Congrats
@fractal 
Im starting to lose hope on the A-Mount all together. I had a sliver of hope with the announcement of the A99II but now hearing Sigma and Tamron will no longer make A-Mount its looking pretty bleak, the new Art lenses do look sweet.
I didn't see that Tamron is stopping? I actually like what Tamron is doing, more than Sigma. Yes, Sigma is making huge heavy Otus competitors. Yes, they may have record breaking image quality and 1.4 apertures. Meanwhile, Tamron, in my opinion, is making far more usable lenses --- Lenses that won't break your back to carry. And for my purposes, a 1.8 with stabilization is better than a 1.4 without stabilization. And while the Sigma IQ may be record breaking, Tamron is getting near those records. I absolutely love my Tamron 24-70, 45/1.8 and 85/1.8.
I was considering the new Sigma 14/1.8 --- Sounds fantastic and I'd love to 14mm with autofocus, but it is freaking 40+ ounces. That's the same as a 70-200/2.8 lens. I don't need an ultrawide prime that will break my back.
Anyway... you know I have my nostalgic love for A-mount. Seems Sony is determined just to milk remaining dollars out of A-mount customers --- Give them an occasional body to stick their old lenses on. The A99ii looks..... my impression is mixed.
The image quality looks fantastic, much better than the A99. And 42mp.. the resolution is wow. But.... I really don't want/need a 42mp camera. Like the Nikon D810/D750, the Canon 5ds/5div, and the Sony A7rii/A7ii...... I wish there was a lower resolution option.
Second.... the autofocus system looks amazing on paper. But then when you read the fine print..... the advanced features of the system won't work with 3rd party lenses -- so won't work with any of those great Sigma and Tamron lenses. And won't work with Minolta lenses. And it's not like Sony is growing their A-mount lens lineup -- so you're stuck with their small and somewhat outdated lens lineup, just to get lenses that fully support the great AF system. Otherwise, you are stuck using a AF system that is ok... a little better than the A99 AF system. But nothing special.
12fps? Great!! A competitor for the 1dxii and 5d at half the price? Umm.. think again about the limits and fine print. At 12fps, you get the dreaded "slide show effect"... but you can get live view at 8fps. But.... along with the AF system, that 12 fps won't really support 3rd party lenses, Minolta lenses, at smaller apertures. Unless shooting a fast lens wide open, you're going to lock focus on the first frame. So there is no continuous AF tracking unless using the right lenses.
I used to be so deeply invested in A-mount lenses... and I think I only had a couple lenses that would even have been fully supported. My best lenses wouldn't have even been supported by the full camera.
Meanwhile, I do think a smart a-mount user should ask with each camera release, "is this the last one?" As long as they aren't releasing lenses, they aren't marketing A-mount, they aren't even selling A-mount in all markets, the demand will continue to drop.. and drop. And Sony will space out the A-mount releases, further and further apart. And only a matter of time before it just fades away. The A77ii is hitting its 3 year anniversary --- some people are saying it is due for an update this year. I'll bet you that you won't see an update until next year at the earliest. And if the A99ii sells poorly, then it might not be updated at all.
It's a shame. Makes me wish A-mount never went SLT. 5 years ago, SLT was a great way to get some mirrorless advantages without the disadvantages. But with the improvement in mirrorless... nowadays..... the SLT lacks some of the strengths of dSLR, without having all the advantages of mirrorless. Instead of best of both worlds, it's kinda becoming the worst of both worlds. Especially as the FE lenses have surpassed A-mount lenses.
