At PIX 2015 we took the opportunity to sit down and talk with industry leaders while they were in our neighborhood. Sony's Alpha system has made some interesting moves over the last year, and we asked product manager Kenta Honjo all of our burning questions, including what's in store for the future of the system. He discusses how Sony plans to break into markets currently dominated by traditional DSLRs as well as the fate of the a-mount. Check out the full interview above.
I wonder what the next hot chatter will be when Canikon decides to roll out mirrorless (simply to save on manufacturing and warranty costs regardless of what the customer wants) and in the process removes this ballyhooed uniqueness in the market?
Canon and Nikon already have rolled out their own mirrorless entries. It's just that Canon and Nikon's mirrorless have been so underwhelming that you didn't even realize they'd rolled out their own mirrorless.
Rishi its nice to see someone so enthusiastic about a product -A7R2 - as you are...even wondering why photographers are so reluctant to embrace all the new and often superior, mirror less technology like you obviously have...and yet some photographers still stubbornly cling to the outdated 'old school' dslr's...Ever wonder why that is still so and why the obviously 'behind the times' Canon and to a much lesser extend Nikon, still sell so well? With your (DPR's) close connection to Amazon I wonder if you have insight into general camera sales and how mirrorless is growing, if it indeed is, and how Canon/Nikon and the rest are fairing? Should make for some interesting reading to see which cameras and lenses were the top sellers for 2015, wouldn't it?
As a heavy user of both types of system (a7SII, D800, Df, x100s), I'd say you are failing to see one point of view. Just because you don't connect with DSLRs does not mean no one else should. I wish it were so cut and dry. It would make things a lot cheaper.
I think we can all respect each other enough to let everyone make their own decisions.
Actually I am a DSLr user and really like using it...but I also recently got a mirrorless camera and I enjoy using that too...I can see both cameras have merit and would hate to see dslr's disappear...I think the new SL shows that mirrorless doesn't always have to be impractically small, although it is nice to have a camera almost half the size of my dslr and give almost equivalent image quality......as you see I fail to mention which system I use because frankly I think all cameras are pretty good these days, and getting into a bun fight over brands is a bit childlike and serves no point...I am also quite amused at our hosts desperate desire to convince us all about their preferred brands superiority...not that I disagree with them at all but this desperate attempt by so many here to convince others of their choices superiority over all others, almost like they are salesmen for the brand is rather amusing...hence my question to Rishi...the answer would be quite interesting, no?
Believe me - I wish the camera would work for everything. I don't relish continuing with 2 systems.
Try to use this camera for sports and wildlife, you will soon see why it isn't suited for these activities. Some of the problems were mentioned in the interview.
1. Tracking moving subjects with continuous high speed shooting is near to impossible with the EVF - I've tried and tried - they need to greatly increase the speed of refresh and image recovery after each shot. I may resort to a sports finder in the meanwhile
2. There are still issues with tracking and rapid focusing with long lenses - granted the lack of native long lenses is the first problem - but even with adapted lenses the phase and contrast detection focus acquisition seems to crawl at longer focal lengths compared to a Canon 7DII and a 100-400 mkII. THis may be one reason why there are no native FE 70-400's yet.
Its obvious that Sony is very tuned-in to the DPReveiw community. That's really interesting. I'm not sure any other manufacturer has been so influenced by this group of gear heads. The a7RII should be renamed to the a7DPRII.
I was pleasantly surprised by a number of things today not to mention a solid and concise PowerPoint presentation. I was even more surprised when the President and CEO of Sony Corporation, Kaz Hirai, came on stage and made the presentation. He got our rapt attention when he began by telling us that he was a passionate photographer. He told stories of the film days and used terms like indicator stop bath and photo flow. What became very obvious is the managers at Sony and especially the camera division are photographers themselves and these guys are making cameras that they want too.
What a thorough and open interview, nice one Sony and DPR!
WRT the A mount series, one possibility, as on sensor focusing improves is an A mount series "DSLT" without a mirror at all, an electronic homologue of the E mount series, with an A mount flange distance and sensor electronics that will work in both. I think Pentax did similar (and failed due in part to rather challenging styling). But in the context for Sony may work as an interim engineering solution while Loyal Sony customers upgrade their lens line-up to E/ EF mount.
What I'm not getting - why during entire interview about Alpha DSLR - DSLT users didn't receive reassurance about A-mount continuation! Remember first Sony Alpha A-100, it was DSLR!
This is a joke, right? Rishi- "Is Sony still committed to A-mount..." Kenta- "I want to reassure all A-mount users, we are not quitting A-mount, we are still going to develop." He actually used the word, "reassure." This makes me think you are joking.
I think the Sony A77ii (apsc SLT) which uses the A mount has been selling fairly well against the Nikon and Canon apsc competitors D7100/7200 and 70D, taking at least some of the market, as this is a good featured camera. A99 in FF also uses A mount. Is there going to be a A99ii? Could be good reasons to continue with A mount.
As a-mount photographer, only thing I heard was A7r2 bla-bla-bala, A7s bla-bla-bla for 30+ minutes. Then for less than a minute: "We'll continue with A-mount". Without telling about "dedicated A-mount camera production". What a waste of my time!
Kenta does like to talk about progress made a lot but that's likely part of his job description and he also seems enthusiastic, non-arrogant, and one of the sharper knives in the drawer. Good to hear something positive about A-mount.
This afternoon i tried the AF-C of an Sony 7Smk2. The test said: it should be much quicker then before.
If had had been working good, i should have bought the camera. But it did not. Not with facedetection, Not without.
* I want to use it, on my Ronin M. And because you can 't touch the Ronin/camera, when running, i want sharpness automatickly.
When i now use my Nikon D810 + 20mm 1,7 lens, f. 1.7 with the sharpness of the lens set on f.i. 4 meter, he is sharp between .. and .. meters. DOF.
It happens so often, that you come to close. And then you have your Object unsharp.
Therefor i was looking for a possebility to Film with AF-C. The Nikon D810 AF-C is very slow. Doesnot work well.
Hoped that the Sony was mutch better. It was, but far away from "fast enough".
Have i to wait til Nikon comes with a mirrorless camera + very quick Autofocus? When filming. A Half so quick AF-C, as with shooting a picture would be fine.
Please Nikon, or Canon. When you make that. I 'm your client.
Let Kenta Honjo of Sony answer the questions. Sandal needs to ask a short susinct question then shut and listen. He goes on way to much about his experiences and perceptions of Sony and the cameras.
Look at it this way, he is basically representing the people in this interview. A lot of people are interested in this camera, maybe not in owning one, but in the technology. He has used it more that most people. He shares his experience and the rep has to respond to it. Sony is not going to volunteer that their EVF is not ideal in all circumstances unless probed to do so. Same with the AF issues, lenses etc. Note how he got the answer to the A-mount question. He asked it, followed up with "we know the lenses adapt to E-mount..." He took away any chance for ambiguity on that front and got a direct answer by framing the question. By sharing his experience with the gear, he showed that he knew what he was talking about so no B.S. with the answer.
Exactly. You don't expect a manufacturer to bring up limitations, so by introducing and framing some of them myself (e.g. EVF limitations, AF mode limitations with adapted lenses, etc.), I tried to take the position of the interested photographer - is this or that limitation, or is this or that enhancement, going to be addressed in the future? Is it something you're aware of? Are you aware that photographers are interested in this?
The good thing is, most of the time Kenta responded indicating awareness - which itself is valuable information out of an interview. In fact, the fact that he's forthcoming about a lot of these things is laudable and, we thought, of value to our audience.
