I have a bit different perspective on "Why Did I Buy?"
In my "Conflicted" thread are all my rambling musings about the new A7/A7R ... but the truth be told, it was a done deal the minute they announced the camera. Not only did I pre-order an A7R, I pre-paid for it before even touching it (which I NEVER do).
At the very least I got it just to send a message to all the other camera makers to ...
wake the fukg up!
The price/performance ratio makes that possible ... it is a
relatively low risk deal.
I think
some "Pro" reviewers have a deep-seated, back of the mind rumbling terror of what this little camera may represent to the very thing that keeps them going: micro-measuring the minute differences between incestuous manufacturer's offerings. How can they be forthright, when it will unseat hard earned relationships with competitors to this upstart that dares deliver such a price/performance ratio? Fault finding is an easy task with just about anything made by man ... heighten the "Can't Do" minimize the "Can Do" ... diminish and protect. Others may think otherwise, but to me it is painfully obvious. Embarrassing actually.
If the D800 was an after-shock to the MFD industry, this is an actual Earthquake to the 35mm world. Let's face it, Canon/Nikon
could have done it, and Leica
should have ... but they didn't. Thus empires decay and new ones arise (unless they
wake the fukg up!).
Let me be clear ... despite my enthusiasm, I'm no Sony "Fanboy." If anything, I'm a Leica Fanboy, or at least I was. To me, the logic of buying is dictated by art and practical need ... I'm a fan of anything that advances those causes.
So, I tend to look at any new equipment idea and creatively think ... what can I do with this? ... not ... "what can't I do with this?"
I do not have Unicorn expectations and Cotton Candy dreams that ANY camera will ever fulfill all of my creative musings and related technical requirements in the service of my eclectic photographic explorations. If I CAN think of enough things to do with a piece of gear that may expand the creative possibilities, and I have the money, I add it.
There are a LOT of things I CAN DO with this camera, and the cost is reasonable compared to almost anything else with similar performance. Like most of us, once I get something new, I almost always discover other things it CAN DO I didn't initially think of ... which enhances the Price/Performance Ratio even more.
I can almost see the quivering lower lip of those with dashed expectations. "My beloved M50mm has mushy corners,
, Oh, what will I ever do". BooHoo, I can't use my R280mm on it at 1/30th ... I'm so outraged." It is almost comical.
It is the collective of these disappointments that gets the "Can't Do" ball rolling ... meanwhile, people are posting hundreds of images that defy it all.
To be sure this is just the start ...
Me? I'm buying some smaller camera bags :ROTFL:
- Marc