Sony A9: Is Canon doomed ?

Luckless wrote in post #18333066
Well from the standpoint of a sports and wildlife photographer...

"BATTERY LIFE (STILL IMAGES)
Approx. 480 shots (Viewfinder) / approx. 650 shots (LCD monitor)"

.

You do realize those numbers are for single shot mode right. In high burst mode due to reduced display on LCD and viewfinder, those numbers go up into the thousands.

It's this type of ignorant information that is smeared across the net that is so misleading and totally wrong...usually spread by people with zero experience with the system being discussed.

eddieb1 wrote in post #18333100
Highly unlikely that one camera will sink a company like Canon. I remember the same fear, years ago, that Nikon would sink Canon. Never happened. Canon is fairly conservative. In the end, they always seem to come out on top. Besides, the price of the Sony will limit it's sale to people with deep pockets.

And what does the 1dx2 cost?

Hogloff wrote in post #18334641
You do realize those numbers are for single shot mode right. In high burst mode due to reduced display on LCD and viewfinder, those numbers go up into the thousands.

It's this type of ignorant information that is smeared across the net that is so misleading and totally wrong...usually spread by people with zero experience with the system being discussed.

Well, you do realize that those numbers are the ones provided in official documentation presented for promotion of the camera, and even when the numbers go up in burst mode they're still a fraction of what users get out of the 1DX cameras.

I can go months of birding and photo walks on the batteries in my 7D without needing to charge them or think about them. I've actually gotten caught once or twice with a surprise near dead battery because I'm so used to using so little power out of them. I really can't image switching to a camera system that will start sucking down the battery just to look through the viewfinder.

How many photos worth of energy does the A9 eat up when you lift it to your eye to decide whether or not the frame is actually worth snapping the photo of, even if you don't take the photo?

Luckless wrote in post #18334656
Well, you do realize that those numbers are the ones provided in official documentation presented for promotion of the camera, and even when the numbers go up in burst mode they're still a fraction of what users get out of the 1DX cameras.

I can go months of birding and photo walks on the batteries in my 7D without needing to charge them or think about them. I've actually gotten caught once or twice with a surprise near dead battery because I'm so used to using so little power out of them. I really can't image switching to a camera system that will start sucking down the battery just to look through the viewfinder.

How many photos worth of energy does the A9 eat up when you lift it to your eye to decide whether or not the frame is actually worth snapping the photo of, even if you don't take the photo?

Sorry, but I have a 7d and it does not go weeks of use on a battery. I shoot rodeos and the iron man with my 7d and might get by for the day if lucky...maybe 2500 shots. This is in the same ballpark as the A9 when shooting in burst mode.

I think most pro photogs can get by having 2500 shots per battery, especially since you can double that with the grip.

More irresponsible information being spread by people who don't use the equipment but just parrot the internet hysteria.

Charlie wrote in post #18334630
You should start paying attention, the Sony section is powered by former Canon shooters... Remember when Sony aggressively went after the video game market? They are doing that with the camera market.

The A7rii addressed so many needs/wants, and them some. The leap was enormous, one of the biggest upgrade I've seen in all my years of photography. If that wasn't enough, the A9 is a massive offering into the sports segment, and Sony wants to make it's mark the same way it made waves with the PlayStation. The amount of generation differences compared to the A7rii is pretty darn massive, nothing like Canon/Nikon upgrades. If you can put aside the ridiculous wiz bang specs and see that Sony is listening and granting a ton of user requests, you need to pay attention to this company! They are on a blistering pace creating lenses and bodies. A few years back, many were complaining that the lens selection was too small...... Pretty darn substantial now.

Speaking of the playstation, the aggressive push of prosumer grade mirrorless cameras and the emphasis of Sony's imaging products division as a whole started when Kaz Hirai was appointed CEO of Sony....Hirai's claim to fame is the development of the playstation brand and business unit in the 90's and early 2000's. Around the time he took the helm of the company, the first a7 bodies hit the market, sony dropped the nex moniker and rebanded them as 'alpha' cameras, and over the course of 3 years things kept developing until the a9 came into fruition.

It's been very interesting to watch all of this play out.

Does the Sony EVF only come on when the user puts the camera to their face?

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18334666
Does the Sony EVF only come on when the user puts the camera to their face?

Yes. There's a proximity sensor.

Hogloff wrote in post #18334641
You do realize those numbers are for single shot mode right. In high burst mode due to reduced display on LCD and viewfinder, those numbers go up into the thousands.

