Bloatware, Volkswagen Passats and cameras

Bloatware, Volkswagen Passats and cameras

Bloatware is the name given to software that eats up more and more storage space and processing power on your computer, your mobile phone or your tablet. But it’s something that happens, rather than being something where there out to get you. It’s an unanticipated outcome of people trying to do their job – unless you’re a conspiracy theorists. The practical effect is that what you thought was a perfectly adequate amount of storage suddenly becomes pathetic.

Unless you’ve actually put them side by side, you’ll think that all Sony Alpha 7 bodies are much the same: even those of us who use them regularly fall into that trap. But over the last week I’ve been using my 2013 vintage Alpha 7R is a walkabout camera, and I found that it’s actually a bit of a featherweight compared with a mark three 7R.

I’ve been using the 7R with the very plastic Sony 50mm f/1.8 lens that I’ve owned for four years and have been meaning to sell for at least two years. It’s incredibly slow to focus and probably no better (in any respect at all) than the quarter-century old Minolta f/1.4 that I’ve owned for quite a long time. But it is Sony’s cheapest wide-aperture lens and it’s not that bad.

Anyway putting the older and newer bodies side by side shows that evolution has added girth: picking them up demonstrates that the current model is significantly heavier. Why didn’t we notice at the time? As the range developed we appreciated the better ergonomics that a larger hand grip gives, the bigger, longer-lasting battery, and the inclusion of image stabilisation in the body. And that’s how bloatware happens.



Back in 1977, I often travel to work with a colleague who owned the original model Volkswagen Passat estate. It was a very good car, though the seats were slender – my memory says the back rests were only a couple of inches thick, but they were really well shaped. The engine was a then-modest 1.3 litre petrol engine, and it was entirely adequate, rather than fast. And it was an awful lot smaller and lighter than the most recent Passats, which have now been replaced by the (bigger) Arteon.

Back to the Alpha 7. Putting ancient and modern side by side, changing lenses between them, and generally doing the things that involve taking pictures make it obvious that Sony have worked hard on the perceived value of the brand: less plastic, better engineering fits, and an improved tactile experience. Combined with the higher resolution and other technical advances that makes a good case for the newer camera. But… If you have a limited budget, don’t want to make big demands on high ISO or autofocus speeds, they may be a bargain waiting for you on somebody secondhand shelf.