The Orange End Of The Shop is sometimes a little bit of foreign territory to me - many of the boxes are sealed and I do not get a chance to dive into them for the treasures. But occasionally the seals are opened for business and I get to see what's inside. This week I have taken out three diverse products to see if they are:
- Any good.
- Any good together.
- Any good for me.
From the conclusions I may be able extrapolate to see if they would be any good for you.
I have a long respect for Sony, though in my case it was hifi and radio gear that sold me on them - the early 70's were a burgeoning time for Sony and I got to use their amplifiers, tuner, and Trinitron colour television sets for several years. At the time, they had some of the best value for money audio gear avaiable here in Perth. The televison tube burned itself out in a few years - it was operating on a pretty high pressure - but while it worked, it was the sharpest colour TV in the state.
The aquisition of the Minolta and Konica forms by Sony in the early digital era was also a real surprise - and when Camera Electronic were able to participate in selling the new Sony DSLR cameras, we were all impressed. The high-end ones had several features that no-one else did, and when they were combined with Zeiss optics the results were grand. I'm pleased to see that Sony has also been able to keep that sort of relationship in their mirror-less cameras.
I was also pleased to see that Sony was able to provide good lenses under their own name at a more economical price. Let's not be coy - Zeiss glass, no matter how it got into your hand - whether it was on the 500-series Hasselblad, the Cosina-based Zeiss Ikon cameras, or under the plain Zeiss name, was going to cost serious money. Such is also the case when they put an E mount on the back end of it and clap it on a full-frame Sony mirror-less camera. But there is good news:
If you keep on using the same camera system, you only have to pay the Zeiss people once. The lenses are not going to be bettered by any appreciable margin, so you can keep on shooting with the Zeiss glass you have. This may be a test of your character, but it will ease the pressure on your superannuation...
So....So what did I check out of the stores this week? A fabulous cutting-edge, gluten-free mirrorless camera that is as new as three weeks from now? A Zeiss lens that costs more than my car? A video rig with a framework that looks like a Rapier missile launcher? No. I took out three more modest things that fit and worked...and are unique in themselves.
I can't pretend to be unbiased when I look at camera gear and photo goods ( so don't feel guilty if you're not...). I have my own preferences. I have spent my money on stuff that I want to feel is the best there is. But I am also prepared to admit that I've made some slightly dodgey choices. Driven by fan-boy faith, Scrooge-like frugality, and blind hope, I've bought things that have made me sorry. The only saving grace is, that if no good can be got from them, I can at least warn others.
Do not buy Meyer Görlitz lenses made in the 1950's...not if you wish to retain a shred of dignity...
But that's not Sony today. I've had a good week. I've picked good things off the shelf. They worked. Read on and see what happened.
Final note: We all make dud choices sometimes. Whether it is an item from an unfamiliar menu in an ethnic restaurant ( Hint: When the staff peek out of the kitchen door and take bets on what's going to happen when you pick up the fork, you're in trouble...) or an item that is too good to be true from the internet, we've all gone a bridge too far. Face the fact. Laugh as you tip it into the bin and accept it as a learning experience.
