IMO: Sony is still the champ, for now.

[javiair]

3 weeks ago Sony was the undisputed champ in the mirrorless market. They had outsold every other competitor and recently took over as #1 in the Full frame market in the US. Dont have any stats to back this up, but Im sure there were plenty of people who shot Canon and Nikon to hop over to Sony's corner. I personally know of two photographers that moved to Sony and has not looked back. So Sony did something Nikon and Canon did not want to do. Spend money to develop a new mirrorless system. Im sure they were thinking Mirrorless was a gimmick or or a fad but as Sony's sales kept going up they eventually had to respond to keep from their customers from jumping ship.

So thanks to competition Nikon and Canon took their best swings at Sony. First the Nikon with their One-Two punch with the Z6/Z7 with mixed initial reviews and then Canon jumped into the ring and took a swing with their EOS R, which oddly enough is not getting the same hate as the Nikon despite the specs.

I dont know if the thinking of Nikon and Canon was to beat the Sony or if it was to keep its base from leaving. Until the full reviews come out I dont think either Nikon or Canon can say they beat the Sony in performance. Nikon has questions with AF and got a beat down over Slotmageddon, and Canon with its No IBIS, 1.7x crop in 4k, but oddly enough, no beatdown over SlotGate.

Competition is good and I think Sony has welcomed the challenge. I think NIkon and Canon could of put out a better product to compete with Sony, but they didnt which leads me to believe they werent after new customers, but they did just enough to satisfy the current ones to keep them from jumping and I think in that regard they succeeded. They Sony's are not a perfect system and they will improve, my friends say the performance and IQ is great, but the biggest complaints is the ergonomics and menu. It feels okay, but not like a DSLR. Nikon has the feel and the menus, now they just have to catch up on performance (wait and see on the reviews) and I think in a few years, they can do that. Add in the second slot, Eye AF, and so on.

Sony took on Nikon's and Canon's best punches and are still standing, but they are not the only ones in the ring anymore.. Game on.

 

[rhlpetrus]

3 weeks ago Sony was the undisputed champ in the mirrorless market. They had outsold every other competitor and recently took over as #1 in the Full frame market in the US. Dont have any stats to back this up, but Im sure there were plenty of people who shot Canon and Nikon to hop over to Sony's corner. I personally know of two photographers that moved to Sony and has not looked back. So Sony did something Nikon and Canon did not want to do. Spend money to develop a new mirrorless system. Im sure they were thinking Mirrorless was a gimmick or or a fad but as Sony's sales kept going up they eventually had to respond to keep from their customers from jumping ship.

Really? So you think Nikon was sleeping at the wheel, and that the Nikon Z system was developed in the last 6 months, or less? Mount, camera, video system, new sensors, new AF, new lenses. Ok then. Canon, same with R, and they have the M mount since ...?

Sony took on Nikon's and Canon's best punches and are still standing, but they are not the only ones in the ring anymore.. Game on.

Punches? Ring? Interesting pre-industrial concept view of high tech markets.

Anyway, "champ" is still Canon, in photography, if there's one worth of title. 50% market share in ILCs, about 30% in fixed-lens market. Second is Nikon 25% each, Sony is 3rd, about 13% of ILC, not sure about fixed-lens, some 15%. With Zs, R, likely shares of C/N will increase. Sony will have to fight hard to stay where it is today, check this:





Nikon 7Zs are 1,2,4,5 among best-selling cameras at B&H. Sony a7s are 3,8. Canon R still not available for pre-order.

--
Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/
Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)

 

[NCB]

As you said, wait until the (proper) reviews come out. Impossible to have meaningful comparisons over the broad spectrum of issues, yet.

I've pre-ordered a Z6, because there's enough known about the things which matter to me for me to be reasonably convinced that I want it.

Buying a camera is a personal thing. I'm not sure that one can really have a "best camera". Sony being the established FF mirrorless source could be said to set the standard. If either of the others fails significantly to get close to it in certain respects then it will cause pause for thought. But otherwise personal factors come into it. The Canon offering looks the weakest to me, but there will be Canon users who won't hesitate to go for it; you get issues such as people simply liking Canon's characteristic colours.

