Last Updated on 08/03/2020 by Chris Gampat
The next generation of Sony Cameras really needs a massive boost.
If you’re speaking from purely a tech standpoint, Sony is ahead of the curve in many ways. That tech and marketing curve attracted many new photographers to Sony, but it also brought a lot of professionals who switched over. Over the years, they’ve worked to improve their products and have listened a lot to their audience. But there are some things that they continue to not listen to. These are arguably now part of their core beliefs. Change is necessary at times.
Touchscreen Limitations
Sony continues to ultimately limit the functionality of their touchscreens. Why? They can be incredibly useful for many photographers who use their cameras as tools. At least with the Sony a7s III, we’re seeing a major difference. But it’s been way too long and with COVID 19 still causing chaos to the world’s economy, we’re not sure when the rest of their full lineof of cameras will receive this update. For most of us currently, you can only use it for shooting and autofocus point selection. But if you want to navigate through their massive menu system, you can’t. If you have the info settings displayed on the back LCD screen, you can’t tap one of them to change them immediately. If you’re playing back an image, you can’t double-tap an image to zoom in. Why? We know Sony has this technology with its Xperia lineup of phones. Why can’t you bring it to your cameras? Why not lean into the tech wholly? If you’re going to try to make something not be all about the tech, then why implement AI? Why not instead try to make something very colloquial and start by putting the Minolta label back on the cameras?
Editor’s note: this section and article were written before the Sony a7s III came out. We’ve reworked it a bit.
No Multiple Exposure Settings?
This is something few photographers might actually use unless they are very experienced. But with that experience, they’d be able to endlessly create with just the camera. It would be fantastic. Every other manufacturer has multiple exposure settings, which help photographers create images without having to go to the computer. It makes you less of a photo editor and more of a photographer. So, why does Sony not put this back in? (They used to have it, but they took it out.)
All the Things They Took Away from Us
We’re referencing an article from years ago when Sony had its PlayMemories App store. Some of the best things we’re missing include:
- Touchless shutter: a big one for tripod shooting
- Multiple Exposure: duh!
- Star Trail: this is sort of there
- Light Painting: Sony lets users paint with light, remove them from an image, and enables you to superimpose them on another. HOW COOL COULD THAT BE?!
Diopter Enhancements
Lots of people wear glasses. Yet the best diopter enhancements I’ve seen from a company are those from Panasonic and Leica. Sony could afford to do much more here. Many photographers don’t have perfect vision. And this could be changed with a viewfinder redesign or even something having to do with the elements. Sony has spoken about changes in the optical formula and the coatings before in the EVF.
Even Better Weather Sealing
We continue to see issues with weather sealing and Sony cameras. I own Canon, Fujifilm, and Sony camera systems. I’ve tested every system out there. Sony cameras are the ones that consistently need the most cleaning at the mount. And this is odd because it’s the smallest of the bunch. I’m not sure it’s an issue with the lenses; the mount itself could prove to be at fault. Sony should really fix and reinforce this.