Sony has won this wave! The photo of Trump's assassination turned out to have been taken by this camera

Ray Technology

2024-07-16 14:52Published in Guangdong science and technology field creators

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01 A recent photo of Trump's assassination was widely circulated on the Internet, and the camera behind it was a Sony A9M3.

02Sony A9M3 uses a new 24.6 million pixel stacked sensor, which has functions such as high-speed continuous shooting and high shutter speed.

03In addition, Sony also offers a professional service called Sony Imaging PRO Support for professional photographers.

04However, in the age of social media, the future of professional cameras faces challenges, such as the competition of smartphone photography technology.

05The boundaries between professional cameras and smartphones may become more blurred, and together they are driving the development of imaging technology.

The above content is generated by Tencent's hybrid model and is for reference only

Recently, there is such a photo, which is very popular on the Internet. How hot is it? Xiao Lei has seen it more than once in the work group, the game group, the elder group, the camera group, and even the parking group of the owners of the community.

According to common sense, Xiao Lei should put that famous photo here, after all, it has been spread everywhere on the Internet. However, due to the fact that this iconic photo was quickly put on the shelves by the famous copyright gallery of a certain "XX China" generation, Xiao Lei has no way to show you this photo and its derivative pictures.

However, the assassination of the former president of a large country is not the focus of what we want to talk about today, and the camera that took this picture is the core topic we want to talk about.

Sony "on Oita"?

After "that photo" became popular on the global Internet, someone with good deeds quickly "picked up" the camera that captured this "decisive moment" - Sony A9M3. Adhering to the mentality of "fun people", the A9M3 quickly became the protagonist of the "hell joke" on social media: netizens quickly replaced the demonstration photo of the A9M3 on the product page on the e-commerce platform with "that photo", and even some dealers and photographers used "the same camera" as a selling point to attract business in the circle of friends.

Image source: Ray Technology

Of course, half of the people who play this joke are Sony camera users, after all, in the circle of domestic photography players, Sony cameras have been crowned with the title of "straight out dogs don't even look at it" many years ago, in order to complain about the dismal portrait skin color of the Sony A7 series "straight out" (without computer post-production, direct drawing). Taking Xiao Lei, who used all the way from RX1 to A7R5, as an example, he was able to "learn from the same school" with the Pulitzer Prize master this time, and naturally his waist was much straighter.

However, Xiao Lei later went to AP's website to check, and the accompanying pictures used on AP's own news page have deleted EXIF's data, plus Evan Vucci and AP have never responded positively to the information about this camera model, and even there are only two non-authoritative Sony cameras in the entire foreign language website.

Image source: Sony

However, the same media usually uses the same brand and model of camera, and Evan has been photographed using the A9M3 many times in the past, so this speculation is not unreasonable in my opinion. As for the price of the A9M3 at 42999 yuan, Xiao Lei can only say "Professional camera, it is indeed this price".

Don't challenge your "eating skills" with your "hobby"

In fact, in the 2021 evaluation of the Sony A1, Xiaolei explained to everyone "why professional cameras are so expensive". As for the A9M3, although the price is "slightly lower than the A1, it is not surprising that the price difference is folded in the professional camera segment.

Image source: Sony

The Sony A9M3 features a new 24.6-million-pixel stacked sensor, and the new BIONZ XR ISP can support high-speed continuous shooting at 120fps without black screen with AF/AE tracking. To achieve ultra-high shutter speeds of up to 1/80,000, the A9M3 also uses a global shutter. 759 phase focus points cover 95.6% of the framing range, and even pre-focus with registered faces.

Image source: Sony

As for the magnesium alloy that is used in large quantities, it also provides strong impact resistance to A9M3 and even improves its heat dissipation performance. The in-camera EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) has also made a qualitative leap, both in terms of resolution and refresh rate, which can be said to be an "all-round flagship camera". In a word, "you just press the shutter and the camera and post do the rest."

But that's not all that Sony is "professional" about.

In addition to the regular Sony after-sales service, Sony offers a program for professional photographers called Sony Imaging PRO Support. To put it simply, in addition to 24/7 phone technical support, free camera and lens cleaning and maintenance, "PROs" can get free spare equipment in the event of a long repair (3 days). Even before buying a new camera, "PROs" can borrow it from Sony to "try it out".

