want to invest $6500 in a body just for fun?.  Finally how much of this is the camera and how much is the guy holding it??  It was 9 years ago or so when I was still working, using Canon gear, 1D MkIVs when I went to the photo show in NYC and my good friend Rick the Canon rep showed me the new 1D X...more mpx, more speed, better low light ISO quality etc, etc. I asked him for the price and it was about 7 grand.  I thought for a second and told him " I need at least two bodies, that is 14 grand and I am 64 now so the numbers don't make sense, especially since my Mark IVs are not that old".  I pushed those Mark IVs 4 more years and it was fine. The moral?  New gear is great, it is fun but we all need to remember unless we are rich or a working pro, can we really justify the change? the investment?  Oh, today I use a Sony a6400 and it works fine for me.  Yes the camera looks really cool and exciting and if I was rich or still working I would be drooling....

 

The point of buying this camera (other than professionals) is to flex on the poor plebs shooting next to you.  Turn on that audible 30fps fake shutter noise on.  Then go revel in your glory on your whale watching trips at all the camera envy the other photographers have with their mundane 10-16fps as you amass 3000 pictures of tips of flukes with crooked horizons at 30fps.

Edited by UnorigionalName
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  • 2 weeks later...
19 hours ago, Moviela said:

Have you ever considered renting?

 

Lenses, yes. Camera body, no. I have had decent or even good bodies for years and only upgrade where the performance increase would justify the cost. 

 

Besides, falling desperately in lust with some awesome piece of hardware that I would have to give back because I couldn't justify the expense....well, just no. 🙂

 

Dave

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