Industry News: Sony announces their new flagship camera, the alpha a1

[SteveC]

Now imagine your misery when you forgot the CFE reader at home and you have the time to review and edit but you can't.

I'm sure most of us are more likely to forget to bring the CFE reader than the camera or the laptop. I'd love to see laptops have CFE slots built-in, but I don't see it happening. As long as the camera and laptop have SD slots, why would you bring something extraneous?

I understand that.

I went to photograph an annular eclipse back in 2012. I brought the camera and the tripod.

I did not bring the actual plate that attaches the camera to the tripod. I thus didn't get even one usable picture.

 

[Joules]

Now imagine your misery when you forgot the CFE reader at home and you have the time to review and edit but you can't.

I'm sure most of us are more likely to forget to bring the CFE reader than the camera or the laptop. I'd love to see laptops have CFE slots built-in, but I don't see it happening. As long as the camera and laptop have SD slots, why would you bring something extraneous?

Well, you can just transfer images with a USB C cable if push comes to shove If you don't have one of those on hand, you are likely having a whole other problem.

 

[Joules]

I understand that.

I went to photograph an annular eclipse back in 2012. I brought the camera and the tripod.

I did not bring the actual plate that attaches the camera to the tripod. I thus didn't get even one usable picture.

I drove out with a friend to a location once , and after we arrived and had walked around a bit, I took out my camera ... No SD card inserted. We had a nice walk though.

 

[SteveC]

I drove out with a friend to a location once , and after we arrived and had walked around a bit, I took out my camera ... No SD card inserted. We had a nice walk though.

That happened to me once too, very recently. It was still stuck in the card reader slot in my computer at home.

Fortunately I did have an option: I stole the one out of my RP.

 

[Random Orbits]

I understand that.

I went to photograph an annular eclipse back in 2012. I brought the camera and the tripod.

I did not bring the actual plate that attaches the camera to the tripod. I thus didn't get even one usable picture.

Ouch!

I wanted a couple pictures of the sunrise off Cape Cod last summer. I leave the L-plate attached to the camera all the time, and I brought a tripod along with a glass plate filter set. I'm setting up on the beach, and I see that the ball head was missing... it was on the other tripod I left at home for zoom calls.

On a more recent occasion, I brought the M5 with EF-M 22 only to realize that there was no card in the slot. I had taken it to record audio on a zoom recorder. I usually leave at least one card in each device, but that was shortly after my Sony Tough SD card started giving me errors, so I was one card short...

 

[Bert63]

Now imagine your misery when you forgot the CFE reader at home and you have the time to review and edit but you can't.

I'm sure most of us are more likely to forget to bring the CFE reader than the camera or the laptop. I'd love to see laptops have CFE slots built-in, but I don't see it happening. As long as the camera and laptop have SD slots, why would you bring something extraneous?

I keep my reader in my laptop bag which sits right beside my PC desk. I have another one in my car. People can make excuses for anything I suppose.

If it‘s that hard to remember, buy two, or carry a USB C to connect your camera to your laptop.

If the features you use require CFE then there you go. If not, problem solved.

 

[Random Orbits]

I keep my reader in my laptop bag which sits right beside my PC desk. I have another one in my car. People can make excuses for anything I suppose.

If it‘s that hard to remember, buy two, or carry a USB C to connect your camera to your laptop.

If the features you use require CFE then there you go. If not, problem solved.

That's great that you never forget anything.

 

[Bert63]

That's great that you never forget anything.

I forget things all the time - that’s why I have two of all the critical, day-ruining things.

 

[tron]

I understand that.

I went to photograph an annular eclipse back in 2012. I brought the camera and the tripod.

I did not bring the actual plate that attaches the camera to the tripod. I thus didn't get even one usable picture.

You reminded my of a similarly disastrous situation when I tried to shoot a partial eclipse. I could not find the Canon adaptor to connect my camera to a Celestron telescope and when I tried to revert to a Canon lens I discovered that the tripod had stuck from lack of use! When I found a worse (but hopefully working? ) tripod the sun disappeared into the clouds!

BUT this helped me to get organized perfectly a few months later where I shot my first (and possibly only) total solar eclipse (March 2006)

That was a success! I bought a new Manfrotto tripod with a gear head, baader solar filters for the partial case, I had made some test shots for the partial phase, I had 2 EOS1n bodies and my main lens was a Canon 300mm f/4L (non IS which actually is sharper than the IS version) and EF2XII. I had as a backup a Sigma 400mm 5.6 APO.
Focusing was manual and thankfully it was OK.

And of course, tickets, reservations, arrangement for vacation with my work, etc...

 

[usern4cr]

Well, you can just transfer images with a USB C cable if push comes to shove If you don't have one of those on hand, you are likely having a whole other problem.

