Rumours - Cameracraft

Sony is ready to launch a GPS module

Posted on November 9, 2017 By David Kilpatrick

Sony can make GPS work. They pioneered it in the A55, refined it in the A77, A65 and A99 – and abandoned it without a word in all later A-mount cameras and the entire E-mount series. But they prepped the Multi Function Accessory Shoe to be used with a GPS module – and I believe it will be on the market soon.

They have put the rest of the architecture into the new cameras to make a GPS hardware module for the accessory shoe possible, practical, easy to implement and maybe even affordable (especially if third party makers come to the party).

This is a simulation using a retouched Elinchrom Skyport trigger – about the smallest size a GPS could be expected to be. For accuracy, something twice this scale mounted on the hotshoe would be a powerful four-aerial 2xAA cell or lith-ion powered GPS receiver.

Sony have added the I/O part of the data flow which puts geo data into the metadata fields of image files to the processor of the A9, A6500, RX10 MkIV (I think) and now the A7RIII – and in all three, they’ve put a 2.4GHz Bluetooth I/O process which can communicate with smartphones running their own GPS tracking app and grab the data every time you press the shutter. It needs no additional app on the camera.

This is significantly different from the Olympus solution (above), which I have also been testing alongside Sony’s. I have not found the A6500 pairing with iPhone all that reliable or persistent between sessions out of range or turned off. I have not enjoyed the Olympus method either – you synchronise the phone GPS app timecode and the camera time setting once using WiFi and after this you can turn WiFi off on the camera, leave the tracking app running on the phone, and shoot. At the end of the shoot, you connect again to the camera and initiate a transfer of the GPS track to the camera, which then parses it and embeds the co-ordinates closest to the timing of each exposure into the image files.

Sorry if this sounds a bit complex but it’s not. Essentially, Sony maintains a live link to the phone while you are shooting and acquires the GPS data to embed every time you make an exposure. Olympus relies on time synchronisation and an ‘end of day’ in-camera, wireless addition of the GPS data not unlike the process you might use with a separate tracker and a program like HoudahGeo or Photolinker.

That shoe has a GPS data channel – so far, unused. Now the processor has everything needed to make it work.

What’s really, really important is that these new Sony models have the firmware, interface connections and data handling to acquire a real-time or most recent position data packet from a stream, and inject this into your .ARW and .JPG files without needing any time synchronisation. Other models, which can not use the phone/Bluetooth solution, presumably do not have this firmware and the built-in protocols for acquiring, writing and validating. They don’t have the ready-made menu options either.

So, in place of your Bluetooth phone GPS, you will hopefully be able to fit a camera-top GPS module similar to those used by Canon and Nikon (who built the GPS data writing ability into their firmware years ago). The connections have been in the MFA shoe since 2010. Now the new camera models complete the jigsaw. All we are waiting for is for Sony to release a GPS module and a minor firmware update (the menu entries are already there). If the GPS module has its own battery, all the better – my tests with iPhone and A6500 ran the batteries on both down so fast the method would be impractical for anything more than day-trips.

I use GPS – at the moment, synchronising a track from an iGotU GT120 tracker carried in my camera kit or in a pocket. The device is not very reliable, has dodgy Windows-legacy management software and basic Mac function via third party programs. But for the travel photography I sell, captions have to be accurate and detailed, so the effort has to be taken. It was all SO much easier with the A55, A77 and A99… not to mention the Nikon D5300, Pentax K-1, or Sony’s non-raw-enabled Cybershot HX400V, HX60V and so on. For a very short time indeed I used the Jobo PhotoGPS, which required connection to a server database to turn its satellite position values into geocoordinates. Someone forgot to renew the licence, the server owners turned off the service, and every single PhotoGPS unit sold became a paperweight.

Nothing really beats having in in-camera or on-camera – and Sony has a good record of providing GPS assistance data files, auto-loaded on to your memory card when needed, which make the few cameras provided with GPS work well.

I had almost decided not to consider the A7RIII, but if my prediction proves right and the GPS module arrives in 2018 I will buy one. I’ve actually sold my A6500 after just three months of use to spend a bit of time using an Olympus E-M1 MkII outfit, including its slightly less battery-intensive GPS kludge. I’ve kept my A7RII as no camera made on the market at present, which is comparable in format, attains an image quality to match it when all other factors are equal.

Disclaimer: this is speculation. But it’s not empty speculation!

David Kilpatrick

Accessories - 3rd party, Accessories - Minolta/Sony, DK's ramblings, NEX System, Rumours, Sony Digital Cameras

Canon’s 250 megapixel sensor – the reality

Posted on September 7, 2015 By David Kilpatrick

Here’s this morning’s news:

United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, 7 September 2015 – Canon Europe, a leader in imaging solutions, today announces that its parent company, Canon Inc., is developing an APS-H-size (approx. 29.2 x 20.2 mm) CMOS sensor incorporating approximately 250 million pixels (19,580 x 12,600 pixels), the world’s highest number of pixels for a CMOS sensor smaller than the size of a 35 mm full-frame sensor.

