Regardless of what you or I or someone else would do some shooting video do seem to really value the smoother zoom that power zoom offers.
So if we say this possibly adds value for video shooters, which I would still contest, however, for a hands-on stills users this must be a very negative thing:
- increased expense
- potentially compromised durability and a point of expensive failure
- delay, lack of precision and tactile feedback
- draw on camera battery
I view it same as auto tailgate in modern cars. Super annoying and unnecessary. When I am forced into one of these things I will research on day 1 how to disable and go back to the proverbial stone age where I can close it in a fraction of a second instead of 10s.
Also if zoom lens is truly video centric it should also have zero focus breathing and be parfocal.
Sony GM primes in general are better than sigma ART DN ones.
But it's really splitting hairs to be honest. I'd be just as happy with sigma primes optically, not so much their size in most cases
Sigma may have peaked with their 135mm, 105mm and 40mm DG designs.
It will be mostly on a case by case basis. For anything wider than 28mm I suspect the contemporary DN f/2 primes may be a lot sharper, at least going off TDP. I like f/1.4 glass but sharper f/2 at f/2 and onwards definitely wins it for me. You will be happy with their size too. They are one of the primary reason why I'm looking at E mount
In my case I view 35mm f/1.2 as pretty unique offering, which I may really want at some point. My Tamron is also excellent, but "only" f/1.4
In case of 50 and 85mm DN vs DG this really needs to be looked at really deeply, and also whether it is a waste of time upgrading in light of f/1.2 optics from either of the big three.
In case of zooms I can really see there being a massive headroom for improvement going from DSLR to newest mirrorless designs.
Also size and ergonomics aren't always related. It's possible to have a small ergonomic body but a large unergonomic body.
You hit the head on the nail. Sony managed to make the worst of both worlds in one package. The sculpting of the back is ridiculous and the height is a huge [well tiny] problem. They could only make it worse by adding sharp edges.
Having said that, purely on tripod it may be good enough compromise for the wholly inadequate AF (for 50MP sensor), screen and DR of 5Ds, with the added benefit of no AA, extra 10MP and that high res composite mode. It is a compromise, an extension, maybe temporary one, and as such I don't plan to be irrevocably locked into the system.
Plastic can be just as durable or even more durable than metal. Metal and heavy objects doesn't automatically equal better quality or more ergonomic.
I think marketing language aside you simply can't polish you know what. It may be good enough... maybe for a good while at least. It will creak in hand, vibrate on tripod more (R6 surely does that a lot), age quicker and eventually something will break.
This engineering plastic just gave me a massive headache with vax portable vacuum. Sure I could try to buy a replacement part, but a that's just poor. So I am basically gluing it all up with super glue + NaHCO3 + coal. I see this in older laptops too.. It just doesn't stand the test of time past the initial honeymoon period. Bare minimum it scratches easily, attracts bacteria in the crevasses [so no plastic tupperware allowed near me!!!!] and of course it pollutes the environment. Eventually most of it will end up in the sea unless something changes in the big way.
Sometimes I don't really understand people's fascination with big heavy metal objects
Brass and stainless steal are pretty heavy. But I don't think we are talking about these at all, maybe except the core helicoid of a lens, etc.
Engineering grade aluminium is hardly noticeably heavier than plastic, of which you may simply need a much more.
https://www.metals4u.co.uk/blog/a-guide-to-aluminium-grades-and-their-uses
For the prices they should really give us type 7000.
Premium laptops typically use one of the grades and I haven't heard anyone complain they would prefer plastic. quite the opposite.
But that is not all.
titanium is premium, super strong and very lightweight. I have titanium watch and that is super light. I love it. Iphones now come with titanium shell and bezel. I think that is great. Probably the only good thing about them actually. So yes, you can have lightweight and metal as proved in the aeronautics industry. Planes are not plastic.
So why the hell can't camera manufacturers give us alu 7000 let alone titanium in at least the super premium £4-6k cameras like R5, Z8 and A7R series instead of cheap polluting plastic more suited for entry level offerings. At the same time I am sick of that rubber handgrip when they could easily give us premium leather. That is really p***-taking. They want max profit today and min durability. They don't want anything to last past 2-3 year term. And that is super sick.
but at a suspiciously cheap price.
