Oops. Forgot to link to the Petapixel article (for those that haven't seen it): http://petapixel.com/2014/07/30/sony-a7s-astrophotography-review/
Sony manufactures the 12.2MP full frame chip. Frankly I think they HAD to develop a camera for it because third parties aren't buying it and their marketing departments want more MP from a full frame sensor. Sony was forced to "eat their own dogfood" but that doesn't mean it won't be a cracking good camera - if a bit pricey for my tastes. On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 10:58 PM, Darren Addy <pixelsmi...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm not terribly interested in mirrorless cameras (although I have to > admit that I love that, thanks to the mirrorless design you can use > about any legacy lens on them (with the proper adapter). But after > reading a petapixel article on the a7s and its potentially being the > best astrophotography (low light) camera on the planet, I had to read > up on it. > > From a marketing standpoint, what Sony has done appears to be a head > scratcher. From the article: > > "The Sony a7S is the third variation of the full-frame mirrorless a7 > series of cameras that Sony has recently released. First Sony released > the 24.3 megapixel a7 and 36.4 megapixel a7R, the first mirrorless > cameras with full-frame 24mm x 36mm sensors. The recently released a7S > seems like sort of the oddball of the three a7 variations: It has only > a 12.2 megapixel sensor and at the time of this writing, it costs > almost $1000 more than the a7 and $200 more than the much higher > resolution a7R. But with that 12.2 megapixel sensor comes some > distinct advantages, especially for low-light photography and video. > > 12.2 Megapixels > > With the a7S, it seems like you’re paying more for less. But even with > a sensor resolution that is a third the resolution of the cheaper a7R, > the a7S offers two things in return: sensitivity and 4K video (sort > of*). The A7s has larger pixels than pretty much any consumer level > full-frame digital camera. The larger pixel size means that each pixel > can collect physically more light. The more light per pixel, the > better the signal to noise ratio for that pixel and so that pixel will > more accurately detect the incoming light than a smaller pixel would. > This means that, all other things being equal, the A7s should be > capable of the best per pixel signal-to-noise ratio of any production > camera. " > > - - - > Can you imagine what the Pentax hoards would say if Pentax came out > with a full frame camera with fewer megapixels than the flagship? This > Sony camera is fewer megapixels than the PREVIOUS Pentax flagships: > the K-5, K-5ii/iis > > That is really interesting. Frankly, I think it spells disaster from a > sales/marketing standpoint but I still find it intriguing that Sony > went forward with it. > > To segue back into PentaxLand, it is clear that Pentax is going to > introduce a full frame (although still NOT at this coming Photokina). > What Pentax is telegraphing (or will at Photokina) is that they are > designing/developing full frame lenses again. I expect them to talk > about full frame more, even if they aren't showing a prototype. > > The thing is that the time is right (the technology "planets" have > aligned) for Pentax to give its users a real choice: A 24.3MP APS-C > camera OR a 24.3MP full frame camera (for a lot more money). Sony > makes such a sensor and it is pretty awesome. It has also been out > long enough that Pentax may be able to buy it in 2014/15 at prices > that make the resulting camera sellable (unlike the Sony a7s at > $2500). > > Check out this great comparison of a 24.3MP APS-C vs a 24.3MP full > frame and decide for yourself: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6EmdyBPF2w > Watch the above video in HD and with fullscreen. > > With other manufacturers making noise on moving in on Pentax medium > format land, a bang-for-the-buck full frame camera is nearly a > necessity. Pentax/Ricoh is making money on their Q line of cameras > (especially in the parts of the world that are not the U.S.) and that > is good for Pentax/Ricoh. I'm fairly convinced that Pentax will have > to say a bit about full frame at Photokina (but not want to freeze > sales of existing products) and will have a 24.3MP full frame > introduced in early 2015. > > Or maybe I'm just Charlie Brown believing that Lucy is going to > actually hold the football for me to kick THIS TIME. > :) > > -- > Photographers must learn not to be ashamed to have their photographs > look like photographs. > ~ Alfred Stieglitz -- Photographers must learn not to be ashamed to have their photographs look like photographs. ~ Alfred Stieglitz -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
