gwilliams6

Here you are billnikon trying to knock anything Sony, well Jared Polin a loyal Nikon guy since age 15 has a video up were he tells why the A7RIV and A9 are his cameras of choice now over any Nikons. Tony Northrup says the A7RIV is the best camera in the world now. I was a Nikon and Canon guy for 40 years and moved to Sony. I have had several Sony models and now have both the A9 and the A7RIV. The Sonys have the best tracking and focusing of any brand now. ALL the top reviewers have finally admitted that. You can remain unconvinced that any other camera can top your Nikons, but you are just dreaming right now. Maybe the next generation Z models will be btter and closer to Sony in still shooting, but NO Nikon DSLR can match the best performance of the A9 and A7RIV. Enough about you mrNikon.

As far as lenses the GM lens are great, but don't overlook excellent other Sony lens like the 24-105mm f4. I also own the 24mmGM, 85mmGM ,70-200mm f2.8GM , and the 135mmGM, all amazing lenses . But I also have Sigma Art Lenses and Tamron lenses in E-mount. Both Sigma and Tamron are making excellent E-mount lenses for less money that some of the Sony offerings. Depending on your photo needs, you should look into those options. Cheers.

Bill_de Loc: US

Right here it sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

I am very happy for the OP. He is now shooting Sony, and I am still shooting Nikon.

I have no interest in seeing his camera, but hope to see some pictures from it.

As long as he is happy nothing much more matters.

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gwilliams6

FYI, I am black. This post was not about you still shooting Nikon. No one cares if you still shoot Nikon, go right ahead and be happy with your Nikon. The OP was asking about Sony lens choices, but you chose to try and knock his camera choice because you can't help yourself when anyone has chosen Sony over Nikon. I am sure the next Nikon releases, D6 and Z8 will be better than the current D5 and Z7, they will have to be, to be competitive with the new fullframe releases from Panasonic, Sony and yes even what Canon has announced with its 1DX MkIII and next EOS R model.

Right now the OP is in great shape with that amazing A7RIV and its E-mount. There are more lenses now being made for E-mount from Sony and numerous third-party lens makers that now the E-mount is the most widely used and produced lens mount n the world, for APS-C and fullframe still/video cameras, high-end dedicated video cameras, and major motion picture Venice camera systems used by major filmmakers like James Cameron for his Avatar movies (three new Avatar movies coming). Cheers

BobU Loc: Sarasota Florida

It probably could have been predicted that this would evolve (devolve) into a brand name comparison thread. It is always good to hear from folks who have owned more than one brand and now favor A over B for whatever reason. As with many things, when you switch brands you immediately notice things that you did not have with your original brand, but it takes longer to discover some subtle things you gave up in the switch.

Canon and Nikon have a rich history of perfecting moving mirror cameras, from film to digital eras. They are close to their customers and try to deliver want they feel the photographer needs. (as does Sony etc) The rich history with Canon and Nikon also make them tend to hold on to the traditional as they have so much intellectual property invested in perfecting and fine tuning moving mirror cameras. They are reluctant to throw out all that hard earned technical and engineering knowledge. A new entry can be bold with new ideas and stake out a good position in new technology.

It will be fascinating going forward to see how Canon and Nikon leverages their knowledge of the user to develop mirrorless cameras while continuing to have mirrored units as the anchor in their product lines (for now). Sometimes, anchors slow your down though.

For now, it seems that the sony lenses excel in working quickly and seamlessly with their bodies, where the third party lenses may be wonderful optically, but a bit less fast in focusing speed and reliability. That is what makes a great horse race interesting to watch. Also, keep an eye on the software innovation in the cell phone cameras..

For the record, I am a long time Canon user, with some Nikon as well. Now moved to A7r4 from the A7r3. They each have their own personalities. The GM glass is very good, and I hope it has reliability and long life as well. Time will tell on that.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

The D850 came out with a bang, as did Sony's a9 pro camera. I own Nikon, and don't Brand name bash. Sony will never go back to the DSLR camera. Can DSLRs and mirrorless coexist. For now, yes. But, for how many years will DSLRs be produced?

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

I shoot the Sony a9 and the Nikon D5. Yes the Sony a9 is nice, the Sony is slow to start up, the Nikon is instantaneously on and focusing. This can cost you when a bird or animal suddenly appears.
You do not need to fine tune a lens with the mirrorless a9, but, I have never had to fine turn any of my Nikon lenses and I enlarge to 36X48 without issue with the Nikon and a9.
The a9 is silent with the electronic shutter, nice when your close and wildlife will react to my D5. Sony has no black out even at 20 FPS, which is a real value. My D5 tops out at 12 FPS.
However, after extensive testing on birds in flight I find my D5 with GROUP AUTO FOCUS is better than any focusing system on the a9. In fact, the a9 has let me down several times even on single spot focus, it will hunt sometimes, even with the new 200-600, this can be very frustrating for a once in a life time wildlife event.
So, after much testing,(and I will continue to test both systems) my hope is, for now anyway, that DSLR's will not go anywhere anytime soon.
Current mirrorless camera's are not the end all, yet.