Tag: Sony

Alpha and NEX overtake Nikon UK DSLR sales

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Chris Cheeseman writes in Amateur Photographer, reporting on figures released by photo industry analysts GfK, that Sony interchangeable lens camera sales in the UK have overtaken Nikon, moving the company into second position behind Canon.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/canon_and_nikon_lose_ground_as_camera_wars_hot_up_news_305118.html

In the Japanese home market, Canon remains top, Nikon second and Sony is third with over 15% of the market share. No attempt is made by AP to analyse the importance of Sony having a market share which is roughly half that of Nikon and Cano respectively, in that market.

The figures relate to the year 2010 – a calendar year – and it needs to be considered that Sony’s NEX system effectively went on sale slightly before midway during that term, and the SLT system one quarter later. Some Sony models were only introduced after photokina, in the final three months of the year.

In fact, it’s almost impossible to judge Sony’s impact when 2010 is viewed as a year rather than in terms of monthly or quarterly figures. If a graph was to be drawn with four lines on it – Nikon, Canon, Sony and ‘everything else’ – it looks as if the 11% overall decline in Nikon and Canon would contrast with a steep late year climb from Sony.


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Cameras (DSLR), News, NEX System

Sony 5″ video monitor for DSLRs

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For some time, I have been using a 7″ Lilliput external monitor for my Alpha and other HDMI output cameras. This is fairly bulky, with its external battery pack, and is mounted on a flash bracket holding it to the side of the camera. The main use of the monitor is for interview-style filming with it facing the subject (self filming) but it also has uses making location shooting simpler. Such monitors are usually mounted within video rigs, off camera, often at waist or chest level even when the camera is held above and forward of them.

The cost of the Lilliput is around £150-£200 depending on supplier and battery/mains power choices. Similar monitors from Marshall and other makers typically cost two to three times this, because they are sold for the photo market – the Lilliput is sold to the in-car entertainment sector, and therefore is not marked up by 300% to allow for the deep pockets of camera owners relative to car owners.

Sony’s new 5″ monitor is much lighter, and comes with mounts for hot shoe and Alpha shoe, and a neat lightweight HDMI-miniHDMI cable (oddly enough, that’s about the hardest thing to find – a short, skinny cable). It costs $395, but for that you do get a folding hood which is neat. They have many photos of it and not one shows it facing forwards, but the use is mentioned in the publicity.

It does not draw power from the HDMI, but requires either a mains adaptor or a battery pack, which is not shown in any of the photos. Sony have done the same as LED-video-light makers – provided a bay for fitting the regular Alpha camera battery as a power source. The press release implies that the battery pack is a separate item (‘optional’) instead of making the point that you use any large Alpha battery (including old ones left over from the A100). I find it very convenient that my video light accepts the same batteries as my camera system, and not very convenient to have a bulky rechargeable pack for my 7″ monitor. (NB: all that white space is part of Sony’s image we have linked to – nothing like wasting a bit of bandwidth by not cropping pix, is there?).

Here’s the press release:

—————————————————-

A new clip-on LCD monitor from Sony gives DSLR camera owners a bigger, better view of their footage while shooting HD video.

The CLM-V55 is a portable video monitor featuring a high-resolution WVGA (800 x 480) (5”) LCD panel. Attaching easily to most Interchangeable Lens Digital cameras and compatible HD camcorders via the supplied adaptor, it displays video footage during shooting/playback with excellent clarity and a wide viewing angle.

The clip-on screen tilts and swivels to any angle for comfortable framing in any position – even self-shooting when you’re in the picture.

The CLM-V55 is loaded with pro-style features to help photo enthusiasts and videographers shoot high-quality HD video footage with their Interchangeable Lens Digital camera.

Pixel magnification mode assists with accurate focus confirmation, giving an enlarged pixel-perfect view of a selected portion of the Full HD image. It’s complemented by a colour peaking function that highlights the edges of accurately-focused areas of the video image.

An intuitive control wheel allows quick, positive adjustment of a wide range of monitor settings without interrupting shooting. Adjustable parameters include aspect ratio (16:9/4:3), volume, brightness, contrast, colour tone (phase), colour temp and auto dimmer. On-screen markers aid precise framing by giving precise indication of a TV’s 16:9 or 4:3 actual display area. The LCD monitor’s on-board mono speaker is complemented by a headphone jack for accurate audio monitoring during shooting.

The CLM-V55 attaches easily to a wide range of Interchangeable Lens Digital cameras from Sony and other manufacturers that support HD video shooting. The supplied adaptor simplifies mounting on any camera or HD camcorder that features an auto-lock accessory shoe or ISO shoe. Signal connection from camera to monitor is via the supplied HDMI cable, while power can be supplied using a battery pack or AC adaptor (both optional). The CLM-V55 comes with a detachable LCD hood for more comfortable viewing when shooting outdoors in bright sunlight.

The CLM-V55 LCD video monitor by Sony is available from March 2011.

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Accessories - Minolta/Sony, Cameras (DSLR), HD Video, News

Sony launch new consumer technology

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It’s 2.13am in Scotland, and I can’t possibly handle the volume of press material which has just flooded in from Sony at the CES show in Las Vegas.