Sorry if you disagree. Also, perhaps have the decency to spell my name correctly?
Indeed. Actually I was amazed by his frankness. I sort of expected a kind of corporate "the camera is the best at everything"; especially as it is the best (for many of us) at a good many things. But to both admit that it might not be for fast action sports, and to identify the biggest issue with this (which is not the AF system as such in my experience, but the slight lag in the EVF when moving it fast) AND to admit that long fast native glass is needed ideally (I expected adapted A glass is all you want!! to be what we were told) was, I thought, impressive and thoughtful as well as making me think these things are likely to be addressed in the future.
Yes, and instead of going in guns blazing, by framing a weakness - like the system for sports - politely, and even talking about how it might be addressed, you have much more of a chance of constructive dialogue. Which is why, when it came to the EVF and sports part of the discussion, we got an indication that Sony is aware of the limitations and are working on them.
That's a nice bit of information for photographers and our audience. And Kenta's frankness is always very welcome.
It's amazing how open, engaging, and enthusiastic Sony's camera division leadership is. I think this bodes very well for the future of Sony's camera division.
@Wubslin: It doesn't matter that Sony hired someone to create the rootkit.Hire someone to murder for you and you are just as guilty in the eyes of the law.
@Wubslin: I have not read all comments, but who brought this topic up? You seem to be the only one, I have not seen any posts about this here in the comments of this video.
@Alfa1: Except Sony never hired anyone to do this, nor did they approve of it. First4Internet created the rootkit (which didn't exist) on their own initiative.
A large corporation like Sony should not have to micromanage its contractors.
@Wubslin: Hmm OK. Well yeah maybe some people brought it up in the past... I understand that this can be annoying. But it seams not in the comments of this article. That's why I did not understand why you complained. You were the one who started it in this case. :) Also I don't understand why that would be "leftie" and "anti-business socialist propaganda". Those "terms" for views you don't like make me think you seem to be pretty negative about ANY criticism. Anyway, we are quite off topic now. Let's call it a day.
well no one likes changing lenses. A body per lens is preferred. Having the same body 6 times is not optimal and/or boring. So different bodies that excel at different things is preferable. Sony is just thinking about its customers needs.
I don't mind changing lenses at all. Ok, it's sometimes nice to use two body's, but more than two is not practical. (And when you use two bodies you get a lot of undesired attention, especially from photophobiacs and thieves.) The problem with most amateurs is that they don't practice changing lenses and that they mostly change lenses in a very clumsy way, I've often observed it. You have to be able to change lenses in a blink of an eye and in the dark. I can even do that with old pre 1977 Nikon cameras where you have to set your aperture at f/5.6 before and turn it to f/22 and wide open after changing. But alas, most amateurs spend more time visiting fora than working with their cameras one way or another. So now take your camera and start changing lenses and don't come back here until you can do it very fast and without looking.
1. They have no direct competition, therefore they can charge whatever price they want and people will still buy. 2. More beneficial for them to not include PDAF so they can include it in the next version next year and therefore maximize the longevity of the sensor and the profit (if they included it in now, people wouldn't have anything to buy and upgrade to next year).
The 12 MP is only a year old. The 36 MP is 3 years old and was the oldest Sensor of all the A7 cameras. So it made sense for Sony to update the 36 MP sensor. Well. and it's all about money. The cost of R&D has to be covered, and I guess. designing Sensors aren't cheap. And the more they can sell the sensor, the faster it's amortized. And of course... there are no other sensor with the same specs, so no need to rush out a new sensor. Although it would have been nice to have PADF... Guess you have to wait for another iteration.
New body design, expanded ISO, image stabilization, 169 focus points vs 25, 4K video, new viewfinder, new LCD, all combine to increase the price. These are all new manufactured features. They did not just clean out the closet of left over parts.
I believe this sensor is much more costly to make for Sony. If you look at their current quarterly earnings for the camera division, it's not like they are an Apple making 40% margin on everything. Their profit margin is only 15% in the camera division after taxes which seems low. The average price will be lower with specials, etc. and early adopters are going to pay more of course. This is very high tech stuff imho and the first A7 cameras were aggressively priced. Sony indicated they had a problem in the second quarter with yield on their stacked sensors which tells me this technology isn't easy to deploy.
In contrast, Canon has said how expensive DPAF is to make with masking iterations. The Sony PDAF implementation is probably costly as well as the on sensor ADC. I'd imagine yield is much lower overall.
8 new Sony lenses: - Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Macro - Sony Zeiss FE 25mm f/2.8 (compact prime) - Sony Zeiss FE 85mm f/2.8 (compact prime) - Sony Zeiss FE 50mm f/1.2 (with aperture ring) - Sony Zeiss FE 85mm f/1.4 (with aperture ring) - Sony FE 100-400mm f/4-5.6 G - Sony FE 70-300mm f/4-5.6 one more thing... - Sony Zeiss FE 135mm f/2 (with aperture ring)
Sony and Fuji are learning as they go and that's why Sony puts out so many cams, and why Fuji updates firmware so often. That's fine. But I believe Panasonic and Olympus innovate much more than Sony (5 axis, sensor shift, DFD, 4K, photo mode, anarmophic video - granted Sony had peaking first) whereas Sony most often recycles/improves/crams heaps of technology in a new packaging, which is exciting, but not really that "innovative" (unless you've been living under a Canikon rock). Panasonic and Olympus are also much more refined in their implementations (lossy raw really?), design (sensor overheating for years now?), and general attention to detail (kinda like Pentax in the DSLR world) yet it seems no one will pay attention unless you drop your pants and flash a FF sensor at your audience. Nice to see Sony taking a stab at Canikon but sad to watch Sony take all the innovation credit.
For sure Panasonic and Olympus are innovators but they also have smaller sized sensors to work with which makes it easier for them.
Getting 4k video and 5 axis stabilization on smaller sensors is easier. Putting them on a 35mm sensor is really tough. This is why Sony has to really struggle with heat.
Nikon also had a brilliant AF design with their 1" sensor cameras but no one wanted that small sensor camera and so it flopped.
Camera phones with tiny sensors can easily do 4k video but getting it on a 35mm sensor is no easy feat but Sony managed to pull it off. Currently if you have an infinite budget and want a 35mm sensor sized video camera shooting 4k using the full sensor your ONLY option is Sony. NO one else offers a professional solution except Sony and Sony manages to do that at a pretty affordable rate.
Now with their A7r II they almost have a universal mount camera where you can use a good number of AF lenses with usable AF.
And 4k wasn't really an innovation from Panasonic. The Canon 1Dc had 4k video in a larger sensor format almost 2 years earlier than Panasonic. And the Sony A7s was announced a few months later than the GH4.
Ok, here is what I've gathered after viewing the entire interview. First of all, all the current releases of the A7 series cameras needed refinements (e.g., speed, EVF lagging issues, overheating issues, lens performance..etc.) Next, it sounds like the next release of the A7rXX is in the horizon....just look at history of the A7 series and how fast it went from A7 -->A7rII & A7sII. Sony is also very smart in terms of attracting Canikon customers by allowing adapters that can utilize Canikon lenses. Sony will be a game changer in photography industry just like when PC compatibles were first introduced to the computer world back 20 some years ago. However, PC back then was like Jack of all trade but master of none....but only time will tell if that's the case. All Sony needs now is to have Photoshop build-in to their A7 systems and they are ready to take on the world. This is truly amazing!
