robert_paul1 Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 Does anyone know when Sony will actually release their DSLR? I thought it was going to be this month, but I haven't seen anything to date. I have noticed that they finally corrected the errors on their website regarding their lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyinca Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 I saw a Dpreview forum member reports that they started shipping in Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_frater Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 I believe end of July, which is stated on the Sony Website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Interesting - I was watching TV last night when a Sony Shop advert came on trumpeting their wares but not one single word about the Alpha. It set me thinking that I had not as yet seen a single advert for the camera in the press and journals that I read. Are they actually promoting the thing or am I reading the wrong things ? After the snafu of the detail errors in the original release I am beginning to wonder if they have actually got anyone who knows their stuff on dSLR cameras and interchangeable lenses. Minolta were not very good at this either and had hoped that it would improve with the advent of Sony pr/marketing - yikes I hope they did not take on the Minolta pr/marketing people ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_paul1 Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 Bill, I'm wondering if Sony hired any sales people with background in photo to specialize in promoting their DSLR, or if they will just use their regular sales force. As an aside, I was watching a women's professional golf tournament that had the young 16 y/o Michelle Wie in it. I understand that one of her major sponsor is Sony. (I think her other major sponsors are Nike and Omega watches.) I have yet to see her in any Sony ads. Perhaps she will be used in their promotions as both are 'new'. I can't believe that Sony will be paying her millions just for her to put their logo on her golf bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_frater Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Sony sales and marketing catalogues have been avertising the Alpha for a while now. I was watching the Queens club tennis tournament that happened before winbledon, and saw the Sony Aplha logo. If one is expecting mainstream avertising on TV, etc. Well that may or may not happen, as I have not seen any other major maker advertise either in TV, at least not that I have seen in my country, apart from Kodak. You see Sony logo everywhere. You also see Canon and Nikon. Saw a story from the marketing arm of Canon some time ago. They did a survey. Most people these days when they see Canon, do not think camera's, they think printers. I think Sony has played it right so far. There is still weeks to go till the official sales release. Plenty of time. As for marketing expertise. Sony being one of the largest electronic sellers and camera sellers do not need another sales department to sell a digital SLR. What have they done wrong so far ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Robert - I am wondering the same as you, after all product knowledge used to be essential to sell any item well ( in my experience anyway ) and good knowledge of the competition's products does not do any harm either. We will see ( I hope ). Jimmy - "finally corrected the errors on their website........." & "the snafu of the detail errors......." - not a very good start - or did you miss them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricardovaste Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 release in england yet? i just went past jessops and there was an advertisement on the window for the A100... didnt really notice if it was a coming soon or available to buy notice as im not looking to buy one. anyone else seen similar in england? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_paul1 Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 <<I have not seen any other major maker advertise either in TV...>>> Jimmy, in the U.S. market, there have been numerous ads on TV for the Canon Digital Rebel. And I agree with Bill that seperate sales people knowledgeable in photography is important, especially if Sony's goal is to capture 20% of the DSLR market. If their sales people do any product demos, people are going to ask questions regarding photography in general, and will be turned off if the Sony rep answers with a 'canned' answer about how the electronics does this or that to improve the picture, but not really knowing how to take a picture. Remember, the Alpha is part of a seperate semi independent division, so it sounds like they would have a seperate sales force. They'll probably need to know what 'bokeh' is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl attanapola Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Isn't bokeh something Japanese?? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 "What have they done wrong so far ???" For one, the only people who even know that there's a Sony DSLR coming in three weeks are nerds like us. Another thing they have done wrong is eliminating some of the most attractive Minolta lenses including the stunning 400 f/4.5 APO. I wonder if those Zeiss lenses will even ship in '06, or will it be the same story as the Olympus lenses that were announced more than a year ago and have yet to ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_frater Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 "The only people that know about this are nerds like us" Well really that is all that need to know for now. I took my 7D to work and apart from "wow that must be one of the best one you can get" is what I got from people. Most of the public do not want DSLR, nor do they know what is good from bad, all they want a digicam they can buy for a hundred dollars or more. And Sony are one of the best in selling those. Sony does not have to pick up the mum and dad buyers, not yet at least. A digital SLR even today is not going to be bought by anyone wanting to just take happy snaps, unless they have money to burn or are one of those people that want to show off by holding the newest and biggest thing. Someone mentioned "Bokeh" I would estimate 70% of normal SLR users do not know what that means. Many take pictures and techincally to not care about the lense and adderations, etc Some take photography more serious than others, and some use SLR in full auto mode anyway, and would have been better served with a small digicam. It's not hard to sell a DSLR to the masses, play some rock music, let the camera hang over the boobs over Bikini models dancing around, and bingo, you have a marketing bonanza. