Many of you have missed my point. I'll try again.
I don't see the committment on Sony's part to photography. Only to
making money.
One of the things I liked amout Minolta was their committment to
advance the state of the art by developing innovative products.
Sometimes it was a hit - autofocus. Sometimes it was a miss - xi
lenses.
The only committment I see from Sony is making more money. 14
megapixel cameras with too much noise because 14 mp sounds better to
the point and shoot crowd.
What I see are Zeiss lenses made in China that don't have any of the
Zeiss brand qualty in materials. Anyone can design a great lens with
todays CAD. The quality of materials and assembly distinguishes
todays best products
For what its worth. I think the A700 is an aberration for Sony. They
had the chip in development for Nikon and the engineers from Minolta
could upgrade the 7d so they got a fill in until the full frame is
ready to provide the halo product.
As i've already stated, I see a committment to provide cameras and
low cost lenses to a multitude of point and shoot upgraders and a
halo product for publicity. I don't see a committment to the advanced
amateur, semi-pro and local pro.
And I don't think the marketplace has responded strongly to the A700
at all. When new A700s are still selling with V 1.0 software it says
a lot. Would the situation be helped by having a solid lineup of mid
priced ($700-1200) lenses and slightly lower priced 3rd party
support? Ylou tell me.
So I'll stand by what I said. Sony will never be the force in
photography that Canon and Nikon are. They will, however, sell lots
of cameras to snapshooters all over the world and make lots of money.
Jim, Undah,
All I'm saying is give it time... Sony just literally dropped themselves into the dSLR areana a SCANT two years ago, and already, they have gotten out 5 different bodies. You say flooding the market with lots of cameras to snapshooters, others will say that SONY is exhibiting remarkable strides with the introduction of 5 bodies.
Glass half full or half empty?
Sony will EVENTUALLY get their lenses into the $700~$1200 range witness the 70-300mm G that was just introduced?!?? Yeah, it's in LIMITED quantities BUT the point is it has been introduced, or did you already miss my point and the three online places to order it from?!??!!!!
Time is what is needed for SONY to grow into the dSLR market, apparently this
might not be an option for you "despite" being a long time Minolta user?
You have ignored ALL of the posts that basically suggests that SONY will be addressing the lens lineup issue. As you'll recall from the first few SONY press releases from about 2 years ago, SONY promised that they will be creating the bodies first A100 & A700 (A200/A300/A350 BONUS), and then concentrate on the lens lineup AFTER the release of the bodies and FINALLY to have a PRO network in place to support the ALPHA line away from the P&S digital cameras.
Note worthy points:
1. Sony has introduced 5 new bodies to the dSLR world
2. Sony will be introducing a FF Pro level body this year
3. Sony HAS already started producing new glass 24-70mm Ziess & 70-300 G and others WILL be following suit
4. Sony will be introducing a PRO oriented service centers shortly, possibly global (see David K. thread on this subject)
Most journalists both ONLINE and in PRINT have been impressed with SONY level of commitment to the dSLR market and can see that SONY is in it for the long term and not short term. Based on the four points I've listed, I do NOT think that they are wrong with their impression.
YES, as of RIGHT now 5/22/2008, there is a HOLE/GAP in the lens line up, but as you can clearly SEE, Sony is attempting to make amends to this and I'm sure it will be EVENTUALLY addressed. It seems, however, that you have already decided that SONY's timeline to FILL the gap, is WAY too SLOW for you and YOU have every right to your opinion.
Look at how the very PRESENCE of SONY going into the dSLR have turned around 3rd party support???! Tamron and Sigma have "officially" announce return support now for the A-MOUNT system. Do they have any NEW lenses out right now?
NO!
We know this, but the important thing is they have announced support and are now committed.
Bottom line is you can simply choose to IGNORE EVERYTHING that I have cited but hopefully others can see that the A-mount system is making a come back and hopefully soon will be recognized by all as a legitimage contender in the dSLR arena.
As long as they have the patience to wait...!
Jim, I've laid it all bare for you, I sincerely believe that I have shown you that I understand your point entirely and have offered a sound and reasonable counter point and rebuttal to your original post. I look forward to your DIRECT reply.
--
-Alex
From the minds of Minolta to the imagination of Sony, Alpha, like no other.
http://www.pbase.com/lonewolf69 