When installed in a camera, the newly developed sensor was able to capture images enabling the distinguishing of lettering on the side of an airplane flying at a distance of approximately 18 km from the shooting location

Well, this is great for the Guinness Book of Records, but you need to put it in context. Sony’s little HX60 – like many other 1/2.3 inch sensor compacts offering 20 megapixel resolution – records 705,000 pixels per square millimetre, 840 pixels per linear millimetre. And where Canon shows a 35mm f/1.4 lens on their prototype camera, the wee Sony goes to 129mm…

The new Canon sensor records about 450,000 pixels per square millimetre, or 670 pixels per linear millimetre. It’s actually just a little bit higher in resolution than the Sony one-inch sensor used in the Cyber-Shot DSC RX10 and RX100 series (414,000 pixels per square millimetre).

In theory, given the same lens and the ability to aim the camera, a pocket Sony Cyber-shot with backside illuminated CMOS 20.2 megapixel 1/2.3″ sensor can distinguish the lettering on that airplane (or if you’re in Britain, aircraft or aeroplane…) from 22.5 kilometres – and if the Sony G zoom on that HX60 is sharp enough, make that 82km. Unless of course Canon was actually testing with a 600mm f/4 attached. Saying what focal length of lens is used gets rather important when chucking around statistic-examples like this.

It is very easy to use facts and figures without reference or benchmarks for comparison.

This is no reason to rain on Canon’s parade, as the video achievement is a major one. Here’s the rest of their tech info, and the important bit is in the last paragraph – Big Brother is droning you… and across that city square, he’ll be able to recognise your eyes and put a bullet in your head with surgical precision.

With CMOS sensors, increases in pixel counts result in increased signal volume, which can cause such problems as signal delays and slight discrepancies in timing. The new Canon-developed CMOS sensor, however, despite its exceptionally high pixel count, achieves an ultra-high signal readout speed of 1.25 billion pixels per second, made possible through such advancements as circuit miniaturisation and enhanced signal-processing technology. Accordingly, the sensor enables the capture of ultra-high-pixel-count video at a speed of five frames per second. Additionally, despite the exceptionally high pixel count, Canon applied its sensor technologies cultivated over many years to realise an architecture adapted for miniaturised pixels that delivers high-sensitivity, low-noise imaging performance.

Video footage captured by the camera outfitted with the approximately 250-megapixel CMOS sensor achieved a level of resolution that was approximately 125 times that of Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) video and approximately 30 times that of 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) video. The exceptionally high definition made possible by the sensor lets users crop and magnify video images without sacrificing image resolution and clarity.

Canon is considering the application of this technology in specialised surveillance and crime prevention tools, ultra-high-resolution measuring instruments and other industrial equipment, and the field of visual expression.

Actually, I see a better use. With the camera set up to cover an entire playing field, licenced from Sony the latest ‘Ball-AF’ ball recognition technology will keep focus on the ball and Minolta’s auto zoom framing patent will compose the crop. TV crews will no longer be needed and Rupert Murdoch will be able to install a full system in every stadium!

– David Kilpatrick

DK's ramblings, HD Video, News, Rumours

Sony A7 merges NEX and RX lines, RX10 revives classics

Posted on October 16, 2013 By David Kilpatrick

Although some of my information back in September was off-mark (writes David Kilpatrick), the post which I put up here was definitely right about the new A7 or rumoured ‘full frame NEX’ being based on the RX body design. I gather it was not the Alpha division, or the NEX division, which handed the prototype cameras to photojournalists from Magnum and Panos agencies. It was either Sony management at an even higher level, or the Cyber-shot division. The photographers involved had previously been using the RX1. They were given the pre-production A7 as a development of the RX1. It may even have been produced because Sony got the feedback that an RX with interchangeable lenses would be great.

Richard Kilpatrick attended the London launch event on Wednesday 16th October and has a small gallery of JPEG shots taken with prototype or pre-production bodies and lenses:

http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/sony_a7_a7r_samples_by_richard_kilpatrick

Richard also relays these comments (now finalised and properly written, evening of a busy day):

Both cameras are deceptive; you simply don’t expect this image quality out of something that light. It’s not like carrying a Leica, where you’re wielding something that might double as a weapon – the magnesium body and full-frame sensor feel solid yet after carrying my regular full-frame SLR, it’s a genuine shock.

