Comment by altarius | Hacker News Reader

Comment by altarius | Hacker News Reader

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I don't know. This comes up all the time in photog discussions but I think it's just a matter of older Pros being used to it. Last Olympics was the first time I saw almost as many Sony cameras as Canon in the stands, so we will see if the pros all go back to CaNikon because they can't live with Sony and their argos - plenty of people have shot Sony now and Canon/Nikon have equal alternatives.

Canon/Nikon and Sony sure have different ergonomic visions. But I think, at the end of the day, it's more about professional support, parts and service availability, turnaround and general reliability than size/ergo.

Personally, I'm in the Sony camp - I use my 200-600 for hours for wildlife with my "bare" A9 or RIV without any issues. I feel like it's really the lens I'm holding and the camera is just an attachment I look through.

Imo, Sony's customizable enough that _anything_ is just a button away without ever taking my eyes off the EVF, no need for a larger body to fit the buttons and dials. But to each their own, and it's a great that we now have all the options.

And wildlife is a bit of specialty field, AF performance ultimately trumps ergonomics for most serious photographers, I think.

I've been channelling Thom Hogan who I've been reading for over 25 years. Thom is the most rational (and frequently only sensible) publicly available voice in the technical aspects of photography. Thom also worked for Osborne Computer..

Edit: https://bythom.com. by the looks of things about everyone here ought to go catch up with Thom's writings ;)

Sony's A1 became available almost half a pro body (4yr/2, actually nearer1.5y given pre production) than any other top level mirrorless cameras. This plus very aggressive selling support services to the agencies(which are a negligible number of pros globally especially in the states) gave Sony the home advantage Japanese pride fully deserved. As is self evident the performance level available from the A1 is too good to pass, especially when it's the only show in town.

But the A1 is the first professionally usable Sony period. Tokyo was Act1, Scene 1.

I only got into photography a few years ago, and I almost immediately felt this issue, so it's clearly not just a matter of habit.

It's also important to note we're not comparing between different brands here, we're comparing models within the same brand. E.g. Canon has the R3 but they also have the R5, which is much more appropriate for all professional uses that don't involve shooting action.

And finally, speaking of Sony ergonomics, e.g. my a6400 can't fit the focus joystick I have on my a7iii.

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