Exmor-R is really rolled out in force – back-illuminated CMOS sensors all round. Simulataneous still capture during video without interruption has arrived in the consumer cameras, both by using two sensors (two cameras in one camera) or by sheer processing power (capture during 1080/50i recording, but not during 1080/50p).

Sony’s foresight in grabbing hold of certain image-blending technologies – the patents/processors which have already made Night Shot and Twilight, multishot panorama and 3D panorama, HDR multishot all possible – is extended to use multi shot with multiple focus positions, to create artificial bokeh effects (DSLR-like differential focus) and also simulated 3D in which two exposures made at two focus distance positions are offset to create a 3D-like result.

All this stuff is very important for the future of DSLRs – it must lead in due course to multishot focus stacking in-camera in DSLRs, just as it leads to the reverse in small sensor consumer cams, and also new 3D modes.

My crystal ball says that two years from now, you will be able to take ‘a shot’ with a camera and by capturing multiple frames in an extremely short duration, it will be possible SELECT YOUR FOCUS PLANE afterwards and ELIMINATE ALL NOISE regardless of ISO. In-camera and in computer alike. And you’ll be able to decide how much depth of field you want and preview the effect and save the result. One day there will be a raw file which uses a cubic model not a Cartesian model, XY coordinates for the image dimension, then many layers stacked to represent multiple focus planes.

Sony just brought this future – I can remember we discussed the concept of the ‘cubic’ image file way back in the 1990s in our office rambles – closer to reality.

See:

http://presscentre.sony.eu/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=6368&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=1

And have a dig round, there’s a stack more into rolling out from Sony, and a lot of important stuff is hiding in the detail.

Also log in to Sony’s blog page:

http://blog.discover.sonystyle.com/follow-sony-electronics-news-live-from-ces-2011

This should bring you updated info links.

– DK

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DK's ramblings, News

The Alpha 580 – a three-way view

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Once I had a quarterplate hand-and-stand camera, vintage 1920s. Attached to the front standard was a small reflex viewfinder, giving a miniature composition you could use at waist or chest level. On the same standard was a folding wire frame, with a companion eye-sighting window flipping up from the side of the body. This gave a direct view from eye level. But for the most accurate framing and focusing, a groundglass screen at back could be used with the shutter open and a viewing hood folded out.

Those three ways of viewing have never been available in a modern SLR. Until now! The Alpha 580 (for which you can also read 560 throughout this review, give or take the sensor) is the first modern SLR to offer three entirely different viewfinder systems, all with their own unique focus and exposure methods. There have been cameras made by Alpa and Praktina which had optical finders tucked in alongside their pentaprism, and Rollei invented a finder which could switch from eye-level to waist level at the flick of a lever. But the Alpha 580 offers three through-the-lens systems and it’s unlikely any DSLR will do so again.
This is a 10-page article – please use the navigation bar at the bottom to move on to the next page, or click the ‘Continue Reading’ link to view as a single long article (this function is not very reliable though and may produce an ‘undefined’ error)

Continue reading »

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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, Equipment Reviews, HD Video, Lenses - Alpha Mount

Alpha 55 – in depth pros and cons

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It’s taken me a long time to get round to writing a review of the Alpha 55. You don’t get to use a new type of camera very often, and this camera blends elements which have all been used before in a completely new way. This review is pretty from the point of view of the still photographer not the video shooter. This is a multi page report. There’s a lot of it. Please use the navigation for pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and on to keep the pages a reasonable size – even if it’s rather hard to spot it… or click the Read More link to get it as one big scrolling monster.

Continue reading »

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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, Equipment Reviews

New ultra-fast, multi-terabyte memory cards on horizon

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November 30, 2010 — SanDisk Corporation, Sony Corporation and Nikon Corporation today announced the joint development of a set of specifications that address the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash® Association (CFA)*, the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format.
Professional photography and High Definition (HD) video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Sony and Nikon proposed a new card specification Continue reading »

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Cameras (DSLR), News

A-mount autofocus upgrade for NEX-VG10E

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Available now for download, a free firmware upgrade adds autofocus support with 14 A-mount SAM and SSM lens models. AF compatibility of the NEX-VG10E with A-mount lenses requires the optional LA-EA1 Mount Adaptor, plus a separate firmware upgrade for the LA-EA1.

Man using NEX-VG10E with 18-200mm OSS lens and mic windshield, in Fuerteventura last week. Alphaspotted by Shirley Kilpatrick.
The upgrade lets videographers enjoy smooth, accurate AF operation with the family of A-mount optics that includes telephotos, primes and zooms by Sony and Carl Zeiss.
The latest firmware upgrade by Sony for registered Handycam® NEX-VG10E customers is available free of charge from http://support.sony-europe.com/dime/camcorders/hd/msc/msc.aspx?&m=NEX-VG10E.
Editor’s comment: AF is already offered by the NEX-3 and NEX-5 with the adaptor and the same group of SAM and SSM lenses. However, it could not really be described as ‘smooth, accurate’ – more like ‘just acceptable’. So perhaps the VG10E’s firmware fix is a better one and perhaps a further firmware release may arrive improving A-mount AF with the 3 and 5.

