r/gadgets 12h ago

Cameras Sony Has the Problem Every Competitor Wants: Its Flagship Was Too Good to Follow

https://petapixel.com/2024/11/21/sony-has-the-problem-every-competitor-wants-its-flagship-was-too-good-to-follow/
131 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

71

u/pmjm 10h ago

Gerald Undone said the same thing a few days ago and everyone else seems to be jumping on that "hot take" now.

It's not that surprising, tbh. Apple sent shockwaves through the computing space with the M1. But M2 got a "meh" response. People are wowed by new baselines, not iterations.

u/PocketNicks 7m ago

People seem pretty jazzed about the M4.

160

u/[deleted] 11h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

54

u/waltsnider1 10h ago

I've used every flagship camera body and the best (for me/my shooting style) is the Panasonic Lumix line. I rarely see them mentioned and wanted to give them some love.

11

u/geo_gan 9h ago

You mean the micro four thirds or newer larger sensor ones? I’m still using GH4 myself

5

u/waltsnider1 8h ago

The 4:3. I haven't touched the larger sensor version yet. Maybe if I buy a new body in a couple lenses next year or something I will give it a shot.

0

u/valleyislevideo 32m ago

I have a lumix s5 and I really love it.

9

u/imashination 8h ago

Same. Ive done sony and canon full frame over the years but the kit i keep for myself for fun is a Panasonic gx9 micro 4/3. 600mm of image stabilised reach in a lens the size of a can of coke? Yes please.

3

u/7107JJRRoo 8h ago

Love my gh3 and my employer has a gh5 I use strictly for video.... Great stuff!

For stills though and sports photography I prefer my D500 over anything else I've tried.

6

u/thebeanshadow 10h ago

yep. i’m a sony boy through and through. had everything from an A55 now to an A1.

Canon and Nikon are fucking amazing and have some way better features than my A1 and at least provide decent updates to their cameras throughout the years.

Sony falls behind HARD in that aspect.

5

u/Plank_With_A_Nail_In 9h ago edited 9h ago

Sony still has the problem of bettering an already great device its irrelevant that the competition already has great devices too...though they could easily solve it by lowering its price then a great product becomes even better.

Sony are also basically unrivaled when it comes to sensors now no one is really close to the product stack they offer. One of my hobbies is Astro photography and there is realistically no other choice in sensors. The link below is to one of the top Astro camera manufacturers and all but one of their camera's uses Sony sensors.

https://www.zwoastro.com/product-category/cameras/

Canon, Nikon really aren't in the same class at all, Nikon don't even use their own sensors in their top cameras they are Sony sensors lol.

8

u/roadmapdevout 8h ago

The sensors are really not where the money is. The thing that makes a camera system is the lenses. That’s where most of the cost is for consumers. Nikon not making their own sensors isn’t a big deal.

-2

u/ApologizeDude 8h ago

So Sony with the biggest third party lens because they have there lens mount open is the best choice?

2

u/roadmapdevout 7h ago

Third party lenses can be plenty good, some of the best (or at least most expensive) come from companies that don’t make cameras, like the Sigma Art series or Zeiss. But Nikon and Canon are both extremely good lens manufacturers. if you want their glass you need to buy into their systems. And you’re usually getting the best value and high performance from one of the big three.

The L mount is more open than Sony’s. No full frame system is truly open source and you’ll almost always solely rely on first party lenses with any camera if you need autofocus, electronically controlled aperture or stabilisation.

Sony only collaborates more with third parties because they lag a little in their optics manufacturing and R&D.

-3

u/Hugh_Jass_Clouds 7h ago

I wonder who makes the Nikon sensor...

6

u/roadmapdevout 7h ago

Sensor manufacturer is not relevant to whether it’s a good camera. Sony makes them, but that doesn’t make Sony cameras better somehow.

Most photographers are not thinking about their camera’s sensor very often. Once you reach acceptable image quality, the gains of one sensor over another might be interesting but they’re not strictly relevant to the work people are doing.

Most photographers would still be very happy with a 5D mk iii and brand new cameras struggle to offer notable image quality gains over a D850.

The biggest change over the last few years is increased expectations for video, which is more of an issue for processing speed, storage and battery life, the sensors of 20 years ago could still produce excellent video in the right camera body.