The Zeiss lens on the Alpha 7R I used, the 55mm F1.8, looks to be exceptional. When first looking over the JPEGs, I went straight to the corners – the clarity, the even illumination, just instantly impressive. The kit lens I didn’t spend as much time with, and I tried it on the 24Mp Alpha 7 mostly investigating the AF, but I would be opting for primes anyway on this body. I’m curious to see how it handles Leica M-targeted lenses – there will undoubtedly be a 15mm or similar, but one of my favourite inexpensive lenses on the M9 was the Voigtländer Super Heliar II, which showed dramatic falloff and magenta tinges in one corner on that full-frame CCD. It was possible to correct, it seems Sony’s work on short registration full frame may be extremely successful, or their lenses are very well matched. Either way, it works.

I’m not very familiar with Sony’s user interface, and I found some controls slightly unintuitive – on this pre-production model, I couldn’t change the ISO whilst the file was being written. That’s the sort of thing which if I’ve left it set to Auto, or simply hadn’t been paying attention between uses, I might want to do – noticing an incorrect exposure and wanting to rapidly correct my error and reshoot.

Other areas of the UI impressed. The animations for aperture and so forth as you adjust the wheels are quick, clear and unobtrusive, whilst still providing the feedback that would allow less experienced users to see which direction they’re heading and what options are available.

The main screen is very nice. Sharp, and I’m a big fan of articulated screens that allow the use of a camera in a “waist level finder” format. Felt solid, robust enough to cope with professional abuse.

Card door and battery compartment aren’t combined, which is a bonus on a compact body. It also has a well sculpted grip. Perhaps it’s unfair to make direct comparisons, but let’s say I prefer this sort of body design to the flatter, more ‘retro’ inspired mirrorless options on the market.

Can not mention this enough, it’s tiny. It’s properly tiny. Not tiny like “well, it’s as big as a classic SLR from X manufacturer, but it’s packing a tiny sensor in there” – it’s “35mm film era compact body” tiny. With a proper, serious sensor in it, the design compromises to achieve a digital, high-tech UI in a small form factor feel like a much better trade than if you’re working with small controls and sacrificing sensor area.

Port covers are hard plastic, hinged, a bit annoying (rubber ones will at least bend if you catch them by accident). Again, lack of familiarity with Sony catches me out here, as the accessories I’d often expect to hook into the ports use the hotshoe accessory port. An adaptor for the earlier hotshoe is available and about £25 apparently, I was more concerned that I wouldn’t be able to use a regular wireless trigger and thus finding a conventional – albeit very sophisticated – hotshoe was reassuring. I wonder how many regular professionals share that perception – that there will be a non-standard interface on the Sony body.

Shutter sound is very solid, mechanical. A really nice sound. There is not a fully electronic shutter mode available, so no silent shooting, but it’s discrete enough.

Ergonomics are really good. The wheels are logical, I found my way around it very quickly on the whole, though without the experience David has of Sony’s software I didn’t know where to find specific features right away. It was logical enough for the main features, such as setting file size and type. There’s an optional battery grip, though it’s really not vital for changing orientation – the camera is so light, one handed shooting and quick rotation is easy.

I am not a fan of EVFs, though I’m happy to work with them if that’s what I’ve got, an optical viewfinder will always be my preferred route. That said, the EVF really did impress. It’s very sharp, has an impressive refresh rate and of course, somewhere there’s a lot of data being shifted to generate that 2.4Mp image. Cannot deny the technical accomplishment! The overlaid virtual horizon was useful and unobtrusive, though I wasn’t clear on what focus point I was using due to my lack of familiarity with the interface.

Sensor exposed when lens detached. This is common on mirrorless bodies, but I’d really like the option for the shutter to close when detaching a lens. Pros do not treat their kit the way an enthusiast or amateur will cherish the substantial investment – the job, be it on sandy beaches, muddy fields or pouring with rain at a wedding, must take priority and the cameras and lenses get subjected to abuse.

I want one, in an abstract way. it’s really very nice. To expand on that – I’ve a feeling when I see what the finished firmware and raw files offer, and have had more experience with the Zeiss lenses in particular, the shift to an EVF is a change I’d willingly accept for the size and quality advantages, but it’s also just a lovely bit of design. Really appealing.

Sony want to move to pro market. Sony have pretty much always had good glass and bodies, but this offers something really unique that should appeal to many professionals – not least because of that 36Mp sensor.

NEX brand is no more. All models will be united under the Alpha brand, with A, E and FE mounts (Alpha, E and Fullframe E) – Richard Kilpatrick

That it should use the NEX E-mount (already used for full frame on the VG-900) was never in any real doubt, though other prototypes may have existed using a different approach. Today, worldwide, the A7 (24 megapixels full frame with Phase Detect focusing pixels on the sensor) and the A7r (36 megapixels without PDAF, but with AA filter) were officially announced.