 

[Serjojeee]

I think that we can agree that Sony is the champ now. But in the long run I don't see them winning cause of small E mount limitations. What is more interesting is Canon vs Nikon. Cause they have a way different approach to mirrorless. I mean IBIS vs VR, DPAF vs dedicated AF phase detection pixels.

For now it looks like I'm staying with Nikon cause of IBIS and their lens lineup looks more promising to me.

P.S. I think that Canon announcement was easier for them cause trolls were already exhausted of their Nikon Z6/7 bashing. Cause I personally have more unanswered question to Canon with their R cause of the lack of IBIS and lens lineup is a bit strange - L lenses are huge (50mm weights a kilogram) and 35 mm IS is not weather sealed. But Canon like to play those marketing games, that's why I left that camp soon after the SLR time came to an end.

 

[Thoughts R Us]

The Nikon Z crushes the Sony IMHO. It will be the far better camera to use; more enjoyable, more durable, better lenses, more lenses including F mount since the Nikon adapter works so well, that big mount, seems to have incredible sharpness.

Sony's are gadgets; Nikon and Canon make cameras.

BTW, why does the OP feel compelled to post this in the Nikon Z forum? We don't go to the Sony forum and brag about how the Nikon beats the Sony, or how Sony has poor ergonomics, and poor weather sealing and reliability. Another troll.

 

[iwannabesedated]

In certain respects, Sony may be the spec champ. In other respects, Nikon is ahead. But, the spec sheet is only one criterion on which I base a purchase.

All things considered, the Nikon Z6 and Z7 strike me as much more compelling products. Regards. -iwbs

 

[T O Shooter]

Sony took on Nikon's and Canon's best punches and are still standing, but they are not the only ones in the ring anymore.. Game on.

Think of it as two companies that saw a market and decided to enter it. You don't really need to be the best, you just need to compete. Or just convince the buying public to buy your product.

Pick the brand that's right for you and forget about the others. Then go out and shoot. Most likely the photographer will make the camera, not the camera make the photographer.

 

[justmeMN]

So thanks to competition Nikon and Canon took their best swings at Sony

First swings...

 

[iwannabesedated]

So thanks to competition Nikon and Canon took their best swings at Sony

First swings...

First swings... at FF mirrorless. Sony wasn't the sole target. -iwbs

 

[Michel van Lint]

Regardless of who is the champ, I have never understood why it is so important who is? Why not just enjoy the camera? One will be better at this and the other at that?

 

[sandy b]

So they figured they better go MILC, where canon and nikon were not playing.

Now Nikon and Canon are in the game and the game has changed, and Sony is not the champ of anything, of course, there are no "champs", they are a good electronics company though, one that has stiff competition, which is why they are dumping prices as hard as they can.

 

[Lance B]

3 weeks ago Sony was the undisputed champ in the mirrorless market. They had outsold every other competitor and recently took over as #1 in the Full frame market in the US. Dont have any stats to back this up, but Im sure there were plenty of people who shot Canon and Nikon to hop over to Sony's corner. I personally know of two photographers that moved to Sony and has not looked back. So Sony did something Nikon and Canon did not want to do. Spend money to develop a new mirrorless system. Im sure they were thinking Mirrorless was a gimmick or or a fad but as Sony's sales kept going up they eventually had to respond to keep from their customers from jumping ship.

So thanks to competition Nikon and Canon took their best swings at Sony. First the Nikon with their One-Two punch with the Z6/Z7 with mixed initial reviews and then Canon jumped into the ring and took a swing with their EOS R, which oddly enough is not getting the same hate as the Nikon despite the specs.

I dont know if the thinking of Nikon and Canon was to beat the Sony or if it was to keep its base from leaving. Until the full reviews come out I dont think either Nikon or Canon can say they beat the Sony in performance. Nikon has questions with AF and got a beat down over Slotmageddon, and Canon with its No IBIS, 1.7x crop in 4k, but oddly enough, no beatdown over SlotGate.