Image source: Sony

In addition to providing the latest full-frame flagship cameras, 4K XDCAM video cameras, and G Master series lenses, Sony Imaging PRO Support will also set up a service center at major events or events to provide professional users with equipment borrowing and even on-site maintenance services to minimize the negative impact of the equipment on their work.

Image source: Weibo user @CameraBeta

To take you as you may remember: During the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Sony Imaging PRO Support was on hand with 250 professional cameras and 600 telephoto lenses. According to on-site photographer Nick Didlick, Sony Imaging PRO Support's "on-site arsenal" has "shelves full of A1 (48,999 yuan), EF 400mm f2.8 (87,180 yuan) and FE 600mm f4 (90,999 yuan)."

Image source: Weibo

As for the Sony A1 and FE 2470 that fell down a slope and were turned into GIFs and posted on Weibo, Sony Imaging PRO Support provided spare cameras and lenses on the spot. And because Sony prepared a large number of repair parts on site, the repair time took less than an hour.

事实上，除了索尼之外，佳能、尼康等相机品牌也有类似的专业服务（Canon Professional Services、Nikon Professional Services），主打的同样是现场设备支持和维修。

And this kind of real professional service is also the biggest difference between "professional cameras" and "consumer cameras".

In the era of "social media", the status of news cameras is not guaranteed?

Of course, the days of professional cameras can't always be smooth sailing.

Since the beginning of "roll photography" in smartphones, in just a few years, the representative of the "consumer-grade camera" used to move the volume - card digital camera has been defeated. Although in terms of current technology, in terms of solid optical quality, reliability and precise control, mobile phones cannot replace "professional-grade cameras" and high-end consumer-grade cameras that "share a lens group" with professional cameras.

The problem is that the price of professional cameras means that they have to be deeply tied to professional news agencies such as AP and Reuters. Even if it is a "professional self-employed", there are common contributing media behind it. But what if people stop paying attention to these specialized media?

Image source: X

In the age of social media, the public has become accustomed to obtaining unverified "information" from social media such as Weibo and X, rather than receiving news reported by authoritative media. Compared with news images taken by professional media, the public prefers 15-second short videos that are more time-sensitive, have a stronger sense of presence, and the picture is still shaky when the picture is vertical. Some unscrupulous media outlets even like to use so-called "material footage" in the news, or to turn a 15-second surveillance video over and over again into a 3-minute video.

When consumers at the end of the news actively choose such "information", the "decisive moments" captured by professional photojournalists with professional cameras are nothing more than "self-entertainment" in a small circle.

Fortunately, news organizations and camera brands are aware of this problem, such as Evan Vucci, who took "that picture", has set up a wireless video transmission, and every photo taken is instantly sent to a back-end server via mobile network. News organizations' social media operations will also send out photos as soon as possible, reflecting the value of media in social media that is full of "yellow news".

Image source: Sony

In the age of social media, the future of professional cameras is full of challenges and opportunities. Despite the competition from smartphone photography, professional cameras still hold their place in the high-end market due to their unrivalled image quality and professional performance. As technology continues to advance and market needs change, professional cameras will continue to play a key role in the field of journalism and professional photography. In the future, the boundaries between professional cameras and smartphones may become more blurred, and the two will complement each other to advance imaging technology.

As for when will mobile phones replace professional cameras? Let's wait until when mobile phone brands start using mobile phones to shoot press releases and pictures for press conferences.

In the first half of 2024, the technology circle is surging.

The implementation of large models has been accelerated, and AI mobile phones, AI PCs, AI home appliances, AI search, and AI e-commerce have ...... AI applications are emerging;

Vision Pro was launched and landed in the Chinese market, setting off a wave of XR spatial computing.

HarmonyOS NEXT is officially released, changing the mobile OS ecosystem.

Automobiles have entered the "second half" in an all-round way, and intelligence has become a top priority;

The competition of e-commerce is becoming increasingly fierce, and the volume is more expensive and the volume is more service;

The wave of going overseas is surging, and Chinese brands are embarking on a journey of globalization;

……

In July, Lei Technology · mid-year review special feature was launched, summarizing the brands, technologies and products worth recording in the first half of 2024 in the technology industry, recording the past and looking forward to the future, so stay tuned.

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