The Future of Sony A Mount, 2016 status

Molan · Mar 10, 2016

zackiedawg said:
I don't much care for speculating on the future of a mount - been there, done that for years now...it's still here at the moment, so no worries on my part...and I'll keep using my A-mount bodies as long as they work and my A-mount lenses even if bodies stop as I'll just migrate them to E-mount.

However, I AM still waiting for that darned A68 to hit the market - 4 months ago that thing was announced - other cameras were announced last month and are already in people's hands! It's not that I'm crazy dying for it, but I do feel like I need to upgrade my A580 which is getting quite old and well used now...and I've been on the fence about the A77II for a while...when the A68 news came out, it offered a tempting option, but I still want to know for sure if it does or does not have MFA. At this point, I'll probably be upgrading my E-mount body soon, so I've got that expense looming, and possibly a new lens too - so the A-mount body upgrade is more just a luxury because I want it, not necessarily need it. What I need to decide is: if the A68 has MFA, then I think it would be an easy purchase - for $599 it's cheap enough that I can just do it without worrying or thinking. But if it doesn't have MFA, do I go for the A77II which costs $400 more body-only? Basically, is MFA worth $400...because I really don't need or care much about other feature differences between the two cameras. The sensor and the focus system are the same, and those are the two things I'm looking for.

So...even if A-mount dies and no new cameras come out...AFTER the A68...I'll likely be buying either the A77II or A68 over the next few months. Maybe that one sale is enough to fill Sony's A-mount coffers and keep the mount going!

Molan · Mar 10, 2016

Karl Scharf said:
Molan said:

Based on this:

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony...-up-a-mount-it-is-a-promise-to-our-customers/

Do you think Sony will re-energize A-mount, or will they just keep it alive ... for now?

Click to expand...

Personally I don't really care if they do re-energize the A-mount or not.

I have plenty of great A-mount equipment right now to keep me happy for the rest of my life. (see my gear list)

As a matter of fact, if Sony decides not to come out with another A-mount camera, it would save me tons of money since I would not be tempted to buy it.

digititus · Mar 10, 2016

ecsh1 said:
Yet another useless post about the future of A-mount.

You're right! Nothing Sony says about A mount can be believed anyway. You would have to be pretty stupid to believe they would choose openess and honesty if it would cost them a large customer base. The current strategy is far better, i.e. don't spend any money on A mount and as a result customers will slowly migrate to E-mount. By the time customers accept the reality of the A mount future, they will be hooked on E mount!

zackiedawg · Mar 10, 2016

lhkjacky said:
It seem A68 use a lower resolution & smaller EVF as well,

also smaller & lower resolution LCD

Those wouldn't bother me personally - if the MFA was there, I'd get the A68 in a heartbeat.

Without MFA, it might still be a good choice for me though. After all, my A580 didn't have MFA - it just needed a full focal plane adjustment when new! After I dialed it in, it's been perfect for many years now. I just don't want to have to go through that on another new camera, especially since the focus plate screws are hidden in a different location on the A68 than the easy-to-access bottom ones on my A580.

But it's also a good point that a badly misaligned focus plate isn't going to be corrected by MFA alone...I guess when shooting mostly with long lenses, I just like the little insurance that MFA provides for fine-tuning the focus at those 400-600mm ranges.

Molan · Mar 11, 2016

digititus said:
ecsh1 said:

Yet another useless post about the future of A-mount.

Click to expand...

You're right! Nothing Sony says about A mount can be believed anyway. You would have to be pretty stupid to believe they would choose openess and honesty if it would cost them a large customer base. The current strategy is far better, i.e. don't spend any money on A mount and as a result customers will slowly migrate to E-mount. By the time customers accept the reality of the A mount future, they will be hooked on E mount!

Yes or left Sony, I would like to go FF and reuses my A-mount FF lenses.

But A-mount FF is not happening, A99 is obsolete, E-mount is too expensive as far as 2.8 zoomes lenses goes, over $3000 for a 70-200mm F/2.8 have Sony lost their minds...

Buying native E-mount lenses and supplement with adapter and lenses from my A-mount, is far more expensive than starting all over on let's say Nikon with a D810 and buy all lenses I need from Sigma or Tamron.

So, I do not see myself going for E-mount after seeing the prices from Sony's new 2.8 line up. IBIS is nice, but Nikon have all I need with IS.

D810 + tamron 24-70 F/2.8 VC + 70-200 F/2.8 VC cost about $5790 in my country.

A7R II + Sony 24-70 F/2.8 +Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 cost about $10430.

I save about $4640 by starting over with Nikon, meaning I can rebuy all my A-mount FF lenses on Nikon and still save money by not going for Sony to supplement with A-mount's.

Timothy S Broadley · Mar 11, 2016

Molan:

that is roughly the conclusion I came to at the moment. If you substitute the Pentax k1 you'd save about another $700-800. My problem is replacing my 300/2.8 and 600/4 which really jumps the cost

tqlla · Mar 11, 2016

Molan said:
digititus said:

ecsh1 said:

Yet another useless post about the future of A-mount.

Click to expand...

