18 
Sony is trying to sell their new NEX e-mount camera by telling most DSLR users that they are dumb and stupid and clueless. According to their data, two thirds of all DSLRs users never take their camera out of the full-auto mode.
And almost three quarters admit they purchased it “for fun” and “family snapshots.” And 20 percent got it to post low res photos to Facebook.
So, knowing this, they took out professional photographer Gary Heery to the streets to tell all these people that they are a bunch of imbeciles who wasted a lot of money and apparently like to carry around heavy equipment to make their dumb full-auto photos.
Well, Sony—maybe this is not the best way to sell your new camera. Even if you are 100-percent right—and yes, yes you are totally right. [Sony Australia via PetaPixel]
These Imbeciles Thought the Titanic Disaster Was Just a Movie
The Complete Video Guide to the 2012 End of the World Imbecility
This Credit Card Costs £62,000 and an Imbecile's Soul
It’s an interesting strategy and it may gain them a bit of respect from the pro photographer community who feel under appreciated.
Oh mah gawd, I can’t believe you got that guy to wave his DSLR around without a lens. Think of all the dust and contamination that’s going to end up on the sensor!
I have a DSLR but I rarely ever take it out of Aperture Priority mode.
I always leave mine on “P” for professional, that way you always get pro quality photos!
i almost corrected you but then finished the sentence and lol`d quite hard.. thank you!
So that’s what it means!
Nice!
that’s the best mode IMHO
To some people, this summarises everything that’s wrong with the NEX line. Sony are designing them for casual photographers, rather than those who are more experienced but still want something more compact than a DSLR.
Most reviews I read of the NEX-5 criticise the lack of physical controls and the extensive menu system that hides common functions under a submenu of a submenu of a submenu. This may never change as long as Sony are aiming the NEX at casual users.
That said, I still want one of these.
I bought a Sony Cybershot camera with manual mode and view finder (it’s the last cybershot with a view finder from Sony) three years ago. I still love this camera very much. You can only change the aperture and exposure time so much on a small camera, but I have taken some great night time shots with it. Auto mode is useful for when you need to snap some pictures in short notice, but otherwise manual adjustment is always better.
Painful but true.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with people buying DSLRs and never taking them off automatic. It’s their money. I’m sure they’re happy with the results they get. Sure, it’s a waste on a number of levels, but they’re entitled to waste their money if they want. Maybe they think learning the controls is a waste of time. Maybe, for the pictures they would take, it would be too.
People are far too snobby about photography, “if you take pictures with your phone, you’re not a real photographer” or “if you shoot in portrait with your DSLR holding it with the shutter release button at the lowest point, then you’re a moron” (there was a debate on US Giz about this) “neck straps are for amateurs” .
/rant over.
All true, but what Sony’s saying is that for that kind of user, their mirrorless cameras make more sense than a DSLR. Which honestly is actually fair enough, regardless of it being marketing!
Totally fair enough. It’s the ‘idiot’ branding that I object to. It’s symptomatic of this attitude of superiority that some DSLR users like to have over witless amateurs. The only thing you can judge another photographer on is their results.
It is true, for most of those people, a camera phone (or iPad) would actually be enough for what they want to achieve! But that doesn’t look as good hanging round their neck…
agree.. but not about the neck strap bit, they are for pros.. you wrap them round your arm or fist to improve stability – TOP TIP!
if more people buy DSLRs then the cost goes down as the imports go up etc.. so fux it who cares.. ill do with mine as i wish, but i tend not to use auto as i like RAW files in post, but now and then i shoot on P.
i know a lot of pros and non of them shoot on full manual all the time.. its more about getting the image and the story not the settings to get there..
Yeah, the pros I know shoot on P a lot. I use manual more than any other but it’s partly some perverse desire to control as much as possible and partly a legacy thing from when I used to shoot on my old minolta SLR that had no light meter, no automation at all.
Having said that, though, I don’t tend to shoot people or anything that is fleeting and requires you to nail it in one or two exposures. I usually have time to get it wrong a dozen times (which is just as well).
I must admit I’m strapless, but I have my eye on a hand strap for those days when you need to dangle it over the edge of something high.
I do the “wrap the neck strap around my wrist” thing too if walking around, but it can make it tricky to shake hands with people…
I adopted the no-strap thing in Borneo. I was so paranoid about damaging it with clumsiness or humidity and I found that by having no strap, I would always put it back in my wee Crumpler bag which was lined with silica gel sachets and padded up. It also encouraged me to put the lens cap back on frequently.
LOL.. i do non of that, i miss treat mine so much.. i think it comes from having a Dad and a Granddad who were press toggers and the advice i always got was “how you gunna get that shot if its in your bag” my cameras take a beating.. poor things!
I’m particularly fond of aperture priority when the light is changing – I get to make the creative depth of field decision and Canon have spent the time and effort making a metering system to set the shutter speed for me, so why not let them? I’ve paid for that bit of engineering after all!
Manual for portraits or still life though, or critical situations where the light is constant, but then I’m in total control of the light and where it’s going.
It looks so small that it seems almost awkward to hold.
Oh sweet jesus, waving aorund the camera with the sensor all exposed. I liked the advert until they did that.
