Article: The 5 Reasons Why I Switched Back to Canon From Sony

Good article. I have a similar experience, though never "left" Canon. (Been shooting small format with them since FD lenses). Shooting performance mainly with a 6D I got a Sony a6500 to be small and quiet (absolutely quiet) for certain music performances, not so much for math rock mosh pits. My primary camera is a Mark IV Canon and the Sony is my version of a leica M.
I have shot along side a number of Sony shooters (usually A7) and it seems when we are blessed shooting (sarcasm) with LED stage luminaires they always comment about knowing they are going to have trouble getting the color right. As for full frame mirrorless, don't see it, because the camera with lens is at least as large as the DSLR.
And in low light, the 6D which is not the fastest or greatest at AF runs rings around the Sony half Frame, a6500. No reason to comment on comparing the 5D. The Sony is very accurate, (eye AF yay) but if you are shooting dance, it's like "where'd they go???"
 
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Don Haines

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scottkinfw said:
YuengLinger said:
Who is buying the Sony? Seasoned photographers who have been limited by Canon/Nikon? Newer enthusiasts who believe they will be creating more magic with Sony?

If a lot of sales are due to marketing, what is Sony doing right and where are they reaching all these new customers?

I am curious as to what these limitations that are imposed by "Canon/Nikon" that induce seasoned photographers to switch? What am I missing?

Scott

Statistically, it's all noise. You have people switching from one manufacturer to another, but according to what I read somewhere, the vast bulk of people stay with whatever system they started with.

Us forum users are not an accurate reflection on reality. We obsess over things that the average user does not know about or care about, and even among us, it is only a few individuals who "up and jump ship". Forum users with multiple systems are more common, and the vast bulk are quiet. There are 14,343 forum users, and how many have said that they are switching?????
 
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Talys said:
9VIII said:
It’s ridiculous that Canon is the only one with touch enabled menus.

Tell me about it. Sony has a touch screen in name only.

During photo review, there's touch screen that lags like an old dial-up modem. You tap... wait.... wait... oh look, now the image is magnified. You can never tap giant ok/cancel buttons that are big enough to be finger friendly. And you can tap the screen to change the focus point... but not to actually take a picture.

I have no idea what Nikon screens are like now; haven't had a chance to play with a new one.

Canon Rumors said:
As I sit here in Tanzania, I have been surprised by the number of Sony A7 series cameras I have seen on safari. However, the numbers still pale in comparison to the amount of Canon and Nikon gear I’m seeing for this type of photography.

I see more Sony cameras out there too, at popular wildlife spots. A lot of them are crop cameras with kit lenses, though, not pro bodies.

Anecdotally, I see more new Sony bodies than new Nikon bodies, with Canon dwarfing both, especially when it comes to people with telephoto lenses exceeding 100-400 or 200-500.

The D850 touch menu is perfect to me, No issues. Everything works as expected. I was out yesterday photographing a barn owl, and the majority of people had Nikon. When I left, there was about 10 people. 1 Canon, 1 a7rIII ( who I actually thought may of been you) and the rest Nikon. When I go today, that number may be completely different.
 
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The Canon vs. Sony vs. Nikon posts are always amusing. Maybe any OP should add a disclaimer like:
"Any camera system has advantages that may be more or less relevant for my shooting style. Competition improves technology."

Personally, I am less enthusiastic about Sony because they abandoned twice markets where I bought into. Also, their support was a struggle (to be nice about it). IMO the behavior of a consumer company that led them nearly to bankrupcy.
Still, its good if they pick up some market shares as it pushes others to move. However, they are not even beating Canon in the mirrorless segment. This is unfortunate because Canon has only recently committed seriously to mirrorless.

Edit (thx Neuro):
Sony is not beating Canon in the MILC market in Japan. Globally, Sony is the MILC market leader and is substantially ahead of both Canon and Olympus in that segment.
 
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mppix said:
However, they are not even beating Canon in the mirrorless segment. This is unfortunate because Canon has only recently committed seriously to mirrorless.