Rishi! Great questions, and I have burning questions of my own. So, not as criticism, but as curiosity, here's what I was wanting you to ask in addition to the well phrased questions already in the interview. 1. In all the areas that Sony is innovating, what has the discussion been in regards to the operating system and settings menus? Cell phone OSs focus heavily on usability and customization; what limitations in a camera preclude a similar level of usability and customization? 2. I've recently wished that focus peaking could make out-of-focus areas opaque and in focus areas clear rather than obscured by a color mask (kind of like reverse focus peaking). With the improvements in EVFs and processors, is it possible to enhance focus aids in new ways to maximize usability and focus accuracy with legacy lenses? 3. It's amazing that the A7Rii can natively focus Canon lenses. Is expansion to other mounts possible? How much can you say about where this is going in the future? :)
Good questions, most of which have come to mind or were discussed off-line (especially ergonomics/menus), but will make a point to try and address in future interviews.
Also, thanks for politely asking instead of berating and demanding - many don't give us this simple courtesy.
Oh, I have nothing to berate! Nothing really even to request... just curiosities. So thanks a million, Rishi, for the goodly response and for the work you do. I'm quite aware that there is an art to interviewing.
Out of curiosity, have you discussed the possibility of reverse peaking with the staff there? Do you have an opinion as to this being possible (or even desirable)? I've always wondered why this isn't the way peaking works since the current method obscures exactly what I want to focus on with a color mask.
Interesting - maybe b/c it makes composition difficult if everything else is colored and you can't really see it? That'd be my guess. And you're very welcome, it's our pleasure.
I was thinking about a light opacity layer in out-of-focus areas which would make in-focus areas pop. My gripe with the current peaking system is that it obscures what we want most to see. Therefor, when using peaking we have to trust the color mask without observing if what is colored is really in focus. I now find focus peaking to be a rough guide which could be refined. I'm not suggesting that a reverse peaking opacity mask is the ultimate solution, but I do think this is an area that could see innovation.
Just a brain storm. Thanks for the above thoughts and carry on with your fine work. I wish you the best. ;)
Could someone tell me if dpreview asked Mr. Honjo why they haven't released an A-mount body with 12 and 42Mpx? Because it seems they don't care about Sony A-mount users at all...
Sell and move on. Don't get emotionally attached to A-mount. Customers and their dollars dictate mount strategies. You should know that. I used to have an a900. Awesome camera, but im not worried about its future. It served its purpose.
With ebay and craigs list you can get great value for your used gear.
Then sell it for a bad price. Your 6 year old camera is never going to be worth more than it is right now. Fifteen A-mount cameras have been released in that time frame, and you did not buy a single one of them. So why the rush now? They say more are on the way. Relax and wait a while.
if Sony (or any other brand for that matter) is hard to sell or buy used equipment for in your location, I'd advice against buying any more from that manufacturer.
Another Beef - why did you perpetuate the confusion that we asked for an uncompressed raw. Everyone who knew what they were talking about in the forums in DPreview said that we wanted LOSSLESS RAW - and preferably compressed.
For simplicity of discussion. The compression here refers to the lossy compression that leads to artifacts at high contrast edges.
Don't worry, I know you want lossless compressed Raw as an option; we do too. In fact, we've already had discussions with Sony off-camera about lossless compression. In fact, it doesn't even have to be lossless, it can be lossy a laNikon NEF compression that utilizes a gamma curve that uses the principle of shot noise to throw away useless data.
But that gets a bit technical for the purposes of (somewhat) short interview.
Really - you did perpetuate the technical confusion and could have just as simply said Lossless Raw when talking about what they implemented. As a result of this confusion we now have half the buffer we had before.
And by the way - why didn't you bring that up ON Camera?
Just so I understand you: you actually think we're the reason Sony went fully uncompressed?
Our reporting on the issue clearly spelled out the fundamental problem that needed fixing, raised awareness of the issue, and linked off to Iliah Borg's far more in-depth work? You'd like to now hold us responsible for not spelling out exactly the implementation that you demand?
Why didn't I bring that up on camera? Because I'd already spoken to Kenta about it, and it wasn't on my list of 'top things' I wanted to get to in the interview. I'm sure there are a lot of things people wanted raised in the interview - realistically, someone will always be disappointed. For that, my apologies.
For the record, my opinion on why fully uncompressed? To make sure no one could raise a complaint about 'my files are still compressed!' (hey, some people still believe that 14-bit ADCs leads to more 'tonal gradation' than 12-bit ADCs for a camera with 11 stops of dynamic range...). Not a great reason, since certain forms of visually lossless compression have absolutely no visual impact whatsoever, but I can understand first implementing uncompressed, then implementing better compression schemes in the future. As I said, after the announcement of uncompressed Raw, we explicitly talked to Sony about implementing lossless compression, so they are aware of the desire (after all, their engineers aren't stupid).
It's certainly not b/c of our use of terminology (but thanks for thinking we have so much influence manufacturers follow our requests to the T), & suggesting so is disingenuous at best.
Also, you can turn uncompressed Raw off. So, no, you don't have half the buffer you had before.
I have found that with my shooting I have found compression artifacts in other than just high contrast edges. It also tends to appear in moire. There is hardly any time I would shoot raw and not care about unexpected compression artifacts.
@Rishi Sanyal - maybe this was addressed off camera or maybe I missed it in the interview. When will Sony bring uncompressed raw to all the people who made the A7-series viable (i.e. all A7 mark 1 buyers) as well as the A7II? If you did not ask him on/off camera why not? The continued support to existing customers is far more important than the very latest tech advance. Thanks for replying. EDIT: Typo
Speaking of using tone curves to throw away useless data what if someone were taking a photo of a negative and were going to invert it later. As light tones become dark would that not be throwing the wrong data away in that situation? Also if you were stacking/averaging many Raw files you would increase the SN and DR and may end up with more that 11 bits provided no tone curve was applied. Always a need for true lossless. Oh and I still have a nex 6 and would also like uncompressed raw any chance they're going to go back on that?
@Glenn - That's fine, but your accusation remains baseless, wrong, and flat out rude.
@xpanded - Unfortunately, Sony didn't discuss any such plans, but pretty certain they're aware of the desire, so I'd imagine they're considering it.
@Zdman - No, because shot noise is a property of light, it wouldn't affect your negative scan at all. Now, how well you can capture all the negative information from one shot is another matter entirely - slides, with their high output dynamic range, can still challenge certain cameras, but that's a camera dynamic range matter. Nikon NEF compression curve will pretty much never cause a loss of visual data, as far as I am aware anyway, because it carefully considers what data you can throw away due to it being entirely shot noise.
As for stacking Raw files - won't matter unless you're stacking in-camera. There, you raise the SNR of all tones, so the calculation of what you can throw away as 'noise' goes out the window. But few cameras stack Raw...
It's rude because it's flat out wrong, and utterly ridiculous. We showed the problem, we didn't write a treatise on the exact algorithm Sony should use instead. We instead pointed out the problems with the compression. We didn't ask for 'explicitly uncompressed Raw'. We pointed out that the portion of the compression that only encodes deltas across certain regions is destructive.
Your accusation that that somehow meant we were asking for completely uncompressed Raw is baseless, wrong, and disingenuous, so your assertion that we are the reason for the confusion, when we're the entire reason the subject was brought enough attention for Sony to do something about it, is rude, insulting, and offensive.
Rishi - I think you are taking this far too personal and exaggerating my claim - which was that you during the interview perpetuated the misconception. Let it rest.
