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Except this is Sony we're talking about, they regularly spend a ridiculous amount of R&D on a wide variety of products, often proprietary technology, that ultimately doesn't catch on in the mass market. Relative to their current strategy, making a camera around vital components that they already manufacture is hardly an investment, and seeing their product release history, they seem to have nothing to lose by doing so. It took a small group of people a couple of years to take the D800E sensor and stuff it into a compact camera, so it isn't unrealistic to see the kind of camera people here wish for made by 2016.What is stopping them? The costs and the fact they are not interested, or most likely not invested--why bother going into such a small market? Why would Sony what to buy the rights to the Contax system from Kyocera?
At least it wouldn't be the first time that they were making such a move.To be honest, I don't see Sony developing such a sensor just as a sensor. I suspect they have an idea what to do with it, in addition to selling it to other manufacturers...
First, Sony is losing tons of money. Its current line of cameras seems to imply they need to capture as much of the enthusiast markets as they can to stay profitable. I don't see them splashing out the cash as they did 10 or 20 years ago on R&D. And R&D is scaled to products--cameras don't have great margins and the market is shrinking. They probably sell more a7s than the entire MFD market sells cameras. A niche market is not going to support them. Even corporate "bigwigs" understand data. A scaled up a7 will be too expensive for their market.Except this is Sony we're talking about, they regularly spend a ridiculous amount of R&D on a wide variety of products, often proprietary technology, that ultimately doesn't catch on in the mass market. Relative to their current strategy, making a camera around vital components that they already manufacture is hardly an investment, and seeing their product release history, they seem to have nothing to lose by doing so. It took a small group of people a couple of years to take the D800E sensor and stuff it into a compact camera, so it isn't unrealistic to see the kind of camera people here wish for made by 2016.
Personally I wouldn't want Sony to use an existing template for the manufacture of a medium format camera, it should be made as a purely digital camera from the ground-up, and not cling to old concepts like optical viewfinders and mirrors, all of which had to deal with the problem of getting around film.
A scaled-up A7r, it's not that hard of a concept to grasp, even for corporate bigwigs.
If someone is coming up with a new camera concept, for instance a mirrorless one, in the larger than 35mm playing field I believe it's going to be Sony.Sure, no reason for Sony not to make a MF point and shoot. Creating a new camera is easy.
Just ask Phase.