Sony announced their flagship mirrorless camera overnight. It looks like a pretty serious bird photography camera... and much more. Check it out at DPR here

Looks like Sony are actively continuing their push to stay at the cutting edge with mirrorless ILC cameras, and the specifications on this one appear to be another substantial leap forward. I've been using ILC cameras (principally SLRs) for nigh on 50 years, and I don't ever remember a period when the rate of technological advancement in these products has been as high as in the last few years. For users wanting new capabilities it's a dream environment, although with the rider that any product you buy becomes obsolete more quickly than used to be the case (not that this should matter all that much to the end-user if the model they're using at a particular time does an excellent job of covering their requirements, but it can affect resale values). It will be interesting to see what the other full-frame mirrorless manufacturers come up with to compete with the new Sony.

Australian starting price seems to be about $10000 body only. The Canon R5 at around $6000 starts to look like good value! The 90D at $1500 is just lunch money.

Hi Simon, yes I should have added that the prices of the very top-end pro cameras are becoming eye-watering lately, no doubt hand in hand with the ultra technology being installed in them. An interesting comparison though, is that back in my film-camera days one of my cameras was the pro full-frame Olympus OM4Ti, for which I paid the equivalent of about $4850 today, in the ball park of the launch price of the Canon 5D MkIV which has a vast amount more technology and capability. Also, the Canon 90D is a vastly more capable camera than the OM4Ti for a price point about one third (in equivalent terms) of the Olympus, based on your figures. I personally believe the 90D is amazing value for money - I came close to buying one but ended up deciding to standardise my avian and landscape setups on full-frame, thanks to some substantial price drops on the 5D MkIV. Whether to upgrade to an R5 for avian is a bigger step, and I would at least need a very good sale price to go for it (or wait a while for the price to come down).

I think my comment about the unprecedented pace of technological development in cameras remains valid, and to me at least it seems to be there in most if not all segments of the market.

Cheers, David

Yes, it was a flippant comment just aimed at the price. I suppose Sony is really aiming at the serious pro end of the market, so the more valid price comparison might be with the Canon 1D X Mark iii which is a similar price. Against the 1D X one might even argue the Sony is good value given the benefits of its focus system, high megapixels etc. But they are serving two different pro audiences, I expect. Eventually some of this tech might trickle down and benefit the lower end of the market.

Hmm. I hope you are paying for lunch Simon!