Exaggerating your claim? Allow me to re-quote you:
"Really - you did perpetuate the technical confusion and could have just as simply said Lossless Raw... As a result of this confusion we now have half the buffer we had before."
So you're claiming that "as a result" of the "confusion" we have caused by apparently asking for fully uncompressed Raw, or by using the term 'uncompressed' in an interview on October 6, you now have half the buffer you originally had due to a Sony announcement of uncompressed Raw made on Sept. 15. Even though you don't, b/c you can just turn this 'feature' off. And even though we didn't perpetuate the confusion, b/c we never explicitly asked for "fully uncompressed Raw". Nevermind the impossibility of my confusion-causing wording to have traveled back in time > 3 weeks to have affected Sony's algorithm.
I'm not taking this any more personally than you intended it to be. Perhaps you're just not used to being held accountable for the things you say?
I never said or meant to imply you or DPReview caused the confusion - only that you helped to perpetuate it in the interview - rather than taking the golden opportunity to correct it. I think what I wrote and you quoted was quite clear.
Rishi just on that tone curve compression maybe I'm understanding it wrong but sony was giving full range to lower tones but creating bigger and bigger gaps the higher the brightness (so the last 1024 values only have 128 steps). That's based on the human visual system being much less sensitive to changes in bright light than dark (logarithmic scale). However if you take a picture of a negative then invert it in your favourite processor you now have only 128 steps for the bottom 1024 values which you're quite sensitive to and a full range for the top 2048 brightest which you don't need so it should have an affect. I agree shot noise will burn up 3 bits both ways but you may have visible banding due to the steps once inverted. I say may because 128 values is still plenty when you're mapping 4096 possible values to only 256 but t makes exposure a lot more critical.
Actually, the compression has nothing to do with the visual system, and just takes advantage of the principles of shot noise. If your tones are varying by ± the square root of the signal anyway, why encode those small deviations? You can leave the human visual system out of the discussion entirely.
Since shot noise just dictates what about of noise you can throw away when encoding the signal at the capture phase, it doesn't care if you're going to invert the image or that you shot a negative :)
The problem with the aggressive innovation, is that it will cease to interest professionals if it can't come with quality and consistent manufacturing and design which includes repairability. Innovation in Design must also come with innovation in Manufacturing and Repair
I have a good collection of Sony Glass, but unlike with Canon I feel a need to increasingly check each new arrival for defects. Some lenses, like the FE 24-70 just are not up to the quality standard that should accompany their price.
We hear consistent reports of problems with lens consistency, paint wearing off and problems with lack of repairability. Perhaps instead of throwing softballs for a half hour, we could have asked about these issues.
Good point - we'd definitely like to know if Sony is expanding their repair capabilities & technical processes for maintaining stringent QC. Of course, you know exactly what the answer from a representative would be: that, yes, we're working on it.
More interesting'd be pointed questions perhaps regarding certain designs and QC/tolerances. For example the number of individual adjustments that are made on each RX100 III/IV lens matches well w/ my experience of copy variation on those units being fairly low. And is, of course, indicative of an awareness and prioritization of QC. But then Roger Cicala's findings on the 35/1.4 copy variation are quite disappointing.
And I've often wondered if IBIS causes sensor tilt, & QC around sensor alignment.
Anyway, good questions for next time! How much realities of QC & tolerances play into the actual design is an interesting topic, tho probably very case-by-case.
In the technology industry, one of Sony's competitors, Samsung has made a special point of correctability and repair in their new designs. QA in the manufacturing process can't be the only solution. Professional equipment gets knocked around and will need adjustment from time to time. For example, the lack of repairability of the easily broken mount on the 28-135 FE PZ should be an embarrassment to Sony and they should step up and take responsibility.
And by the way - when speaking about IBIS - how come we cant get clarity on acceptable and safe cleaning methods other than air blowing.
I don't think it's doom. He was pretty specific when discussing the shortcomings of A-mount lenses on E-mount cameras with adaptors. He said because they are aware of those shortcomings, they will still be developing A-mount cameras. Or did I mis-hear him?
They really only need to develop 2 cameras for the Min/A mount- but, an A9 series would be nice for those who prefer an optical finder/mirror and full frame experience... However, continue the 7 series, and 5 series cameras and the mount stays alive.
I think LCD/Sensor tech has pretty much hit a plateau, so AF sensor and processor development would largely be the brunt of development costs in that mount- unless of course you factor in new lens development.
Doesn't seem like a lot to manage really. The body forms can largely stay the same as existing ones. If they wanted to consider making the cameras weather proof that might be nice too.
And lastly, IR specific models would add a nice touch for those who shoot astrophotography and with a fixed SLT mirror may make a great platform for that as well. Could draw in more serious photogs too- you never know.
Thank you for addressing the lack of AF-C with continuous motor high setting.
I honestly think Sony would do better refining existing products to standards awarded by competition, rather than trying so hard to "reinvent" the camera to degrees that mandate compromise.
This with both LAEA-3 and 4 with adapted AMount lenses.
Native lenses work better depending on which camera. With LAEA-3/4, AF locks on first frame and never attempts readjustment on any camera until after buffer filled forcing camera to stop shooting. Then it will readjust AF for another series of the same.
I tested this with both LAEA adapters with many Sony/Mino screw drive and SSM lenses along with Metabones IV fitted to Canon 70-200/2.8II.
With EMount native, it depends on camera model.
a7R, don't even try. Camera stuck in AF priority and cannot accomplish even 2fps when set for 5fps in AF-C.
a7II, Camera stuck in Release Priority and shoots a dozen 5fps OOF shots before attempting readjusting.
a7RII better with native lenses but far from DSLR. User can choose priorities between Release, AF, or Balanced Emphasis. Seems to hold up pretty well with brighter lenses shot wide open. But f4 lenses lag between shots compared to f1.8. A problem with no bright tele. So LAEA.
Also remember that EMount AF's at selected aperture. So even f1.8 lens shot at f5.6 will suffer AF-C performance. You can actually hear the motor drive slow down to accommodate the harder time the AF is having.
I'm sure the system would AF-C very nicely with a 300mm f1.4 lens. But until EMount answers with some good tele's, we're stuck with LAEA adapter... hence the main complaint. Even then, I'm unsure the methodology for native EMount is capable of keeping up with SLT or DSLR that always AF's wide open aperture regardless of selected exposure aperture. EMount was never designed for this type of shooting from the very beginning. They'd need new lenses that allowed wide open aperture, or change camera protocols to accommodate the same. Not sure the lenses are up for it considering how slow they are to close down aperture.
Also, just to mention, the power zooms don't allow zooming while shooting in continuous motor drive mode. The zoom is locked for as long as the burst. Forget recomposing for oncoming action, like one enjoys with non powered zooms.
Firstly tl;dr Secondly, don't need a lesson in adapters and/or e-mount.
Thirdly since you didn't take the hint, which other competing product offers full AF-C with adapted lenses? Basically none of them. Competing products don't offer things like eye-AF or face recognition like Sony e-mounts do. They all have a place in the world. But e-mount while lacking some lenses, do work nicely with native lenses just like competing products do with their native lenses. Its a nice plus that you can adapt a whole world of other lenses unlike competing products.
Clyde, you're aware that you can setup E-mount cameras to AF wide-open with one menu setting option? At least you can do that on A6000, I doubt that option missing from higher end cameras.
nandbytes... You asked. Your sentence "Isn't that with adapted lenses?" ended with a question mark. Why question just to claim "Secondly, don't need a lesson in adapters and/or e-mount."...?