Compare the body here with the RX1 below – and make a special point of looking at the film plane index mark on the left-hand top plate end. You’ll see that the sensor is positioned much further forward in the A7 body, as the FE mount has the same 18mm register as the original E-mount (including the RX-style decorative orange lens throat bezel) and the RX body is thicker than a NEX even before this is added. This enables a flush-mounted double hinged rear LCD screen, but it’s not a fully articulated or reversible screen, which is a pity.

You will also see that the entire body has been extended in length, despite the RX being full frame.

This is necessary to accommodate the mechanical drive for the focal plane shutter, which sits more or less between the lens and chunky right hand grip (the RX has no FP shutter as it uses an interlens design). All other principal aspects of the A7 stem from the RX design but the construction is not the same, with multiple magnesium body components sealed together and a different set of interface covers.

The cameras include WiFi and NFC (NearField) communication to enable cable free transfer of images. It does not have built-in GPS but a GPS module is expected for the Multi Function Accessory shoe. The cameras have 2.3K dot 0.71X 0.5 inch OLED EVFs, essentially the same as the A99 with a similar generous eyepiece size and auto switching.

There also appears to be some extra depth to the body. You could dream that the extra body depth, length and height conceal the required mechanism for in-body stabilisation… but it’s just what is needed for the focal plane shutter.

We had hoped that the 35mm f/2 lens would be replicated, but this was not to be despite some information that the 35mm being used on prototypes was ‘the same’ as the RX1. Instead, there’s a 35mm f/2.8 Zeiss. I will admit to being underwhelmed by that, as it puts the A7/A7r into a category which almost every camera ever made matches (very few cameras can’t achieve a 60° view angle at f/2.8 – it’s what the cheapest compact 35mms used to start with). It is not stabilised.

One zoom lens also announced – a lower cost stabilised(?) Sony G 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 – also fails to set the heart racing (or the hands racing for the wallet) when you consider its modest aperture and fairly substantial size. Unlike the 35mm, it has a rear ring which is marked for aperture adjustment like the RX1 (silent or clicked at choice). The FE mount, while compatible with existing E-mount lenses and accessories and has the same ten-pin contact array, may have additional protocols to handle the on-lens aperture setting.

The 28-70mm zoom is not a true parfocal, it’s similar to lenses such as Canon’s 18-135mm sold with their EOS 70D which almost negates the value of on-sensor PDAF by having massive focus shift when zoomed.

If you want contrast detect focus to work, you need parfocal zooms. You need to keep the subject as close to being sharply focus when you zoom as you possibly can. This zoom does not have a constant aperture though setting it to f/5.6 or smaller may have that effect, and it has a large varifocal range (closest focus at 28mm is 0.30m, at 70mm, it’s 0.45m).

Looking at this, I feel that the 24-105mm Sony f/3.5-4.5 D I’m using on my A99 has real appeal.

This shot shows a Carl Zeiss 24-70mm f/4 OSS lens, not a kit lens, but an option at a high price. This is a more realistic range. My guess is that this lens will not only be a constant aperture (regardless of setting) but also parfocal so zooming during video will not force a refocusing process.

The A7 models have audio manual level control during video and a conventional 3.5mm jack for mic input, clean HDMI output for professional external recorders, and for stills only (not video which remains 1080 50/60 or 25/24p – there is no 30p option) the camera will play back at 4K resolution for the new Triluminos gamut Sony 4K televisions.

The final lens of those released with the camera is a 55mm f/1.8 – again, a slightly odd choice for an expensive standard angle lens of reasonable speed without being special. Bear in mind all these lenses are weathersealed and built for professional use, with the kind of smooth focusing and aperture control required for video as well as stills. A 70-200mm f/4 is also released, putting a total of five lenses in the showcase for launch despite the absence of a true super-wide.

A brand new LA-EA4 Alpha mount lens adaptor provides phase detection AF via an SLT mirror, and has sufficient clearance internally to prevent image cut off (the LA-EA2 casts a shadow on the sensor as it has a smaller throat). A new 70-200mm SSM G II A-mount lens has been launched today as well as is picked out by Sony as compatible with this adaptor.

For most potential buyers, the preview of many other lens adaptors – for Leica and for Canon, as examples – will not just be an added attraction, it will be a essential function. It would be interesting if the FE-mount allows adaptors with their own aperture ring controlling lenes such as Nikon G, and reporting EXIF correctly to the A7’s CPU. That kind of detail we’ll have to wait to learn about; most early reviewers will have other concerns. Adaptors are vital because this camera is launched in sharp contrast to the original NEX-5 and 3 models, with at the best a semi-wide prime lens and a basic wide angle on its zoom.