It's this type of ignorant information that is smeared across the net that is so misleading and totally wrong...usually spread by people with zero experience with the system being discussed.

I've heard this a couple times about the Sony cameras, that the battery ratings are way worse than reality. What you just said muddies the water. I can understand if it's better in burst mode because of reduced usage of the screens, but is it really as bad as the CIPA ratings in a real-world (non-burst) shooting scenario?

I hardly ever use burst, so I've wondered if claims of "it's not that bad" wouldn't apply to my use case.

mystik610 wrote in post #18334670

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18334666
Does the Sony EVF only come on when the user puts the camera to their face?

Yes. There's a proximity sensor.

So how does the sensor tell the difference between your face and anything else that comes within its range?

CheshireCat wrote in post #18334508
I love watching this video every time I hear something like that:

https://youtu.be/eywi0​h_Y5_U

Canon isn't only into photography. It's tentacles spread to quite a few other industries.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18334615
Microsoft is doomed!!!

No, but its Windows Phones are.

Remember when they owned the smartphone market with Windows CE ?
Then came Apple and did what Sony is doing now. And then came Android, which was crap but still much better than Microsoft phones.

Hogloff wrote in post #18334643
And what does the 1dx2 cost?

If you read some of the reviews, the Sony isn't up to par compared to the Canon and Nikon offerings. The Sony weather sealing is nowhere near that of Canon and Nikon pro series cameras. The Sony isn't as robust as the other two. There's the lack of Sony lenses, poor battery life etc. Wow, 20 fps. You won't have to think about the shot. Just machine gun your wedding, or any event, then go through and cull the shots you want. With 40000 shots, you should be able to get, at least, a few keepers.

Hogloff wrote in post #18334663
Sorry, but I have a 7d and it does not go weeks of use on a battery. I shoot rodeos and the iron man with my 7d and might get by for the day if lucky...maybe 2500 shots. This is in the same ballpark as the A9 when shooting in burst mode.

I think most pro photogs can get by having 2500 shots per battery, especially since you can double that with the grip.

More irresponsible information being spread by people who don't use the equipment but just parrot the internet hysteria.

Yes, because every time you use a camera with a fast burst rate, you need to shoot 20 images at a time, and at the end of the day you have to come home with at least a thousand frames...

I own a pair of 7D cameras, carry one daily, use it at least every other day on average, and literally go months between bothering to charge the battery. Why? Because many times I take the camera out, frame the subject study it, and then don't take a photo... (There is after all little sense in taking a photo once you already know you don't like it and won't use it.) Other times I'm only taking a handful, but I'm often framing photos up for long periods of time without actively capturing images.

And in the original post you quoted me in was also comparing the 1Dx series and its massive battery, and not the smaller one found in the 7D.

I don't have faith in the A9's ability to be ready to take a photo at any time during the day when I grab my camera and lift it to my eye. I've sat for hours with my 7D and a telephoto trained on a target point waiting for the shot (Critters coming out of a den), all the while watching through the view finder, and not put a dent in the battery usage, because the camera can be fully functional while in a mode that uses nearly zero power while allowing you to frame your image and still have no delay on your shutter.


This thread is about whether or not a product like the Sony A9 can doom Canon. Given that the Sony A9 fails to meet use-case needs of many photographers, and Sony does not have nearly as strong level of customer trust as Canon does, it would then suggest that the 'doom' of Canon is rather unlikely based on this one camera.

Charlie wrote in post #18334630
They are on a blistering pace creating lenses and bodies. A few years back, many were complaining that the lens selection was too small...... Pretty darn substantial now.

...and can use all Canon lenses with a simple adapter supporting AF.

Colorblinded wrote in post #18334677
I've heard this a couple times about the Sony cameras, that the battery ratings are way worse than reality. What you just said muddies the water. I can understand if it's better in burst mode because of reduced usage of the screens, but is it really as bad as the CIPA ratings in a real-world (non-burst) shooting scenario?

I hardly ever use burst, so I've wondered if claims of "it's not that bad" wouldn't apply to my use case.

I use the A7R and get about 400 shots off a battery using single shot mode. I typically carry 1 spare battery with me, they are tiny, and very rarely do I need to use the spare. I can get even more shots by turning the camera into airplane mode, but I always forget to do that.

For everyday shooting, carrying 1 spare battery should do the trick. I used to always carry a spare battery with my DSLR outfit...so nothing really changed.