I'm not too worried Roger. As I said, reports of "death" are almost always premature or false. They may be dead to some, but not all ... be it Leica or MFD.Well you got the goods on me with the 8/9 press release . Those are the right words but not consistent with what they have actually delivered ..so I am skeptical . How did they let Nikon get a 6-12 month lead on them with the D800? With Sony sometimes the marketing comes from California vs Tokyo. Conceded that Sony has changed their tune ..lets hope they get it right . I look forward to seeing what they come out with .
What professional market are they speaking about ? I completely get the wedding side where the key requirement is generating pleasing results (color) with a minimum of fuss. But I don t expect Sony to make a dent in Photojournalism ,Sports against Canon and Nikon .
The other observation would be ..."EVF really ..you can't be serious “ ! I thought photography required actually seeing the subject .
As I down my Expresso ...I wondered ...why do these Leica , MF killer threads bother me ? I guess its because I don t need or want “better,faster,cheaper “ ...as the consumer electronics companies are eating up the entry level equipment (based on mostly irrelevant features and functions ) ...they take away from the pure camera companies (legends OK ) and in turn Nikon s D800 has knocked the starch out of the “new adopters” of MF . This slows the adoption of new technologies by the “camera “ companies . This is what killed the Leica R and is killing the MF business. Inevitable ..maybe . (sorry this is a topic for another day ).
The R system was a tough decision on Leica's part, but it was a money sapping proposition for Leica. A friend was in a meeting at Leica where the R came up, and one of the executives quipped that the minute they stopped the R line, Leica started making money.
Leica's newer positioning and retail strategy basically doesn't care what Sony, Nikon, Canon or anyone else does. It says so in their corporate strategy.
The Sony A99 is indeed aimed at event, wedding and portrait shooters, not sports or Journalism photographers. That it is specifically targeting the 5D-III is also clear indication of that. Sony has a way of stepping their conquest of markets.
Personally, I'm not a fan of video games, or cameras that act like one. So the A900 may be my last Sony. We'll see.
-Marc