Sony is not beating Canon in the MILC market in Japan. Globally, Sony is the MILC market leader and is substantially ahead of both Canon and Olympus in that segment.
 
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Talys

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Hflm said:
Talys said:
Color is a very good reason; also, playing with one these last few days, I find that it's harder to adjust the colors to where I want them to be in Lightroom, despite "better dynamic range". The cited "Feel in the Hand" is a big one for me, too. The Sony is weirdly awkward.
Subjective, I find the A9 with grip to be really ergonomic (We use A9/A7riii and 2 5divs for weddings).

I agree that it's ergonomically much better with the $300 grip. The grip is also quite heavy, and once on, there is zero weight savings versus DSLR.

I will point out that adding a grip to an a7r3 adds portrait utility, which is not present in any body other than 1D without adding a grip. And, the grip actually feels quite good in portrait orientation. However, it is an ugly grip and monstrously expensive for adding zero features.

My fingers still bump against the lens though, and my preference is a slightly deeper grip - a la 80D.

Talys said:
Metering is another. All of the metering modes are worse than the Canon ones, so much so that I ended up adjusting metering using the EV +/- dial before every shot.
I don't have problems with metering. Why do you?

Perhaps it is the subject and environment. I have discussed it extensively in the thread about 100-400L2 vs gmaster.

The most significant problems are with birds against blue sky. I have tried focus linked spot metering, and even with a perfectly focused bird, exposure is often 1ev under or more.

Talys said:
A half-baked Flash system, lack of AF Illuminator rounds it off, and poor low-light AF round it off. I mean, they have a 2.4GHz wireless flash system.... but the $700 flash (the only full size one) doesn't work with it. What's up with that?
What do you mean with AF illuminator? AF assist light? I have thet with Godox x1t-s if required. Or do you mean the VF AF point illumination, which is similarly to my 5divs? Low light AF is excellent. In case I use Sony lenses which focus stopped down and need large DOF I simply press a button and Live View Effect is set to off. The lenses then focus wide open, mine at f1.4 where I get -4ev sensitivity. So where is the problem? I didn't have a single problem during last years season. Usually statements like these are made by people not using the cameras.

I'm talking about the brief pulse of a crosshatched pattern that allows AF to lock. It will work on a DSLR 100% of the time in a pitch black room. It is very useful for off camera flash photography of animals in the evening. For example, illuminated by a fireplace.

The godox illuminator doesn't work with Sony A7r3.

Talys said:
I am also not in love with the tilting LCD. Yes... tilt is more flexible than no tilt, but it's a far cry from 6D2's fully articulating screen; it doesn't even point forward.

In terms of the menus/buttons... I'm actually ok with those. The whole menu/configuration thing was built by someone who doesn't actually like to take photographs, I think, because out of the box, it's horribly unusable. But with a bunch of configuration and tweaking it isn't bad. However, there is plenty that isn't intuitive.
Nonsense, subjective. You can program almost every thing to buttons, you have a personalized menu like with Canon where I put all the other function I need and a quick access menu. After a few gigs you know where to look for.

Nonsense, neither statement is subjective. The A7R3 and A9 have screens that can tilt up and down, but cannot facw forward. That is a fact. Note that I bought a 6D2 over a 5D4 because this feature is important to me.

Secondly, the A7r3 provably has fewer buttons. Plus, you can't hit FN and then tap the option on the screen, as you can with Canon Q, which makes the number of buttons that I want even greater. It is true that the Sony is much more configurable in button layout, but the default button layout on a Sony is useful to nobody, while the default layout if the Canon is something that most Canon shooters enjoy.

I programmed a stupid number of buttons to AF, simply because you can't grab the focus ring and turn it (they're all focus by wire). Even 'direct manual focus' requires that you AF first before the MF works. And, nearly as bad, you cannot program any button to AE + AF other than the shutter - which means you're SOL if you like back button focus and front button shutter.

