Not from thin air but from the wording of who will use the camera...
I quote:
"Offering features that meet demanding requirements from even professional photographers, this highest-end camera body..."
It says meeting requirements from even professional photographers; it did not say meeting requirements of professional photographers.
There is a world of difference in the phraseology... the original wording means that this is a camera that even professional photographers will be satisfied with, meaning to say that this not the primary target group. Whereas the counterpoint statement indicates that the camera was specifically built to meet the needs of professional photographers. I think if u read the advertisements of the professional bodies from Canon and Nikon, they take pains to emphasize that these bodies are meant for professional use... why be so vague when publicising something at the top end of your range? Here Sony is not emphasizing the professional target but to indicate that even they will find this camera satisfactory.
Sony seems to be fudging with its choice of words. If it were a pro level camera, Sony would have simply said that the features would meet or exceed the expectations of professional photographers, and not use the phrase " from even professional photographers"...
Hence my deduction would be that this flagship would be akin to the Canon 5D or Nikon D200 in the larger scheme of things... just below the pro range but definitely usable by them... hence it's a highest end camera (in the non-pro range)... I expect that Sony might use another line to launch their professional model...
There are more clues in the earlier passage. Sony speaks of solidifying their position in the DSLR market. And this means they are targetting wider market segments. In line with this, they would be targetting the mid-range and high end amateur photographers compared to professionals. As rightfully pointed in various threads in Dpreview forum, how many professionals are there? There are obviously significantly more high-end amateurs willing to cough out for a $4,000 DSLR compared to professionals who would pay $12,000 for a pro level DSLR. Take a look at the Luminous Landscape website where a trip to Antarctica was origanised by Michael Reichmann. Of the numerous non-pros (high-end amateurs), a significant number used the Canon 5D. These are people with money to burn but not willing to trade up to a pro level camera. The just-below-pro level of equipment fits their needs perfectly. Otherwise why would Canon launch a 5D?
Note also that nowhere in the press release statement is the word professional used in conjunction directly to describe the flagship camera while the same term is used to describe the 2nd wave of lenses in the same article. The omission is interesting.
Another also interesting point is that Sony uses the term flagship for this camera rather than professional which is what most camera brands do when they are launching a professional body. The cachet associated with professionalism helps maintain the high price. Yet Sony chooses to forgo the marketing behind the term "professional" and uses flagship. Says a lot, doesn't it?
Having looked at all these, I conclude that this flagship is not a professional level camera like the 1D or D2H series from Canon and Nikon respectively but more similar to their semi-professional ones like the 5D and the D200.
I would look at their product chart as follows:
Entry - A100
High-end amateur - A10 (what is usually referred to)
Semi-professional - A1 (what is usually referred to)
And my guess is that Sony might launch another line of cameras as the professional line - slight change in name to alpha brand perhaps like adding a number of adjective in similar manner to Canon's use of D and Nikon's use of D as well...
Got it? :devil:
I quote:
"Offering features that meet demanding requirements from even professional photographers, this highest-end camera body..."
It says meeting requirements from even professional photographers; it did not say meeting requirements of professional photographers.
There is a world of difference in the phraseology... the original wording means that this is a camera that even professional photographers will be satisfied with, meaning to say that this not the primary target group. Whereas the counterpoint statement indicates that the camera was specifically built to meet the needs of professional photographers. I think if u read the advertisements of the professional bodies from Canon and Nikon, they take pains to emphasize that these bodies are meant for professional use... why be so vague when publicising something at the top end of your range? Here Sony is not emphasizing the professional target but to indicate that even they will find this camera satisfactory.
Sony seems to be fudging with its choice of words. If it were a pro level camera, Sony would have simply said that the features would meet or exceed the expectations of professional photographers, and not use the phrase " from even professional photographers"...
Hence my deduction would be that this flagship would be akin to the Canon 5D or Nikon D200 in the larger scheme of things... just below the pro range but definitely usable by them... hence it's a highest end camera (in the non-pro range)... I expect that Sony might use another line to launch their professional model...
There are more clues in the earlier passage. Sony speaks of solidifying their position in the DSLR market. And this means they are targetting wider market segments. In line with this, they would be targetting the mid-range and high end amateur photographers compared to professionals. As rightfully pointed in various threads in Dpreview forum, how many professionals are there? There are obviously significantly more high-end amateurs willing to cough out for a $4,000 DSLR compared to professionals who would pay $12,000 for a pro level DSLR. Take a look at the Luminous Landscape website where a trip to Antarctica was origanised by Michael Reichmann. Of the numerous non-pros (high-end amateurs), a significant number used the Canon 5D. These are people with money to burn but not willing to trade up to a pro level camera. The just-below-pro level of equipment fits their needs perfectly. Otherwise why would Canon launch a 5D?
Note also that nowhere in the press release statement is the word professional used in conjunction directly to describe the flagship camera while the same term is used to describe the 2nd wave of lenses in the same article. The omission is interesting.
Another also interesting point is that Sony uses the term flagship for this camera rather than professional which is what most camera brands do when they are launching a professional body. The cachet associated with professionalism helps maintain the high price. Yet Sony chooses to forgo the marketing behind the term "professional" and uses flagship. Says a lot, doesn't it?
Having looked at all these, I conclude that this flagship is not a professional level camera like the 1D or D2H series from Canon and Nikon respectively but more similar to their semi-professional ones like the 5D and the D200.
I would look at their product chart as follows:
Entry - A100
High-end amateur - A10 (what is usually referred to)
Semi-professional - A1 (what is usually referred to)
And my guess is that Sony might launch another line of cameras as the professional line - slight change in name to alpha brand perhaps like adding a number of adjective in similar manner to Canon's use of D and Nikon's use of D as well...
Got it? :devil:
haha.
