Thanks a lot Sony >:(

[Rawfa]

Thanks to Sony´s indecisiveness regarding the a-mount and e-mount systems, companies that used to make lenses for Sony are now just waiting to see where Sony will land! I hate this! First Sigma said they have no idea when will they release the 24-105mm f4 for a-mount and now they won´t even make the new 24mm f1.4 for Sony!!! Thanks a lot, Sony! Sony has been a revolutionary company in the innovation of photography equipment and that is why I´ve been with them for many years, but right now I´m seriously starting to think about switching to another brand. Show some respect for your loyal customers, Sony. Enough is enough!

Sigma announced a nice 24mm f/1.4 but it doesn’t come for A-mount yet | sonyalpharumors

 

[pegelli]

Sony has been pretty clear both A- and E-mount will continue.

Also there is absolutely no uncertainty on Pentax K-mount (which will also not be catered for by Sigma)

So I think it's "Thanks a lot Sigma >: ("

 

[Rawfa]

What Sony says and what Sony does is very different. When was the last time Sony released a new lens for a-mount that wasn´t an upgrade on an existing lens? The A99 is now FOUR years old! On the other hand Sony has release a tsunami of e-mount cameras and it´s about to release a bunch of e-mount glass at CP+. It´s clear that Sigma is not about to spend a lot of money releasing lenses for what looks like a dying system.

This is a real shame because I LOVE working with an EVF, IBIS, the AF on video and a bunch of other good things Sony has...

 

[Vivek]

From Sigma:

Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens, the ninth Global Vision lens to join the company’s iconic Art line-up.

Not all are FF, IIRC.

Also do not forget that Sigma is renowned for its mediocre zooms. The number of crappy superzooms they have churned out over the years is just staggering. You need to ask yourself if you are dependent on Sigma to use a Sony camera and decide accordingly.

 

[Rawfa]

Vivek, Sigma has released a lot of bad glass, but with their Art series they´ve proved they can release serious quality glass. Their 18-35mm 1.8 is amazing too. This 24mm f1.4 is part of their Art series, so I´m assuming they will try to keep awesome quality they´ve been presenting here. This is a particular lens I´m interested in because Sony it self has never released anything like it.

 

[Vivek]

Rafa, The f/1.8 zoom is an APS-C lens. I agree with Pegelli that you should be demanding that Sigma release a Sony A version of this (24/1.4) lens instead of blaming it on Sony.

Others, as you note, are still offering OVF based dSLRs but have better systems-lenses, flashes and other accessories.

 

[mbroomfield]

Are you using Sony A or E .. I can't recall. I think you have an A7s though right?

If it's the E mount you can still use the Canon version with an adapter (or the Nikon if it's a G lens) ... pretty much MF only given the sluggish AF of the Canon adapters (no AF for the Nikon) but do you use AF for video?

I plan to do this if the reviews confirm it's performance WO to use for night photography.

 

[iiiNelson]

Sigma does allow you to do a mount swap on most of their lenses. I think the fee was something like $300 or so but there's that possibility.

I agree though with others that this is a Sigma issue versus Sony as they've said in so many words that they weren't going to support e-mount because the mount is too small only to recant that statement a few months later with a suggestion that it's possible to make FF remount lenses.

I don't think they want to support any Sony but I think that has to do more with Canon/Nikon being the safer choices. Outside the 35 Art all of their other newer A mount lenses have shipped 3 months or more after the Canon and Nikon versions. Many of their lenses aren't even offered like their 120-300 or the Sports series lenses. It would be nice to at least be able to special order the whole lineup in whatever mount you desire. I'm sure there's a market for the 120-300 on every mount.

 

[pegelli]

What Sony says and what Sony does is very different.

Rafael, I share you frustration but there's nothing that Sony can do to change Sigma's strategy, it's what Sigma does that counts. They could also have brought this out in E-mount, why not? That's a very lively mount with no uncertain future (by you standard of recent lens launches). The fact that they're also not bringing it out in Pentax K-mount (or E-mount) tells me they're just going for Canikon and other brands don't interest them. I don't think there is anything Sony could have done to make Sigma bring this out in A- or E-mount.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

That's Sigmas call but Sony has not instilled confidence either in the A mount with any real announcements either. My bet they will wait to see what Sony announced. Canon and Nikon made there's now it's Sonys turn. Hell I'm waiting on a 50mpx in Sony

My lens kit is so diverse I can switch in a heart beat if I wanted. I have A, FE and Canon mounts.