Seems like you're setting me up just to scold me later. Not cool.
Speak clearly please, if you want me to "take the hint". It's hard enough to communicate on forums without playing hide and seek. I've provided very thorough answers. Please stop badgering me here and elsewhere. __
Please don't tell me that my comments are too long "tl;dr" and then go off topic about what EMount can do. The topic we're on is about what EMount cannot do. Stay on topic please.
May I ask you a direct question please..? No hinting or setup. Just a simple question. If you don't need a lesson in EMount, that's great. But did you know about the differences I detailed between cameras? Others might not. If you did, then why not share before telling me off after asking?
Thank you rafalczak. That's good info and I'll be sure to look for the same feature in my a7 cams. I'd think that sort of thing would definitely help. Hopefully it's there. Much obliged.
@nandbytes Canon and Nikon don't need to adapt lenses, they have very impressive native selections (+tons of Zeiss, Sigma, Tamron, etc... in the native mount). Also pretty much all modern DSLRs do offer face recognition in the live view.
Meh.....I believe so called 'photographers' would do better by knowing how to use their cameras better before blaming the tech innovations that are refreshingly put out by Sony! Shakespeare wrote with but a mere quill.....
Lensmate... are you suggesting that LAEA-3/4 adapters would be able to AF-C AMount glass with Cont High motor if photographers knew how to use their cameras better?
I'm suggesting that people know how to use what they buy [with or without limitations] that work within the framework of their shooting purposes. Its like buying a house on the freeway and then complaining about the traffic afterwards!
There's a difference between complaining and making people aware of facts. Sony's marketing material consistently leads users to believe that AMount lenses are fully functional with LAEA adapters. One must actually purchase the system first to discover the reality of compromise it comes with. They don't advertise that. Most people don't download manuals before they purchase a camera. That would be another way to have all the facts, as Sony does make short mention of the disfunction somewhere I forget.
There is no fault for the homeowner warning others of noise. We might even hope she does so.
I see your point if the facts are hidden. [which I don't believe they are] 'Emptor Cavete' ....plus the fact that variations in equipment, such as this, are bound to have cause and effect results one way or the other. That's why there is so much variation in terms of usage and compromise with lenses and cameras. If she was deaf, dumb and blind, than warning people about the 'freeway' would have been a waste of time....
If the facts aren't hidden, then where are they advertised? Just checked Sony page for LAEA-4.
•"Continuous AF with Translucent Mirror technology"
•"Continuous phase detection keeps shooting smooth and focused."
Doesn't say a thing about no teleconverters. But at least B&H page warns of teleconverter incompatibility "Teleconverters and Minolta XI lenses are not compatible." But then they go on to say "...enabling AF to work seamlessly even during video recording and continuous shooting." and "...Translucent Mirror Technology to enable full-time, continuous, TTL phase-detection autofocus. AF is supported with all A-mount lenses except STF models...".
Here's a quote from Sony Australia explaining why EMount is same as AMount "You can take full advantage of your A-mount lenses with an E-mount body by using a LAEA4 lens adaptor,". A letter sent to DPR member ozgoldman.
Can you point me to a source where the facts aren't hidden?
I'm assuming you reside in St Louis , Mo. which I believe has 'brick and Mortar' stores to check out said features. Establishing your requirements with sales clerks and testing camera in person would be a 'very' reasonable action would it not? Reading between the lines here, I would suggest that buying gumboots [and yes, I can hear the online assault ring through] is not the wisest thing for Olympic track hurdling...
rafalczak: It's actually more complicated. In bright light, even using 'Settings Effect OFF', the camera will stop down the aperture to some aperture it thinks is appropriate. It'll then focus at that aperture, then stop down to your selected aperture.
In AF-C, the camera always focuses stopped down, which cripples AF in many scenarios. No matter what your Live View Settings is set to.
Also, behavior varies from camera to camera. Oddly, the a7R II is the only recent camera in memory that actually opens up the aperture for AF acquisition. But again, not in AF-C.
Frankly, I don't understand this behavior, and it's not even internally consistent -- why does the camera focus at different apertures based on your 'Live View Settings' setting? Regardless of your preview setting, the camera should AF the same way - the 'best' way :) Which, IMHO, is wide open with a potential fine tune for lenses having large degrees of spherical aberration.
Rishi "Frankly, I don't understand this behavior..."
It may be for the reason that the aperture seems very slow to close down. It might not be capable of closing fast enough for Cont High Motor combined with AF-C. I question if EMount original design philosophy ever envisioned the heights this system might be accidentally required to soar.
Let's be frank. EMount gains validation with ever AMount feature they adopt, from Alpha name, Alpha menu, metal lens mount, vertical grips, full frame, body stabilization, uncompressed raw, and now lens lineup for telephoto.
Sony chose a path which may have an end. They could have instead put all the latest sensor and AF tech inside an a33 size body and DPReview would have sung their praises just as high as the questionably happy accident EMount tries to become.
It won't stop until EMount becomes AMount reincarnate, with longer battery life, full LCD articulatiion, fuller lens lineup, and larger grips... All claimed as profound innovations.
Lensmate... what store in St. Louis would you recommend that I test out AMount lens performance with LAEA adapters...? Or any lens with any adapter?
I have forty year relationship with my local dealers friend. There isn't a sales clerk in town that knows, or cares anything about Sony details... Even when Sony rep brings donuts for morning meet and train. They just don't know. That's why discussing these topics on forums is good for everyone, and should be encouraged. Very little resources to check manufacturers claims otherwise.
Clyde, I do apologise. Perhaps my communication or hint as it were wasn't obvious. I am not badgering you, afaik I have only replied to you twice. I haven't gone through this whole thread because I honestly don't have the time right now for such extended replies. So I will drop it here.
Clyde...My personal experience [on the west coast] has been one of being able to walk into several stores, handle the camera/lens I'am interested in and shoot it for an hour or so [testing] and ask the salesperson whatever I needed... When I purchased the Sony 500mm F4 G lens, it was personally delivered in person by a Sony Rep to my home address and was willing to explain and show everything about the lens if I so wanted. Sony has invited me over the years to camera/lens seminars and special shooting events if I ever so felt inclined to partake in....
FYI - The odd thing is that they changed the aperture opening and focus for only the F/4 zooms in V1.10. This occurred after a poster began a quest with Sony's ear to figure out why the lens was not opening all the way for focus acquisition. Prior to that at least it was the same for all lenses. I'm not sure it has a significant impact on accurate focus but y'all would be a better judge. Part of the issue is Live View imho. Sony wants the user to see the image in the EVF as it will be when the image is taken so they are emulating it with the aperture partly closed.
There is definitely something odd about EMount AF system. In manual exposure mode, I cannot change exposure settings after AF has acquired/locked. Must let go of shutter button before adjusting exposure, then lock AF again.
This is completely different from AMount and other systems that allow manual exposure adjustment at any time... including after AF has been acquired/locked with shutter half press.
Actually, I watched the whole video in hopes of hearing some info about the aps-c line. My A6000 is a very good camera and I enjoy using it. But, that doesn't mean that there's no need / reason for continuing improvements. He talked "forever" about the expensive new FF cameras and even addressed A mount cameras, but not a single word about the future of aps-c.
I sure hope that Sony will keep developing the APS-C line of cameras, if they don't I will move to Fuji cameras. I do street and candid photography and my Sony NEX 7 is ideal for that, small, light and compact.
"A6000 was a huge success in Europe. The camera sells very well, and the specification is still outstanding. We do not feel so rushed to introduce a new product." Such statements sound more in line with the conservative philosophies of Canon and Nikon and that is worrisome...