While I agree with being able to "just use a USB C cable" to transfer data from camera to computer, the reality is that Canon (and others) builds a fragile USB-C connector which is soldered onto the motherboard without reinforcement and it is far too easy (under ordinary use) to break this connector which cannot be fixed without a replacement of the motherboard. See lensrentals teardowns and what they say about this. Canon acknowledges this fact by the weird crappy plastic thingy they provide with every camera to screw into the side of the camera and wind your cable through it so that you won't damage the USB-C connector. I tried that and it is a PITA to do, and it ridiculous to put on and take off every time you want to transfer files.

For this reason alone, I no longer use the USB-C connector on the R5 and instead take out the CFExpress card (much more robust against damage) and put it into a Prograde reader which then has the USB-C cable to my laptop (those connectors are better reinforced for use). I wish I didn't have to do this, but until Canon (and others) make a robust USB connector I will have no other choice.

 

[Chaitanya]

This little article showed in newsfeed today:

Why the Sony A1 Actually Shows How Canon Is Winning the Mirrorless Game

The Sony a1 was just announced, and it is, without question, a remarkable camera. So, why is it good news for Canon? I, like I'm sure most other people, salivated while reading the Sony a1's specs sheet: 50 megapixels, 8K video, 30 fps burst mode, and more. There is no doubt that Sony has blown...

fstoppers.com

 

[Chig]

The R1 will have (or will need to have) about 45Mp like the R5 so that it does 8K, otherwise it'll be lagging behind the R5, not to mention the A1.

The main market for the R1 will be the pro sports guys who bought the 1D series and very few of them want 45mp to slow down their workflow , most of them just shoot jpegs which is all they need or want.

 

[Pape]

I bet there is lot of peoples who would love shoot pictures with that 10mpixel 250 fp/s viewfinder
Memory card records wrong feed

 

[Chig]

Salute to Sony for pushing Canon....can't wait for the 1R!

Not sure how making a camera with very similar specs to the R5 but much higher price and rubbish ergonomics and mickey mouse UI is ''pushing" Canon.
I predict the R1 will be much more similar to the 1DXiii with :

• moderate 20-24mp
• 20-30fps
• similar form factor but a bit lighter
• new improved twin processors over the 1DXiii
• similar pricing to 1DXiii
• maybe ibis ?
• clever software stuff like in camera focus stacking
• improved wireless transfer to servers,etc.
• maybe global shutter?

Other features I'd like to see (but Canon probably won't add them):

• red dot sight on camera body aligned with your left eye to use for lining up long lenses for birds in flight ,etc. (I added red dot "gun sights" to my telephoto lens for this but would prefer to have one on the camera body)
• option of assigning half press shutter button for single shots and full press for high fps to use with back button focus
• tilting EVF for looking down from above a la ''Box Brownie"

These last 3 features I'd love to see on all Canon mirrorless cameras especially the R7

 

[Viggo]

Regarding pricing I have to ask the US people here ; at $6500 do you all feel, in today’s economy, that it costs the same as the 1dx did at $6500?

the reason I’m asking is because the 1dx at launch for $6500 was around 53000 NOK here , whilst the $6500 of the A1 translates to 80000 NOK. That brings the difference, of the cameras that cost the same amount in the US, up to $3128 dollars in Norway. Which is why me and lot of people that used to buy 1-series have to step down to the 5-series

1dx at launch = 53000 NOK
R5 at launch = 53400 NOK

A1 at launch =$9200

 

[Del Paso]

I understand that.

I went to photograph an annular eclipse back in 2012. I brought the camera and the tripod.

I did not bring the actual plate that attaches the camera to the tripod. I thus didn't get even one usable picture.

And I didn't even have a film in my camera...

 

[jayphotoworks]

No, this is Anathema, but then I am not a pro

View attachment 195539

This is completely off topic, but I really enjoy listening to this band. My favorite was Weather Systems in 2012 and especially the first two tracks. I think sometimes this industry should be like this band, they've rediscovered and completely changed their musical style from when they first came on the scene to today. Well, except for recently effectively disbanding that is.

But Sony has kind of done this over the years from pushing gimmicky features and smallish mirrorless bodies to releasing more and more mature products today, especially against large titans like Canon and Nikon. Nikon today somehow feels like Blackberry though..

 

[analoggrotto]

The R5 gives you 95% of A1 performance for $3K less. Catch up? I don’t see the lead..

catch up to the price

Canon will emphasize mechanical shutter performance but will / can they push resolution so high on the top end camera?

 

[fabiorossi]

Thanks Sony!, this camera makes the R5 looks even better.

 

[SteveC]

It has some nominal (apparent) improvements over the R5 but not enough to justify the price...even if there weren't the classic S*ny downsides of ergonomics and ergonomics (not to mention ergonomics)--which includes the menu, by the way; ergonomics isn't just physical factors. I'd say overall it's worth less than an R5, even aside from the fact that I hate S*ny and did even before I got into photography.

Once the R1 comes out S*ny will be...[AARGH!!!! I can't say it; the forum will turn it into a compliment and I sure as f*** don't want to compliment them.]