Walt, I don't get the purpose of this thread. NEX got moved to a seperate forum, didn't it?>
They got moved, but did not go there. Some people have so little faith in their choice of the NEX they keep coming back in here, apparently looking for the blessing of DSLR users, or the cover of calling their camera something it is not ;-)
I agree...I mean ..WTF ???, there are surely more important things to worry about arent there ?
Yes, the rumor that Canon is going to drop all their DSLRs. Surprisingly that's a real rumor that's circulating, though few seem to be believing it.
More important? Quite frankly there are virtually a limitless number of items that are more important than anything discussed in these forums. But in terms of Alpha cameras, Walt’s thread is as cogent as they come. I can’t speak to his agenda but his question centers around ‘what is a dSLR?’ That is extremely valid. I admit that my position is reasonably radical but neither you nor Walt need to agree with me, you don’t even need to think that I’m making any sort of sensible point, you don’t even need to read the tread much less comment about its validity but Walt certainly has a right to question what our definition of a these cameras is and to get it in the open to discuss it without fear of derision.
We don't have to compare to the whole world. This is supposed to be a discussion forum about Sony DSLRs. It is an important issue what all the other similar cameras are called, so we know what we are talking about. It's a matter of improving communication in this forum.
And we might as well discuss it now because the waters are going to get even more muddy shortly. For instance; we all know that optical viewfinders are likely coming in waves (or should know) and if for no other reason than open displays as they exist today are terrible in bright sunlight. Many will not put up with that. What should we call a camera that functions EXACTLY like one of Walt’s dSLRs but has an electronic viewfinder instead of an optical viewfinder, especially if that viewfinder received its image from a mirror that flips up and redirected its image to another sensor/electronic viewfinder. That might be cheaper than a pentamirror setup and or it might allow continuous viewing with video and stills and still use phase detect on stills. One lens+mirror…is that a dSLR? I really don’t know what the consensus would be but there would be a LOT of discussion.
There is already one term circulating to think about: HDSLR for the category of DSLRs that have video.
And we have plenty of evidence, to say nothing of physics that say EVF don't function exactly like OVF. And are unlikely to ever do so. Certainly not at the price that folks are willing to pay for a camera.
NONE of this is a threat to the NEX. It’s clearly the other way around. Many people’s needs will be nicely met with the NEX and they will not purchase a dSLR. I looked at a NEX5 today at Best Buy. I love my a850 dSLR and the NEX would not be my ‘go to’ camera but it might very well be my ‘carry all’ camera. What ever that means. Sounds good
I, too have investigated the NEX5, in the SonyStyle store. Where interestingly the store sales person for cameras understood that different cameras were for different people. She started in to determine if I'd be more happy with a DSLR, a NEX, a Cybershot or maybe a Camcorder. I can come up with some uses for me of any of those but most clearly a DSLR is far and above the most useful for me. Sony offers all that variety because each has a purpose and an intended market. It was one of the more interesting conversations I've had with a camera salesman in a long time. And a far more sane conversation than one can find in this forum. While I was putting the NEX 5 through it's paces.
I'm watching the NEX system, it's a infant, not all that capable as it stands. Might be useful to me some day as a bridge camera. But not now, and certainly a very poor competitor to advanced DSLRs in what it can do. I won't be replacing my DSLRs with one. Though some day in the future if it becomes more capable it might be able to substitute for my Cybershot bridge camera. For now, my bridge camera is a better choice for me.
BTW, the NEX5 is too small in my hands. Of course I can and did come up with a method of holding it steady, but it was not comfortable in my hands. Needs at least another CM in height.
Yes I am worried that DSLR will go with nothing truly capable of replacing all it can do. But not worried too much that NEX could do that. Sony has correctly stated it's market as folks that are at best only marginal as DSLR customers.
And I won't throw out a camera with half a century of improvements in photography capability that stands the tests of advanced photography for nothing but a drawing on a piece of paper in the patent office. Nothing to do with ego or such like, but all to do with practical photography. I look at what I'm getting in detail, and definitely prefer a track record to no track record. A piece of paper is an unknown and has no practical track record in photographing anything. The drawing is clearly for a camera with a specialized emphasis on video, improving functions for video. None of the changes in it will be an improvement for still photography as it's shown so far. So what you get is certainly unknown. A great risk to buy at this point.
Walt
