New Sony Full Frame compact cameras

[gregbradley]

Sony is releasing 2 new compact full frame cameras on Wed.
One is 24mp the other 36mp. They are 15% bigger than the very small Nex 7.

Zeiss lenses are being released with them.

These could be a game changer. Price is less than a Canon 6D, Nikon D610 and D800E. The 36mp one has no antialiasing filter. The 24mp one has phase detect pixels on sensor for helping autofocus.

These are serious competition for Canon/Nikon. If you've ever used these mirrorless type cameras they are very appealling with their small compact form and lightness. A common remark is some people find lugging around their large and heavy DSLR unpleasant.

These are all new sensors as well. So I expect possible top ratings for these new sensors over anything else on the market.

They are going to take a considerble market share off Canikon here as Sony are the first to get these compact full frame cameras to the market and both Canon and Nikon's attempts to make mirrorless have not been met with a lot of enthusiasm.

They could be good because they are way less load on a Polarie and easier to handle. An electronic viewfinder is handy once you've used one.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52326308

Greg.

[hotspur]

Sounds good Greg,yes certainly could be a game changer-particularly for astro use-as you mention,lot less weight on polarie and similar mounts.

I am not up on Sony gear,but have heard many speak very highly of it,and seen some results here,which look great.What sort of cards do these/will these take? I do have some Sony cameras for non main menu work, and the take different cards to all other cameras.But as time goes on,these Sony cameras appear set to be a main camera for many in the future.

[gregbradley]

I have a Sony Nex 6 and it takes just regular SD memory cards, same as my Nikon and Fuji. That may have been some older Sony that used their memory stick. That was quite some time ago though.

The Nex 6 is a great little camera. Quirky menu system which is a weakness. Perhaps Sony has improved this on these newer models. I am told the Nex 7 menus are better.

I guess the main thing about Sony is they are the industry leader in camera sensors. Their sensors routinely top the DXO mark ratings by a long way. But strangely even though Nikon uses the same 24mp full frame sensor as in another Sony camera the Nikon rates higher.

Same with Fuji. It uses the basic APSc 16.3mp Sony sensor as in the Nex 6 and 5 yet it has lower noise by a fairly large margin. I guess these other camera makers use their know how to tweak or gain that last little bit out of the Sony sensors.

Rumour has it (just that a rumour) that Sony may no longer sell these 36mp type sensors to Nikon and go flat out competing seriously with Canon/Nikon for market share. These 2 cameras perhaps mark the beginning of a "throwing the gauntlet down" to Canon/Nikon. Sony has the big adavantage with the incredible sensors. They have been making cameras now for quite some time. But they haven't taken off in a big way yet (they are big in compacts which is a declining market due to mobile phone cameras).

Its good for us anyway whatever the outcome.

Rumour is Nikon and Canon as well as Sony are soon to release medium format DSLRs. So full frame may become the new APSc and Medium format where the big DSLR battle continues.

Greg.

[grantboxer]

Will the new cameras have a usb cable capable of communication? I have a Sony NEX-7 but I can only communicate in a very limited way via the IR receiver.
Regards Grant

[nebulosity.]

Thanks for the info Greg, sounds promising, wouldn't a medium format camera be awesome for wide fields :thumbsup:

Jo

[gregbradley]

I am not sure Grant. They are being released this Wed so its all rumour mill at the moment. I believe one of the rumours is they have wifi if that helps. I am pretty sure my Nex 6 has usb and that is a later model to Nex 7.



Imagine a mdeium format DSLR - wow. I wonder what high ISO you could shoot at - ISO12600 may become normal.

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Check out the comparison for size:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52330672

Greg.

[renormalised]

Hasselblad have been using medium format chips for donkey's ages, though the fastest chip they have runs at ISO 1600 (in the H5D-40 camera). Mind you, they also have the H4D-200MS camera with a chip that is a 50MP chip, but it can take piccies with a resolution to 200MP. Only runs to ISO800. Unfortunately, they don't have bulb settings on the shutters...the longest exposure time for any of the Hasselblad cameras is 256sec (tad over 4 minutes). If they had larger ISO settings, longer shutter speed settings and didn't cost a small fortune, they'd be ideal :)

Can you imagine shooting, say, the Rosette or M31 at 200MP!!!. Have it connected to a scope larger than 20-24" and you'd be able to read the laptop screen of someone sitting at a desk in a building on GL667Cc :) :P

[gregbradley]

yeah I don't know why they limit them so much. They use KAF50000 chips or something similar and then stitch them into 4 x fields to 200mp.
But I suppose they are usually taking shots of static scenes so multiple shots stitched is like a continuous panorama shot.

Greg

[renormalised]

With a 200MP shot of any object, it would give an "8x10" shot a whole new meaning (8 x 10 feet) :P

A chip like that would be perfect for creating large, "billboard" sized shots.

You know, it might be possible to get Hasselblad to mod one of their cameras for you. Though the cost would be quite heavy, I would imagine. On top of your average price for a mid range camera ($35000), it would start to get rather expensive. Mind you, if you won a lotto, you wouldn't give a rat's :)

[gregbradley]

You can order a FLI Proline with the same KAF50000 chip. But its only 25% QE which is very low and only in one shot colour I am pretty sure.

Greg.

[pdalek]

Get one of these chips
http://www.canon.com/technology/approach/special/cmos.html
for your wide field shots.

[gregbradley]

Amazing.

Greg.

[renormalised]

Don't mind it being an OSC chip, but that QE isn't flash.

[renormalised]

Sounds OK, but it'd cost a fortune to produce and even more to purchase. Not only that, using it for video-astronomy, you want considerably better than 0.3lux sensitivity. Considering that a little GStar has 0.00002 at max gain, 0.3 is rather poor. Not really low light at all.

Impressive looking, nevertheless.