Requests Of Sony

Seeing as Panasonic and Olympus have no interest in following the desires of their most ardent fans, I am going to start listing, for Sony's use, all of the things that I need to make my transition from Micro 4/3 a more painless affair. This will be an updated post. So Sony, here we go...

Small (Quality) lenses: Obviously, I don't expect lenses with an equivalent focal lengths of the Panasonic 45-200mm in a similarly compact package, nor do I expect them to be as cheap, but getting as close to this as possible is critical. I hear tell that you are refocusing on a series of pancake lenses, which is fantastic. Pentax's pancakes are pretty good, but they frequently underwhelm in regards to resolution and especially contrast. Avoid these pitfalls and trust me, the enthusiasts will be willing to pay. Just look at the sales of the NEX-7. We are out there, and we have money. Every enthusiast has at least one lens that cost $1,000 or more. Make sure that a Sony badge is on that lens.

Completely Open Your Lens Standards: I have written extensively about how the future of the camera world goes to the first company that is willing to produce a platform camera. The second most disruptive thing would be for a major camera company to produce a completely open lens standard. Lens companies pile on, accessory makers pile on, the size of the system grows exponentially, and before you know it, one company owns the entire SLR market. The Four Thirds alliance tried this, but only half-heartedly, and the rest of the system was so borked that it never caught on. They then promptly dropped this entirely for Micro Four Thirds. Open both the E and A mounts completely. The future potential of this would eliminate most anyone's hesitation about buying into your system. Become the standard, Sony. Become the standard.

Another Adapter: Anyone who has seen comparison shots between the NEX-7 and the A77 has seen the noticeable difference in noise characteristics. That translucent mirror is great tech, but some of us really don't want it, which is why we want the NEX-7 and not the A77. Release an adapter for A-Mount lenses that relies on contrast-detect autofocus. Yes, yes, it's very slow. I don't care. I want every drop of ISO performance possible out of the camera. It would also be a smaller adapter, which would be great. I could already use M-Mount lenses with a super-tiny adapter, so make my use, and thus purchase, of a full Sony kit all the easier. UPDATE: Yes, I'm aware that there is an A-to-E mount adapter, but it doesn't support autofocus. There's no reason why it can't. Olympus 4/3 lenses can autofocus on Micro 4/3 bodies, it is simply slow.

Be A Camera Company: Olympus is a camera company, but is incompetent, and possibly nearing bankruptcy. Panasonic is not a camera company and does not seem to want to even pretend. Pentax is too small to really shake the Earth (to be fair, they are doing just that in the medium format world). Fuji is showing great, great promise, but they have quite a ways to go. Canon and Nikon, together, own the industry, and as such are hyper conservative. Sony, you can be the camera company that the industry needs. Focus on the cameras. Push them hard. Make your own accessories for cinema, photography, and production. Create an entire system of innovative products that other companies either can't, or won't, make. Make your system exciting.