It's been somewhat of a habit for most digital camera manufacturers to come up with proprietary mount types for their lenses, which they later on license to accessory manufacturers for some pretty serious fees, but it seems that Sony's decided to take a slightly different road as far as its E-mount technology is concerned.
So, in quite a surprising move, Sony Corporation announced today it will disclose the basic specifications of its “E-mount” for interchangeable single lens cameras, without fee, to manufacturers of lenses and mount adaptors, starting April 1st, 2011.
Those of you who are not exactly familiar with the “E-mount” term should know that this specific type of lens connector is used within the Japanese company's NEX line of mirrorless DSLR cameras (NEX-3 and
NEX-5), as well as within the world's first interchangeable lens camcorder, Sony's
NEX-VG10.
The reason why Sony's taken this decision seems to be related mostly to consumers, who'll now be able to attach a much wider range of lenses to the NEX cameras, via adapters, thus offering them many more creative options.
Plus, if other companies will roll out NEX – compatible lenses, Sony won't be so hard-pressed by consumers to develop and launch its own products of this type, having more time for serious R&D.
Of course, these basic specifications (the company doesn't provide any info on exactly what these specs will consist of) will be disclosed to manufactures of lenses and mount adaptors following the signing a license agreement with Sony, after a very careful evaluation and approval procedure.
The companies that will benefit from Sony's impressive offering are some of the world's best-known lens and digital camera accessories' manufacturers, including Carl Zeiss AG, Cosina Co., Ltd, Sigma Corporation and Tamron Co., Ltd., all of which have expressed their support of Sony's decision, considering it extremely beneficial both for their own business and, ultimately, for the end-customers.
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