Who’s buying the Sony a1MK2?

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Are you buying the Sony a1MK2


  • Total voters
    118
yeah we will see.. I think in the end all brands will end up being roughly equal in terms of body performance and glass, but there will always be months (years?) between when they play catch up.

for example my year with the Z9 + 400TC over the RF 600, I captured tons of images I would've missed with the R5 + RF 600 combo. Same thing if I went A1 II + 600GM over Z9 + 600TC potentially.

the ball is definitely in Nikon's court to make something that at least catches up to the R5II / A1 II, if not surpasses it. neither of those releases have been particularly well received, even by fanboys.

I really hope the Sony 400TC isn't the first released, because with the advent of the 300GM - I don't think I'd ever buy a 400TC again.

What I'd really like is for Nikon to come out with a 300TC, instead of a 100-300. Even if they do choose the unfortunate route of a 100-300, I'd probably buy one and pair it with the 600TC and call it good.

So many options, and none of them are bad. Just about nitpicking and min maxing.
400 is likely first since it came out a year before the 600. I have both plus the 300 and for wildlife I can see folks opting for the 300 and 600 as a combo. But Sony is very interested in the sports market where they compete against Canon. For those shooters a 400 is a 400 and a 300 doesn’t cut it when they need a 400. I’m sure for basketball and some indoor sports the 300 has been well received. But when you get to field sports the 400 and 600 are still king.
 
400 is likely first since it came out a year before the 600. I have both plus the 300 and for wildlife I can see folks opting for the 300 and 600 as a combo. But Sony is very interested in the sports market where they compete against Canon. For those shooters a 400 is a 400 and a 300 doesn’t cut it when they need a 400. I’m sure for basketball and some indoor sports the 300 has been well received. But when you get to field sports the 400 and 600 are still king.

very true. I think it would make a lot of sense for Sony to do a 400TC, but selfishly it wouldn't add any value for me haha

often times I forget there are other types of photographers out there who don't just shoot wildlife and landscapes..
 
very true. I think it would make a lot of sense for Sony to do a 400TC, but selfishly it wouldn't add any value for me haha

often times I forget there are other types of photographers out there who don't just shoot wildlife and landscapes..
Yeah I wouldn’t sell my 400 to upgrade. The 600 maybe or just keep it.
 
What I'd really like is for Nikon to come out with a 300TC, instead of a 100-300. Even if they do choose the unfortunate route of a 100-300, I'd probably buy one and pair it with the 600TC and call it good.
I'm rooting for a 100-300 2.8 TC :)

That with the 600 TC and you'd have just about everything covered with exotic glass.
 
I'm picking up mine this afternoon :)
Happy Dance!!
If I knew my dealer could ship today or tomorrow I would have gone through with my purchase. I'm resisting contacting him again as he has probably already allocated all his shipment to other preorders now and won't have one for me anymore unless a lot of people didn't go through with the orders.
I'll be patient till January. Looks like terrible weather for most of Xmas in my area anyways so doubt I'd get much to shoot if I did get it this week.
 
Mine is still very much on order and I'm excited to get it. I understand the gripes about price as Sony has stuck to the typical Canon and Nikon flagship pricing, whereas both of them have lowered their prices (and in the case of the R5ii and Z8, quite a lot). This said, I don't get the disappointment with the a1ii from a feature upgrade standpoint. It seems to me that in the digital age (and even moreso in the film age), most of the manufacturers' releases were pretty incremental with game changing releases being few and far between. Of all the cameras I've handled or been familiar with in Sonyland, the a7s (low light video), a9 (20fps and tracking) and a1 might be considered lightning strikes.

I'm much less familiar with Nikon and Canon, but I would ask those who are, how many of their releases were lightning strikes? For Canon, I was around for the 5D2 which I think qualifies. The R5 likely also qualifies, but the R5ii seemed to get a similar lackluster reception as the a1ii. Were there other lightning strikes, or were they mostly solid iterations?

From Nikon, in the run up to the Z9, what I heard a lot of was hope for a "D3 moment". In the intervening years there were a lot of other releases. How many of those upgrades brought more to the table than a1 to a1ii or R5 to R5ii?
Just got the ship notice from Adorama. Pre ordered less than two weeks ago. In case folks are curious about ship times. I know it will vary be retailers.
 
FWIW - after the initial excitement wore off, I cancelled my preorder and returned my CFA cards to sit back with Nikon for now.

My initial thinking was that I'd buy the best no matter what, (Sony A1 II + 300GM + 600GM), but when I started adding up the transition costs I could nearly buy an additional TC prime (400/600TC) for the same cost.

Which is more important for securing shots? 30FPS (vs 20), better AF, and precapture, or TC lens? I think it's a toss up depending on subject.

So for now I kept the Nikon kit, may add some more lenses for "free" compared to the Sony swap, and reevaluate when the A1 II is available for $5K or less in a few months. Or if/when Sony comes out with their own TC primes.

Everything I'm reading and talking with dealers about says there's not much interest in the A1 II right now, even less than there was for the A9 III. Hopefully the market will show Sony where the pricing should've been, and make it a more palatable swap in the near future.

I’m 50/50 on pre-capture versus TC. Surely, the Z9ii will be out next fall with pre-capture.
 
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I picked mine up from my local store, I think you're right David it's going to sell better than people thought, none of the local stores have stock available.

Haven't had a chance to set it up other than attaching the grip but the new camera body feel very nice in the hand, better than the original A1 for sure.
Yeah the new ethos are amazing!
 
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