And now comes this: Youtuber claims that soon E-mount will be abandoned
I know this sounds crazy and maybe even “clickbaity”. But Michael Leidel brought a list of arguments why this might be happening within the next years. In very short:
- The E-mount lens system is saturated
According to him, we are now close to a point where it becomes difficult to sell new lenses because we already have a ton of excellent lenses for all kinds of photographers. And even though the new generation lenses that are coming out now have actually improved in terms of image quality, af performance and size, we cannot expect this situation to remain that way for much longer.
And relying “only” on camera sales is not enough to keep a system profitable. To be clear, the author states that eventually this will happen to all systems. Canon, Nikon, and so on. But Sony is already at that tipping point, thanks to its much longer history.
What is the solution, according to him? Launch a completely new mount system, for which people have to buy a completely new set of lenses from scratch.
Now, what kind of editing system is needed has not been speculated by the author of the video. I can add my personal option: I see only two possibilities:
- Switch to a new medium format system
- Keep the E-mount but launch a new Full Frame camera with curved sensor technology.
A quick elaboration on my two “solutions”:
Going Medium Format:
The question is whether Sony should use the same “small” medium format used by Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad XD cameras or opt for the larger format used by Phase One and Hasselblad digital backs. The “small” format is probably too close to full frame to offer any real advantage, while the larger medium format sensor has the disadvantage of having to handle extremely large lenses.
Curved sensor:
This would be the best solution to continue using the “sweet spot”: full frame sensors. Lenses would suddenly become a third smaller because they would no longer have to correct for angular distortions. A kind of medium format quality could be achieved without the disadvantages of larger cameras and their much larger lenses. The real challenge is production costs and yield. I don’t know how difficult it is to mass produce such a complex design.
Reality check: Sony E-mount is here to stay!
Sometimes it is fun to think about the possible big changes that might occur in the future. But in this rapidly changing world, it is impossible to make serious predictions about what the world will be like even in 3-4 years from now. Maybe artificial intelligence will kill photography anyway :)
My bet is that E-mount will be alive and kicking for a long time. Mainly because of the following reasons:
- it’s integrated into a variety of different areas (vlogging, professional broadcasting, cine gear and so forth)
- it’s an open mount system that welcomes innovation from third party manufacturers
- Sony is the king in the sensor tech. This will make sure Sony cameras will be always top in class (like the Sony A9III)
So what is your opinion? What should Sony do to make sure that the camera industry will be doing well in 5-10 years?