The NEX system set off with a 24mm lens equivalent, an 84° angle of view considered to be the most desirable all-purpose wide angle, in the box. The NEX SEL 16mm f/2.8 may have had its critics and its QC problems, but it’s become a much-loved lens and got hundreds of thousands of NEX owners off to a great start needing no other wide angle lens. It also had the 12mm wide and 10.5mm fisheye adaptor options at modest cost, meaning that those who wanted true wide views had no reservations buying into the system.

The A7/r is in sharp contrast to this, without no prime in the launch range shorter than 35mm. Professionals would definitely want to have a fast 24mm (and a faster 35mm!) and a geometrically good 20 or 21mm. The Leica 21mm Super Angulon was almost the standard lens for photojournalists from as long ago as 50 years, reaching a peak of popularity in the 1970s, still considered vital when you’re in a tight situation with crowds. The A7 is an incomplete professional tool until it has a moderate sized, f/3.5 or f/2.8 20-21mm. Vignetting is acceptable as long it’s not accompanied by a colour shift. Vignetting actually helps with the look of the images!

The AA filter

The A7r with its D800 level resolution (but a sensor not related to the D800) has the AA filter removed, as in the RX1r. I have tested the RX1r against the RX1 for the British Journal of Photography and I’ll write here about the whole issue of AA filters and moiré only after the BJP has published my report. I will say that the moiré is not a minor issue, the RX1 standard version is already capable of throwing up moiré as it has a very weak AA filter, and the RX1r is bitingly sharp.

So why does Sony do this? It’s hostile to video though the scaling down from the 6000 pixel sensor to a 1920 pixel HD frame is accompanied by moiré removal. The answer lies in conventional contrast detection autofocus. AA filters reduce fine detail contrast and tend to smooth the luminance peaks and troughs used by contrast detect focusing to decide when the image is most sharp. Removing the AA filter has a small but significant effect on the speed and accuracy of contrast detection focusing, along with an improvement in many irregular textures like distant woodlands, lawn grass and human skin. So if you incorporate image processing able to remove some of the resulting moiré, it makes sense. This is the route being taken by most other makers now to get the best possible live view auto follow-focusing.

The A7r sensor has a sensitivity of 100-25,600 expandable to 50, and to 51,200 with multi-frame noise reduction.

The battery

The RX1, like the RX100, charges via micro USB and uses a very small battery., NP-BX1. This is fine for running a camera without a focal plane shutter, though pushing it for capacity when running the larger RX1 with EVF (you need spares). The A7 models have a large finger grip partly to accommodate a more substantial battery. The tiny NP-BX1 is really a consumer compact camera cell. The NP-FW50 used by the A7 models is the same cell used by NEX and Alpha 55 (etc).

A battery grip VG-C1EM accepts two of these cells for extended shooting. Charging remains in-camera despite the battery size, as with the Alpha 3000, the first camera to charge this battery type via USB. However, there is an external battery charger available.

Availability

Sony state ‘mid November’ for worldwide shop stocking. B&H already has offers in place:Sony A7 digital camera body only $1,698
Sony A7r body only $2,298
Sony A7 with 28-70mm $1,998
Cyber-shot RX10 see below $1,298
CZ 24-70mm f/4 OSS $1,198
Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA $798
Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA $998
Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G SSM II $2,998
Sony LA-EA4 SLT Alpha mount adaptor $348
Battery Grip $298
Charger $48
Off-camera flash shoe (also for all other cameras with Multi Function Shoe) $198

The RX10

As this image, released in the early hours of the morning, shows it’s a bridge camera with an 8.8-73.3mm f/2.8 lens which is equal to 24-200mm on a 1″ sensor (2.7X factor, 2:3 format shape). This is the spiritual heir to two cameras – the Konica Minolta A200 and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1 – rolled into one. The A2/A200 was described as having a 28-200mm lens, but because it had a 4:3 format shape, the lens was actually equal to a 24mm if you wanted an 8 x 6″ print shape (the 28mm equivalent assumed you cropped the frame down to 2:3… not many people know that…). And that camera had a 7.2-56mm lens, which tells you that the 2/3 inch sensor is for some reason more like a 3/4 inch sensor relative to the 1″ standard.

The RX10 has a mechanical zoom just like the earlier Minolta/KM and Sony models. As long as the lens lives up to expectations, it’s going to be a great general purpose camera, with its 1/3rd click stopped aperture ring round the lens and its Alpha style mechanical AF mode switch. Why would you really want anything more than this for 90% of your out-and-about photography? It has Nearfield (NFC) connectivity but does not have WiFi, or GPS built-in. It does have the Multi Function Accessory shoe which can add many accessory functions in future.

One surprise is that this camera has a mini XLR balanced powered adaptor kit for microphones – this is the small XLR you may have seen on wireless mic sets, locking and more secure than the minijack which is built-in for regular use. This also has audio level metering and manual gain control (thus beating the Alpha 77, which remains hampered by forced auto gain for audio).

