I hate to be the one bringing you bad news

[roweraay]

In fact, Sony very smartly covers the entire 16-400mm range with only 3-4 zooms, so if you like to use zooms, there is absolutely no gaps in the line up.

Just to reiterate, it has been a short 4 years since they got this mount, and in that period, they newly released:

Zeiss 16-35 f/2.8 SSM (absolutely vital for a mount)
Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM (absolutely vital for a mount)
Sony 70-300G f/4.5-5.6 SSM (vital for the mount)
Sony 70-400G f/4-5.6 SSM (fills a vital hole in the mount)
Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 (absolutely vital for a mount)
Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 (an absolute gem and has no parallel in any other mount)
Zeiss 24mm f/2 SSM (great addition to the mount)
Zeiss 16-80 f/3.5-4.5 (excellent APS-C all-purpose lens)
Sony 16-105 (great APS-C lens)
....and a bunch of other APS-C lenses that I am not listing here.

Flashes like the F58AM, F42AM, F20AM and so on....

......

Several bodies, including Full-frame bodies with built-in body-based stabilizaition.

The gaps are being filled but the zooms are absolutely mandatory for a mount, and not an option at all. The primes are being added into the holes, as we speak, if we discount the already available primes like the 16mm fisheye, the 35mm f/1.4G, the 50mm f/1.4G, the 50mm f/2.8 Macro, the 100mm f/2.8 Macro, the 135mm STF, the 300mm f/2.8G SSM etc., in addition to zooms like the 70-200 f/2.8 G SSM (I hope this zoom gets replaced with a Zeiss 70-200 f/2.8 SSM).

There is also no high quality 1:1 macro in the line up. The Sony 100 while not bad is not a top performer.

I have no problems with the Sony 50mm f/2.8 Macro of mine, which I primarily use as a walk-around "normal" on my A900. Great Full-frame 1:1 Macro lens. The 100mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro is roughly comparable to all other such macros in the market....with probably the latest Canon 100mm f/2.8 having an edge since it is newer. Sony currently lacks a 200mm 1:1 Macro and there was a rumor about a 200mm f/3.5 Zeiss Macro lens but that was a while back (don't know if that will happen).

I personally would like to have the following FF lenses: 35mm f/2 SSM (maybe keep the existing 35mm f/1.4G), 50mm f/1.4 SSM (replacement for the existing 50mm f/1.4), an ultra-wide prime (say a 14mm or 16mm or even an 18mm) and my requirements should be fully met, since I already have the other lenses like the 24-70ZA, 85ZA and 135ZA etc.

Even though a high-quality wide, ultra-wide etc are great lenses, I personally find that in some cases, I am able to shoot an entire event with a zoom like the Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 coupled with the Zeiss 85mm and the Zeiss 135mm on the A900. The 24-70 f/2.8 in particular, covers a LOT of ground, all the way from a true wide angle of 24mm that borders ultra-wide, and onto wide-normal (35mm) where all the typical wide-angle distortions are curbed for the most part and then onto "normal" (around 50mm) and then onto low-tele (70mm)....while providing constant f/2.8 through that range. But if you intend to use the 24-70 f/2.8 to shoot just landscapes or cityscapes etc., then I agree that a couple of, small, high quality primes will be the better bet here....horses for courses as they say.

 

[roweraay]

Yep, you are right, Sony never complained in a public statement, so my wording is not very accurate. However, as you say, a lot is being said on the forums, and I personally have first hand information from Sony sales people both in Thailand and the Middle East saying that Sony management is very disappointed with the sales numbers of the A900, and even more so with the A850, that they thought would be a killer.

Based on my conversations with a couple of premier camera retailers here in the US, the A850 in particular has been a steady seller for them and its sales have never let up ever since it was released. Seems like the market believes it is right priced (or they are getting a product at a lower-than-normal price).

And based on conversations with the above retailers, the more the folks realize that a Nikon D700X (D700 like Body with a D3X sensor) is not coming, the ones who have been adamantly sitting on the fence for the past several months are also picking up A850s.....and are starting to enjoy the goodies like stabilized 50mm, 85mm, 135mm etc primes. This includes both Nikon shooters and also other shooters from Pentax and Olympus, who too were waiting for a potential D700X and debated between the Canon 5DII and the A850 and finally went with the A850. You simply don't realize what kind of goodies Sony has actually given you, assuming you are willing to fully utilize it. There is a tendency to always believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence...