Well, focusing on FF while tossing crop shooters a bone here and there was always Canikon's MO, so it shouldn't be very surprising they'd sound like that. At least they don't try and hide the fact that they're actively focused on FF. I guess the bigger question is whether they see a sustainable crop market going forward, or whether there's one... I'd hope so, given FF prices and zoom sizes, but I honestly don't know. The market's probably gonna contract more before it settles...
Can I just ask, was it your understanding from the interview and the discussions that you must have had before and after that Sony is planning to release new A-mount bodies in the future?
Excellent news if it is true: it would be very nice to have 100% confidence on this!
It sounded like that in the video but the words were a bit garbled, he didn't complete the phrase 'We are going to develop..' but started talking about the A7rII instead and the specific word used later sounded like 'create A-mount lenses' which he then corrected to 'bodies' with your help... again that could be open to interpretation
@Cartagnena Photo This is my transcript of the relevant part: “Is Sony interested in having a seamless almost native like experience with A-mount lenses on the A7rII?”
“I’m really glad you brought that up because I want to assure all A-mount users were are not putting A-mount, we are still going to develop and A7rII they can use A-mount lenses via the adapter but we introduced that just because we wanted to give more options not make this an A-mount camera per se. Obviously FE lenses work best and some A-mount lenses work really really well with the camera but we understand that some of them are not going to work as good as native lenses”
“I think one of the limitations we found was that 5fps continuous shooting doesn’t work”
“Right, Right, so there are some limitations using A-mount lenses and we understand that and we understand the frustrations when I comes to that and that’s the reason we still need to create A-mount lenses, I mean cameras”
Markol: "Wow, that's a hard thing to swallow coming from a journalist."
What's this a journalist interviewing a political leader? This is a gadget review site, and he is interviewing someone who works for a manufacturer. Manufacturers do not talk about future products that are not announced. That guy probably himself doesn't know the date, and if he did and announced it, he will be fired for disclosing such information to public.
You are wise, Rishi. Even worse would be if you asked about an unannounced product and they told you something that you could not print. Pointless. Some sites like to pretend they are big shots with non-disclosure pacts, etc, but unless the announcement is less than a few weeks away, nobody is going into detail about products that are far off.
First of all, I don't consider myself primarily a journalist. This is not simply investigative journalism. If you watch the interview you'll note that we talk about a number of camera technologies that help, or could help, photographers. A lot of the interview was geared towards that, not simply probing for answers I know I won't get. Rather, a dialogue about what's great about some of the new technologies we're seeing, but also: what could be better.
Second, I do ask the questions you're suggesting I ask, but I do so 'behind the scenes' - I'm curious, after all. But there is no point wasting camera time (it's already 37 minutes long) asking a question that is just going to get a canned 'we can't speak about future plans' response.
But Rishi, They don't have to be pointed questions about specific upcoming models. Something similar to the general question you asked about A mount, which received a general, but still, informative answer about continued development in that area. Again, I say, disapointing that there was no mention, at all, of aps-c future.
GaryJP, you do know thay Sony UK twitter account is probably run by some clueless guys in India or somewhere? You can't reach any conclusion based on on some tweet by some low-level employee
Rishi, I`ve never thought I´d criticise you since you´re constantly doing a great and professional job in a very sympathetic way. And still deal with people in the forums with extraordinary patience.
But to not, in at least a general way as you did concerning A-mount, ask if they´re still developing the APSC-system was a pretty strange thing imo. Especially since the A6000 arguably/possibly is their best selling camera ever, ie an awful lot of people are VERY interested in the subject.
Well, it was not a rumour. It happened more than once. However, you are right that the new official line is somewhat different.
And one has to wonder if running a line by "clueless guys in India or somewhere?" reflects Sony's after care service, which is still NOT as good for professional stills cameras as it is for video equipment.
Time will tell. But I wonder if any NEW adopter would move into A-mount right now. I wouldn't, although I am trying to decide between E-mount models.
"And one has to wonder if running a line by "clueless guys in India or somewhere?" "
What does this have to do with a random tweet by Sony UK by some low level employee who probably doesn't even know Sony makes cameras? Your post was idiotic.
Do you think Japanese executives or camera engineers are running that twitter account?
Utterlylotter: Thanks for your feedback. Historically, Sony has at least appeared to be sympathetic to concerns about the A-mount dying. Representatives have volunteered information re: A-mount not dying themselves. They don't do the same for APS-C mount. That's why I thought it was pointless to ask about APS-C mount, but not pointless to have Kenta reiterate the point about A-mount I'd already heard from him.
But, sure, I'll try to keep that in mind next time. You're right, the a6000 is ridiculously popular, and for good reason. The a5100 as well. All they need now is eye AF and an updated processor or two (something every Sony camera needs, IMHO). :)
Rishi: Thanks for replying and I get your point. Let´s hope they´re somewhat more forthcoming in the future even though I wouldn´t bet any large sums on it..
There are quite a lot of people who, at this point, are somewhat reluctant to get into the APSC-system and/or buy more stuff because the concern regarding its possible demise. (It´s the subject of a large number threads on the forum, threads that tend to descend into bickering chaos. Of course :-) )
How about an (at least) English language transcript of the words spoken in the long video? No transcript leaves the impression that DPreview does not really value the video much, i.e. it's not worth the trouble to transcribe it.
Transcription is incredibly time-consuming and consequently, very expensive. If there's a lot of demand for it, we'll do our best but for now, it's not something we can justify.
"That's a marketing material in a form of an interview"
No it isn't. And we have plenty more interviews from other manufacturers, photographers and PIX speakers on the way soon which aren't either. This is just the first one we've had time to package up and put on the homepage.
Asking (demanding) for a transcript and/or bullet points? Unless you´re actually deaf that´s just absurd nitpicking bordering on the whiny. Especially if you take into consideration that you´re getting all this for free.
If you could it'd be great! After reading some of the comments I kind of already known what was said, but an official transcript would be nice, can't acess video websites from work
I see this so often but can't imagine a heavier camera providing better ergonomics. It's harder to handle and carry a larger, heavier camera. It makes no sense to me. The argument seems baseless. Cameras grew in size with DSLR in order to pack all the technology in them. The A7 series is around same size as film SLR and no one had a problem with ergonomics then. Take even a tilt screen that some believe detracts from a pro experience. Is it ergonomically better to crouch down on the ground to get a shot vs. tilting the LCD?
To be honest I find the ergonomics on my A77II vastly superior to those on my NEX-5R, but the size and weight makes it much less attractive in terms of portability whenever I have to take it anywhere. For taking static, outdoor subjects the ergonomics are not such an issue, but the instant that 'the pressure is on' then the ability to change parameters quickly and easily becomes very important
With film SLRs things were much simpler... you focused the lens using the microprism spot in your pentaprism and then moved aperture and/or shutter dial until the needle in the VF was in the appropriate position between + and - (or later LEDs instead of needle and maybe let the camera do some of it for you). Now we have to adjust ISO, change shooting mode and AF-mode, select focus spot and umpteen other parameters which just didn't exist in the days of 35mm or which were 'set once' when you loaded the film!
The Problem for me is the Relation between the body and the glass. It's not comfortable for my wrist with the Vario-Tessar 24-70 attached. It doesn't work for me.
