sonyalpharumors

Yeah and how has “being innovative” worked for them the last 6 years? Not very well in DSLRS at all. There is another way you are just being blind as Sony about the subject.

end of line.

Sony doesn’t necessarily need to beat Nikon and Canon in sales numbers. (it would be nice but it’s not vital)

Sony needs to beat “itself” in sales numbers. The Sony Alpha/NEX division needs show that it is “growing” year over year. They must sell more cameras in 2013 than it did in 2012 or 2011. (Thailand tragedy will hurt in the short term)

Even if their industry market share against Nikon and Canon is only very modest, if Sony can keep selling more cameras than the year before, than investors will keep the money coming.

I think a balanced SLR and SLT model lineup will only HELP Sony’s year over year sales numbers.

I believe this is key:

An “A600″ that is NOT CRIPPLED to protect the A77, will HELP Sony make it’s sales goals. Don’t “force” the Sony SLR fans to buy into SLT. Make roads for BOTH technologies and let the buyers decide.

If they sell more SLR than SLT or vice versa, so be it!

The bigger issue is SELLING CAMERAS and showing year over year profit increases.

Lets not be afraid of SLR and worry if too many people will want that over SLT. Make that A600 (if it even exists..lol) a smart camera and don’t dumb it down. That typical trick wont help Sony if they make it “dumb” and nobody buys the thing!

SLR fans are out there and Sony needs to tap that market too.

Unfortunately you are completely missing the point. The tiny sales of OVF cameras probably doesn’t justify the manufacturing cost. Canon and Nikon kill Sony in the OVF market and they need to create their own market.

For Sony, OVF is dead and SLT a sticking plaster, mirror-less is where they are going, if you don’t like it, jump ship now.

It is patently obvious that if Sony OVF cameras were so popular and selling so well, they would manufacturer them. The reason Sony don’t manufacture OVF cameras is staring you in the face guys!

end of line.

Carl, that depends on the numbers. If the number of OVF users that jump to Canon and Nikon is vastly outnumbered by new SLT numbers, why should Sony care?

Carl, where is your evidence that it is financially viable for Sony to continue with OVF cameras? The ceasing of OVF cameras doesn’t appear to support your assertion.

So you don’t have any. Glad we got that sorted.

If you re-read my posts you’ll see a lot of “probably” and “maybe” in there.

However, would you care to answer the main point? If OVF cameras were successful why would they stop manufacture of them in favour of SLT?

I’d imagine the shareholders would take a very dim view of ceasing production of a commercially viable product that is making vast sums of money.

The reason they don’t make them is pretty obvious.

I doubt management would have dropped a successful OVF product with the shareholders looking over their shoulder no matter what management thought the future was.

The numbers talk and they probably had very poor A580 sales compared to the A55, this was hinted at when Sony said they were surprised by the interest in the A55 and that it influenced their decision to go SLT for the A700 replacement.

If Sony weren’t absolutely sure about SLT I think we would have seen an OVF version of the A77 too, which was also hinted at, the A750.

It appears the shareholders were happy to dump OVF for the A7 series and the only way they’d make that decision would be on solid numbers for the A55 and poor sales of the A580.

One other thing, there appears to be an impression that I am anti-OVF. Clearly choice is a good thing and I could not care less how many OVF cameras Sony have, I still have one! However, perhaps I am more of a realist in terms of the direction that Sony have taken, if the A77 turned out rubbish, I would be a Nikon user now, I really don’t care about brand.

Perhaps I am being overly simplistic when talking of “shareholders”, it was an obvious attempt to keep it simple and illustrate that it isn’t only dSLR management that look at the numbers.

What I mean is, whoever is looking over the numbers for their dSLR business. These people do not care about the technology and probably don’t know what an OVF/EVF is!

Their only interest is the raw numbers and what product is and is not making a lot of money and worth manufacturing.

Oh I’ve never said that Sony management are any good, we definitely do NOT differ in that respect. The same can easily be said for Canon and Nikon upper management too no doubt, just ask any Canon or Nikon user about some of the bizarre stuff those brands get up to.

My ONLY assertion is that for whatever reason, Sony do not see the OVF as being financially viable. Money does indeed talk. That and SLT isn’t here for the long run, mirror-less is.