Assuming it happens, but I think we'll see chickens water ski before that happens.
Hope I'm wrong, hope Alpha users get what they deserve.
Soon as its announced, and we see that the FW upgrade is decent, I'll gladly eat some crow here and on our site.
Carl
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Now Carl, you mean you've never seen chickens water skiing?
I know that you feel bad, the worst kind of bad, betrayed. I feel bad too, but it can't be remotely as bad as you feel. So I think I understand. But I hold out some hope, and think that Sony will have a good year.
Let's hope it really starts with a FW update for the A850/900, and that is followed in swift succession by a series of exciting new bodies and lenses. I think that pretty much anyone on this forum would wish the same. I hope that for your sake as well as Sony's sake. You've poured your life into Sony for, I think, two or more years now. I think I saw some of your first stories, covering PMA in 2008. A900 sensor, A900 mockups and all.
Last summer you tried harder to be positive about the new entry-level cameras than anyone else, except maybe George Schaub. By last fall, however, you were in no mood to give quarter in reviewing a much better camera, the A550. And today you have clearly lost heart.
Except that I think, your investment in AMW notiwthstanding, you would return to the fold, with enthusiasm, if still with reservations, were Sony actually to turn it around this year.
My take on Sony is that Alpha's 2009 problems were a reflection of the corporation-wide belt-tightening following the economic collapse. That collapse started with the financial and banking industry, and Sony was much more deeply involved with those industries than any of its competitors. Much more. The prudent thing was to tighten up, especially in a year when it might be expected that dslr sales would plummet. If Sony thought that, they were wrong, of course, but it would have been reasonable to believe that sales of dslrs would in fact drop.
For example, where was the publicity, where were the commericals and magazine ads for Alpha in 2009, at least in the US? Sony had put itself in the position to capitalize on the A900, but it didn't happen. Why? There are only two reasonable explanations for this--Sony's strategy was to go after Europe first, perhaps through the middle of 2010, and then go after the US? or there simply was less money to put into adverstising (belt-tighteining)? or, more likely in my view, both?
So I don't think that what happened in 2009 was because Sony didn't care about its customers, or about photographers, or wasn't listening, or had lost heart about the possibility of competing in the dslr industry. Remember that Sony had just surged into a strong third in the market when these problems took hold.
In any case, I get the feeling that Sony believes it has put its problems behind it. Sometimes that feeling is accompanied by a strong surge of confident activity. I certainly hope that is the case with Sony in 2010.
Maybe all of us will see chickens water skiing this year.
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Dulaney
A700; SAL 50 f1.4; SAL 18-250; CZ 85 f1.4