 

[fotografz]

I think the coming Fullframe Sonys will be mirrorless and based on the NEX design. But larger due to EVF and weathersealing, battery-capacity and so on. Todays Zeiss primes and Zooms can be used via an adapter with focusmotor. New lenses will be smaller, like older Pentax and Leicas. At least I hope so, I sold my a900 with all my lenses. (using NEX5 and zoom now)

Hope not.

-Marc

 

[fotografz]

I think there are more advantages to such system than size alone. Think full time LV, no AF front/back focusing, AF points anywhere on the screen, video, face recognition, smile detection...

Maybe you'll be able to play video games on it also

No thanks!

If they do that, I will move off Sony. Where to, I don't know.

-Marc

 

[chals]

I doubt here will be a 35mm NEX anytime soon. Sony themselves say that it would require mount changes to do such a thing, and the problems with angled light at the edges of the sensor forces me to think that, if a 35mm NEX did happen, the lenses will be quite a bit larger than M lenses. It would also be odd, because the current NEX lenses' image circle doesn't cover a 35mm sensor, so they'd have to release all new lenses from scratch.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I don't think it'll be soon, and I also don't think the lenses would be as small as one would hope. At the end of the day, we have an all new mount with lenses designed for its image circle, so the NEX is fullframe...it's just that fullframe means a 23.5x15.5 sensor in this case, and I think that is a suitable trade off in regards to system size.

I

I hope the 35mm NEX is 3 or 4 years away equipped with a new mount larger than the a-mount of today. The body is hopefully no more than a 1cm thicker than the NEX-5 . It will still be 1/3 of Sony a900.

New lenses is a must, some of them maybe heavy zooms, other small primes. And definitly with the EVF on the left side of the camera, no more rubbing the nose against the LCD, it will be like a Leica or Rollei 35 as far as noseonomics are conserned.

 

[douglasf13]

I

I hope the 35mm NEX is 3 or 4 years away equipped with a new mount larger than the a-mount of today. The body is hopefully no more than a 1cm thicker than the NEX-5 . It will still be 1/3 of Sony a900.

New lenses is a must, some of them maybe heavy zooms, other small primes. And definitly with the EVF on the left side of the camera, no more rubbing the nose against the LCD, it will be like a Leica or Rollei 35 as far as noseonomics are conserned.

I guess that is a possibility, although, if the lens mount is bigger than A-mount, I'm not sure that the lenses would be much smaller in overall volume. Slightly shorter and fatter, maybe? Sony will still probably make the wides retrofocus to deal with the sensor edges, so some of the length saved by removing the mirrorbox in the camera body may end up in the lens itself. I guess we'll see.

 

[chals]

I guess that is a possibility, although, if the lens mount is bigger than A-mount, I'm not sure that the lenses would be much smaller in overall volume. Slightly shorter and fatter, maybe? Sony will still probably make the wides retrofocus to deal with the sensor edges, so some of the length saved by removing the mirrorbox in the camera body may end up in the lens itself. I guess we'll see.

The future will be visible when a compact Zeiss 85mm 1.8 or 2.5 appear on the NEX5 (with a compact EVF)

 

[douglasf13]

Agreed, the teles will be quite compact. It's the wides that I'm concerned about.

 

[chals]

Agreed, the teles will be quite compact. It's the wides that I'm concerned about.

I forgot the wides.

 

[engel001]

Despite the rumors, which I personally find both vicious and troubling, for most of us the investment into the Sony full-frame Alpha system isn't a short-lived event. With current mid- and top-end bodies, product cycles have been extended to around 3 years and Sony full-frame photographers will remain quite happy for years to come. In fact, the new Sony SAM 85mm f2.8 appears to be the first of a compact line of excellent optics. [note: the link to Amateur Photographer requires that you query for "Sony 85mm" to find the July 27 preview of this and the Zeiss 24mm lens] and it weighs only 175 grams. I hope it is followed by a compact 35mm f2.0 or 2.8 as a travel set, perhaps joined by a classic 135mm f2.8. I still have an ancient Nikon D3 and my 5DII is middle-aged but doing quite well. That's my rational side. My other persona checks the rumor-blogs almost daily for hints of the next "upgrade" in the Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Pentax systems. I only recently upgraded my P25 (to a P65+) which was still my best quality imager, although it was five years old. There is plenty of time for Sony to keep the full-frame Alpha line alive for years to come and I am not going to panic and sell.