You're right! Nothing Sony says about A mount can be believed anyway. You would have to be pretty stupid to believe they would choose openess and honesty if it would cost them a large customer base. The current strategy is far better, i.e. don't spend any money on A mount and as a result customers will slowly migrate to E-mount. By the time customers accept the reality of the A mount future, they will be hooked on E mount!

Click to expand...

Yes or left Sony, I would like to go FF and reuses my A-mount FF lenses.

But A-mount FF is not happening, A99 is obsolete, E-mount is too expensive as far as 2.8 zoomes lenses goes, over $3000 for a 70-200mm F/2.8 have Sony lost their minds...

Buying native E-mount lenses and supplement with adapter and lenses from my A-mount, is far more expensive than starting all over on let's say Nikon with a D810 and buy all lenses I need from Sigma or Tamron.

So, I do not see myself going for E-mount after seeing the prices from Sony's new 2.8 line up. IBIS is nice, but Nikon have all I need with IS.

D810 + tamron 24-70 F/2.8 VC + 70-200 F/2.8 VC cost about $5790 in my country.

A7R II + Sony 24-70 F/2.8 +Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 cost about $10430.

I save about $4640 by starting over with Nikon, meaning I can rebuy all my A-mount FF lenses on Nikon and still save money by not going for Sony to supplement with A-mount's.

While Tamron is pretty decent, you are comparing 1st party lenses to 3rd party lenses.

sybersitizen · Mar 11, 2016

Molan said:
... my problem is I am a feature whore, I prefer A-mount but will soon get me a FF E-mount ...

But some hours later...

Molan said:
... I do not see myself going for E-mount after seeing the prices from Sony's new 2.8 line up. IBIS is nice, but Nikon have all I need with IS.

D810 + tamron 24-70 F/2.8 VC + 70-200 F/2.8 VC cost about $5790 in my country.

A7R II + Sony 24-70 F/2.8 +Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 cost about $10430.

I save about $4640 by starting over with Nikon, meaning I can rebuy all my A-mount FF lenses on Nikon and still save money by not going for Sony to supplement with A-mount's.

Poor Molan is having a difficult time.

Timothy S Broadley · Mar 11, 2016

Syber

i currently have all a mount stuff. While there is much to like about e mount it would be equivalent to switching mounts or brands if you prefer. I had high hopes for the la3 when it was announced but no support for screw mount really doesn't hack it for me. I have a lot of screw mount lenses all the way to 600mm.

so perhaps to a lesser degree I share his issue. I really would like 36mp or better for an upcoming trip in early 2017.

right now buying a7rr2 with some reasonable native lens is around $6k which only supplements my existing a mount system solely to get the hi res really that I need. It doesn't really buy me anything else. So if I go that route then maybe dumping the amount is a better long term solution? In which case IMO all options are on the table

cheers

tim

sybersitizen · Mar 11, 2016

Timothy S Broadley said:
... maybe dumping the amount is a better long term solution? In which case IMO all options are on the table

Certainly, if someone determines that A-mount is unsatisfactory for him personally - whatever the specific reasons may be - all options are on the table. The thing to do then is to decide on a change that appears to offer satisfaction*, act on the decision, and hope it works out for the best. Molan, however, seems to be permanently stuck waffling among the available choices.

* I should say more satisfaction. Every camera system out there carries some negative consequences.

leonche64 · Mar 11, 2016

Molan said:
So, I do not see myself going for E-mount after seeing the prices from Sony's new 2.8 line up. IBIS is nice, but Nikon have all I need with IS.

D810 + tamron 24-70 F/2.8 VC + 70-200 F/2.8 VC cost about $5790 in my country.

A7R II + Sony 24-70 F/2.8 +Sony 70-200mm F/2.8 cost about $10430.

I save about $4640 by starting over with Nikon, meaning I can rebuy all my A-mount FF lenses on Nikon and still save money by not going for Sony to supplement with A-mount's.

I told you this a week ago on a different thread. Buy the Nikon and break this circle of doubt. Your current gear is never going to be worth more than it is right now. Sell it all and put that towards the fab Nikon kit. A-mount no longer suits you, Sigma and Tamron do not have a presence in the FE mount so there will never be lenses that you like. Why all the hesitation? Pull the trigger man!

cplunk · Mar 11, 2016

Karl Scharf said:
Molan said:

Based on this:

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony...-up-a-mount-it-is-a-promise-to-our-customers/

Do you think Sony will re-energize A-mount, or will they just keep it alive ... for now?

Click to expand...

Personally I don't really care if they do re-energize the A-mount or not.

I have plenty of great A-mount equipment right now to keep me happy for the rest of my life. (see my gear list)

As a matter of fact, if Sony decides not to come out with another A-mount camera, it would save me tons of money since I would not be tempted to buy it.

Timothy S Broadley · Mar 11, 2016

Syber

paraphase. All camera systems have negative consequences

Absolutely right which is why I keep hoping, waiting, and sometimes praying for the proverbial A99mk2

Sonolta Shooter · Mar 12, 2016

ecsh1 said:
Yet another useless post about the future of A-mount.