And finally, the a9/a7r3 have more buttons, but several like c4 and c3 are awkward to press during shooting. Still you did see that I said I'm ok with Sony menus, right?

Unrelated:

I'm not particularly opposed to mirrorless cameras in general. However, I don't really want a camera that is any smaller than a 6D2, or 80D at the smallest, because of the size of nearly every lens that I want to use. From my point of view, making the camera smaller is a minus, not a plus.

I think that Sony has made great strides with the a7r3, but it still has a long ways to go before it catches ip to DSLR in some important aspects for me. That isn't to say that it doesn't have some valuable features, some specifically requiring mirrorless, that I really appreciate.

I am mindful that other people have different priorities than me, and respect their opinion. I would hope that you could do the same, without looking at every comment as to other people's priorities or preferences as an attack on your preferred platform.
 
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neuroanatomist said:
CanoKnight said:
There's real panic at Canon over the A7 III and that's why you will see more of these Canon sponsored articles in the coming weeks and months. Their $3500 prosumer full frame pricing model is getting bust.

There's real panic at Sony because Canon still totally dominates the FF ILC market, and the A7III seems to be doing nothing to change that situation. That's why you'll see more FF MILC releases from Sony on an even faster pace as they try desperately to make inroads into Canon's market share.

See, I can make stuff up, too. Well, except for the part about Canon dominating the FF ILC market share, that is fact.

Take a look at the top 20 U.S. Amazon mirrorless best sellers at the moment and you will not see one Canon camera on there. Not one. For DSLRs, the original 6D is in the top 5 but that is the only Canon FF ILC in that list.

I'm not going to say there's panic, but that has to concern a few people despite the fact Canon seems to win worldwide.

(And yes, I know Amazon is not the only dealer.)
 
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9VIII said:
It’s ridiculous that Canon is the only one with touch enabled menus.

Panasonic has them too--even my cheap $500 Lumix G7. So that's really the ridiculous part, that a $2000 Sony body still doesn't have full touch technology. I mean, even cheap Sony Android phones have had full touch screens for years now! I say it's basically like AF technology--a must for a modern camera.
 
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Jul 21, 2010
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transpo1 said:
Take a look at the U.S. Amazon mirrorless best sellers at the moment and you will not see one Canon camera on there. Not one. For DSLRs, the original 6D is in the top 5 but that is the only Canon FF ILC in that list.

Look harder (or was clicking on the 21-40 link too difficult for you?). The EOS M100 is at #27 on the MILC list. Oh, and for some reason the EOS M50 is listed with the DSLRs (where it’s #72) and not with the MILCs. But hey, who cares about facts. ::)
 

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neuroanatomist said:
transpo1 said:
Take a look at the U.S. Amazon mirrorless best sellers at the moment and you will not see one Canon camera on there. Not one. For DSLRs, the original 6D is in the top 5 but that is the only Canon FF ILC in that list.

Look harder (or was clicking on the 21-40 link too difficult for you?). The EOS M100 is at #27 on the MILC list. Oh, and for some reason the EOS M50 is listed with the DSLRs (where it’s #72) and not with the MILCs. But hey, who cares about facts. ::)

You're right- I meant to say "in the top 20" when I wrote my statement- which is true- and will modify accordingly. Still VERY concerning. "Canon #27 in MILC." Should I really have to click through to 21-40 to see their imaging dominance? ;)
 
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transpo1 said:
neuroanatomist said:
transpo1 said:
Take a look at the U.S. Amazon mirrorless best sellers at the moment and you will not see one Canon camera on there. Not one. For DSLRs, the original 6D is in the top 5 but that is the only Canon FF ILC in that list.

Look harder (or was clicking on the 21-40 link too difficult for you?). The EOS M100 is at #27 on the MILC list. Oh, and for some reason the EOS M50 is listed with the DSLRs (where it’s #72) and not with the MILCs. But hey, who cares about facts. ::)

You're right- I meant to say "in the top 20" when I wrote my statement- which is true- and will modify accordingly. Still VERY concerning. "Canon #27 in MILC." Should I really have to click through to 21-40 to see their imaging dominance? ;)

Given that MILCs are generally less popular than dSLRs in the US, I doubt that Canon is or should be terribly concerned. Now, the fact that Canon has topped Sony in the domestic MILC market should have Sony VERY concerned to the point of crapping their collective pants.
 