 

[Andrea Buso]

Peter - D100,D2x,D3,D700 a plethora of lenses (14-24,24-70,70-200 and a number of primes), and I was never, once, satisfied with the colour for landscapes, especially in evening light.. The A900 has been a wonderful relief, the colour is Always right, the focus is slow . . . but really accurate . . the Zeiss lenses are so much nicer than the Nikon equivalents, and it's small compared to the only real Nikon alternative (D3x). Sure, the Nikons are better at low light - but then I have the gorgeous 135 f1.8.

There are few things certain in this world, but the fact that I won't EVER return to Nikon is one of them!

+ 1 :angel:

 

[jonoslack]

+ 1 :angel:

Andrea
How the devil are you? Flourishing I hope?
Long time no speak, and it's lovely to see you in this (mostly) civilised folks.

WELCOME

all the best

 

[Andrea Buso]

Andrea
How the devil are you? Flourishing I hope?
Long time no speak, and it's lovely to see you in this (mostly) civilised folks.

WELCOME

all the best

Hello, I'm doing pretty well thank you!

After reading about the "end of the world" on this thread, I went to look at your galleries and got a breath of fresh air looking at images of very good taste.

 

[Terry]

Well the end of the world might have been exaggerated and premature

Here is the headline:
Sony increases production capacity for image sensors including back-illuminated and large sized CMOS image sensors

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony...luminated-and-large-sized-cmos-image-sensors/

 

[sebboh]

Well the end of the world might have been exaggerated and premature

Here is the headline:
Sony increases production capacity for image sensors including back-illuminated and large sized CMOS image sensors

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony...luminated-and-large-sized-cmos-image-sensors/

unfortunately, i don't see anything in there that makes it sounded like FF sensors will be made there. from the description it sounds like everything from smart phone to aps-c sensors, but nothing indicating FF (which, incidently is usually made in older fabs i believe).

in any event i doubt we will know for sure for another year. if sony really has recently decided to stop producing FF sensors they would probably not cancel projects that were significantly advanced (money already spent ought, to get something out of it). thus, we will still probably get one new sensor or at least one new body even if FF is now canceled. there is also the possibility that sony has simply decided to contract out their production of FF sensors not cancel their FF line (or that all this is just a nasty hoax).

 

[roweraay]

.....we will still probably get one new sensor or at least one new body even if FF is now canceled. there is also the possibility that sony has simply decided to contract out their production of FF sensors not cancel their FF line (or that all this is just a nasty hoax).

If there has been a cancellation, we will not see a single product sporting a FF sensor in the future. If we see a product with a Sony FF sensor in the future, you can bet your bottom dollar that this "rumor" was bull-crap, even though it was cunningly suggested within the "rumor", that the products already "in the pipeline" might still come through, thus covering his backside for the near-term.

 

[jonoslack]

If there has been a cancellation, we will not see a single product sporting a FF sensor in the future. If we see a product with a Sony FF sensor in the future, you can bet your bottom dollar that this "rumor" was bull-crap, even though it was cunningly suggested within the "rumor", that the products already "in the pipeline" might still come through, thus covering his backside for the near-term.

I think you're right . . . anyway, I thought we'd all decided that this was viral marketing by someone associated with Nikon (I don't mean Thom Hogan, who is, I'm sure, as honest as the day is long).

 

[sebboh]

If there has been a cancellation, we will not see a single product sporting a FF sensor in the future. If we see a product with a Sony FF sensor in the future, you can bet your bottom dollar that this "rumor" was bull-crap, even though it was cunningly suggested within the "rumor", that the products already "in the pipeline" might still come through, thus covering his backside for the near-term.

not sure why you are so sure about that?

 

[Steen]

Of course if Sony or Nikon or Canon had to go online and tell folks a specific rumour, regardless of how damaging it is, is false, then you would expect this every time, and i am pretty sure they do not care what we think as far as false rumours or any for that matter is concerned.

My kudos to Pentax' openness in sort of a similar rumor situation.
Here is Mike Johnston's interview with Ned Bunnell, President of Pentax Imaging USA.
At the beginning of the interview Ned Bunnell comments on a nasty discontinuation rumor about the Limited lenses.
A very wise move to openly comment on such stuff in order to avoid customer decisions based on doubt and fear.
I admire Ned Bunnell, he seems very straightforward. Like a true leader should be in my opinion.

 

[Steen]

Did anyone get any comments from Sony at photokina in September about the future for the so-called Full Frame format (24x36mm) in the Alpha system ?

Or have any of you seen any answers to that question - or just hints - in interviews with Sony ?