Local noise reduction

All the new Sony models have improved sensors and processors. The A7r has the microlenses moulded directly to the sensor, rather than added in an overlay layer as it normal, and they are gapless. The RX10 has a back-illuminated sensor. All have ‘local noise reduction’ which sets alarm bells ringing. If it’s a function that only affects JPEGs, all very well; if we have adaptive local NR affecting raw files, it will only be acceptable if it can be turned off (at least, to some users).

DK's ramblings, News, NEX System, Rumours, Sony Digital Csmeras

RX1 ‘NEX’ coming in October – 2 interchangeable lenses

Posted on September 10, 2013 By David Kilpatrick

Reporting from Perpignan, one of our good friends in the biz was enjoying the usual wine and sunshine with photojournalists from a French agency (or two). Turns out that right now there’s an RX1 with interchangeable lenses, just what we asked for when the camera was first seen at photokina, roaming the night-time streets of Paris in the hands of no small Magnum name.

The body is exactly the same size and the mount is thought to be a modified E-mount with additional contacts to enable the silent leaf-shutter and iris action which is the hallmark of the RX1 as a ‘stealth’ shooter. It’s possible that the RX1-N (not necessarily its name) lenses will fit other E-mount bodies, but existing E-mount lenses won’t fit the new mini-Leica-style body. But it may also contain a focal plane shutter, as there is such a high potential demand to retrofit Leica M and other vintage lenses to a full frame body of this size.

More we can’t say. The two international press agencies testing the camera right now are keeping very quiet – just like the camera. In fact it’s hard to imagine the RX1 becoming as ‘noisy’ when fired as a NEX (and they are pretty silent when first curtain electronic shutter is used). So a completely new, or partially compatible, mount may be involved. It would be quite fun though if it turned out that over 30 years after the end of the Minolta CLE, a decade after the demise of the Konica RF, and fully 55 years after Minolta’s first abortive bid to make a Leica M body system camera… that Sony put a plain old Leica M mount on the front instead.

Whatever the case, we gather only ONE lens has so far been released for trials and it’s probably exactly the same 35mm f/2 as the regular RX1/RX1X. A second lens is due by the October launch window and the informed guess is that it will be between 50mm and 90mm, our bets are on the most attractive Leica-heritage option, a 75mm between f/2.5 and f/1.4 in aperture. Those 75mms would have been far more popular on Leica bodies if the viewfinders had been better designed to use them. With electronic viewing, that problem disappears and there is no longer any need to keep to fixed steps like 35mm, 50mm, 90mm, 135mm.

In the meantime Hasselblad is having fun selling their STELLAR alongside the earlier LUNAR – the Stellar is of course an RX100 (Mark 1) with an exotic wood (eco-friendly, folks?) or carbon fibre handgrip and some funky styling in return for a 50% higher price tag. They’ve even opened a new Hasselblad brand shop in Japan to sell these luxury bits of luggage to connoisseurs.

I’ve been using the RX100II. Strikes me the STELLAR is light years behind before it even got of the launch pad. Maybe there will be a Stellar II by Christmas. Make mine an African Zebrawood grip please.

– David Kilpatrick

Our comments system is not working properly so I’ll add this here:

Our contact was sure it was an RX1-type camera rather than a NEX and that two lenses are involved, one in existence, the second to be tested shortly. There are two test bodies in existence, being trialled by two different picture agencies. However, this is third-hand info – other photographers in the agencies involved were talking about something they had seen in the hands of colleagues, and were in turn overheard by a journalist who is not a hardware specialist, who called me with what he had heard. If this was a full-frame NEX, I think it would have been identified as such and the RX1 would not have been referenced. However, it is also possible that the full-frame NEX (already rumoured) could simply be styled like an RX1. I did ask whether it had an eye-level finder but this was not mentioned and therefore not known. It would be great if it was just a full-frame NEX, able to do cropped images with existing E-mount lenses and to use the LA-EA3 (full frame compatible adaptor for Alpha A-mount lenses. It would also be great if it did turn out to use the near-silent leaf shutter mechanism. Both possibilities are speculation. We’ll know in maybe four weeks’ time.

DK's ramblings, News, NEX System, Rumours, Sony Digital Csmeras

No new Alphas after the 58 in 2013?

Posted on February 19, 2013 By David Kilpatrick

The Japanese industry magazine, Nippon Camera, has posted its calendar of new product releases for 2013. This does not include the Alpha 58, a 20-megapixel revision of the 57 which is not expected to make any significant difference to the choices for DSLR/SLT system owners (that is – it’s not likely to be an imperative choice).

The A58 has already been previewed by some websites, but no opinion has any meaning until the sensor has been thoroughly tested. It may be significantly better than the 24 megapixel sensor in some ways, and better than the 16 megapixel sensor; or it may just be a compromise which has neither the clear benefit of low light performance, or ultimate resolution.

