Considering Quattro H concerned about SA lenses

nick webster wrote:

TN Args wrote:

nick webster wrote:

TN Args wrote:

nick webster wrote:

TN Args wrote:

nick webster wrote:

TN Args wrote:

nick webster wrote:

TN Args wrote:

Scottelly wrote:

TN Args wrote:

Scottelly wrote:

TN Args wrote:

xpatUSA wrote:

dazzleships wrote:

I owned at least one of every generation on DPX camera. My most sold landscape photo was taken on a DP1s. My Merrills are getting on and I am considering the Quattro H. I recently bought a Sony A7rii ($1600 new), Loxia 21mm, and Zeiss 55mm. However, I wasn't happy with the IQ compared to my Merrills and am considering returning it. My goal is to print A0 and even larger.

Now, the Quattro H is on my radar; but, I am concerned about the SA series lenses being discontinued. I don't want to invest in an already obsolete system. To those maybe more knowledgeable about this:

- Is SA dead?

From the horse's mouth:

As part of its move into L-mount cameras and lenses, Sigma will be turning its back on its own SA-mount cameras (though it will continue to produce SA-mount lenses).

“All future interchangeable-lens camera systems developed by SIGMA will feature the L-mount,” Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki says in a statement. “SIGMA does not plan to develop new cameras equipped with an SA-mount.”

Photographers who have already invested in SA-mount lenses will have the option of having them converted into the L mount. There will also be an SA-to-L adapter for non-converted lenses.

“SIGMA treats our continued support for SA-mount lenses as a top priority,” Yamaki states. “This commitment of ours will not be affected by our move to a new mount system, and SA-mount lenses will continue to be part of our production.

https://petapixel.com/2018/09/26/sigma-to-launch-full-frame-foveon-l-mount-mirrorless-camera/

Thanks Ted. Clearly he says, in the last paragraph, that SA mount lenses will continue.

To the OP: there is no indication that the SA mount is discontinued for Sigma lenses. Only for new bodies.

They won't continue making DSLR lenses once the big three are making mostly mirrorless cameras, and I think that is already happening.

Sigma will concentrate on making mirrorless lenses after their current roll-out. That's not to say that the current excellent crop of SA-mount lenses will not be available to buy new for a few years. I'm sure those will continue to be available for at least five years, but almost all new designs will be exclusive to mirrorless cameras.

That's a prediction - not some insider knowledge. In two or three years the current crop of lenses are going to start looking really old, compared to the new lenses that will be introduced in 2020 and 2021.

If Sigma makes more than five new SA-mount lenses in the next five years, I'll be really surprised. In the same period of time they will make more than a dozen new mirrorless-only lenses. (Another prediction)

Since you are predicting, I will predict at least 10 years.

Just look at the Nikon 1 system.

Four Thirds

How many years did they make 4/3s lenses after moving to m4/3s ? It wasn't long as I remember, but I could be wrong.

Nick

9 years - my point.

9 years ? The article says "It's been six and a half years since the launch of the last Four Thirds mount camera,"

What am I missing ?

Nick

They announced m43 in 2008 and discontinued Four Thirds lenses in 2017.

Yes but they stopped making 4/3s lenses only about 5 years after finishing the 4/3s cameras. By that reckoning Sigma will be due to stop in about 5 years time ( unless they announce another SA mount camera ) - which ties in more closely with Scott's prediction than yours Not sure that was your point in making the comparison

Doesn't matter -- Scott's ears are a bit more open than yours.

As I have stated numerous times and places, I am not a big fan of wild-assed predictions stated as facts. I usually only enter a predictions thread to show how things might not work out as predicted. And so I have done here.

But the example you gave didn't show what you claimed it showed - Oly stopped making 4/3s lenses only about 5 years after it had stopped making 4/3s bodies, not the 9 you said. That was my only point - not that Sigma would do the same.

Please show me where I said, and I quote, "Oly stopped making 4/3s lenses 9 years after it had stopped making 4/3s bodies".

Now, don't be too proud to apologise.

I'm never too proud to apologise if I'm wrong.

I've re-read what I wrote and I did indeed ask about m4/3s, when I had meant to ask how long after stopping 4/3s bodies did they stop making lenses for that system. I hadn't re-read it until now as I was sure I had asked about the latter not the former.

Mea culpa. I was wrong. I apologise. I'm sorry for the confusion I caused by my initial error.

I hope that clears matters up

Nick

Hey Nick, congratulations on being one of the people who is not too proud to make such statements . . . but as far as 4/3 lenses go, there are VERY few left, and none are new designs. This is my point. In five years there will be very few Sigma SA mount lenses still available new, and probably none of those will be new designs. In ten years, if any are available new, there will be maybe one or two new lenses available in SA mount. I might be wrong. There COULD be three available . . . and they won't be available through B&H or Adorama. They might be available through some supplier on Amazon, but most likely they will only be available through Sigma, in limited quantities (they may only have two or three SA mount lenses in stock for a year or two, until they only have one left).

My point was that the SA mount is now on the verge of obsolete, and unless you're getting them for some super-low price, it doesn't make sense to build an SA-mount lens system, just like it doesn't make sense to pay full retail prices for Nikon and Canon DSLR lenses. Those are "going away" too, and buying into those lens systems for anything but fire-sale prices does not make any sense to me. I think Nikon and Canon are going to have a pretty hard time selling the lenses they have in those systems over the next few months, because people are mostly just waiting to see what comes in the new mirrorless mounts. Unless Canon and Nikon introduce two or three new lenses and new bodies for their DSLR systems over the next year, people are going to believe the DSLR systems are dead, and most people will not buy a new DSLR or new DSLR lenses.

I'll make another prediction. Nikon will introduce two or three new lenses at the big show coming up in a month or so. They will ALL be for their Z mount. I think the same thing will happen with Canon, but I think maybe Canon will introduce yet another full-frame mirrorless camera in their new R mount. I think at the same show Panasonic will have their S1 and S1R bodies for people to try. 2019 will be the year of full-frame Mirrorless (if 2018 does not already hold that title). I predict that both Nikon and Canon will introduce NO new DSLR lenses and NO new DSLR bodies in 2019.

It's all mirrorless now . . . unless you're a Pentax shooter. They might decide to stick with the DSLR market, taking the hard-core DSLR new camera buyers, which at this point is probably a pretty small group, considering how good EVFs have become over the past five years (with very high resolution, lots of dynamic range, fast refresh rates, etc), and because of all the advantages of the mirrorless cameras (i.e. Nikon's upgrade to IBIS, which is only available in their mirrorless bodies), and the looming end of DSLR lens production.