37 minutes?!? Guys, when my favorite information websites release videos, they have the decency to add a summary of it. I'm interested in Sony but sorry, I don't have 37' to give. TL;DR :P
Yup, this is not a rampart problem here on dpreview but it's a trend that news and other pieces of information (news, installation guides, tutorials, whatever) delivered in video format only. I want to be able to skim and also not interrupt whatever I might be listening to at the moment to watch a video that long.. or there needs to be a way to determine if it's worth a watch first.
Yes Cartagena Photo, I'm interested, but no I don't have 37 minutes, nor do I want to spend 37 minutes stuck to a sequential, one-dimensional, clumsily fast-forwadable, LAZY information broadcasting medium. Not asking for a transcript. Just a summary. I HATE video tutorials or news. Is it that it gets more hits, more money? Or is it just that the interview was so void of content that there's nothing t be indexed about it on the web?
The main thing that keeps me from switching to Sony from Canon is Sony’s inferior colour science (interface being the other, albeit minor thing). It would have been amazingly awesome if the interview could address this issue instead of repeatedly singing praise to Sony’s rep about his company’s cameras. You know, more DPR, less Amazon.
There is absolutely no need to discuss color “science” here. The question is really trivial.
(0) If spectral sensitivity of sensels does not match human vision (is not a linear combination of cones’ sensitivity), one gets unfixable color errors (metamerism).
(1) Film had absolutely horrible metamerism (in tens, 1 being what is distinguishable by eye).
(1') A lot of people get very used to film’s horrible colors.
(2) So when digital came (with MUCH MORE freedom in choosing spectral curves than was available for film), manufacturers were at a fork: should they follow (horrible) legacy left by film, or should they go for good color reproduction — so annoy people used to film.
(3) CaNik went with film (high metamerism, low annoyance from legacy users).
(3') Minolta (so Sony) went with honest color reproduction (low metamerism, high annoyance from legacy users).
So people who hate Sony’s color hate seeing “natural” colors (since they get used to distorted colors of film/CaNik).
For the record, I actually sing Canon's praises when it comes to color, especially for people shots. Greens in landscapes, though, Nikon absolutely excels. And, yes, I'm talking about Raw, via ACR.
Cartagena Photo: do you find Capture One to do a better job at Raw conversions from Sony cameras than ACR, with respect to color? ACR does a good job honoring the manufacturer's intent which, admittedly, needs some work in my humble opinion when it comes to some Sony cameras. They're not poor by any means, just not my absolute favorite.
Rishi, thank you for stating the point on colour. I agree, and would have loved it if you had discussed it with the Sony representative.
As for the "singing," my comment referred to general hat doffing rather than color praise per se. I thought that the interview could benefit from more emphasis on issues needing improvement.
I must say I´m slightly surprised people prefer the quite often somewhat disneyfied ("pretty"..) colours of Canon rather than the more imo correct neutral ones of Sony.
Well, it´s all subjective, maybe just a question of habit?
" ACR does a good job honoring the manufacturer's intent" The beauty of digital is to move away from the manufacturer's intent, imho. We saw this with film, as well, but it was more limited, and far more difficult.
Nope, here the digital works EXACTLY the same as film: the image is locked into the view given by the spectral sensitivity curves of sensels. No amount of postprocessing can fix metamerism.
The only color-reproduction advantage of 3-color Bayer sensor over film is that the manufacturers have a technical ability to fine-tune the spectral sensitivity curves. — While for film they were determined by the photo-chemistry of the sensitive substrate.
(I’ve heard that one can change the spectral curves of dyes “in an arbitrary way”. Do not know how this translates to something more tangible — like “within 2% at 16 frequencies”?)
"Nope, here the digital works EXACTLY the same as film" Hardly. "No amount of postprocessing can fix metamerism." Yet I can post-process an un-pleasing image into a pleasing image simply and easily with digital --try that with film. The files themselves are far more malleable. "The only color-reproduction advantage of 3-color Bayer sensor over film" I'm guessing you haven't worked with color-film reproduction much.
At 31:50 "We understand the frustration. And that's why we need to still create AMount cameras".
Hear that Milvus, Otus, Sigma ART, Tamron SP? You too Mitakon 85/1.2...
It's ok... it's safe... release the ALL the hounds for AMount fine EVF system and larger ergonomics. Your great glass is best suited on AMount than anything else. Buyer waiting here. Hate using my Otus on tiny a7 series.
Now that Sony has some popularity going maybe A-mount will be more viable for expansion for those that feel bigger is better. I understand Sony not beating a dead horse with multiple camera editions in A-mount if it wasn't selling. It's too bad but the way the world goes round. My real fear is that those wanting E-mount to have larger bodies will be heard.
Good interview on both sides, although not much new information. I really like the way that Sony seems to be heavily driven by engineering and feeding problems back to engineering with relatively few constraints on how they can be solved. The reassurance about A mount and FE lens comments didn't sound particularly strong for the future of Sony APS-C... but nothing says the A6000 follow-on can't be FF. ;-)
At 3:25 "We're definitely open to ideas. We're always looking at the forums. We're always listening to customer voices... We're trying to reinvent the camera".
Mr. Honjo, AMount customers have been requesting and expecting a99 upgrade with same sensor tech as allowed the a7 series. AMount users are counting on refinement, not reinvention.
I appreciate the EMount system. But it comes with certain limitations that prevent me from fully adopting it in my profession. Fly-wire focus, viewfinder flashing, substandard vertical controls... all a step backward from AMount design.
Mr. Honjo, will Sony commit to and support AMount professionals or not?
Thank you sir, and good luck with future Sony products. I hope to see the new technology shared with both new users and long term loyalists alike.
Tested on two a7RII cams and on a7II with FE55/1.8 and FE35/1.4. Also with LAEA-3 adapter + AMount lenses.
Does not occur with LAEA-4 + AMount lenses.
Auto shooters will not notice the flashing for reasons listed below.
Manual exposure mode, the EVF/LCD flashing occurs in varying degrees. Basically, it goes like this...
If my manual exposure value is set to exactly what the camera would choose in auto mode, there is no flashing. But if my manual exposure mode is darker, or brighter than what auto camera would choose, the scene will quickly flash to the camera auto mode exposure value while focusing, and then after AF lock, viewfinder will revert back to my manual exposure settings.
So, if I overexpose from camera meter, the EVF/LCD will flash to darker screen for focusing. If I underexpose, the view will flash brighter for focusing. The flash lasts exactly as long as it takes for the camera to lock AF in single shot mode.
That's because of the difference in how a-mount and e-mount works. Its not really a problem per say...
So on a-mount (or with EA4) the lens aperture is kept wide open and only closed down when the shutter is released. On e-mount with settings effect "ON", the aperture is stopped down with changes in aperture (i.e. before pressing shutter release) to show the full effect.
The difference is talked about by Gary Friedman in his recent blog video about AF.
p.s. not suggesting one way is better than other. Just saying they are designed differently which causes this issue for you.
I wanted to hear the questions asked: "Is Sony going to produce the successor to the a6000". That was the only thing missing and a big omission in the questions. There are so many threads and interest in that question, I can't believe nothing was brought up about the future of the APS-C E-mount system! Was it agreed between DPR and Sony that no question regarding the successor to the a6000 would be asked?
it probably wasn't asked because its unnecessary and pointless.
But Sony reps did recently say:
"We're going to continue to develop cameras with APS-C matrix. I can not give an exact release date, but maybe in the future we will see to it." "A6000 was a huge success in Europe. The camera sells very well, and the specification is still outstanding. We do not feel so rushed to introduce a new product."
So what more would like? the above statements signed by every single Sony employee?