In March, a NEX-7R is expected – this, following Sony numbering, will be a 7 with on-sensor PDAF added and compatible with the revised and new lenses which work with on-sensor PDAF in the NEX-5R and NEX-6. The next month, a budget model NEX-F3R will complete this compatibility at entry level.

The model numbers given by Nippon Camera are different from those rumoured on the web. 7n would indicate no PDAF on sensor, no touch screen where 7R would indicate both. Either way, a new 7 will have the new Multi Function Accessory shoe. F3R indicates built-in flash, PDAF and touch-screen.

In September, Sony is tabled to launch a NEX-9. This is widely assumed, because of the numbering consistency shown so far, to be a full-frame (probably 24 megapixel) NEX E-mount body just as the VG-900E video camera is a full frame E-mount aimed at that market. We believe that Sony will either bundle an Alpha mount adaptor with the 9, as Canon has done for EF lenses with the EOS M, or will wait until the first flush of sales is complete before using this as a price/value incentive.

Listing this as plain NEX-9 may not mean it’s lacking the ‘n’ or ‘r’ or other aspects. After all, the NEX-6 has almost everything new and it’s a plain 6. So a 9 may also have more functions than the VG-900E.

However, it’s very hard to beat Canon’s approach – at airport duty free last week, Canon’s EOS M was selling for £499 complete with kit 18-55mm lens, EOS EF/EF-S lens adaptor, and a medium powered bounce flash.

Nippon Camera does not place any further NEX or Alpha models on their 2013 calendar of predicted launches, despite every indication there should be further A-mount models.

New lenses announced this week include an 18-55mm SAM II (updated focus motor for better PDAF on sensor, hopefully improved optical and mechanical design); a Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar SSM at a very high retail price; and a revised 70-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II, again probably optimised for on-sensor PDAF performance.

– DK

Cameras (DSLR), NEX System, Rumours

Sony aims for the sky – RX1?

Posted on September 10, 2012 By David Kilpatrick

According to Sonyalpharumours, on Wednesday Sony will not only announce the Alpha 99 full frame SLT, but will reveal a compact bodied full frame fixed lens model with the same 24 megapixel sensor, called the RX1 and taking the concept of the RX100 zoom ‘one inch’ format model to a new height (photo – from Sonyalpharumours).

It’s a retro-appeal camera, with a mode dial, an over-ride dial, lens apertures set round the lens, a conventional hot shoe and a a manual focus ring which doubles as a fast means to switch between two AF ranges, 20-35cm and 35cm to infinity. It has no viewfinder, just a fixed positon rear screen, but apparently will have EVF and optical finder attachments.

Inside Sony, I think there’s been some serious divisional competition between the former Minolta Alpha group and the more powerfully connected Cyber-shot team. All the indicators are that sometime earlier this year the two divisions were put into a competing situation and there may ultimately be one winner, one loser. That’s how Sony culture is structured, according to every insider view I have heard since Sony acquired the Minolta camera brand in 2006. Groups, departments, teams and individuals are weighed against each other as well as against their industry rivals. The winners are rewarded with promotion and bigger budgets, the losers have to survive with diminished resources. It’s a deliberately competitive environment.

I believe the Cyber-shot team got hold of this sensor to compete head-on with the NEX team. This is part of Sony’s internal camera design Olympics and only Gold counts. The RX100 has been a sell-out success and given the division the authority to take Cyber-shot models to places where the DSC-R1 was once heading before Alpha and NEX arrived on the scene and shut that line of development down. They kept the RX100 under wraps to spring it on the world – including other Sony camera teams – as a blockbuster surprise. Now they have done the same with the RX1. Where next?

But, will a camera like this sell? Did it ever sell in the era of film – and why should anything be different today, give or take temporary fashions for the limitations of retro-style specifications?

In fact there were plenty of cameras with lens specifications around 35mm f/2 over the years, but very few survived after zoom lens compacts arrived. The era of Hi-Matics, Canonets, Yashica or Ricoh 35s saw apertures up to f/1.7 and focal lengths ranging from 35mm to 45mm. By the time 20 years of zoom lens SLRs and 10 years of zoom compacts had destroyed that market, it had moved in favour of boutique level pocktables like the Contax T2, retro Rollei 35, Minox 35 and their copies. The 35mm focal length won the day in the smaller bodies, but f/2.8 replaced faster apertures to keep size and weight down.

Minolta broke away with the titanium-bodied TC-1, one of the most expensive such cameras ever made. It had a 28mm f/3.5 G-series lens designed with a large rear element and a concave front surface, using new aspherical technology. Instead of a variable aperture, it used perfectly round laser cut Waterhouse stops which eliminated diffraction effects. This proved a valuable precursor to digital camera lenses later on, needing the same technology for ultra-short focal lengths and small sensors.

