Goodbye, A-Mount...

[pierces]

The A99ii, A77ii and A68 which were the three remaining models of Sony cameras that featured the Minolta A-Mount have been listed as discontinued on B&H and have been dropped from Sony's site. 

 

I sold all my A-mount stuff except for an old Maxxum 5000 film body and one normal zoom when I made the jump to full-frame. I don't miss them on a technal basis since either of my e-mount cameras are leaps and bounds ahead of even the A77 and the newer lenses have really benefitted from modern designs and materials. What gives me pause is purely nostalgia. I shot A-mount cameras from the early '80s right up through retiring the A77 back in 2014 and have thousands of images from that time, including our kids' early years right up through their weddings and the resulting grandkids.

 

Out with the old and in with the new is normal and while new isn't always better, in the world of digital photography the chances of new being better are pretty high. I'll stick with new.

 

Goodbye, A-mount. I will remember you fondly.

 

 

Dave

[zackiedawg]

Agreed - same as you, I moved away from A-mount around 2016, to E-mount exclusively...though I do still have my A580 DSLR just because it wouldn't be worth much on trade and it was a workhorse for me for many years.  It still works, though I only have 2 lenses that go with it - the Sony 18-250mm that I also never got rid of because it's technically my 'kit' lens, and the Tamron 150-600mm which I kept because I still occasionally used it on E-mount until the 200-600mm came out.

 

I have been reminiscing even more about A-mount, as I spent some time earlier this year going through some older photos that were heavily cropped, or not sharpened or cleaned that well the first time around, and using current software to see if some of those older shots could be cleaned up better...it was a jog down memory lane to work on some of those older photos from the A300, A550, and A580 with current photo editing software, running through Topaz's Denoise AI and Sharpen AI, and messing about with Gigapixel AI on some of those heavy crops.

 

I too will stick with new...but it was nice to see that 10+ year old photos could still have new life and stand up well when scrutinized on today's hi-res monitors...and even cleaned up and made better with newer software.

[PurpleHays]

On 5/4/2021 at 11:13 AM, pierces said:

I sold all my A-mount stuff except for an old Maxxum 5000 film body and one normal zoom when I made the jump to full-frame.

The Minolta Maxxum was my first SLR camera and the entire reason I went with Sony. Now when I get ready to upgrade I'll have to either find a used body or use an adapter. I don't have tons invested, but I hate to get all new because the majority is less than 10 years old and I can't justify it for the amount of photography I do.

 

[BoozinCroozin]

I wanted to get another E-mount camera that worked for me, but I could not justify the price. Maybe in a few years when the A7iii comes down in price more, I could do it. My hands simply cannot use the a6xxx models. I did like the A7iii but it would have been $1,000 - $1,200 more than my budget.

[Heartgrove]

I retired my A-mount cameras and lenses in 2019 with buying my third E-mount. They actually paid for the A6400 that my wife uses! On a shelf in my office I display all the cameras since the early seventies that I still own. Included is my original Alpha A-mount from 2007 that has a fried board (too expensive to repair) along with the two kit lenses.

[pierces]

DPReview TV posted a video memorializing the A-mount. Fun and informative.

 

Requiem For A-Mount: A look back at Minolta and Sony's DSLR Mount - YouTube

 

Dave