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pwp

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A couple of photographers I know who have switched from Canon to Sony are both increasingly doing commissioned video projects for clients, both now at over 50%, one close to 80%. The transition started in both cases with an A7s, doing things that 1DX's couldn't manage, then further commitment to Sony with FS7 camcorders. Progressively Canon glass on the Sonys was a compromise, so there was a spend on good Sony glass. Then an A7R II just for the hell of it. Hunger for A7R III...

The 1DX's were spending a lot of time on the shelf in the studio...then eBay...transfer to Sony complete.

FWIW I'm still a Sony free studio and likely to remain so.. My one off-brand digression has been to Panasonic, first a GH4 back in 2014 and now a G9. They're fun, light, modestly priced and much better suited to occasional video projects than my 1DX and 5D4.

-pw
 
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gmon750 said:
CanoKnight said:
There's real panic at Canon over the A7 III and that's why you will see more of these Canon sponsored articles in the coming weeks and months. Their $3500 prosumer full frame pricing model is getting bust.

Stop making stuff up. There's no "panic".

Of course there is panic, although maybe not at Canon. There is always panic on the internet. That where the clicks come from, and a lot of the posts. Who knows, maybe Chicken Little will finally be right this time.
 
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bandido said:
YuengLinger said:
Who is buying the Sony? Seasoned photographers who have been limited by Canon/Nikon? Newer enthusiasts who believe they will be creating more magic with Sony?

If a lot of sales are due to marketing, what is Sony doing right and where are they reaching all these new customers?

The Marketing Department at Sony certainly knows how to throw a media event: paid hotel rooms in Las Vegas, helicopter rides to the Gran Canyon, dune buggy rides, and professional photo shoot setups; but I think the majority of people switching to Sony are looking for the perfect hybrid-shooter (Full-frame, 4k video, IBIS...) and the latest alpha series of cameras are pretty close to that.
you are forgetting about trips to Thailand as well.
 
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LDS said:
For example? And which lenses do you use?

The big reason for us is the dynamic range by far. It has flat out transformed my on set and post production workflow. Next would be the variety of lenses that could be used. I use all of the Canon TS-Es a Contax shift lens and a Sigma long zoom. The precise and always on live view works great, I don't miss an OVF at all (especially for manual focusing. The tilt screen surprisingly gets used almost on every shot. I love that the metabones has a tripod mount to better balance the heavy TS-Es (which should have a mount on the lens directly). I just shot video for the first time on a job and the s-log color LUT worked great for me in Premiere. That said, I would use the best tool for the job so if Nikon comes out with a shift lens wider than 17mm I would definitely give them a look as they have a 19mm shift now too.
 
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The color science argument is bogus today.
Not long ago a popular photo site (I think it was DPR) posted a color test with photos from Canon, Nikon and Sony. A series of equivalent photos from each camera was presented and users selected their favorite without knowing which camera took the photo.
It was virtually impossible to consistently pick the photo taken by your favorite brand.
 
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neuroanatomist said:
CanoKnight said:
There's real panic at Canon over the A7 III and that's why you will see more of these Canon sponsored articles in the coming weeks and months. Their $3500 prosumer full frame pricing model is getting bust.

There's real panic at Sony because Canon still totally dominates the FF ILC market, and the A7III seems to be doing nothing to change that situation. That's why you'll see more FF MILC releases from Sony on an even faster pace as they try desperately to make inroads into Canon's market share.

See, I can make stuff up, too. Well, except for the part about Canon dominating the FF ILC market share, that is fact.

The perennial "market share" argument has always been bogus. DPR puts it to rest here: https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/0088028249/why-brand-market-share-shouldnt-matter-to-you
 
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