 

[Godfrey]

Eh?

The Sony A7 does me well, but I don't use either Sony or Sigma lenses on it. I bought the body for a specific purpose and it does that job even better than I imagined, so I'm pleased. That's enough for me.

For system offerings that are more complete and more sophisticated, I look elsewhere.

Sigma's quality*control has always been their Achilles heel. I know the new Art line lenses are reputed to be very high quality, and I might buy one for my Micro-FourThirds kit (30mm f/2.8 @ $199 is appealing). But I do so with a certain ambivalence given my past dissatisfaction with Sigma stuff.

G

 

[Jack]

I own a few Sigma ART lenses and they are spectacular performers, and I will no doubt add the new 24 to my Nikon stable when it arrives to market.

Speaking for myself, I bought into Sony A7r EF mount for its ability to mount almost anything to a great sensor; a sensor that draws very similarly to that my main Nikon system. Honestly, I have yet to see a single Sony dedicated FF E mount lens that excites me in any way. The 16-35 is a very good wide zoom, the 55/1.8 is a good all-around prime, but they're not exceptional and for the most part, the rest of the Sony AF options are pretty blah -- at least IMHO. The sad truth is that if you want top optical performance with Sony, you need to goto 3rd party options, and most of those will be manual focus (Zeiss). An unfortunate conundrum for those who expect great AF usability from an otherwise outstanding platform...

Sony needs to get its act together for solid, fast AF lenses on the little body. But I suspect their issue is dealing with size -- none of the newest outstanding f1.4 primes are small, and many are getting larger; an inverse trait to the Sony A platforms desired maxim.

 

[Rawfa]

It´s in a rumor site, but it´s pretty close to reality: What Sony manager “X” says about A and E-mount future… | sonyalpharumors

Check out item 4 - "A-mount sales are just enough to cover initial development costs. While the money is coming from E-mount."

 

[pegelli]

Check out item 6 as well: There will be new and “updated” A-mount lenses that will mainly focus on improving the lens usefulness in video. What better chance then Sigma bringing out a great lens for stills in A-mount

 

[Vivek]

Jack, Presumably you are talking about the E (FE) and not the A?

 

[Jack]

Vivek -- Yes, have edited original. I should have clarified I meant A7r when I wrote "Sony A" -- yet another unfortunate Sony naming convention...

 

[Vivek]

Everything is "Alpha" in Sony land.:ROTFL:

[only the customers are beta (testers)]

 

[Eoin]

Manual focus Alt lenses are the direction I'm heading with the A7.
There seems to be some value to be had out there relatively speaking when compared to their proprietary lenses. These f:/4.0 zooms are not floating my boat either in terms of speed or size.
I actually think it's great that I have a "SMALL" FF camera with a decent mega pixel count and reasonable high ISO performance that with an adaptor I can mount almost any lens I want on it.
I'm sure the system will evolve over time, but in the mean time I have options to use some of the old gems from yesteryear.
Sure, I have 2 system primes for those times I want an AF lens, but for me the beauty of this camera is it's openness and perhaps the fact that it's road map is open ended.

 

[mjm6]

Let me correct that for you...

...The sad truth is that if you want top optical performance with Sony, you need to goto 3rd party options, and most of those will be manual focus (LEICA). An unfortunate conundrum for those who expect great AF usability from an otherwise outstanding platform...

I'm just making the point that this is clearly opinion, not fact. I find most of the Zeiss lenses uninteresting and not worth the effort. Not so for Leica R lenses, however. Some of the older M lenses as well, but they don't perform as well on the Sony cameras as I'd like. The newer M lenses are sharper typically, but at the expense of rather poor bokeh in my opinion.

Until this past month, I didn't own a Sony FE mount lens. All were adapted. The purchase of the 16-35 has shown how nice a native mount lens is on the a7 cameras.


---Michael

 

[Shashin]

Perhaps you should slam Sigma for not being bold? Sony is not in business to make business decisions for a 3rd party lens maker.