Can a Sony shooter ever go fully Pro?

So this is linked from the discussion about Sony kit which is raging on here. Its throwing up some interesting points, but I'll get to mine quick.

Can a Sony shooter ever go Pro? I don't mean being semi pro, the occasional wedding or commission here and there.

I mean earn a relatively risk free income from photography.

The problems again are linked to supply and proliferation of the Alpha hardware.

Example - The job is to shoot a wedding and one of your 900's goes down.
I can't think of anywhere in the UK where I can rent an Alpha at short notice. I also only know 1 shooter near me who owns a 900 and rightly so there's no guarantee that he would lend it out.

Conversely, if I was shooting Canikon I could walk into at least 2 local suppliers and rent kit on the day. I could also call upon many of my photographic friends and borrow their kit (again, Canikon).

So I don't get the backup kit - I can't shoot the wedding. Myself and the customer would probably be insured but there would be unpleasant repercussions not least in terms of reputation.

Of course, replace wedding with any form of pro shoot were you are contracted to deliver the goods.

I adore my Alpha kit and I have lots and lots of it but can an Alpha shooter ever get into above or below the line photography without putting themselves at too much risk?

BTW - I'm not planning on doing it anytime soon, I just think it's an interesting discussion and would love to hear your stories both positive and negative on this matter.

You always need two bodies. If your one a900 goes down, keep running with your a700 or a550 or a850.

Personally, I think if someone were to become a pro at that level there would be more bodies in his stable than just one or two bodies and probably some duplication on certain lenses. If it were a relatively risk free income photographer, his livlihood is in his talent, and his equipment,and I am sure there would be very few, if any shortcomings.

So My answer is yes a Sony shooter could very easily become a full pro.

it depends on the kind of photography, but i must say no

the gaps in the alpha mount are huges.

i wanna be a surf photographer (and who says surf says another action sport), how can i do it with the A mount??

Edited by A.W. - 08 July 2010 at 13:50

" Customers don't ask to see you camera, they want to see your work. "

Oh absolutely, I'm aware of that. I guess my 'risk free' statement comes from the lack of support networks formal and informal with the Alpha mount.

Again, I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong, I just want to garner opinion.

What lens(es) do you actually need for surf photography? It's something I don't do, so I'm curious.

taz002dev,

I think you can get great results from any of the camera systems available nowadays. Heck, those old SRTs and Nikon Fs are still capable of great photographs.

When you say that all that matters to a cliet are results, not the gear you use, where does an 85mm f1.4 actually fail in that regard? It's a good lens, but without context your statement is a little confusing.

And you may want to consider Nikon if you're jumping ship. Better AF (arguably) than Canon and a great flash system.