Competition is good and I think Sony has welcomed the challenge. I think NIkon and Canon could of put out a better product to compete with Sony, but they didnt which leads me to believe they werent after new customers, but they did just enough to satisfy the current ones to keep them from jumping and I think in that regard they succeeded. They Sony's are not a perfect system and they will improve, my friends say the performance and IQ is great, but the biggest complaints is the ergonomics and menu. It feels okay, but not like a DSLR. Nikon has the feel and the menus, now they just have to catch up on performance (wait and see on the reviews) and I think in a few years, they can do that. Add in the second slot, Eye AF, and so on.

Sony took on Nikon's and Canon's best punches and are still standing, but they are not the only ones in the ring anymore.. Game on.

The winners are Canon and Nikon with a full lens line up of compatible lenses. To me that makes them winners hands down.

However, they are champs in a market, FF mirrorless, that no one was playing in up until now. Now that Canon and Nikon have entered the fray, I would be concerned with whether Sony will be a significant player at all.

--
Lance B
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35949907@N02/?
http://www.pbase.com/lance_b

 

[Vince P]

3 weeks ago Sony was the undisputed champ in the mirrorless market. They had outsold every other competitor and recently took over as #1 in the Full frame market in the US. Dont have any stats to back this up, but Im sure there were plenty of people who shot Canon and Nikon to hop over to Sony's corner. I personally know of two photographers that moved to Sony and has not looked back. So Sony did something Nikon and Canon did not want to do. Spend money to develop a new mirrorless system. Im sure they were thinking Mirrorless was a gimmick or or a fad but as Sony's sales kept going up they eventually had to respond to keep from their customers from jumping ship.

So thanks to competition Nikon and Canon took their best swings at Sony. First the Nikon with their One-Two punch with the Z6/Z7 with mixed initial reviews and then Canon jumped into the ring and took a swing with their EOS R, which oddly enough is not getting the same hate as the Nikon despite the specs.

I dont know if the thinking of Nikon and Canon was to beat the Sony or if it was to keep its base from leaving. Until the full reviews come out I dont think either Nikon or Canon can say they beat the Sony in performance. Nikon has questions with AF and got a beat down over Slotmageddon, and Canon with its No IBIS, 1.7x crop in 4k, but oddly enough, no beatdown over SlotGate.

Competition is good and I think Sony has welcomed the challenge. I think NIkon and Canon could of put out a better product to compete with Sony, but they didnt which leads me to believe they werent after new customers, but they did just enough to satisfy the current ones to keep them from jumping and I think in that regard they succeeded. They Sony's are not a perfect system and they will improve, my friends say the performance and IQ is great, but the biggest complaints is the ergonomics and menu. It feels okay, but not like a DSLR. Nikon has the feel and the menus, now they just have to catch up on performance (wait and see on the reviews) and I think in a few years, they can do that. Add in the second slot, Eye AF, and so on.

Sony took on Nikon's and Canon's best punches and are still standing, but they are not the only ones in the ring anymore.. Game on.

Define undisputed champ in the mirrorless market and outsold every other company .




Mirrorless sales



--
Instagram @vinnypimages

 

[DiffractionLtd]

Sony threw money at the market, came out with every conceivable camera type (DSLR, translucent mirror, mirrorless, APS, FF) except rangefinders and finally, something started to sell. They made great headway while Nikon and Canon sat on their timid, lazy hands, praying DSLR's would once again become predominant and that mirrorless would fade away or be relegated to joke lines, like Nikon's 1 series.

 

[James Stirling]

3 weeks ago Sony was the undisputed champ in the mirrorless market. They had outsold every other competitor and recently took over as #1 in the Full frame market in the US. Dont have any stats to back this up, but Im sure there were plenty of people who shot Canon and Nikon to hop over to Sony's corner. I personally know of two photographers that moved to Sony and has not looked back. So Sony did something Nikon and Canon did not want to do. Spend money to develop a new mirrorless system. Im sure they were thinking Mirrorless was a gimmick or or a fad but as Sony's sales kept going up they eventually had to respond to keep from their customers from jumping ship.

So thanks to competition Nikon and Canon took their best swings at Sony. First the Nikon with their One-Two punch with the Z6/Z7 with mixed initial reviews and then Canon jumped into the ring and took a swing with their EOS R, which oddly enough is not getting the same hate as the Nikon despite the specs.

