When I bought my first DSLR, back in 2006, my instinct – and I base all my technology purchasing decisions on instinct - was to go with the entry level Nikon – the D1000 or whatever it was at the time. However I let my father persuade me to buy a Sony Alpha 100. To be fair, he was picking up some of the bill as a birthday present.
Recently, I've begun to doubt the wisdom of that choice. This is unfortunate, as the cost of changing camera brands is high. In my case, I have three a-mount bodies, one kit lens and two third party lenses, plus various accessories such as remote releases and the like. This may not be a vast amount of kit, but I don’t have that much in the way of cash (or time, for that matter) to devote to photography which is, when all’s said and done, a hobby.
So, what’s the problem? I'm not unhappy with the cameras – far from it.
The problem is Sony’s strategy around their two lens mounts, a-mount and e-mount. When e-mount was first introduced, it was exclusively on the mirrorless NEX cameras. At the time, I tended to see these cameras as a bit of a distraction, as I was already bought into a-mount, and I've never been good at seeing which way the wind is blowing with regards to technology or anything else. I couldn't understand why Sony would go to the expense of buying Konica-Minolta and then developing their own lens mount anyway.
However, the mirrorless camera market has boomed over the past few years, although slowing slightly at the moment, and the NEX brand has been one of the best-selling in this space. At the same time Sony has failed to make an impression in the professional market with its high end Alpha cameras.
Sony has therefore put a lot of effort into developing its NEX range – whilst, some might argue, neglecting the Alpha range. Numerous NEX models, with increasingly high specs have been introduced, until this reached its logical conclusion. When the Alpha 77 was released, alongside it was a mirrorless version – the NEX7 – essentially the same camera, at the same price point, in a different form factor. Meanwhile, the top of the range Alpha 9* series has seen only three models since the brand launched several years ago.
Perhaps I should have seen the next step coming, but as noted above, I've always been poor at predicting tech trends. Anyway, it now appears that Sony are going to introduce e-mount entry level DSLRs – in fact the A3000 has already been announced - and that these will probably replace the a-mount models at the low-to-medium end of the range. Alpha mount will become Sony’s high end, pro spec format.
That’s great, but I won’t have pro-spec money to spend when I come to replace my Alpha 77.
In contrast, Nikon and Canon have the same lens mount for all their DSLR cameras, from entry level through to the flagship pro models. So the upgrade path is relatively painless – and for that matter, so is the downgrade path.
[To be fair both Canon and Nikon have introduced mirrorless models with lens mounts that are incompatible with their DSLR ranges. But these have been me too offerings which have failed to challenge NEX and micro four thirds cameras in this space. And there is no suggestion that Canikon are going to replace the lens mounts on their entry level models with ones that are incompatible with their pro-spec cameras.]
To further confuse the issue, there are rumours of a full frame NEX camera to be announced shortly – this will leave the a-mount looking increasingly like a minority interest for the well-heeled. This appears to be another case of a company chasing new customers whilst forgetting their existing ones.
So, what do I do? Stick with a-mount and hope that it doesn't die too soon? Give up on it and go e-mount (bearing in mind that I find the NEX cameras pig-ugly)? Or abandon Sony altogether in a fit of disgust at the way that they treat their existing customers? In theory, the decision point is a few years away, but I'm thinking of buying a new macro lens and my instincts say that an a-mount lens may be a waste of money…
