Over the course of the past decade, Sony has transformed itself from being a minor player in the digital point-and-shoot camera market—to being an innovative leader in the design of photographic equipment for professionals and consumers. The infographic below tells the story of the unconventional path Sony has taken, starting with their first DSLR in 2006, the A100, and ending with their most recent cutting edge designs. You can learn all about the fine details of these breakthrough cameras in our Sony's Innovative Journey in Camera Design and Technology post.
What's your favorite design from Sony? We'd love to hear about it in the Comments section below!
13 Comments
New A-Mount please, mirrorless cameras have the body small for balance the lens
The problem with Sony cameras is lacking of supports from third parties such as monolight TTL and hard to find accessaries that fit Sony cameras.
Sony A7R II design is great but lenses like a 85 mm Sony G is missing . And why there is no support from companies like profoto for TTL Support for their Profoto B1 accu studio flash, a USB 3.0 connection like the new canon 5DS, global shutter for (X) sync like in the Sony RX1, so no need for HSS. One card slot still for the R7R II. I dont want to critize too much, I have a Sony A7 and A7R and A6000 with the A7RII I could have all 3 in one camera after 2 years but its not a PRO Model its great the feature but:
for real Pro use no sync X connection on the camera, okay could use an adapter,
2 card slots,
and leaf shutter like X sync like in an RX1 that would bring feature like flash outdoor to a new dimension.
HSS is not the same and only working with speedlights actually or Hypersync with Phottix ODin triggers.
I wait for a RX2 successor with a zoom for shooting portraits , head and shouldders that would be heaven not everybody want to shoot with an wideangle 35 mm lense people portraits, but the shutter is cool for fill in flash with an RX 1 !! but I need 36 or 42 megapixels !!
USB 3.0 where is it??
No one uses a x sync connection any more
No 35mm DSLR has leaf shutters
Tethering speed will be similar to the 5Ds as the Canon files are between 65 and 70mb per RAW file. The Sony will be 40-45mb per file.
Hyper sync will come. Which is no bearing on where a camera is 'Pro' of not, as it is completely reliant on third party companies.
Sure 2 slots would be nice. But then you would have a body the size of a DSLR. Not really a strong arguement.
I think that the Sony R1 from 2005 was a camera that nearly had it all. It did have a wonderful Zeiss 24-120 equivalent lens, an APC sensor, and to me, a wonderful articulating LCD. That LCD enabled me to use the camera in a waist-level position like I used to do with a TLR, and to easily compose low-level imagery. Because the lens was not interchangeable, the camera never was subjected to having a dirty sensor. It was and still is a joy to use. However, it lacked image-stabilization and video. My dream camera would be the R2 with a 24mp sensor, image stabilization, and an improved viewfinder and LCD.
My favorite camera is the A99, back then I was choosing in between Canon, Nikon and Sony and decided to go for A99 because of its superior liveview performance. It turned out to be the best decision I made. In addition to liveview (which still performs on the top level compared to latest DSLRs), image quality of the 24mp FF CMOS is also excellent, producing the most pleasent color I've ever seen from a digital camera. I've captured many great photos with the A99, and look forward to its successor with a A7s like sensor which can be used in extreme low light situation.
Too close to call between the RX-1 (for which a successor is needed) and the A7rii, which may be the most impressive camera update I've ever seen, and seems a huge technological leap in a number of areas.
Now Sony could perhaps create more, and more sensibly sized, lenses - I held the 35/1.4 yesterday and literally laughed at how ridiculous it is. It's a beast, bigger than its DSLR equivalents, thereby completely defeating the point of FF mirrorless, and completely unbalanced the A7ii.
per 2013 - Leica had a FF mirrorless camera, admittedly a niche market
RX1, definitly!
And yet, at no point has there been any interesting lens.
Yeah... Sony Zeiss 135 1.8 with AF was a really uninteresting piece of glass. 135 2.8 STF was also meaningless. Oh, let's also take Sony Zeiss 55 1.8.. which is the sharpest 50mm after Otus.. or.. 35 2.8 with only 120 grams and one of the sharpest 35mm's ever made. What else.. 2470 with OSS... FE 28-135 f/4 G OSS is also not a dream lens for videographers.
ILack of lenses is really a perception. I am in the process of moving from canon to Sony. I have 7 L Lenses. I found that the fe 55 1.8 was one of the finest lenses I have used. I also got the 135 1.8 with adaptor and was surprised how much superior these lenses were to what I have. Because Sony does not have as comprehensive a lens line up does not mean that the quality of the lenses are not in the same level as canon ones. I realized that some were superior. I sold my canon 50 1.2 L lens to fund the fe 55 1.8 and found out what I am missing. I still have 4 L lenses that I will keep (16-35 II, 24-70 II, 70-200 II and 85 1.2 II) and the Zeiss ze 135 APO. I think the Zeiss 135 and the Canon 85 II are the only ones that will stay with me in the long run. Consider me pleasantly surprised that there are significantly better Sony options available
DRO is NEVER applicable to RAW - its only put a metadata tag, recognized by Sony's native software.
Anyway, A100 was more Konica-Minolta than Sony - same bayonet, control layout, AF, metering, anti-shake (rebranded as SteadyShot).