I think many want a more pro spec A6000. Better EVF, more robust build, waterproof etc. Some assurance that more APS-C lenses are forthcoming would not go amiss either. I appreciate they are chasing the money and having little competition in the FF mirrorless market means it only makes sense for them to milk that cow while they can. Sony seem unable to nurture brand loyalty the way Olympus and Fuji do and I think that's one area they could improve upon.
They sell the more bodies than m43 or fuji. In fact they sell a lot more than fuji. So if sales figures are anything to go by they are doing pretty well.
As for APS-C lenses, Sony e-mount has more APS-C lenses than canon do for their DSLRs. Manufacturers supporting both FF and APS-C formats expect their customers to use FF lenses on APS-C bodies for things like macro, fast telephoto lenses etc. But it'd be nice to see some good APS-C pancakes lenses on Sony.
Nice interview, but did i miss it or did you ask if Sony is dedicated to the aps-c mirrorless ilc? There are lots of discussions on the E-mount apsc forum with people who are thinking Sony will discontinue it. If you didn't ask, why not!
Outstanding interview! Well done Rishi. He asked the question, and Kenta Honjo answered. "Is Sony still committed to A-mount..." "I want to reassure all A-mount users, we are not quitting A-mount, we are still going to develop." Now I am going to head over to the A-mount forum where they will explain why this is not true.
Who is the "they" who will explain why it is not true?
It seems there are a few trolls who visit that forum to wind people up with tales of doom and gloom for the A mount.
Usually by reading what they want to read into unclear statements. Most of the regulars just point out they didn't say what was supposed.
The best line I saw was it was just Japanese politeness not wishing to be negative and the bringer of bad news that had so far stopped Sony short of just coming right out and saying the A mount was dead.
I am not sure how they will square that with ""I want to reassure all A-mount users, we are not quitting A-mount, we are still going to develop."
It's the "develop" but that is key. The doom mongers would suggest Sony was committed only so far as providing adapters goes but do develop the A mount stuff is another thing completely.
Who knows where SAR posters come from. The majority are loons. Sony should provide choice with APS-C and full frame in A-mount. I think they will but were driven by profit motivation. Who can blame them since SLT never was a big success. If not for NEX, Sony may have given up entirely on cameras, but not sensors. Now that the trio flagship products are out Sony will work on A-mount and APS-C e-mount imho.
Soft, soft interview - though I appreciate the breadth of questions, the interview itself seemed to follow a well tread path and it never really deviated from politician style answers where they never *really* answer the question - it's lost in sales jargon and reiterating the same point over and over again, except this time it drags on for over half an hour.
Personally, I think *most* of the issues you brought up could have been pressed for more definitive answers. There was continual deviation from Kenta to actually give those definitive answers and it was disappointing (I've seen videos of him to this before, no amount of smiling is going to hide the fact he lacks substance when he speaks). He's not much of a salesman unfortunately, and the soft-jelly type approach to the questioning never really got us anywhere either. This isn't investigative journalism, but hell - a bit of bravado and audacity to press the hard issues goes a long way sometimes.
@ ChrClowes: I get your point but we need to consider that camera development ist an extremely volatile and competitive business: usually, they are developing several variations of prototypes of one and the same camera model and they certainly don't want their competitors to know what exactly they are eventually going to bring tot the shelves. Most of the time, they don't know either: they want to stay flexible in an extremely competitive and fast changing market - so they cannot tell you "we will bring out camera xy in 12 months from now and camera abz in 6 months. People need to understand how this industry is working.
I thought I loved Nikon? Or was it Lytro? Oh and Canon and Sigma. But then there was that crusade out to prove that I, in fact, hate - not love - Sony back when we published the a7 II review.
Thanks for helping me stay on track by reminding me who I love today. It's really tough being a player. Tougher yet, it seems, to be a reader and read anything negative about your favorite brand, or something positive about your not-so-favorite brand, and attribute it to anything other than brand love/bias.
Nothing against someone having their own personal preference - and nothing against that personal favouritism coming through in either written pieces, or video reviews or interviews. Nothing is impartial any more, and frankly, it's good to see a bit of an authors own personality injected into what they produce.
My comments remain true though, and this really did feel like a casual afternoon "chin-wag" - and as one person noted, a info-mercial of sorts.
This isn't about placing a representative on-spot, nor is it about holding them to account and forcing them to look "bad" - it's purely about researching your questions, and preparing follow up rebuttals for those pedestrian answers you KNOW you'll get. Push the agenda, respectfully of course, but really differentiate yourself by getting the in-depth answers that the photography community deserves - that was honestly 30 minutes of bloated garbage.
It's quite a difference coming from reading Ming Thein's critical analysis of a particular camera, or manufacturer - regardless of his own personal preferences, and then coming here to see a full half hour of a infomerical-like "interview" Two vastly different approaches - and only one of which I respect (whether I agree with that authors opinions or not) Guess which of the two that is?
"Push the agenda, respectfully of course, but really differentiate yourself by getting the in-depth answers that the photography community deserves"
This is exactly what we try to do by raising awareness about areas where cameras excel, and where they suffer. In juxtaposing Ming Thein's 'critical analysis of a particular camera', are you suggesting we don't dig deep? Did you perchance miss our in-depth coverage of subject tracking, low-light AF, Raw compression, ISO-invariance, etc. on the a7R II? We then used information from those tests to raise, even in this interview, with Sony their weak points with respect to lock-on AF, continuous AF with adapted lenses, subject tracking w/ adapted lenses, etc.
Just b/c you you had some specific questions that either weren't asked or probed on, you conflate your perceived lack of rigor in this 30 minute interview with a general inability of DPReview to be analytical and critical?
Not at all - the written articles by Dpreview are fantastic, they truly are. They're informative, well structured and bring to light some fascinating topics about the industry, and in particular the technology that drives it.
My arguments lie in the video - it was in stark contrast to the consistency maintained in the written articles. I am under the impression that behind the veil of a keyboard, there has been some truly fantastic pieces written and publish - but once that has been removed, and faced with a one-on-one interview, it all falls apart. The hard-edged analysis makes way for a soft approach that ends up coming across as pedestrian and ordinary.
You're articles are fantastic Rishi, I just think you missed the mark here - even more so given this was a significant Photography Show.
Continuing on - whilst you MAY bring up particular questions that are specific, they were never asked in a way that really that pushed Kenta to answer in a definitive manner.
So you issue is with the way in which the questions were asked? Get real man. A written article is not a steam of consciousnesses event. It is a sit down with notes, charts, references and may take days to complete. What we watched here was a 37 minute conversation between two industry professionals. This was a wide ranging discussion about the general direction and expectations of a company, not about the specific design of an XTG411 component housing. I asked 15 hours ago, what topics you are referring to that you wanted addressed. You have not provided a single one, other than to say you wanted a more confrontational tone to the interview.
What kills the a7s is rolling shutter. It ruins footage the instant it is seen and makes it looks super cheap. It's not worth using until they get a reliable global shutter.
I love my new Sony A7S2 but it keeps overheating on me about 21 minutes when I do interviews. I haven't tried opening the screen halfway yet or any other tricks.
I love the footage out of the camera my NX1 does not overheat. They should have put on the box good for 15 minutes or use an external recorder. If your doing interviews or weddings this could mean lost in income.
The interview I am working on is with UFC fighter Mike Pierce for his upcoming Dec 11th fight. I had the camera on a tripod lid closed at F5.6 ISO 8000 in his dining room 4k 24p. I have two more interviews with him and will see if it does it again.
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