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_paul1 Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 Jimmy, I don't know where you live, but where I live people are buying DSLRs and not P&S, or pro-sumer cameras. Yesterday, I went to a Ritz Camera to get some prints done and there were about 5 people looking for cameras and all of them were looking at, and buying DSLRs, Canon and Nikon. I asked a sales clerk if they had received info on the Alpha, but they hadn't heard anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_frater Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Digicams, are selling way more than DSLR ever will, simply due to cost. And will also depend where you shop, chain department stores will sell mainly digicams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 "Most of the public do not want DSLR" This is not as true any more. As DSLR cameras rapidly approach the cost and size of 'advanced' digicams, they become more appealing to the buyer. A DSLR is probably not going to appeal to a rank amateur who has never held a camera before. It will appeal to a more advanced buyer, especially because one can never have the flexibility of a system in an all-in-one unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_frater Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I do not agree. The image quality and features on a modern digicam, and the tiny size will always appeal to the mainstream consumer. Digital SLR's will have a portion of the market share, but like normal SLR camera's over the years, they will never be the market share leader in camera's overall, due to cost, even though DSLR prices are falling. In reality not many mainstream consumers even get high end digicams. You are talking to a forum that is mainly SLR and DSLR users, because mainstream users do not care that much about photography other than a memory recorder, this forum opinions on a whole will be skewed towards SLR & DSLR views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_thorlin Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Jimmy - sorry but I am getting confused by what you are saying. You point out the differences between p&s digicams and dSLRs and the different users but do not seem to think that there is any need for a Sony salesman to know about this - "And Sony are one of the best in selling these". You say "most of the public do not want DSLR" and then say "It's not hard to sell a DSLR to the masses" - surely these are two very contradictory statements because if it was that easy "most of the public" would be rushing to buy ? "Sony does not have to pick up the mum and dad buyers, not yet at least" - who/what are "the mum and dad buyers" and surely Sony would be more than happy to pick up any buyer ? I think the "bokeh" comment was somewhat tongue in cheek but served to make a point. The dSLR market is now the important market for the camera companies. The p&s market is flooded with makers and models and the competition is fierce and the margins are slim to non-existent. To quote Nikon in a recent release - "dSLRs will account for about 10% of turnover but about 30% of profit" i.e. they are at least 3 times as profitable. This is where the money is and Sony have got to be in there - after all that is why they came in to start with. "to (sic) not care about the lense (sic) and adderations (sic), etc" - is this something to do with a mystery object and snakes ? ( Sorry I just could not resist. ) I know you are a great Minolta supporter as are most of us on this little forum and we do want Sony to succeed so that it stops being a little forum and is back in the forefront ( play on words ). At the moment we are wondering exactly how Sony are going about this - and that is all we are driving at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_harley1 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Truth is most people will buy a small P&S. Some of these may be persuaded to buy a slightly more expensive DSLR with a cheapish useful range zoom.This is where the A100 is positioned, highish spec compared to P&S and cheap. Hopefully these people become more avid and knowledgable users in time and purchase more accessories. I'm no longer sure that a higher spec camera is on Sony's mind at the moment.Their lens range does suggest a higher end, yet these are all rebadged Minolta and they may be as much legacy support for unfulfilled demand as they are positioning for the future, either way what's Sony got to lose by having them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_paul1 Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 Jimmy, whenever I've gone into my local Ritz store in the past month, the customers are looking at DSLRs. As Bill pointed out there are many makers of P&S digital cameras the prices are dropping, leaving small margins for the companies. So the traditional camera companies are looking to the DSLR to make profits. The digital P&S cameras have pretty much reached their limits when it comes to pixel count. Casio has a 10MP P&S, but in many cases the consumer aren't finding that their pictures are any sharper, because they don't do more than make a 4X6 print. The consumers are now turning from pixel count to the larger sensor size of a APS-C DSLR, as the retail clerk is teaching them that pixel count is secondary to sensor size and lens quality for sharper pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_krantz Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 In boston they had the a100 @ a stony style shop. I played with it a little - it had a cheapy 17-70 lens on it. I think it had eye control (ala canon elan) - can't say too much about it - focus in the store was a bit louder and slower than a canon. I didn't have a compact flash with me so didn't bother to take test pictures. Not sure if this was just a demo or if they were actually selling it but the display was typical of the products they were selling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_bocchino Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 The Sony Alpha has just made the cover of the August issue of Popular Photograhpy. That should increase its awareness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayla Posted August 2, 2006 Share Posted August 2, 2006 Have you seen http://www.digitaldaysphoto.com/ ? They are going to have the Sony A100 there to try out. Has anyone been to any of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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