Industry News: AP Photographers will only shoot with Sony gear going forward

Keith_Reeder

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The few remaining reporters are expected to shoot web video on their phones
Which underlines the point that for PJ - even Pulitzer winners - it's the content, not the kit, that counts.

I think everyone accepts that it's what the camera is pointed at, not the brand of camera in use, that makes for good photo journalism, and this same fact undermines the value of PJ as a brand-seller.
 
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Pixel

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If you count the silent shutter as part of the ergos, then it makes perfect sense. I still haven't gotten rid of my A9II, and right now it's the best PJ camera I have. I'm hoping the coming R5 bests it, but as it is now, that silence is critical in some journalistic situations.

The "feel" of the new Sony cameras is much better with their ergonomic improvements. Not quite Canon, but if the Canon is a 1DXIII and sounds like a jet engine, then well, yeah. The cameras mentioned in the article were all ergo updated ones. This doesn't, of course, fix the intolerable menus. It is true that PJs are apt to keep to some specific sets of settings, without needing to do those 10-minute treasure hunts into the menus for the obscure feature now and again that the amateurs do.

It's not unthinkable that for their use they liked Sony better as of July 23, 2020. If the R5 is as good as I hope, there may be some forehead slapping, though, come July 30.
This deal was cooked up months ago, way before the R5/R6.
 
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1D4

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Mine is still on order from ABT. Got a note from B&H today saying that they still didn’t have a clue as to when they were going to be delivered.

I'm hoping the B&H email you're referring to was just the "You are receiving this message because you asked to be notified when the Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only) (B&H # CAER5) becomes available" you got if you signed up for email updates, because their website has been saying "shipping will begin Thu Jul 30". I was hoping to have it in hand next Friday :)
 
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Sporgon

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If Canon really aren't going to produce a 5DV then this means the writing is on the wall for future development of the EF mount, yet Canon (and Nikon) isn't fully developed in the RF (/Z) mount. I guess that Canon not wanting the AP business could be an indication that they don't want to commit to what they may now see as as obsolete system and they are not yet ready with the RF. Nikon probably in a similar position, especially when as has already been suggested, it's probably a loss leader.
 
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Keith_Reeder

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Surely Canon knew this was brewing. I have no idea how it can't be unsettling.

Ordering an R5 just became a leap of faith. Canon's product reaction in the coming few years will be interesting. They has better kneel down, and rub some dirt on their hands.
I have no idea what you're saying here.
 
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The dirt was a reference to Gladiator. Canon had better not loose the FF Mirrorless fight with Sony.

If enough press follows AP's lead will Canon continue developing these expensive L lenses? That is my concern.
as long as sales are good, Canon will keep building L lenses. Personally, I don’t look at which news orgs are using which brand to make any of my purchase decisions. Maybe others do? I doubt if AP is a huge percentage of Canon’s sales, but admittedly I don’t have those numbers.
 
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Keith_Reeder

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The dirt was a reference to Gladiator. Canon had better not loose the FF Mirrorless fight with Sony.
Understood
If enough press follows AP's lead will Canon continue developing these expensive L lenses? That is my concern.
They unquestionably will. Photo journalism - and the equipment decisions that news agencies make - are not significant influencers across the photography market at large.

Simply put, many (most?) people will pay no mind to what AP has done here.

To make this point clear: do you know which cameras Reuters uses? Or Bloomberg? Or United Press International?

And so on.

Most people neither know nor care about them, and that applies just as much to AP. They were using Canon previously - and most people will have been utterly disinterested in that fact, too.

For further context: I found this interview with AP's Director of Photography "interesting" because of how uninteresting it was:
This is the most interesting part for me:
Up to now, has AP been using a mixture of different platforms, from different manufacturers?
Yes, we have. We used one manufacturer for stills, and a different manufacturer for video. And we’ve been happy with those brands, we’ve used them for years, and they’ve supported us with their equipment. It was really the thought that we wanted to go mirrorless that took us down this path, and then we found that the synergy between video and stills could be really good, and Sony could support both of those at the level that we needed
Clearly Sony got the gig (ignoring the likely financial incentives that will have sweetened the deal for AP) because - at the time it was signed off on - Sony happened to align best with an idea that AP had that it would be a good idea to have equipment uniformity across its stills and video teams, at a time when mirrorless was a draw too.

Not because Sony kit is intrinsically better. AP is clearly being very careful not to suggest that.

As the article also says:
The AP has been thinking about switching to mirrorless on the stills side for a couple of years
If that's also when they started talking seriously to Sony - and these things do take time - I can understand AP's decision, because at the time Sony probably was the obvious choice to satisfy AP's aspirations.

But none this says anything about any inherent superiority in Sony equipment that will drive people away from Canon.

Despite the spin that DPR editor and Sony shill Barnaby Britton - "unbiased DPR" my arse - has tried to put on it when he says this:
it's hard to overstate the PR value for any brand of having its cameras and lenses appear in the hands of pros on the sidelines at events like The Olympic Games, watched by millions of people all over the world.
I'll bet that nobody ever bought into a camera system simply because they saw it being used at a sporting event on TV..!

Meanwhile:
 
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Understood

They unquestionably will. Photo journalism - and the equipment decisions that news agencies make - are not significant influencers across the photography market at large.

Good post Keith. My RF50 just arrived, I got a deal on a brand new one. Now to wait or pull the trigger on the R5.

Taking this from both sides:

I always saw Canon and Nikon as companies fueling their development of lenses such as this heavy, majestic beast (holy crap its big) from corporate account sales. After all who needs F1.2? And as a side note, Canon really hit their stride in the more recent years as evidenced by the excellent 35 F1.4 III, 16-35 F2.8L III and F4L IS.

Canon has bled users since the A7R2, sales must be way down while A7III has been a runaway success. But I think tricks (and I mean this in a good way) such as the 600 and 800 F11 show a different order of understanding at Canon (these lenses are for birders and weekenders but not PJ), this battle isnt over however fighting a semi-conductor designer/fabricator/implementor will be hard. This is the Sony that developed the most beloved Playstation brand after being jilted back in the 90s, learned much from the Playstation 3 failure, won the Bluray-HDDVD format war, built the best SACD player for just $1500, owns a cinema production division, beat Bose at their own game in wireless noise cancelling headphones, but will probably not break the iPhone-Galaxy smartphone stonghold either.

And finally, I do find it alarming that a News source is allowing itself to be an Advertisement Supplement for a corporation. This is in an era where the people do not really trust the media, the media is not delivering what people want to know either. I am with you : something is UP.

None of this matters anyway Chris Nolan is still using film and every blessed frame of his movies are pure perfect tack sharp photography. Canon please make some RF pancake lenses, those arent for PJ either but traveling hobbyists trying to squeeze some fun out of work travel.
 
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Pixel

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I think each photographer should decide which camera he prefers within a price range. It very much reminds me of the shoe deals in professional fottball. Players have to wear a specific brand, even if the feel more comfortable in other shoes.
In a perfect world sure....but the newspaper industry is in the toilet and the AP is also a non-profit.
 
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Keith_Reeder

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Good post Keith
Thanks.

I just balk at the notion that AP's choice of camera brand is suddenly something of significance and importance, when as far as I can tell it hasn't been of any real concern to anyone (apart from AP's own photographers, presumably), up to this point.

"It matters because it's Sony..." doesn't sit well with me.
 
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