Avotius
Some guy
I must say the word Sony on a "pro" camera to me is like putting the world "Passat" on a sports car but for some reason Sony just doesn't stay down. I hate to admit it but an amazing amount of stuff in my possession are Sony branded. My Mp3 player, a PSP, a laptop, my first and second digital cameras (a p72 and f717), a mobile phone, my gf's mobile phone, some ear bud headphones and also some studio head phones.
I dont quite understand how Sony has wedged its way into my wallet, maybe its because I have been consistently impressed with some of their products but wonderfully surprised how they fail to support their own good ideas! My Mp3 player has wildly good sound and battery life (easy 50 plus hours!) but they failed to provide it with a good way to get music on the damn thing. My PSP, great piece of kit, especially when you are on the john, but they completely failed to support it with....anything! My laptop, very nice, but feels bogged down with all the extras Sony stuck in it to slow it down. My first digital camera.....no complaints, old man has that now. Second digital camera (the f717) probably the only camera I ever sold that I still think about, I sold it to fund a canon 20D, but I miss the swivel body and lens which shot great black and white, pity sony's cards were so bloody expensive! My head phones....the outside rubber on the wires reduced to the consistency of sludge after a year, a sticky, icky mess like rotting foam light seals.
So....why is it after all of this....Alpha Romeo like madness am I halfway interested in this new 24.something mega pixel digital camera they are making??? Well a couple reason actually. Canon lenses have underwhelmed me, the inconsistency of my lenses, coupled the lousy build and optical quality of their sub 1000 dollars L lenses has left me wanting. Canon semi pro bodies on the other hand I like. Very nice in my opinion.
But...still....here is this Sony again, full frame 24 mp sensor with lots of very important things to me in a digital camera like sensor cleaning and most of all, in body image stabilization thing. That coupled with this new Zeiss 24-70 2.8 lens is a formidable combination.
Would the new Sony body be a match for a 5D mark 2? No one can say, and frankly at this stage DSLR's have matured to a level where the expectations are high, so I predict a high level product that will work just fine. What I am a little annoyed about is the 600 dollar premium of the Zeiss lens to the Canon lens. Also Canon's seemingly iron stranglehold on their lens mount making it so difficult for other manufacturers to make 3rd party lenses is rather annoying to me. Also their seemingly resistant attitude to in body IS has turned me off a bit to them. I find IS very handy because when I am using my DSLR, usually in very bad conditions where ISO 3200 and f 1.4 are not even enough, IS might just be enough to get you that one extra selling picture, and it has for me in the past.
Ok enough blah blah blah I guess. My teacher friend, who is NG, is also on the edge of his seat for this new Sony offering, he uses a R1 and is happy with it to a point. We predict some rather crazy things to happen in the next year for the DSLR camera industry. With Sony raising the bar high and coming out hitting hard with cameras like the a350 and a700 (both of which we have used and reviewed for a Chinese photography magazine) along with that other Zeiss zoom lens (specs escape me now, ....18-55 I think) which was really good.....its all quite interesting!
I find myself rather excited for the new Sony pro'ish camera. Everything about it intrigues me except Sony's stupid orange ring around the mount! Maybe I will be opening my wallet once again for them, then sticking tape over the Sony label. I am however rather apprehensive on what mindless thing they are going to get wrong....4 memory stick duo slots instead of a CF card slot? Lack of weather seals? More orange on the lens mount? Only time will tell I guess, but given that the a700 impressed both my teacher and I in most areas, we are hopeful. In fact the only thing that keeps us looking at other brands is that we both are seriously dreaming of a Nikon FM3a digital that will never come.
I dont quite understand how Sony has wedged its way into my wallet, maybe its because I have been consistently impressed with some of their products but wonderfully surprised how they fail to support their own good ideas! My Mp3 player has wildly good sound and battery life (easy 50 plus hours!) but they failed to provide it with a good way to get music on the damn thing. My PSP, great piece of kit, especially when you are on the john, but they completely failed to support it with....anything! My laptop, very nice, but feels bogged down with all the extras Sony stuck in it to slow it down. My first digital camera.....no complaints, old man has that now. Second digital camera (the f717) probably the only camera I ever sold that I still think about, I sold it to fund a canon 20D, but I miss the swivel body and lens which shot great black and white, pity sony's cards were so bloody expensive! My head phones....the outside rubber on the wires reduced to the consistency of sludge after a year, a sticky, icky mess like rotting foam light seals.
So....why is it after all of this....Alpha Romeo like madness am I halfway interested in this new 24.something mega pixel digital camera they are making??? Well a couple reason actually. Canon lenses have underwhelmed me, the inconsistency of my lenses, coupled the lousy build and optical quality of their sub 1000 dollars L lenses has left me wanting. Canon semi pro bodies on the other hand I like. Very nice in my opinion.
But...still....here is this Sony again, full frame 24 mp sensor with lots of very important things to me in a digital camera like sensor cleaning and most of all, in body image stabilization thing. That coupled with this new Zeiss 24-70 2.8 lens is a formidable combination.
Would the new Sony body be a match for a 5D mark 2? No one can say, and frankly at this stage DSLR's have matured to a level where the expectations are high, so I predict a high level product that will work just fine. What I am a little annoyed about is the 600 dollar premium of the Zeiss lens to the Canon lens. Also Canon's seemingly iron stranglehold on their lens mount making it so difficult for other manufacturers to make 3rd party lenses is rather annoying to me. Also their seemingly resistant attitude to in body IS has turned me off a bit to them. I find IS very handy because when I am using my DSLR, usually in very bad conditions where ISO 3200 and f 1.4 are not even enough, IS might just be enough to get you that one extra selling picture, and it has for me in the past.
Ok enough blah blah blah I guess. My teacher friend, who is NG, is also on the edge of his seat for this new Sony offering, he uses a R1 and is happy with it to a point. We predict some rather crazy things to happen in the next year for the DSLR camera industry. With Sony raising the bar high and coming out hitting hard with cameras like the a350 and a700 (both of which we have used and reviewed for a Chinese photography magazine) along with that other Zeiss zoom lens (specs escape me now, ....18-55 I think) which was really good.....its all quite interesting!
I find myself rather excited for the new Sony pro'ish camera. Everything about it intrigues me except Sony's stupid orange ring around the mount! Maybe I will be opening my wallet once again for them, then sticking tape over the Sony label. I am however rather apprehensive on what mindless thing they are going to get wrong....4 memory stick duo slots instead of a CF card slot? Lack of weather seals? More orange on the lens mount? Only time will tell I guess, but given that the a700 impressed both my teacher and I in most areas, we are hopeful. In fact the only thing that keeps us looking at other brands is that we both are seriously dreaming of a Nikon FM3a digital that will never come.
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