As the OP who's still following the discussion with interest, I have to ask: is there a consensus among the connoisseurs here that Sony sensors are simply the best and everyone else is playing catch-up?
If you look at the technical specifications and the scientific tests that have been done and you want the part of the entire imaging pipeline where the sensor is concerned, to have the most modern tech and the best electronics and the highest signal-to-noise ratio and also keep your creative options as open as possible with a nice thick malleable file, there's actually only one sensor factory to watch, and that would be Sony?
Is there any other maker that produces high quality sensors that are of interest in the field of photography? Maybe for creative reasons?
Foveon sensors come to mind.
i saw the Q2 sensor DR test today and was disappointed....i did have high hopes for the SR1 (which i am assuming shares the sensor with the Q2) , the S1 looks like a killer video camera, not sure about the AF system right now but from what i understand it has potential to get much better with firmware....the mount opens a lot of doors....looked like a promising system to challenge sony (and nikon) but the test showed it more then a stop behind in DR tests....what makes it worse that neither SR1 or Q2 are really shipping yet and we know sony will drop a flagship (within a year?)....
I just dont see sony even having any competition at this point....the A7RII sensor released in 2015 still beats this new Q2 sensor....canon is alive because a lot of people still have a lot of canon glass and lots of people buying their first camera simply are buying a canon.....although that is changing dramatically....
fuji, hasselblad, phase one are all using the same sony sensor....not sure who makes the leica S sensor but again: it just does not compare.....
i wish there was competition, sony just saw nikon, canon and panasonic entering the FF mirrorless market and in all honesty the only real challenger to the A7R is the nikon....which uses a sony sensor....so much for competition....