If Im feeling lazy I put mine on auto to see what the camera would do, then I put it back on M and work from there.
I’ve never used the automatic mode on my Pentax K20D (the only time it gets switched to auto is when I give it to my girlfriend). And DSLR owner who doesn’t know what DSLR means is an idiot!
Honestly that’s probably one of the best camera advertising campaigns I’ve seen, they’ve absolutely nailed it. Whilst I agree that the NEXs should also be far more aimed at at experienced shooters (you have the NEX-7 with it’s glorious controls but it’s also expensive) the lower down models aren’t terrible, I manage fine with my NEX-3 and have no trouble moving between it and a DSLR (it’s even better at some things).
There’s a few annoyances with the Nex 3 but I’ve taken some great shots with mine.
and sometimes I leave it in auto too!
What do you dislike about yours? I’d like to add one more customisable button and the possibility to make it and the others cycle through 2 different settings, for example I have the centre button as ISO so perhaps have it go to exposure mode on a second press. Also the fact that turning the dial adjust zoom adjusts zoom I’ve never understood when there are no electrical zoom lenses, plus I only use manual lenses on mine.
Gahh …I wish I could afford to upgrade but they’re bloody-ruddy expensive *sad face*
Great advert.
yes an no.. the good thing about DSLRs is that the old ones are still pretty dam good.. pop on Ebay and see if you can grab a Canon 40D or a Nikon D200. Canon doa 50mm lens for £90 and its amazing! cheap build etc.. but amazing results, a lot of pros have this little gift sat next to their 2K L series lenses.. so for about £300 you could have a great set up just a little bit out of date.. (obviously £300 is still a fair chunk of cash, but worth diggin!!) OR try film and grab an old Canon T90 with 3 or 4 lenses for next to nothing..
An NEX-3 and 18-55mm can be had for cheaper than the 40D and 18-55mm and out performs it, and if you’re okay with getting a manual 50mm (not a huge deal when the NEXs have decent focus peaking) that’s cheaper too. With these larger sensored mirrorless bodies image quality isn’t as much a deciding factor like it was back when there was only micro 4/3s to choose from (unless you’re going full frame or larger), rather it’s about feature sets, AF, and controls.
Well I’ve got a Nex-3 but they keep bringing out shiny new ones with fancy knobs and whistles to give me gadget lust (or G.A.S as some call it).
I wouldn’t worry about it too much, a lot of the models are similar and offer little improvement, such as marginally higher resolutions (14mp is more than enough), slightly better video recording, and only in the very newest models do you get hybrid AF. To make it really worthwhile upgrading you’d have to go with the NEX-7 or the similar newer model (6 I think), but then that literally about 5 times the price of the NEX-3.
Yeah, That’s what I figured really. The Nex-7 does look lovely though, so I’ll continue to gadget lust
The real problem is the price of an e-mount lens or even the converter.
not sure how i see the Nex-3 being better than the 40D, Glass – Canon, Processor for A/D conversion 14bit on a Digic 3 processor much better than sony`s non dedicated board, i admit though its not bad. same sensor (cmos) Canon shoots in Full raw where as the sony shoots in a compressed raw. you can still get a great images but the 40D is still (all be it a little bit) the better camera. well i think so anyway.
i do like the NEX stuff mind, and sony have taken the Minolta know how to a great new level and produced some great gear. defo worth a look. Only thing is with an SLR like Canon or Nikon you can use a body that is a few years old and spend your money in great lenses that will hold value or even go up (Canons 70-200mm 2.4F is now a lot more than it was 2 years ago or so) and the glass will maintain that image quality more than a new sensor would be noticed. then ina few years time just upgrade the body.. Three are people that have a 350D and shoot with a 2K lens and get amazing images and its the lens (and skill) more than the sensor. you would be surprised how good the images are tbh. jump on deviantart and search 350D. Anyway, non of this really matters as i tell everyone who ever asks me about cameras, these days most of it comes down to personal feel, how the camera feels in your hand, how the menu is to navigate, are you happy with its output simple as that..
The main thing you’ve glossed over there is “same sensor”. Being the same size and CMOS doesn’t make it the same sensor by a long way. Sensors advance faster than almost any other part of camera tech, and a prosumer sensor made in 2010 will almost inevitably outclass an equivalent sensor made in 2007. The NEX-3 is far better in low light, for instance.
The same goes for the DIGIC-3. Sony’s processing may be non-dedicated, but it’s got nearly 4 years on the competition. That’s a long time in microchip terms.
that could be true, but sony are guilty for letting tech sit and be re-used for quite a while, as it happens i know your right about the CMOS the sony one is much newer and has a much smarter IR and UV filtering system than the Canon, however you can update the firmware on the DIGI3 and i think you would find that a better processor and with the output file being better the low light should be pretty much the same, though you may find on auto or P that the Sony gives a better result as that feature of the camera will be better at choosing settings but the noise level and purple fringing will be less on the Canon i would think.. i could be wrong here, would need to see a good side by side test.. either way both great Cams and would both give good shots.. my original point was that it would allow the guy into the DSLR realm for less money where he could then develop skills and build up a collection of lenses and gear that wont loose value as much as Sony.