I dont know if the thinking of Nikon and Canon was to beat the Sony or if it was to keep its base from leaving. Until the full reviews come out I dont think either Nikon or Canon can say they beat the Sony in performance. Nikon has questions with AF and got a beat down over Slotmageddon, and Canon with its No IBIS, 1.7x crop in 4k, but oddly enough, no beatdown over SlotGate.

Competition is good and I think Sony has welcomed the challenge. I think NIkon and Canon could of put out a better product to compete with Sony, but they didnt which leads me to believe they werent after new customers, but they did just enough to satisfy the current ones to keep them from jumping and I think in that regard they succeeded. They Sony's are not a perfect system and they will improve, my friends say the performance and IQ is great, but the biggest complaints is the ergonomics and menu. It feels okay, but not like a DSLR. Nikon has the feel and the menus, now they just have to catch up on performance (wait and see on the reviews) and I think in a few years, they can do that. Add in the second slot, Eye AF, and so on.

Sony took on Nikon's and Canon's best punches and are still standing, but they are not the only ones in the ring anymore.. Game on.

Define undisputed champ in the mirrorless market and outsold every other company .


Mirrorless sales

I think those numbers are on for the Japanese market . These number show worldwide market share of the ILC market . Canon has 49.1% of the ILC market Nikon 24.9% and Sony at 13.3%. That leaves just 12.7% for the other brands Olympus, Panasonic , Fuji , Pentax and Sigma. Considering how small Sony's SLT market is it appears that they are indeed at the moment the largest mirrorless sellers

2018 Nikkei interchangeable lens camera market share report (Canon: 49.1%, Nikon: 24.9%, Sony: 13.3%) - Nikon Rumors

Nikkei published their 2018 interchangeable lens camera market share report: Canon: 49.1% Nikon: 24.9% Sony: 13.3% All other companies combined have less than a 13% market share (the top 3 camera manufacturers gained 6.2% in 2018 to a total of 87.3%). While Canon and Sony gained market share...

nikonrumors.com

--
Jim Stirling
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” John Adams

 

[[email protected]]

The Nikon Z7 is very interesting but will not make be give up my D850.

Two things about mirrorless interest me:

really excellent eye focus

silent shooting

maljo

 

[James Stirling]

The Nikon Z7 is very interesting but will not make be give up my D850.

Two things about mirrorless interest me:

really excellent eye focus

silent shooting

maljo

Looking at your excellent gallery what would eye AF give you over say face AF ? I have eye-AF on two cameras my A7rII&III and have never needed it. I assume its main advantage is with shallow DOF shooting as otherwise face detect would do

 

[Laslo Varadi]

The Nikon Z crushes the Sony IMHO.

a slight exaggeration. Let’s wait to see how capable it Auto focuses to capture action. Sone has proven it can. And let’s not forget the marvelous eye af and deeperbuffer on the Sony.

It will be the far better camera to use; more enjoyable, more durable, better lenses, more lenses including F mount since the Nikon adapter works so well, that big mount, seems to have incredible sharpness.

Do you have comparisons to equivalent Sony and Zeiss lenses?

Sony's are gadgets; Nikon and Canon make cameras.

BTW, why does the OP feel compelled to post this in the Nikon Z forum? We don't go to the Sony forum and brag about how the Nikon beats the Sony, or how Sony has poor ergonomics, and poor weather sealing and reliability. Another troll.

If you really believe the above you need to put more thought into it.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

To be honest, I think Nikon came out with a better product than Canon. The problem with Nikon is they should of just followed Canon's tight marketing presentation, cut out the hype and just did a hard announcement, short informative videos and high quality sample images. Invite only select top photography journalists instead of every click-bait Youtube personality. In fact they might of been better off announcing after Canon and use that extra time to get the Nikon reps up-to-date with the camera. A week or two would of made all the difference.

 

[Laslo Varadi]

So they figured they better go MILC, where canon and nikon were not playing.

Now Nikon and Canon are in the game and the game has changed, and Sony is not the champ of anything, of course, there are no "champs", they are a good electronics company though, one that has stiff competition, which is why they are dumping prices as hard as they can.

We, the consumers are the winners.