Sony A9 to be A-mount?

[Telecaster]

I mostly agree about how to handle bigger lenses, but when using those lenses, I have come to want a deeper hand-grip than many mirror-less camera offer, for things like briefly supporting most of the weight as I move my left hand along the lens, and to more comfortably carry the camera at my side as I walk.

My own objection to the new Zeiss 35/1.4 has little, if anything, to do with handling. It's much more about the negatives of sticking a fat, honkin' piece of glass in peoples' faces. The A7r + 35/2.8 make a nifty, unobtrusive urban pic-taking combo. For other purposes no doubt the f/1.4 will excel.

-Dave-

[shadowblade]

I mostly agree about how to handle bigger lenses, but when using those lenses, I have come to want a deeper hand-grip than many mirror-less camera offer, for things like briefly supporting most of the weight as I move my left hand along the lens, and to more comfortably carry the camera at my side as I walk.  With most lenses, such a grip still would not protrude as far forward as the lens, so there is little real loss in compactness.  (And as a bonus, there is room for a bigger battery and more, bigger buttons and dials!)

I'm quite the opposite. I find the huge grips on the 5D3 and D800, not to mention the D4s and 1Dx, to be too hard to hold and get a good grip on. Which is probably why why I tend to hold cameras by the lens. The smaller grip on the A7r is much easier to hold. Wish it had more dedicated control buttons, though - I don't like multifunction buttons or delving through menus to do things.

Maybe interchangeable, screw-in primary grips would be a good idea.

The Olympus E-M1 has moved a bit in this direction (so that some complain that it is too big!), perhaps in concert with Olympus adding some bigger, faster lenses to its MFT offerings: see the image from http://cameralabs.com/reviews/Olympus_OMD_EM1/ :


So maybe the upper end of the mirrorless market is moving beyond selling primarily on low size and weight, and start presenting itself as providing superior tools for some (not all!) photograph usage -- particularly in comparison to "APS-C" format SLRs with their often cramped OVFs.

That's a good sign.

I would think landscapes/architecture/studio first, then general photography, then, lastly, sports and action (which will probably coincide with the widespread adoption of 8k video cameras, which will require mirrorless technology to work and render the distinction between action cameras and video cameras moot, since they will both have the same resolution and frame rate).

[BJL]

Maybe interchangeable, screw-in primary grips would be a good idea.

Yep!  Like the add-on grips available for some; I am thinking of getting the one that is available for my E-M5.

On possible spreading adopito of mirrorless; I thing this is spot-on:

... landscapes/architecture/studio first, then general photography, then, lastly, sports and action (which will probably coincide with the widespread adoption of 8k video cameras, which will require mirrorless technology to work and render the distinction between action cameras and video cameras moot, since they will both have the same resolution and frame rate).

The point about video driving sports towards mirrorless is interesting -- I suspect that video will become so dominant for sports photography (and maybe all news photography) that Canon, Sony and Panasonic will try to drive news and sports coverage towards using 4K or 8K "video first" tools like the XC10, developing the ability to deliver frame grabs good enough for web-sites, newspapers and magazines.

[shadowblade]

Yep!  Like the add-on grips available for some; I am thinking of getting the one that is available for my E-M5.

On possible spreading adopito of mirrorless; I thing this is spot-on:The point about video driving sports towards mirrorless is interesting -- I suspect that video will become so dominant for sports photography (and maybe all news photography) that Canon, Sony and Panasonic will try to drive news and sports coverage towards using 4K or 8K "video first" tools like the XC10, developing the ability to deliver frame grabs good enough for web-sites, newspapers and magazines.

Functionally, there's no difference between an 8k video camera and a 32MP action camera capable of shooting 25fps. You'd still need to change shutter speed and ISO depending on whether you wanted to capture stills or video (1/40 for smooth video, 1/500 or faster to freeze action for stills) but it's still the same camera.

[shadowblade]

Sony's best strategy for entering the pro camera market isn't to push the A-mount, but to play the long game and develop the E mount.

Mirrorless bodies (which may not necessarily be small) will displace SLRs. It's only a matter of time - maybe 5 years, maybe 10 years, but certainly within the forseeable future. The turning point will likely be 8k video.

Pushing the A-mount would be like entering the high-end SLR market 20 years too late. Instead, it would be better to concentrate on developing a comprehensive and high-end stable of E-mount lenses - everything from f/2.8 zooms to tilt-shifts, to UWAs, to supertelephoto lenses - while keeping ahead in mirrorless technology. Engineer the lenses not just for current E-mount cameras, but with the resolution needed to handle future bodies and the motor speed and power for lightning-fast AF when the bodies and their power supplies can keep up. Then, when technology catches up and the first truly action-capable mirrorless bodies hit the shelves, Sony will become dominant overnight, with a stable of high-end, suitable lenses, while Canon and Nikon would be stuck with a stable of lenses designed for SLRs (with a flange distance longer than needed for mirrorless) and years behind in mirrorless technology.