+1 (to infinity and beyond).

tbcass · Mar 12, 2016

I think the better EVF, LCD, more robust build, metal lens mount, rear thumbwheel, 1/8000 max shutter speed and extra buttons on the A77ii are worth the extra money. It also appears the A68 doesn't have the fully articulating LCD of the A77ii. I'm sure there are other features as well. Does the A68 have the focus limiter? The A68 has an AF/MF switch while the A77ii has a knob for choosing between 4 focusing modes. These are all features that, once you have them, you don't want to give them up. I currently have an A77 as my backup. An A68 would be a major step down from even that camera. If you want to save money try to find a used A77 instead because it looks like a better camera than the A68.

--
Tom
Look at the picture, not the pixels
------------
Misuse of the ability to do 100% pixel peeping is the bane of digital photography.

tbcass · Mar 12, 2016

tqlla said:
While Tamron is pretty decent, you are comparing 1st party lenses to 3rd party lenses.

When the 3rd party lenses are just as good who cares. Sony's lenses are overpriced.

tqlla · Mar 12, 2016

tbcass said:
tqlla said:

While Tamron is pretty decent, you are comparing 1st party lenses to 3rd party lenses.

Click to expand...

When the 3rd party lenses are just as good who cares. Sony's lenses are overpriced.

--
Tom
Look at the picture, not the pixels
------------
Misuse of the ability to do 100% pixel peeping is the bane of digital photography.

I agree Sony lenses are over priced, but "Just as good"....sometimes.

Thats like saying cheaper aftermarket car parts are as good as OEM... sometimes, but the only way to be sure you are getting OEM quality would be to buy the OEM parts(Or read through a bunch of reviews from people who hopefully know what they are talking about).

zackiedawg · Mar 12, 2016

tbcass said:
I think the better EVF, LCD,

For me at least, those things are not important. I barely even use LCDs for anything - not a chimper and top screen will give me settings. For EVF, I have done fine with the lower spec unit on the A6000 - it's mostly for framing and composing on the fly, so resolution isn't really anything I need a lot of.

tbcass said:
more robust build,

Nice - but that's one of the few things that I would consider paying a little more for.

tbcass said:
metal lens mount,

Can't say I'm too worried - I'll be using long lenses almost exclusively, and 80% of the camera's support will be via the tripod collar on the lenses.

tbcass said:
rear thumbwheel,

I'd use two thumbwheels if I had them, but don't need them...one thumbwheel plus the jog wheel still gives me quick access to aperture and shutter in manual mode and that has worked out fine for me.

tbcass said:
1/8000 max shutter speed

Nice - but not that crucial for me - I rarely ever have occasion or need of using much more than 1/2000, so up to 1/4000 is still plenty.

tbcass said:
and extra buttons on the A77ii are worth the extra money.

A few extra buttons - again I'd take them, but don't need them.

tbcass said:
It also appears the A68 doesn't have the fully articulating LCD of the A77ii.

No need for that - my LCD will likely be off most of the time, if not all the time, and rarely ever flipped out.

tbcass said:
I'm sure there are other features as well. Does the A68 have the focus limiter?

It does, actually.

tbcass said:
The A68 has an AF/MF switch while the A77ii has a knob for choosing between 4 focusing modes.

That one won't affect me because I'll mainly be shooting with the Memory Recall modes 1 & 2 - I'll be setting the focus mode in those memory settings, with one at AF-S and one at AF-C - for still birds and flying birds, each with their own bank of settings. And the lenses I'll be using have AF/MF switches on the lens, so I likely will never even touch the one on the camera.

tbcass said:
These are all features that, once you have them, you don't want to give them up. I currently have an A77 as my backup. An A68 would be a major step down from even that camera. If you want to save money try to find a used A77 instead because it looks like a better camera than the A68.

For me, the A77II's focus system is the biggest draw - I want and need the most PDAF points and most cross points I can get for birding, so the A77II's focus system has wider coverage and is more advanced - the A68 has the exact same focus system, which is what I'm going for.

tbcass · Mar 13, 2016

tqlla said:
I agree Sony lenses are overpriced, but "Just as good"....sometimes.

Thats like saying cheaper aftermarket car parts are as good as OEM... sometimes, but the only way to be sure you are getting OEM quality would be to buy the OEM parts(Or read through a bunch of reviews from people who hopefully know what they are talking about).

I read a lot of reviews before I purchase anything. So far, except for an old Tamron 70-200 which sucked, all my Sigma and Tamron lenses have been top notch and much cheaper than their Sony alternatives. The quality and consistency of that quality has risen to the point in the last 5 years that they rival brand names. Of course the owners who spent big bucks on Sony lenses will never admit that.

tbcass · Mar 13, 2016

I said those very same things when I owned an A65, I don't need those features. When the A77 came down to the same price I paid for my A65 I realized how wrong I was. After buying the A77 I never used the A65 any more so I sold it and bought an A77ii. I know what you are doing because I did the same thing. You're trying to save money but you only live once. 6 months from now you would forget the extra you spent on an A77ii and be happy you did.

The Future of Sony A Mount, 2016 status

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