To those of you looking at purchasing new cameras this coming season...

[Wes Carter]

I've been in the Nikon camp since the mid 1980s when I bought a Nikon EM and a 50mm lens kit. I've invested too much time and money into lenses and gear to swap over to anything else. But I could have easily bought a Canon AE-1 or a Pentax K-1000 and been just as happy. I shot semi pro for a few years and the used glass options made owning one of the big two a much more viable option. The used and aftermarket options are wide open and getting loaners from Cannon or Nikon Professional Services make those two the choices of pros. But Sony and Pentax make fine cameras and good glass.

 

[ngjere]

Which is probably the reason I began with Sony and stuck with them. I really had nothing to start with and wasn't beholden to certain equipment. I've had plenty of Canikon shooters compliment my shots and are completely blown away when I tell them the image was shot with a 30 year old Maxxum lens I found at a garage sale for $5. As a matter of fact, I don't even own a lens built in the last decade that fit these bodies. Now of course you could argue that optics technologies have made many advances over that time with coatings etc. but not so much that you would be able to identify them with my shooting style. I guess my first goal was to find a system I could work into over time where glass didn't cost an arm and a leg and I wouldn't be heartbroken if I left a lens in the weeds and realized it 200 miles later.

Here's my view. Sony is beginning to see huge changes in their video acquisition equipment market which at one time, was their bread and butter. And in reading the market, they've come to conclusion that they need to go "all-in" in the photography area if for nothing else, to hedge their bets for the future. And when Sony takes that position, they usually take no prisoners. They have the technology and the financial resources to take on anyone. Yes, even Canon and Nikon. I think we might be seeing the beginnings of a battle for market share with the latest releases and I would not bet against Sony at this point in time.

 

[James Langford]

I started with the Sony F707 years and years ago. Such a great camera and way ahead of it's time. However, the user interfaces were clunky and the proprietary memory sticks were a joke. I switched to Canon DSLRs back in '03 I think and have been firmly in the Canon camp ever since. I currently shoot a 6d and 5d mk2. I think a big reason many don't switch is due to their investment in lenses, flashes etc. All of my equipment is forward compatible with the next Canon camera.

One huge reason I stay with Canon is due to Magic Lantern. The amount of creative control you gain once you master Magic Lantern is incredible. I know of no other platform that offers anything close. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, as making it work correctly is tricky.