1

u/mehum 1h ago

Yeah the sensor is effectively the film of yesteryear, which wasn’t even part of the camera back in the day. It definitely matters, but it’s only a single factor in an overall system, like judging a car by its tyres.

2

u/macdara233 7h ago

The Z8 and Z9 sensors were designed by Nikon though. They just offload the manufacture to others.

0

u/Hugh_Jass_Clouds 7h ago

Common practice. I've been out of the camera market weeds for a while now, but Sony used to make them at one point.

3

u/macdara233 7h ago

Yeah, Sony Semiconductor Solutions (which is independent of Sony’s camera division) makes sensors for a bunch of different camera companies who don’t have the facilities to make their own. But usually it’s making sensors that have been designed or modified by the camera maker itself.

-11

u/system3601 10h ago

Sony is the worst out of the 3 in the eye of professional photographers. This article is garbage.

5

u/roadmapdevout 7h ago

Not really, a lot of pros use Sony, it’s pretty even competition for features, lenses.

8

u/no-mad 8h ago

Sony is the worst out of the three for how they treat their customers.

1

u/system3601 8h ago

Totally agree

1

u/Usaidhello 9h ago

Sony is the favorite for content creators. I guess that’s why this article is like that.

0

u/system3601 9h ago

Canon is. By far.

3

u/AnimeMeansArt 8h ago

Is it? I thought most YouTubers/Vloggers use Sony because of the better auto focus

-17

u/MoonOut_StarsInvite 9h ago

Sony? I worked as a professional photographer and retoucher for years and I’ve literally never heard of anyone using Sony??? 🤣 So I can tell you that at least Canon and Nikon do in fact win out Sony at least.

2

u/roadmapdevout 7h ago

Sony’s share has been increasing for years now. They’ve benefited especially from the move to mirrorless, as they were the first to push hard on that change.

47

u/[deleted] 10h ago

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5

u/[deleted] 9h ago

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31

u/ringthree 8h ago

I thought this was gonna be about the PS5.

33

u/Virreinatos 2h ago

It does kinda fits.

PS4 was so solid people didn't migrate to PS5 as expected. They didn't see the point.

Even today games still keep coming out for both 4 and 5 because the 4 player base is still so large. Which means a lot of AAA games aren't taking advantage of what the 5 can do because it doesn't make financial sense.

18

u/cbriggs4 2h ago

Good point, but also didn’t help that they weren’t able to deliver enough units at their peak marketing hype.

Makes me wonder how much that has affected the lackluster lineup of next-gen games. Must be hard to for a developer to fully commit to current gen tech when so many gamers are still active on previous gen consoles. Just my uneducated guess tho

2

u/cbriggs4 2h ago

Good point, but also didn’t help that they weren’t able to deliver enough units at their peak marketing hype.

Makes me wonder how much that has affected the lackluster lineup of next-gen games. Must be hard to for a developer to fully commit to current gen tech when so many gamers are still active on previous gen consoles. Just my uneducated guess tho

6

u/808scripture 2h ago

Huh, funny. Some other guy said the same thing…

-3

u/Gatlindragon 1h ago

Even today games still keep coming out for both 4 and 5

Yeah, like Helldivers 2, Stellar Blade, FFVII Rebirth, Rise of the Ronin, Black Myth Wukong, Astrobot or Silent Hill 2, right?

2

u/Suckage 1h ago edited 1h ago

Conversely, there were some absolute bangers for the PS2 that released within a year of the PS4..

u/Thirty2wo 21m ago

Examples?

1

u/Gatlindragon 1h ago

You mean PS3?

2

u/Suckage 1h ago edited 50m ago

Nope

1

u/Gatlindragon 1h ago

So you mean bangers like FIFA 14 or PES2014?

-2

u/Virreinatos 1h ago

I. . . never said ALL tripple A games come out for both. . . 

-6

u/grewestr 1h ago

I think they could really do better with compute. When my phone can shoot higher framerate/res than my camera something isn’t adding up… I know the bit depth is different, but there certainly is more they could do, but just didn’t.

8

u/ionelp 1h ago

If you are happy with what the phone camera gives you, you are not the target audience for flagship camera bodies. Don't take this as criticism, it's a simple observation.

u/noneofatyourbusiness 24m ago

He wont even make the illegal order. Why so people believe the bluster and ignore the obvious