gwilliams6

If this rumor is true, Sony is making a huge marketing mistake.

Andrea Pizzini Photography:
HOT: The incredible reason why the Sony A1 and A7sIII are not getting big firmware updates!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkKcQ2o6ugU

And FYI, I currently own Sony A7RIV, A1, A7SIII. I previously owned Sony A6500, A7RII, A7RIII, A7III, A9.

Cheers and best to you all.

BebuLamar

Huge marketing mistake? I thought Sony is gaining in sales.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Right now, of course, this is just a story told by one person. We have no verification one way or another if it is true or if it is just an intriguing story designed to get some attention from the guy doing the video.

If it is true, however, it should represent no real surprise. Sony is and has always been a consumer products company at heart. Their goal has always been to sell more gadgets, widgets, or whatevers. This approach has been clearly communicated by their support programs, their repair programs, and their obsolescence decisions and actions.

Once you buy and they have your money, you are on your own. My family can share a long list of rxcellent products that had to be retired long before their time should have been over, sometimes over something as simple as discontinuation of availability of a replacememt battery. This is exactly what forced the retirement of me otherwise excellent Pro Walkman.

I am sympathetic to owners of these products. This is not something I would be happy about if I were a Sony owner. It is a reason that I am not, however.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Breathing compensation?



Oy vey.

gwilliams6

They are gaining in sales, but this has never been revealed before today. And if true, could hurt future Sony sales.

We will see what Sony says about this rumor now.

Cheers

gwilliams6

Some lenses (from all makes, not just Sony) have some focus breathing during filming. Some Sony models automatically compensate for that.

This Breathing Comp. feature, when set to On, automatically compensates for lens fluctuations that slightly change the angle of view according to the focusing distance during movie recording.

Cheers

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Wow.

I just shoot.

gwilliams6

The reality is Sony has and is still a leader and innovator in imaging, and their products have ushered in new technology and cameras that others have tried to copy or emulate. Sony is the worldwide leader in image sensor tech, invention and production.

Sony by far makes the most image sensors for everything from millions of image sensors and cameras in smartphones, including all top iPhones, to image sensors for compact, micro 4/3rd, bridge, APS-C, fullframe, and medium format camera makers from Nikon, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Hasselblad, and other camera brands besides Sony's own consumer cameras, on to top Sony major cinema cameras and lenses used by countless Oscar Winning cinematographers and directors like Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and many others on such films as Avatar and Spiderman , and used on countless award-winning TV series like Yellowstone. No one else comes close to making as many sensors for all formats and types of cameras.

Sony invented the first fullframe mirrorless camera, and that shook up the industry and caught Nikon and Canon sleeping, and they have been playing catch up ever since.

Dont confuse products from other Sony divisions and its products from its imaging division. They are totally different and separately run companies within the huge Sony Corporation. I know of your grip over some other kinds of Sony products you once owned. Don't confuse that with their camera and imaging products today.

In 2022 Sony's imaging division had revenues of $8.3 Billion USD. The entire huge Sony Corporation had 2022 revenues of $84 Billion USD, yes $84 Billion USD, ten times the revenue alone of its Imaging Company. By comparison Canon Imaging had total revenues of $5.1 billion USD, Nikon Imaging had total revenues of $1.16 Billion USD.

Sony is the world leader in sales of mirrorless cameras. CIPA number show that. Most of the Top News Services around the world have moved exclusively to Sony mirrorless for all their staff still photographers and staff videographers worldwide. That includes Associated Press, UK Press, Canadian Press, all Gannett media including USA Today.
Read below why they chose Sony, for many reasons including its mirrorless system leadership, its pace of innovation and its superb pro support.

https://alphauniverse.com/stories/why-the-associated-press-just-switched-to-sony/

https://petapixel.com/2021/11/17/sony-is-now-the-exclusive-camera-provider-for-gannett-and-usa-today/

https://www.dpreview.com/news/4545693607/the-uk-largest-news-agency-partners-with-sony

https://petapixel.com/2022/01/31/canadas-largest-news-organization-moves-exclusively-to-sony-cameras/#:~:text=Canada's%20Largest%20News%20Agency%20Moves%20Exclusively%20to%20Sony%20Cameras,-Jan%2031%2C%202022&text=The%20Canadian%20Press%2C%20the%20largest,provider%20for%20the%20media%20company.

I have used all brands of pro gear in my 50+ year career. I have been a member of NPS, CPS, and SPS, the Pro Support of Nikon, Canon, and Sony. The Pro support for Sony pro users has been as good and even better than the pro support I got from Nikon and Canon all around the world.

The purpose of my posting this is to bring attention to it. At this point we just dont know if it is true, but with this out now, Sony will need to respond and we will know the validity of it.

Cheers and best to you all, whatever brand you prefer.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

There is no question that this question is important for all of us. It is already being demonstrated that all major camera manufacturers (except Pentax) are working hard and dast to follow what Sony is modelling. But despite the relatively new spread of technological expertise in the company (there have been splashes here and there for many years), Sony remains philisophically and culturally a consumer products company built around the sale of its products. The details revealed by the "whistleblower" simply reinforce that.

I continue to recommend that folks find and read Akio Morita's book to see it in his words, not mine.

gwilliams6

All camera companies are consumer products companies, always have been and always will be. The truth will come out and we can then further discuss philosophies of consumer camera companies.

FYI, one of the reasons I left Canon after using Pro Canon and Nikon gear (both brands) for over four decades, with some Leica use spread in there, was because Canon's philosophy had changed. In their grab of market share they had crippled many of their products to sell more different models and had ignored the needs of many pros with few updates and a very slow pace of innovations. More than any other brand, Canon IMHO kind of got caught asleep at the wheel and allowed Sony to take market share from them , that Canon has never gotten back.

Canon and Nikon fullframe mirrorless is finally at a level worthy of their brands, but they lost years and market share from ignoring what we pros and hobbyists wanted. Olympus, Panasonic, Fuji ,and to a lesser degree Pentax, have all carved out their own loyal user base, and do excellent firmware updates.

Let's see if Sony will make the same mistake now that Canon had made in the past, or if this is just not true.

Cheers and best to you.

MDI Mainer

While I can understand the impatience of some to add the latest bells and whistles to their existing gear, I am reasonably confident that Sony, having comparatively recently and very successfully penetrated and in some respects dominated the august domain of professional level cameras, and won the allegiance of nearly every major entity that relies on such cameras for commercial operations, will not likely prejudice that success.

I also suspect that the Betamax lesson is sufficiently fresh in Sony's corporate memory bank as to caution against ignoring consumer preferences in product development.

gwilliams6

Yes it just wouldn't make much sense would it? This story, as reported by the Sony Alpha Rumor guy, supposedly came from a reliable one of his sources.

We shall see. One good thing about this "leak", is now Sony will need to answer this and maybe we will get an answer about the pace of substantial Sony firmware updates for some of its most expensive models. As an A1 and A7SIII owner I do want firmware updates to get some of the new features that Sony has put into some newer but less expensive models.

Cheers and best to you.

MDI Mainer

As to the credibility of the source, I've seen too many instances of corporate and government types, often after hours and fueled by a few drinks, trying to impress their listeners with insider information which was, to put it charitably, exaggerated!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Oh yes, you can trust Utube and the internet to tell you the truth.

BebuLamar

So it's a mistake that they didn't teach their reps not to say things like that not a mistake for what they did.