CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Well... considering you can use those lenses from the Nikon on the Sony (as well as a lot of other lenses)... but not vice versa.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

That is why I said very specifically{I should have underlined real; I have seen from experience that current users often have a view completely different from those who might switch from some other system}

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Yep. But isn't that the case with everyone?

I mean... my Canon gear was VERY different from my Minolta stuff.

AND there was a learning curve going from Minolta Film to Sony Digital.

Then there was a learning/experiential curve when I switched from Sony DSLR to Sony SLT, and again when I added a Sony Mirrorless camera to the bag.

So if I am primarily a Canon shooter who flips to Nikon, I'll probably have a different view of Nikon than someone who has been shooting Nikon all along... right?

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

As someone who started using Pentax, then switched to Canon because of the EF lenses, then switched back to Pentax because of quality of low-cost bodies, I do have views different from those who stayed with Pentax the entire time.

My point was that people will move to Sony only if Sony finds ways of catching their interest / attention. Simply being “superior” this week is not sufficient.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Granted. And that is ESPECIALLY true for people vested in a particular system because of hardware and familiarity.

But you know, we humans are an adventurous species. Curious to a fault.

There will ALWAYS be a subset of the population not only willing... but excited to try something new.

There is also a subset of people who are not ideologically tied to one specific brand... folk who are more interested in "getting the shot" with the greatest amount of ease, flexibility, and fidelity.

The fact that Sony is now #2 says a LOT about the company's ability to attract users of other brands to either add Sony mirrorless cameras to their arsenal or make the switch completely.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

The reviews are starting to come in... and people are REALLY impressed with the new A7RIII:

https://www.thephoblographer.com/2017/10/26/first-impressions-sony-a7r-iii/

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

My wife {who is a PhD chemist, and therefore can appreciate the technical end of things} and I were talking about these cameras over lunch today. One of the comments I made was that Sony cameras show more Sony DNA than Minolta DNA ... and this article did nothing to assuage those feelings of mine. Apparently Sony's User Interface still looks like something designed by someone whose last assignment involved a Walkman.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

That's a common complaint, and one Sony addressed with this release. In addition to the customizable buttons and fn button, the a7Riii includes a completely user-customizable mini menu. The iii also allows for separately customizing for still and video modes.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I guess I'd need to see one for myself. My Pentax camera allows me to make virtually all adjustments via a dial twist, sometimes preceded by a button push.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

I think we're talking about different things here. Sonys have a dial for mode selection that includes custom modes where a user can set virtually anything then instantly recall the settings with the turn of a dial. But the a7Riii, in addition to its all-inclusive menu and fn button (limited settings mini- menu) also offers a "sub-menu" that is user-defined with any regular menu items a user wants to include. Between this menu, the fn button, and customizable buttons there should no longer be any issue with Sony's menu layout.

The more I hear about the a7Riii, the more I see that Sony really listened to customers on this one.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

Bless your wife.

You BOTH are onto something and I'll tell you why.

When Sony bought the photo products division from Konica Minolta, it took EVERYTHING; inventory, patents, factories, personnel, R & D, and sales staff. It even brought over management. With the purchase it had a relatively mature A mount DSLR system that offered a LOT of cutting edge features. The first Sony A mount... the A100, was just the re-badged replacement of the Konica Minolta 7D, and it was so good that it was named Popular Photography Magazines Camera of the Year in 2006.

But remember; Sony already HAD it's own line of digital cameras... mostly point and shoot, but also a fairly mature technology... totally and completely different from what it had just acquired from Minolta.

The company philosophy was, the A mount would be for professional/semi-professional/enthusiast market... and the other stuff would be for casual and consumer grade users.

But the visionaries that were responsible for some pretty advanced technology in a number of product lines for the electronics giant read the trends... why not; they were making and selling a substantial percentage of imaging sensors, both CCD AND CMOS and KNEW what their sales numbers were... and made the decision to have a specialty line of cameras that offered MORE features and better image quality than the typical point and shoots of the day. They also decided to make them ILCs.

Thus was born the NEX line.

NEX cameras for the most part WERE feature rich... though quality control was inconsistent as it was and had been with other Sony camera products that did not descend directly from the Minolta line. Remember; Sony at the time was putting MOST of it's photo product R&D into the A mount line up.

Know who developed the first camera with in body image stabilization? Well, Sony continued that technology. Just like they continued the movable LCD screen tech... and they perfected DSLR cameras capable of autofocusing and shooting in live view.

In 2010 when the NEX line was introduced Sony had a FULL line of DSLRs, from the entry level A230, A330, A290, A380, and A390, the mid level A450, A550, A560, and A590, and the professional level A850 and A900 Full Frame Cameras.

BTW, the A900 was the first camera with a 24 mp sensor in a FF format, and it was a HIGHLY underrated, with exceptionally good all-around performance for a digital camera at the time. The A850 shared MOST of the same tech, but was geared towards enthusiasts and semi-professionals.

But in 2010 Sony also introduced the A33 and A57 cameras, the first in their line of so-called "SLT" (Single Lens, Translucent mirror) cameras utilizing Canon's old 1960's Pellicle Mirror technology, and in the process, spelled the end of the company's production of traditional DSLRs because they got that technology to work.

EVERYTHING changed. SLT cameras allowed TRUE live-view shooting as opposed to the "live view preview" available since the early 2000's and in common usage by 2008. SLT cameras ALSO allowed true autofocus while shooting video using live view... pretty innovative for the DSLR style format of consumer cameras.

Meanwhile the NEX series of E mount cameras began to gain in popularity, offering DSLR image quality and control in cameras not much bigger than the point and shoots of the day for a VERY reasonable price.

The problem for the company was however, that REGARDLESS of the technological advances of their traditional DSLR style cameras or their image quality and features, it just could NOT rise above that #3 sales position, or put a dent in the number of units Canon and Nikon were moving as #1 and #2 respectively in this market.

So once again the boffins broke new ground and introduced the RX1 in 2012... a full frame sensor with a professional quality lens... in a compact body.

It was an engineering success even if it was too expensive to be a commercial one, and was a portent of things to come, serving as presage for a revolution in consumer cameras; Full Frame, interchangeable lens, mirrorless cameras in a small, compact, light body.

In 2014 Sony released the 24 mp A7 and the 36mp A7R. It also merged the NEX line with the Alpha line calling all their interchangeable lens stills cameras going forward "Alpha".

The BIG plus with those cameras was the very short "flange" distance between the lens mount and the image sensor... theoretically enabling you to use a wide variety of lenses from multiple manufacturers with those cameras provided you could find an adapter that would provide the proper spacing between the rear element and sensor for infinity focus.

By offering an APS-C version with outstanding image quality, frame rate, and HD video capability at a bargain basement price... the A6000. When it was introduced in 2014 it offered a whopping 179 af points covering an unheard of at that time 92% of the sensor. It also shot 11fps, HD video, and could be had for LESS than $650.00 USD.

It offered all this performance in a compact size and again, because it is an E mount camera, allowed people vested in other mounts and camera systems the ability to us their existing lenses.

Even though both Sony mounts shared the Alpha name, it was CLEAR that the company made a LOT more money with the E mount, and the A mount offerings dwindled from 6 to just 3, while the E mount ecosystem was expanded to offer 3 different APS-C cameras and 3 full-frame E mount cameras.

The E mount cameras represent the culmination of the non-Minolta Sony digital camera lineage, separate and distinct from the A mount line. The DNA is definitely different....