Why no love for Sony?

[pdxflint]

One issue with Sony is, what do you think of when you think of the brand? What picture comes to mind? And how does it make you feel about them? To me, it's all over the place. I always liked the company when I thought about televisions, video gear (both home gear like vcrs and dvd players,) consumer and pro camcorders, Playstations, the old Walkman brand, and even though I'm a Mac user, I always admired Sony's design concepts for pcs, especially their laptops in the otherwise generic Windows world.

Then there's the Sony who bought a major film studio/distributor and major record label. That identity has seemed more a corporate profit driven investment one rather than a creative manufacturer identity, and my feelings for that Sony have been ambivalent at best, negative at times. That side of Sony just makes me think of creative rights moguls, who usually profit greatly off of the creative output of artists rather than their own.

I was glad Sony rescued the old Minolta/Konica brand, even though both original companies have basically disappeared. Sony does have the resources to continue evolving that old photographic DNA into something more modern and capable of giving the old stalwarts, Nikon and Canon, some competition. But, I don't really think the survival of their photographic division as very important to the basic survival of Sony, so I'm fairly indifferent to their current brand. Maybe newer photographers can find some kind of emotional connection to Sony... but I doubt I will. It's not about "no love" for Sony--it's just there's no compelling reason to love them. It would be like loving Samsung or Mitsubishi... loving a huge industrial giant.

On the other hand, I'd love to see Pentax infused with similar backing, but I'm afraid Hoya might not have the deep pockets to maintain Pentax as seriously viable. If Pentax ever went away, that would be a sad day...

 

[chrono1081]

- They're new to DSLRs (OK, they took over Minolta, but Minolta were always a small player). Are Sony in it for the long term? Who knows?
- Incomplete selection of lenses (tilt/shift and other speciality lenses missing)
- Incomplete selection of bodies (no waterproof/toughened pro bodies)
- They don't have the professional dealers and support network pros expect
- No lens or body hire available in big cities
- They've stuck too much to proprietary formats (hotshoe, memory cards)
- As a corporation, they've done some random and evil things (root kits)

Need any more reasons?

+1

I don't buy Sony anything anymore solely because of the root kit. Completely unacceptable.

 

[Flash SWT]

The main reason in my opinion is the professional support networks that Canon and Nikon have.

I can have a shutter blow out on Wednesday afternoon, overnight the body to Canon Professional Services that day and have it back working on Friday morning. The last time I had this happen they even completed the repair for free.

How long would I have to wait for Pentax, Olympus or Sony to make the repair?

Canon and Nikon also have a presence at major events such as the Super Bowl and Olympics where photographers can get equipment serviced or borrow equipment if the need arises.

For professionals who use their equipment daily to provide for their families these are major considerations.

.

 

[adamvk]

I agree for the most part but their SLR range uses Compact Flash and has good backward compatibility with Minolta kit. It does seem like Sony are "playing the game" with their SLR range. Maybe they feel they need to get a good foot in the door. Although who knows what they'll do in the future.

Their cameras are generally well reviewed and they're pretty good value compared to the competition. Just my 2 cents.

And actually, my Sony DSLR has 2 slots-one for Memory Stick Pro Duo, and one for SD, which is nice.

 

[compuwar]

And actually, my Sony DSLR has 2 slots-one for Memory Stick Pro Duo, and one for SD, which is nice.

I much, much prefer having two slots for the exact same sort of media, it's significantly more efficient. When I had a Fuji S2Pro, I never filled the second slot because I couldn't be bothered to try to figure out what media I needed to carry or how much of one to buy over the other.

Now I have a D3x, both slots get a CF card, and I can match the capacities if I want to mirror the files, or I can just pick a card and put it in a slot if I'm rolling, but there's no worries about what sort of media I should have, or how much of one type vs. another type- I just load my pocket with CF cards and go.

 

[NightGeometry]

And actually, my Sony DSLR has 2 slots-one for Memory Stick Pro Duo, and one for SD, which is nice.

I love that my Alpha has two slots - I leave an 8gig memory stick in the second slot which I practically never use. On one occasion I have gone out without CF cards in my bag (I can be an idiot), but had a back up in place, on another I ran out of CF space (only had a smaller card in the camera), and again switched to the backup card.

I'd like the idea of being able to write to both or write JPEG to one and raw to the other but, for me, I'm not sure what I'd really gain from this (never had a card die on me, yet...)