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Accessories - Minolta/Sony, HD Video, Lenses - Alpha Mount, NEX System

Sony to develop Super-35mm pro camcorder

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Sony Corporation announced today that it is developing a new type of E-mount interchangeable lens camcorder for professional use that is equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent large format CMOS sensor. This new addition to Sony’s professional “NXCAM” line will be available in the middle of 2011.

Editor’s Note: Super-35mm is not full frame 35mm. The 35mm movie format is what we call half-frame in still photography, or a little over 18 x 24mm – a size very close to the nominal 16 x 24mm of the DT/DX format used by Sony for APS-C sensors. Sony may decide to use a normal APS-C sensor for this, or to use a true 16:9 ratio for HD Video. However, Super-35mm normally means a squarer image format. No doubt internet forums will be full of folk claiming that Sony has gone full frame frame on the E-mount just like they said, etc etc – well, that is not the case. Super-35mm does not mean full frame (technically, double frame 35mm).
But this sensor may be significantly larger than existing APS-C, at a possible 25 x 18.5mm rather than 23.5 x 15.5mm or thereabouts (please note that one APS-C sensor is already quoted as being 16 x 24mm). Alpha A-mount lenses will of course cover this easily; E-mount NEX lenses may have been designed to do so from the start, though it may be pushing it to expect corner quality unless OS is disabled. By definition, all OS-type lenses must have a larger circle of coverage than the format they are designed for – often considerably larger. Turning off OS would enable any properly designed OS lens to cover a bigger sensor without any corner vignetting or loss of sharpness.
Remember where you read this first – 17.30hrs on November 17th! – DK
Continue reading »

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HD Video, NEX System

HD videocast – NEX adaptors and odd lenses

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I’ve finally got round to trying a ‘proper’ videocast – perhaps the first of regular short demonstrations – with the Alpha 55 offering me HD filming while demonstrating the NEX-5. And I can use the NEX-5 to film stuff about the Alpha 55. A Canon 60D helped, though its inability to refocus during filming (which the NEX-5 and Alpha 55 can do) proved a small problem. The sound from the Canon was used, mainly because it had been set with a manual level, while the Sony was using an external condensor mic that pickup up some serious interference from the lights.
The lighting is nothing more than one 30W daylight colour energy saver and one 20W – using an angle desk lamp from IKEA and a spare table lamp. The background is a Calumet (Lastolite in disguise) canvas. To do the filming, I ran a 7 inch Lilliput monitor from the HDMI output of the Alpha 55, and mounted it facing me on a bar right next to the camera. The Canon was set up as a second camera and left running from that position. Editing, including cutting and pasting the soundtrack and parts of the Canon video, was in iMovie 11.

This is a full 1080p HD YouTube film – if you can view it (bandwidth is an issue) try the higher resolutions. The Alpha 55 consistently overheated at around 7 minutes, showing me a temperature warning then shutting off. The room was not warm and the camera screen was both not active, and moved away from the camera back. My first attempt at this film was spoiled by the overheating issue, perhaps because SSS was left on in error. However, on a tripod SSS is not active to any extent when shooting video (it does not have the same problems of creating blur, which happen with still images due to the way mirror or shutter vibration are reflected by the tripod). Previous time limited movies I’ve made have been hand held and of course SSS is both used and expected to be very active.
– David Kilpatrick

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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, HD Video, Lenses - Alpha Mount, Lenses - SR/MC/MD, NEX System

Sony VAT-back offer – UK only

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Many Sony Alpha products are included in the Sony UK VAT-back scheme which will operate until December 24th. Items purchased from authorised retailers from October 28th onwards may be eligible for a claim, and Sony will return the equivalent of the 17.5% VAT paid to the customer directly.
This is not actually VAT back, as any item purchased in this way is still eligible for normal VAT relief on the nett amount paid, for UK VAT registered buyers (businesses). Customers outside Europe will be able to buy without VAT under the normal rules applying to exports.
On January 4th 2011, UK VAT increases to 20% for consumer goods including all the Sony range.
For details of the VATback offer, see:
http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/1237479399273
Sony point out that the VAT amounts to 14.9% of the price paid, not 17.5% (it is 175/1175).
The offer includes  NEX-5, Alpha 580, Alpha 55 and Alpha 33 plus two lenses – the 75-300mm SAL and the 50mm f/1.8 SAM. But you need to be very careful indeed when ordering, as the deal applies only to some very specific packages such as the Body Only for A580, A33 and A55 (if you can find it!) and exact kits such as NEX-5D with 16mm and 18-55mm or NEX-5A with just 16mm. You must check when buying whether the exact product number you are buying qualifies for the VATback.
Buyers internationally can also get similar discounts until December 31st – we note that B&H for example offers this NEX-5 kit with $150 rebate. That’s about the same as the UK VATback deal.

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Cameras (DSLR), Lenses - Alpha Mount, News, NEX System
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