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Dear Sony: We Could Use f1.0 Lenses, or a Heck of a Lot More Innovation

Chris Gampat
9 Comments
12/02/2018
2 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sony 85mm f1.4 G Master lens product images. (8 of 8)ISO 4001-160 sec at f - 2.5

Dear Sony: that’s nice that you could make f1.0 lenses, so please do that and a lot more.

I completely understand Sony’s take on the fact that f1.0 lenses won’t sell as well as an f1.2 lens for the Sony FE mount, but I think that this could help push not only Sony but other dedicated camera manufacturers to do something much bigger and better for the industry. I look at what Apple and Google are doing with phones and see that they’re going squarely after Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, etc. But I don’t see the Japanese companies responding in any way and it perplexes me.

Sony could have been a significantly more innovative company if they simply hadn’t killed one of the biggest and best things about their camera system: the PlayMemories apps. Features like touchless shutter should be built in and charged for accordingly. So too should things like time lapse shooting modes. But beyond that, I’m sure that Sony could do even more. They could probably find a way to use AI or other things to make their lens bokeh even creamier. I mean, imagine a medium format looking images with The Sony 24mm f1.4 G Master lens. I know that it’s possible organically as the Canon 50mm f1.2 RF L USM has an output that looks like an 80mm f2 medium format lens. So if Canon, a company that hasn’t really innovated in the past 8 years, can create a lens and camera system that can look like and rival that of a medium format camera, then why can’t Sony? Sony is arguably the single most innovative camera maker on the market and yet they’re holding themselves back.

These innovations don’t necessarily need to be on the hardware side, they could also be on the software side. This too would mean that Sony would need a much more suped up processor–and as it is we typically don’t know a whole lot about camera processors. For all we know, the processor in our phones could be significantly better than that inside a camera.

Then there are loads of other big things that could be done:

  • Wireless tethering via the internal modem to a computer and Capture One or Sony’s own software could receive the images.
  • Computational photography that creates better RAWs and JPEGs overall
  • Apple’s lighting options in portrait mode
  • Heck, Snapchat and Instagram filters
  • Better wireless tethering to your own phone where the phone receives the images as you shoot
  • Why not try to do more with Bluetooth?
  • Connecting to Sony’s own wireless headphones via Bluetooth for video recording
  • Teaming up with a printing company to give photographers better integration to go right to the printer–which could really help out at parties and weddings

This is just a start; but if we’re going to talk about f1.0 lenses, then we should also be talking about how much more not only Sony, but many other companies in the photo world should be innovating.

apple camera canon f1.0 lenses google innovation sony
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Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
9 Comments
  1. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    Great article indeed. With my own needs moving towards lighter primes and ideas like using a speed booster on a Canon M5/M5ii to make affordable 1.8 glass gather 1.2 light and the fact that computational photography is growing exponentially coupled with instagram, I wonder where photography is really going in terms of a career.

    Having said that, creatives, video, equipment and YouTube still might keep expensive large sensored(in relation to smartphones) devices in demand.

    But let’s not forget that something like the DJI Osmo pocket is proof enough(imo) that we need lighter, easier, quicker and uninterrupting devices and editing methods to create content.

    I suppose “traditional” photography/videography might just become even more niche than it is currently, thereby increasing the competition amongst us, end users, who do this for our bread and butter and I guess that’s a good thing overall.

  2. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    maybe sony just tried to say, “we can make f/1.0 e-mount lenses but we can’t make it small enough for human use” 🙂
    j.k.. yes, who doesn’t want an exotic f/1.0 lens??

  3. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    Sony’s already working on AI/computational photography features for its ILCs. Who knows when we’ll see them, though. Good shot they’ll premiere in the RX series, to help smartphone shooters transition by requiring them to do as little work as possible to make photos…

  4. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    I am fine with Sony especially A7III that included so much more than previous gen. Apple increase price every generation now. Google nexus is nice but now it move to pixel with premium price, don’t see any good to industry these day BTW I like how Chinese brand do.

    I do agree on Playmemory part that should have continue to exist.

    Anyway on that list of thing doesn’t make me take better photograph, so if it will make camera price increase then don’t add it. This is camera not a smartphone, main point is taking photo. East of use is nice to have but not with additional cost.

    Have you use remote app often? If not, please do. Even using wifi now taking photo that is 2MP jpeg still slow and live view on app is very unresponsive, maybe because only wireless N. Wireless tethering with raw is totally not possible with current tech/price point.

  5. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    and I want more pancakes, small, light, even f3.5 is fine

  6. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    Meanwhile, F-mount is smaller, and never was an issue until Nikon made it one.

  7. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    yes with soft corners as most of the time with a too narrow apsc mount on FF sensor

  8. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    The tethering ideas are wonderful and I hope we see some of those. I’m not a huge fan of ending a tethered session with a bunch of half-resolution or SOOC JPEG copies of my RAW images I’ll never use littering my phone or laptop. At the same time, 80mb raw images going to my phone as I shoot present interesting power and storage challenges.

    Computational (heavily software-assisted) photography have made enormous advances but that isn’t the core of Sony (cameras)’s business as a digital optics company. Why Apple and Google are doing it so well is they are software companies first that can make great hardware to run that software.

    Fuji has a ton of baked-in “looks” for shooting JPEG but I’m not sure there is a call for that on a wider scale (beyond Sony’s few ‘creative styles’).

  9. Guest

    05/04/2019 2:52 am
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    Even as a lover of the 28, I think the community would really love a sharp, pretty compact 35 f/1.8 first

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