Frederic Filloux, Monday Note:
Access to superior image sensors, a giant entertainment library and the PlayStation ecosystem… By any measure, Apple acquiring Sony makes a lot of sense.
I’ve heard this argument floated before, but without the “access to superior image sensors” logic. Camera hardware is only becoming more important to Apple and iPhone over time. Interesting post.
A writer who has not followed Apple in the least. Yes, camera sensors are beaming critical. What that means is Apple is far more likely to acquire a bunch of small companies with expertise in the field and then design their own. They didn’t buy Intel or Qualcomm when they wanted their own internal mobile CPU and they won’t buy Sony to get camera sensors.
So what would Apple do with the full fame image sensor technology? They don’t understand what makes great photos (evidenced the the careless and ill-informed way they use “professional” in the context of photos).
The idea is insane. No way Apple would dilute their brand with buying the most important photo sensor maker in the world.
Frederic Filloux’s expertise on Monday Note is in the media and technology, not this stuff. The article is decent… for someone who doesn’t understand how Apple works and why they’d never buy a Sony.
IMO, it’s a little surprising he posted this. He should have consulted his colleague and fellow columnist, Jean-Louis Gassee, who does know Apple inside-out, first.
Wow, every time there is an article on cameras and sensors anywhere on the internet, Sony people drop in and spread vomit like you just did. If you look at where Apple has taken mobile phone photography the last few years and conclude “they don’t understand what makes great photos”, I can’t help you.
Sony for their part needs to work on understanding what makes a professional camera. Their sensors are phenomonal, but their cameras are completely unusable by pros. The A9 is the first one I’d even consider taking on a job, and I’d still rather use a Canon or Nikon.
Many of us Apple enthusiasts were also Sony enthusiasts–in the 80’s. It seems to me that Apple is going to the same place Sony went, and doesn’t need any help at all on its own sad journey.
Image sensors are the non-stupid part of that.
They would not, as Mr. Beatty suggests, buy Sony for their Alpha line of cameras.
(PlayStation ecosystem?
Yeah, no, that’d be crazy for Apple; a completely separate, not-remotely-Apple-y legacy ecosystem and codebase for non-Apple-y hardware?
WHY?)
“They don’t understand what makes great photos”.
Sure they do – having a camera with you and actually taking a shot.
Well, that and having a decent sensor and lens, which iPhones actually do.
(Now, they’re not great, sure, on the “pro photo” market … though it hasn’t stopped lots of actual pros from using iPhones for actual work.
But it ain’t tech that makes great photos, it’s the photographer, every goddamn time.
I say this as someone, note, who owns more medium format film cameras than he can comfortably carry at once, and has taken great photos with a clapped-out Speed Graphic and a random cheapo lens.
Gear is secondary.)
“They don’t understand what makes great photos”.Sure they do – having a camera with you and actually taking a shot.Well, that and having a decent sensor and lens, which iPhones actually do.(Now, they’re not great, sure, on the “pro photo” market … though it hasn’t stopped lots of actual pros from using iPhones for actual work.But it ain’t tech that makes great photos, it’s the photographer, every goddamn time.I say this as someone, note, who owns more medium format film cameras than he can comfortably carry at once, and has taken great photos with a clapped-out Speed Graphic and a random cheapo lens.Gear is secondary.)
There is no chance of a full frame sensor in an iPhone, at least not how such sensors are defined in photography. You can’t, by definition, shrink it. A full frame sensor is a sensor that is the same size as 35mm format film. It’s not that you couldn’t somehow find a way to fit a sensor that size in a phone (although I’m really not sure you could and that itself would be a monumental challenge), it’s that you can’t have a lens large enough to fill the sensor with light. Look at the size of the lenses on DSLR and Full Frame Mirrorless cameras. The required thinness of a phone we carry in our pockets makes this impossible without a sizable attachment of some kind.
Can I get an amen? There are many, many iPhone photos better than much of the stuff I see from so called “professional photographers” and a load of gear. The iPhone is capable of pro level photos in the right hands, especially given great lighting.
When us “pros” say pro level camera, we really aren’t talking about image quality. Image quality in today’s cameras is a given. Most all of today’s high end smartphones provide great image quality. It’s more down to flexibility (lenses, strobe lighting, durability, etc.) than it is “image quality.” That said, I’ve used my iPhone Plus as a backup in a few studio sessions and on a couple of commercial shoots and had clients actually pick a few of those shots to go with the DSLR selections.
Oh sorry, I misread. I don’t think they’ll every purchase a company like Sony. However, it would not surprise me in the least if they start (if they haven’t already) snapping up small companies with expertise in imaging sensors and ultimately begin designing their own.
The Sony a7 is a regular on the pro circuit. You might want to reevaluate your snobbery.
I’m a Canon guy for 35 years but would switch to Soiny before I switched to Nikon.
I used to shoot something called Hasselblad, and I used real film.
Sony’s sensors have more than a little to do with Apple’s rise in the realm of phone photography.
Stop blathering about this.
Snobbery? Give me a break. Have you used one? Have you taken one on a job? I’ve had the misfortune. The menu system is a nightmare, the camera is SLOW (not FPS, but in usability), they crash constantly, they are poorly designed ergonomically, etc.). I was on a commercial shoot recently for firm doing something for their quarterly report. They were installing a massive AHU on a downtown building using the largest crane in the state. It was a one shot deal, no do-overs and I had but a very small window to get “the shot” as everything lined up. There is absolutely no chance I’d have done that job with a Sony camera. That’s not snobbery, that’s practical sense and experience. I can’t recall the last time I had a Canon crash on me. Their sensors are great, their cameras have a ways to go, other than in image quality, to catch up with the likes of Canon and Nikon pro bodies.
You use terms like “something called Hasselblad”and “real film” like those of us using digital now are dolts or something. Get over yourself. Myself and most photographers I know have spent countless hours in a darkroom. You call me a snob? FOH!
If you want to believe Apple doesn’t understand what makes a great photo, or think that their incredible strides in mobile photography are all down to Sony, go ahead, but please take that blather else where.
I can’t imagine Apple acquiring all of Sony’s other struggling/weird businesses just to get some camera tech and video content.
The Playstation part doesn’t make sense either: Apple already has everything in-houe required to make a game console. (A-series chips, App store, XCode, AppleTV, etc)
Not sure where you are coming from with Sony cameras. They aren’t perfect by any means, but neither are Nikon or Canon cameras. I have used both professionally for over 30 years. As well as Leica and others.
My point about Apple is they keep throwing around the word professional, when that claim has always been wrong. No camera makes anyone professional no matter how good. And it would be true that Pro can make great photos with an iPhone, not it limitations compared to real cameras are too great to truthfully make such claims.
My point was saying they make anyone pro photographers. It’s a ludicrous claim.
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Whyfor you copy my comment AND ruin the formatting?