But it was left to Konica reintroduce the rangefinder-style body with a fixed 35mm f/2 lens, in the form of the Hexar 35, another very expensive and beautifully made design. The Hexar was the fin-de-siècle failure that bad design detail ensured it would be. No-one wanted a leaf shutter camera – even one with a near-silent slow winding mode for filmset and concert shooting – that was limited to 1/250th top shutter speed. Leaf shutters were perfect for synchro-sun flash, but plenty of focal plane shutters could do 1/250th. If the camera had been equipped with a 1/500th or 1/1000th top speed its hybrid electronic control system and Aperture Priority basis would still have missed the mark. Konica went on to show a full Hexar RF Leica M mount system at photokina 2002, finishing it off with some revolutionary additions at the same event in 2004, by which time Minolta and Konica had merged.

Within days of the close of photokina, the Hexar 35 and the RF system were discontinued. Whatever feedback they had received, the merged Konica Minolta dropped the Konica brand and with it the highest end Konica cameras. The fact was they had not sold, and had not sold profitably.

Which could be why the Cyber-shot division is aiming for the sky with the RX1, and pricing it at a rumoured $2799.

That’s over £2,000 in British money with VAT, for a fixed lens camera – even though it will shoot 5fps, 24 megapixels, and has a Zeiss Sonnar lens. It may also be the first time a Sonnar has covered this angle at f/2, previous incarnations have either been f/2.8 at 63° coverage or been longer relative focal lengths at f/2 (I stand to be corrected on this – the Contax G system used a 35mm f/2 Planar).

To that $2799 you can add a viewfinder and possibly other accessories. This is one camera for which I would expect to see both 0.7X wide angle and 1.5X tele lens converters (24.5mm and 52.5mm equivalents). Combined with intelligent cropping and resampling, the 24 megapixel full frame should also offer 1.4 or 1.5X and 2X digital tele, or perhaps a variable digital zoom, and a likely 3X/2X/1.4X range of video crops. Then again, Sony may be playing very clean and avoiding these options even if they would improve the experience of a fixed 35mm lens for many users.

35mm logic

I have to say that at this point, Sony has left me behind. It’s neat focal length in the Leica system because it’s been around in optically acceptable form and fast maximum apertures since the 1960s.

The classic lens sets for 35mm full frame started with the 35/50/85-90mm trio. This was because so many rangefinder cameras used interlens shutters and interchangeable front groups rather than entire lens in front of focal plane shutters. Anything shorter than 35mm was expensive and huge, anything longer than 90mm couldn’t be focused very reliably. So we ended up with launches like the Leica CL – just a 40mm and 90mm lens pair. But Leica had moved on long before in the M-series, starting with the M2 (35mm widest lens) alongside the M3 (50mm, anything wider needing ‘spectacles’ or a separate finder), then the M4-P which for the first time put 28mm on board. So the Minolta CLE Leica-mount kit appeared with 28/40/90mm as its kit, and fifteen years later the Contax G system came with 28/45/90 as an alternative to the more affordable 35/90. Konica offered their RF straight out with a 28/50/90mm set.

Fuji’s XPro-1 has been a success, and its launch lens set is 27/52.5/90mm. Now there’s a big gap from 18mm to 35mm (actual focal lengths) and they will fill it with a 35mm-equivalent. But would you want that on its own? I know someone who has a Leica M9 with just a 35mm f/2. That was a budget decision. Given enough money they would have the 24mm, 28mm, 50mm, 75mm and 90mm too!

Well-mannered and perfect though it has every chance of being, a 35mm f/2 on full frame is as uninspiring for me as the Fujfilm X100’s fixed 23mm f/2 on APS-C was. It’s a good focal length for small groups indoors, general house and garden shots, and street candids. It’s too short for conventional portraiture and too long for environmental editorial people pix. It’s easy to use and fairly boring.

Most of all, it is extremely easy to MAKE. The history of photo gear is one where lenses with a 60-65° angle of view have been good. Unlike early 28mms, 35mms were OK. The same angle of view on any compact digital, of any sensor size, is still good and many are f/2, even if they don’t offer the same lazy solution to defining the centre of interest in a shot.

I do not need to spend $2799 to get what the RX1 appears to offer. I didn’t even want it in the NEX-7 and have never felt tempted to buy the 24mm f/2.

I think, perhaps, that after a long time of ignoring photographers Sony finally listened. They may have listened to the wrong ones. The lens enthusiasts of dPreview represent a tiny minority. Those who will spend nearly $3k on a fixed lens compact – even with full frame – are even fewer.

Now, when do I get to apply for a job selling it into China? There is one place with new buying habits to match this camera perfectly!

– David Kilpatrick

DK's ramblings, News, Rumours, Sony Digital Csmeras