I suspect my perceptions of "small but growing Oly users" is somewhat different from yours. I was pretty heavily involved in the Olympus pro photographers groups for a long while. There seem to be quite a number of pros who have been using Olympus equipment since the E-10/E-20, and have used E-system for a wide variety of things all the way through since 2003.
Few have done as much gear turnover as I see as the average on this forum. They bought their E-x, four or five lenses, a flash kit, and just keep using them.
Most of the questions about flash I saw weren't from any of them, they were briefed by Olympus if they were a member of professional services. Most of the questions I saw were from hobbyists and amateurs who had FT SLR kits and existing flash kit. They wanted to be sure their FL36, FL50, etc, were compatible.
It would be nice to see more embedded RF triggers in the flash system from all the makers. Canon's jumped there first, but others will follow.
Sony's always been retarded with regard to flash. I remember from the F707 and onwards. Then the acceptance/adoption of the strange Minolta flash coupling. Now a new and seemingly yet again incompatible flash system. They just haven't gotten it yet.
Personally, I don't use much in way of flash automation. I've not seen the point with a digital camera. It was important when I was shooting film as I couldn't know how the results would look, but it's so easy to pop a test with digital and see whether you're exposure is right ... why bother with all the complexity? I use a set of simple RF triggers and it works great.
Regards the EVF mode, well, here I think Panasonic and Olympus have done it right since 2008. The defaults have always been to keep the viewfinder bright and serviceable for focusing and framing, with an option to provide a WYSIWYG view for pre-visualization. To me, if you're going to use exposure automation and such, keeping the viewfinder bright for framing and focusing is the priority. Click on the histogram to get a notion of the exposure, or check a test pop in review if you're using flash.
But that's just my way of working, which reflects my thoughts. I'm sure there are other ways of working and reasons that support them.
My question, btw, was really "Why would Sony users not be interested in flash compatibility and functionality?" which I think you and Vivek didn't quite get.
G
Godfrey, my POV regarding "small but growing" interest in Oly was industry specific: the large wedding and event group which is overwhelmingly dominated by Canon and Nikon. Your POV is brand specific, thus would cross over a number of pro categories. The interest in the emerging smaller systems solutions amongst wedding/event shooters started increasing as the IQ started closing in on that of the bigger, heavier, more exhausting 35mm DSLRs. Gear turn over in that industry is pretty aggressive compared to other Pro categories which, in my experience, tend to hold on much longer, whether 35mm or even Medium Format digital.
As I just re-descovered :banghead:, the A99 and other Sony EVF cameras can be set for normal max aperture bright viewing, with the option to set it for WYSIWYG. Same as Oly.
Now, as to your question as to why Oly amateurs seem more interested in aux lighting than Sony users ... I did mention that IMO, Sony has had more of a consumer mentality regarding photography as opposed to catering to the advanced amateur or pro ... a skew that longer lived brands tended to collect over time. I think that may now be changing for Sony.
Sony inherited the proprietary flash system from the 'Demented Mind of Minolta" :loco:, and probably continued it to retain the sizable group of legacy Minolta owners while they forged ahead into new territory. They put out a zillion consumer oriented DSLRs under the Alpha name to obviously make money. With that base established, it seems they are now moving up into a more advanced target audience.
I'm not sure what you mean regarding the
"seemingly incompatible" new flash system from Sony. I have an A99 with its' standard hot-shoe, that takes any standard radio transmitter, and the new flash has all the features found on Canon or Nikon speed-lights and then some. The only missing element is a master controller like the Canon STE-2/ST-E3-RT or Nikon SU-800 Commander transmitters ... for which I have little interest anyway. While I may sometimes use an off-camera remote triggered speed-light, off-camera TTL speed-lights have never been my thing. Actually, I think speed-lights are just to wimpy, and offer less modifier solutions.
Another issue with Sony flash isn't specifically of their making ... third party radio systems are slow to offer products for Sony applications. Partly due to the odd older flash mount, and partly because the market is smaller. Canon and Nikon get all the attention for obvious reasons. I finally was able to get a TTL pass through type transmitter for my A900 early last year, but am now waiting for that to be offered for the A99, etc..
My most used method of using lighting is strobe as key, with on-camera TTL for fill ... mostly because I am often shooting in highly mobile situations. An assistant with the key modified strobe light on a boom-arm painter's pole, and the TTL speed-light controlled by me. Super simple.
- Marc