Sony crushes the price/build-quality barrier
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From: David J Taylor on 12 May 2010 04:03 "nospam" <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote in message news:120520100244498107%nospam(a)nospam.invalid... [] > they're not part of the 4/3rds consortium and i doubt they could be > even if they wanted to. That's a pity, as it could reduce Sony's development costs as well as lowering costs to customers, and provide them with a greater range of lenses at launch. Their loss, me thinks. Cheers, David
From: Bruce on 12 May 2010 05:30 On Wed, 12 May 2010 07:26:14 +0100, "David J Taylor" <david-taylor(a)blueyonder.co.uk.invalid> wrote: >"Bruce" <docnews2011(a)gmail.com> wrote in message >news:ls9ju5h1ek3180qh00npobort9q2nsc34k(a)4ax.com... >[] >> The Four Thirds lens mount would be of no use whatsoever with an APS-C >> size sensor. And given Sony's massive (and currently underused) >> capacity for producing APS-C size sensors, there would be no sense in >> opting for anything smaller. >> >> Indeed, the better overall IQ, lower noise and enhanced control of >> depth of field are such strong assets of APS-C compared to Four Thirds >> that it would be sheer madness to throw them away by going for a >> smaller sensor. > >Well, it's an other Sony own-brand special I, for one, won't be >considering. A 4/3 sensor and micro-4/3 lens mount would have much more >sense, making the package more balanced, perhaps allowing room for an EVF, >and allowing the customer a much greater choice of lenses. You have completely missed the point. The APS-C sensor has significant advantages over Four Thirds. Sony would be throwing those advantages away and committing commercial suicide by making 'just another Micro Four Thirds camera' in a market that is already well supplied with high quality product. Far better to explore a new market where the competition (Samsung and Sigma) both have flawed product on offer. Also, Sony already makes APS-C size sensors in huge quantities and there is a surplus of capacity because of the commercial failure of the Alpha range of DSLRs. Why abandon the resulting economies of scale only to enter a market that is already supplied, making sensors that are markedly inferior to APS-C? It would be madness. >The camera doesn't even have a built-in flash! Two Olympus Micro Four Thirds models also lack a built-in flash. But I agree, it seems a strange omission. Naturally, it opens up a market for accessories with a proprietary interface that Sony will seek to exploit. No-one so far has remarked on the weird appearance of the NEX hardware. The lenses are huge compared to the bodies. The bodies are minimalist and almost featureless. The user interface is very unconventional. I wonder who these cameras will appeal to - I use a Panasonic Lumix GF1 as 'the camera I always have with me', and I would welcome an alternative with better image quality and more control over depth of field. Even though I have been using a Sony DSC-R1 for several years now, and have been very happy with it, I am not sure that I could live with a Sony NEX camera. It is just too weird. Let's see what Nikon brings to the "mirrorless DSLR" table. ;-)
From: J. Clarke on 12 May 2010 07:09 On 5/12/2010 4:03 AM, David J Taylor wrote: > "nospam" <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote in message > news:120520100244498107%nospam(a)nospam.invalid... > [] >> they're not part of the 4/3rds consortium and i doubt they could be >> even if they wanted to. > > That's a pity, as it could reduce Sony's development costs as well as > lowering costs to customers, and provide them with a greater range of > lenses at launch. > > Their loss, me thinks. Sony has obviously decided that the larger sensor outweighs the availability of third-party lenses. As for lowering development costs and lowering costs to customers, Sony can afford the development costs, and the costs to customers will be whatever Sony decides they will be.
From: Peter on 12 May 2010 08:14 "J. Clarke" <jclarke.usenet(a)cox.net> wrote in message news:hse4020e2u(a)news6.newsguy.com... > > Sony has obviously decided that the larger sensor outweighs the > availability of third-party lenses. As for lowering development costs and > lowering costs to customers, Sony can afford the development costs, and > the costs to customers will be whatever Sony decides they will be. Since I am not on Sony's board I can only guess what Sony decided. As for pricing, It will not be whatever Sony wants it to be. Consumer cost will be set by the market, as in any other free market product with an inelastic demand. -- Peter
From: Chris Malcolm on 12 May 2010 09:07
In rec.photo.digital Bruce <docnews2011(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, 11 May 2010 05:53:14 -0700 (PDT), RichA <rander3127(a)gmail.com> > wrote: >>Metal bodies! At low prices! With APS sensors! >>http://dpreview.com/previews/sonynex5/page2.asp > Sony has a large surplus capacity to produce APS-C sized sensors and, > given the extremely slow sales of Sony Alpha DSLRs, this new NEX range > will soak up some of that surplus. > Sony might hope that the NEX range will not impact greatly on sales of > Alpha DSLRs, however it is almost certain that the exact opposite will > be the case. Certainly in Japan, where Micro Four Thirds sales have > been very much at the expense of the sales of Four Thirds DSLRs.. > There is of course a stark contrast between the very large investment > that Sony has clearly poured in to the NEX range, and the comparative > lack of recent investment by Sony in the Alpha DSLR range. > We have already seen Fujifilm, Panasonic and Samsung abandoning their > DSLR ranges in favour of high quality mirrorless cameras. My > prediction is that Sony will soon follow suit. > This is the beginning of the end for Alpha DSLRs. It's the beginning of the end for DSLRs in general. But it's not going to be a sudden death. They'll run in parallel until there's no longer any advantage to the reflex mirror technology. -- Chris Malcolm |