How to convince Average Joe that Sony's DSLRs are actually quite good?

[weishengg]

its nice, nice to hold, nice touch, even though i molest it only twice

eh? how come you only molest it twice? what happened to it?

 

[SeanIR]

You seem to be a bit put off by the term. Does it offend you?

It simply means photography non-enthusiasts or new enthusiasts who never owned a DSLR before and are looking to invest into a system.

Yes, everyone is unique. But to me, you're just a face in the crowd. (As I would be to you)

Well, I was abit peeved by the term. I must say I recently had a bad experience at a camera shop in Funan. Although I may look like I dun understand the local Dialect but I do, the person in the shop made a reference about me as a "Joe". Thats why I was abit peeved.

Anyway, synapseman, I thank you for clearing up the term for me. And No I was not offended. I must apologise if I seem rude.
Thanks and regards to all.

 

[yokechye]

eh? how come you only molest it twice? what happened to it?

one display set, another is friend's :bsmilie:
dun hv money to upgrade :bsmilie:

 

[Exposure]

Whenever people ask me to recommend a camera, I find that I invariably would ask them to consider C or N. Sony? It doesn't even come across as a camera brand to most. Not a DSLR brand anyway. Explaining to them that the Alpha series has a Minolta heritage doesn't really mean anything to them either.

So how? What would be the major factor(s) that could win over average Joe to the Sony camp?

Price? The D60/EOS450 body prices are also very competitive.

SSS? At the current Sony prices in Sg, when it comes to a stabilised Body+Lens combo, in terms of total price, Sony doesn't have an advantage at all.

show him pictures from different brands... action talk louder than words.

show him the DRO effect, shoot some photos at floodlights with different brands.. and u can see that Sony Alpha is able to capture the floodlights without whitewash..

 

[boombox]

Tell Joe that Sony is No2 Cam sales in the world, only after Canon. :devil: (That however includes P&S sales :bsmilie

Secondly, it really depends on Sony how competitive they want to be in the market (think PS3 vs XBOX or HD-DVD vs BR-DVD). :angel: But their focus aren't on DSLRs for the near future as they might generate more profit in sensor sales to other menufacturers.

I think Sony will become very competitive in the DSLR market -specially with the influx of new Alpha models as well as new lenses (hope the price in SG go down though) but well Minolta lenses are available too.

sidetrack - PS3 vs XBOX / HD-DVD vzs Blu-ray? Well, from there we may see a good future for the PS3 as it uses Blu- Ray and Blu-Ray already beat(?) HD-DVD.

So to relate to DSLR, it maybe good for Sony's Built-In SSS and DRO..etc. Well, Sony is really good technologically and it may not be difficult to break into this market.

These guys are super aggressive marketers... as you can see, PSP is everywhere, and on the MRT, the whole train sounded like the arcades... :sweatsm:

The hardware is good, just hopefully the prices become more sensible to make all the special additions worth it.

 

[tankm]

you next buy is a900. :bsmilie:

one display set, another is friend's :bsmilie:
dun hv money to upgrade :bsmilie:

 

[Knighthunter]

show him pictures from different brands... action talk louder than words.

show him the DRO effect, shoot some photos at floodlights with different brands.. and u can see that Sony Alpha is able to capture the floodlights without whitewash..

I think the DRO implementation in the sony is more on signal processing from the sensor. Unfortunately DRO is not embedded in the RAW output of A700, this is bummer! So raw processing with 3rd party software will not have any DRO information on it. To get DRO on RAW file it must applied using Image Data Converter SR another useless software from Sony. Sometime I regretted why I sold my KM 5D, but hell yeah with A700 I can buy more accessories :lovegrin:

Lenses price in SG for sony is suck dig time......

 

[greenieadi]

This a bit OT but another reason the Average Joe wants or at least scrutinise Sony DSLR.

Read this :The Digital Sensor: A Guide to Understanding Digital Cameras, recently posted on Anandtech.com, so quite up to date views. I linked elsewhere but response was quite lukewarm as the review seems to champion Sony, but it is not. Do read the comments at the end of the post, very eye opener too.

 

[yokechye]

These guys are super aggressive marketers... as you can see, PSP is everywhere, and on the MRT, the whole train sounded like the arcades... :sweatsm:

The hardware is good, just hopefully the prices become more sensible to make all the special additions worth it.

:sweat:last year i went back sg was so socked to see so many psp gamers. over in aus, it is still very rare

 

[yokechye]

you next buy is a900. :bsmilie:

shhhh...... :bsmilie:
but if a900 is too expensive 'if it is' a canon 5d equivalent, then that is out,
if a900 is a 1D equivalent, due to the fact that it is a 24mp so i think the price might be super high, but 'maybe' at a competitive price, it is still confirm out again for me. :bsmilie:

by then, i suppose a700 will be cheaper abit n i can buy le.
i am still turned off by the price of sony lenses. zzzzzzzz

 

[Rashkae]

I think the DRO implementation in the sony is more on signal processing from the sensor. Unfortunately DRO is not embedded in the RAW output of A700, this is bummer!

The DRO is applied in the JPEG post-processing. If Sony applied DRO on the RAW file, there would be a massive negative feedback about "how dare you apply DRO on a RAW file" etc etc etc

 

[Knighthunter]

The DRO is applied in the JPEG post-processing. If Sony applied DRO on the RAW file, there would be a massive negative feedback about "how dare you apply DRO on a RAW file" etc etc etc

I though DRO was alternating physical CMOS sensitivity which I think something very special from Sony only just to turn out is post processing at software level only.

 

[Rashkae]

I though DRO was alternating physical CMOS sensitivity which I think something very special from Sony only just to turn out is post processing at software level only.

No, Sony does not alter the CMOS sensitivity; It's fixed at whatever ISO you set it to. Like I said, it would cause World War 3 in the photography world if Sony did that. As it is, their on-CMOS noise reduction already caused a huge fuss. Imagine if a photographer sets his ISO to 200 and turns on DRO, and then parts of the sensor were at 400, others at 100, etc... It would be a PR disaster for Sony rather than a great feature.

What the DRO does is actually segment the picture into 1200 individual zones, evaluate each individually then apply the correction. It's actually quite advanced and difficult to imitate in software (PS experts have tried), as this is implemented in hardware on the camera JPEG engine. That's why if you shoot RAW, even Sony's RAW processing software can't really imitate DRO.

 

[theITguy]

More often than not, many people buy something based on impulse or feel. This is especially true for the "average joe".

Sony is definitely not good for me, but for others I may recommend them Sony, maybe Canon, Nikon or even Pentax. Its the branding and feel of security that counts. Ultimately it is not us that pays the money. Imagine I recommend Sony and the guy thinks Canon is for him and the picture sucks, it will become my problem, although it is the guy's problem.

 

[yokechye]

More often than not, many people buy something based on impulse or feel. This is especially true for the "average joe".

Sony is definitely not good for me, but for others I may recommend them Sony, maybe Canon, Nikon or even Pentax. Its the branding and feel of security that counts. Ultimately it is not us that pays the money. Imagine I recommend Sony and the guy thinks Canon is for him and the picture sucks, it will become my problem, although it is the guy's problem.

then when you recommend the guy something, you should put a disclaimer that you give no responsibility for any damages he incurred. :bsmilie:
just kidding