Sony has confirmed that future mirrorless cameras and DSLR-style cameras will be branded under the Alpha name, and that there will no longer be any other “NEX” cameras. (see the 3:10 mark in the video from Sony below)
So, it looks like we’ll need to watch for the A-mount and E-mount distinctions going forward. It seems like a tough situation that Sony has pushed itself into by haven’t two different mounts for ongoing camera systems.
The breakdown just doesn’t seem quite as logical as the distinction between Canon’s EF, EF-S and EF-M mounts. Sony inherited the A-mount from Minolta when it took over it’s camera operations, which I don’t think anyone will point to as a bad decision. The backlog of Minolta lenses made the early Sony DSLRs attractive options in a world filled with Canon and Nikon DSLRs and their legacy line of SLR lenses.
At some point, I suspect Sony will step away from the A-mount – even though Sony has recently comment that the A-mount is not dead . . . yet.
Sony recently released the entry-level A3000 as an E-mount camera. Just last week, Sony dropped two flagship mirrorless cameras – the A7 and A7R. Some noise has been stirring that Sony will drop a serious A-mount camera or two in 2014. And so, I’m certainly not saying that won’t happen, but with the growing E-mount presence, including Sony’s cinema camera line with the FS100 and FS700, it certainly looks like Sony is leaning toward the E-mount.
What do you guys think about Sony’s Alpha consolidation? Will Sony continue to run the two mounts? For how much longer?
I sure wish Sony would let us know WTF they are doing… I’ve been getting pretty heavily invested in A-mount lenses over the last few years, but I won’t buy anymore until I know that A is going to stay. With the paltry E-mount offerings to date and uncertainty surrounding the A-mount I’m really starting to wonder whether I made a mistake by buying into Sony cameras and lenses. Maybe I should have listened to the Canonikon naysayers out there? I’m not interested in using my A-mount lenses with adapters, so that is not a solution for me.
It doesn’t matter any more because after many years of Minolta followed by Sony, I have just walked away. This is because Sony service in Sydney Australia is total rubbish. They have made it difficult to have my Sony serviced. They are not interested in the customer. If you are interested as to why let me know and I will give you the whole sorry story. Now I have the Nikon D800 and am changing everything over to Nikon and very happy with the result.
Yours,
Nic Peters
I hate to see the pink elephant in the background, but isn’t it a big deal that they are releasing the FE mount to add to the confusion??? Sony now has lens road maps on 3 different mounts – what does one invest in??? Two mounts in 2 years, WTF. Unlike other companies, the mount types are at least clear that one is for DSLR and the other for Mirrorless (which may be confusing to folks new to the hobby) . With Sony, it is almost like their motto is “confused customers spend cash” with such a wasteful use of resources. If they just skipped the A7 and FE lenses and started creating more E-mount lenses, I would understand. For those confused, E-mount is the way to go. Works on thin mirror-less cameras, traditional dslr-like cameras, and video cameras.
Let us recap… They released 2 full frame cameras and 3 FE-lenses (I almost typed EF lenses, but wait… I believe that is another company). E-Mount lenses work, but will not use the full frame. They want the user to buy an additional adapter to use A-mount lenses with reduced focus speed. I wonder, is it still full frame with the adapter and A-mount lenses?
Sony, you messed up.