Canon / Nikon vs Sony, the Seth Godin Way

I regularly read Seth Godin's blog. Seth Godin is a very much publicized writer about marketing, “entreprening” in the Internet age. He recently wrote a blog post on the warning signs of defending the status quo.

We have Canon and Nikon, the 2 largest entrenched camera manufacturers, against the “upstart” Sony. Finally, Sony has announced a camera, the Sony A77, that competes against the Canon 7D. Nikon must not be too far behind since it uses Sony CMOS sensors and many of its electronic components come from Sony. What about switching from your “regular” camera to Sony's A77?

Consider the cost of switching before you consider the benefits?

With SLRs and dSLRs, there's a huge cost from switching from one brand to another. I know it, I switched from Pentax to Canon 2 years ago. It was not expensive, it was very expensive. I sold my Pentaxes, lenses, flash … and got “peanuts” for them. But all in all, it was worth it to switch.

Undercut the credibility, authority or experience of people behind the change?

There are many discussions at camera clubs and camera forums about: “should I switch to the Sony A77 from my …” There's always some ignoramus that pipes in about how Sony is a “crappy” company, they don't know how … they can never get it right …

Focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short-term is more vivid for you?

The question to ask is: “Is that camera a game changer?” If you have a Canon 7D, no it's not. The specs are better but not earth chattering. If you have a Nikon D300s or even a D3s. Nikon better ship a competitor very soon. Think about a 12 frames per seconds at 24 megapixels with a great autofocus and Zeiss lenses? I was speaking with a bird photographer, he was salivating at the Sony A77 when coupling it with the 300mm f/2.8 and the converter (he was using a Canon 50D with a 500mm f/4).

Fight to retain benefits and status earned only through tenure and longevity?

This has been an often used strategy by both Nikon and Canon.

Will I switch? No! I can't switch to any Sony camera! Why? Because I live in Vancouver, Canada and there's no Sony dealer that rents Sonys. There are two stores that basically carry the compete Canon system and I can rent lenses or accessories from either store. If one store has already rented out what I need/want, there's the other one. There's one store that carry the complete Nikon system for rent. Sony? Nothing.

Some of the things, that I need, do not exist under the Sony system. By the end of the year or early next year I will buy a Canon 24mm TSE II…