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36mp Full Frame A99 SLT rumour

jonoslack

Active member
Hi there
I've just seen this on Alpha Rumours
Sony Alpha Rumors

Seems like a 36mp full frame sensor (same to be used on the Nikon 800). With an SLT screen and a lower price.

Interesting at the very least.

all the best
 

dhsimmonds

New member
Hi there
I've just seen this on Alpha Rumours
Sony Alpha Rumors

Seems like a 36mp full frame sensor (same to be used on the Nikon 800). With an SLT screen and a lower price.

Interesting at the very least.

all the best
This is good news Jono. I particularly like the bit about new lenses for the "A99" which should also fit the A900 and A77! I just hope that they get the firmware right this time before releasing it!
 

jonoslack

Active member
This is good news Jono. I particularly like the bit about new lenses for the "A99" which should also fit the A900 and A77! I just hope that they get the firmware right this time before releasing it!
HI Dave
I do as well (hope they get the firmware right) . . . but I have to tell you, we have had zero problems with the original 1.02 firmware, and if you do a bit of searching on the net it would seem to me that most others don't have problems either (i.e. there isn't much about it).

I'm now teetering on the brink of coughing up the readies for the 24 zeiss. teetering, teetering.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
I will have to say that personally, I wouldn't be interested in an SLT, unless the mirror can be moved out of the way by some mirror lock up mechanism. Hopefully Sony will provide this feature. Otherwise I will probably wait until Sony makes its first FF mirrorless body. I just started shooting film with Minolta 7 bodies and my Sony Zeiss lenses, and I'm enjoying it a lot, so I'm not in a hurry to upgrade my A900 which is still working perfectly. I would be very interested in the new lens announcements though.
 

etrigan63

Active member
Not likely to happen without a major redesign, Ed. The mirror can be manually popped out of the way for sensor cleaning, but it sticks out of the throat of the lens mount so lenses cannot be used with the mirror up.
 

jonoslack

Active member
I will have to say that personally, I wouldn't be interested in an SLT, unless the mirror can be moved out of the way by some mirror lock up mechanism.
Hi Ed
of course I understand the 1/3 stop disadvantage of an SLT . . . but have you tried the viewfinder on the A77? there's a couple of minutes of disappointment that it isn't optical . . . followed by a real pleasure at seeing the WB and the exposure 'as it is'. Instinctively I'd prefer an OVF, but going back to one is rather odd - I've been shooting this evening with the A77 and the 24 f2 - the combination is quite compelling.

all the best
 

mjm6

Member
I'm really looking forward to the a900 replacement, considering how much I like the a900... I hope they have one more optical viewfinder, but if not, I'll probably be just fine with an evf, just taking some getting used to.

After using the M9 since December 2009, I want the Sony to raise the bar. Lacking an AA filter, the M9 produces a superior image, even with lower MP numbers, but the a900 produces a really great result with excellent color. At 36MP, I'll be surprised if the a900 replacement won't produce a superior image to the M9, most especially at higher ISO's.

Then, Leica needs to raise their bar as well.
 

jonoslack

Active member
I'm really looking forward to the a900 replacement, considering how much I like the a900... I hope they have one more optical viewfinder, but if not, I'll probably be just fine with an evf, just taking some getting used to.

After using the M9 since December 2009, I want the Sony to raise the bar. Lacking an AA filter, the M9 produces a superior image, even with lower MP numbers, but the a900 produces a really great result with excellent color. At 36MP, I'll be surprised if the a900 replacement won't produce a superior image to the M9, most especially at higher ISO's.

Then, Leica needs to raise their bar as well.
All we need to do is to keep our bank balances well charged!

I slipped up today and bought the zeiss/sony 24 f2 - it works quite well on the A77 . . .and on the A900 too, the only thing it isn't good for is my credit card!
 

jsparks

Member
I am pretty happy with my A900 except for high ISO. I've felt that if Sony's next FF camera gives me at least a stop better usable ISO (preferably more), I'll get one no matter what they have screwed up (like possibly an EVF vs Optical, though I think I could live with the EVF, the G1 I have is almost there and the Sony OLED sounds better). If they don't give me at least a stop better, I can't imagine what they could do to make me want one. More resolution isn't something I'm personally interested in.

With that in mind, the pixel pitch of a 36 Mpixel FF sensor is very, very close to the 16 Mpixel APS sensor. If the sensor in the next FF camera is a scaled up version of the latest 16 Mpixel APS sensor, there is a very, very good chance that high ISO will be great! The latest Sony 16 Mpixel sensor seems to be at least a stop and half better than the one in the A700.

I'm looking forward to it.
 

Mark K

New member
When I sent my a77 back yesterday for unlocking, Sony upgraded the firmware to 1.03 and there is no longer time lag in the EVF. The camera is much more snappy....
 

edwardkaraa

New member
Not likely to happen without a major redesign, Ed. The mirror can be manually popped out of the way for sensor cleaning, but it sticks out of the throat of the lens mount so lenses cannot be used with the mirror up.
That's too bad Carlos. I still hope Sony might surprise us with a classic DSLR model Though.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
Hi Ed
of course I understand the 1/3 stop disadvantage of an SLT . . . but have you tried the viewfinder on the A77? there's a couple of minutes of disappointment that it isn't optical . . . followed by a real pleasure at seeing the WB and the exposure 'as it is'. Instinctively I'd prefer an OVF, but going back to one is rather odd - I've been shooting this evening with the A77 and the 24 f2 - the combination is quite compelling.

all the best
First, congratulations for the A77 and 24/2, Jono. I love this lens.

For sure, I have no concern about the EVF. I don't have any particular preference for an OVF and I do find the EVF idea more practical for most applications. My concern is about the mirror, not only the slight light loss, but also the slight image degradation. I have seen some evidence that indeed there is a softening effect mostly visible at wide apertures. Nothing dramatic but the effect is there nonetheless. The difference I would say is similar to that of a 500$ lens vs a 2000$ lens. Subtle but visible.
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
Hah . . maybe you're right Ben, but wouldn't it be a release not to have to do all that up-ressing?
Thing is that one of the reasons the D700/D3 combo were so incredibly successful was that they didn't cram so many megapixels in. The people using them are PJ's and wedding shooters who really don't want 36 megapixels but do want incredible high iso and small files which are still good enough to do a nice big print. Once you get over the 20 megapixel barrier you're pretty much heading into the commercial and fine art realm ONLY for needing those kind of file sizes. Many people respect the demarcation between Nikon's D700/D3 line and the D3X. Yes the megapixels are going to go up and personally I think 16 megapixels would suit the D700 better as it's got a rather strong AA filter but 36 would be a shame IMO.

No doubt lots of enthusiasts would disagree but the pro's who use and love the D700/D3 pretty much use them for one purpose rather than the 5DII crowd who will shoot street with it one day and fine art the next day and travel the day after that. I'd prefer the chip to stay with a smaller megapixel upgrade than competing with the canon megapixel hysteria but get even better at what they already do so well, DR and high iso, big buffers, small files and not having to compromise on pro features and even the top pro processing of the signal from that chip to pay for a more expensive chip (ala canon 5DII again).

Here's to hoping, having to deal with 1200 36 megapixel files at the end of a wedding is far from my ideal and the various versions of downsized raw files so far have all been IQ compromised.

There should be a 36 megapixel sensor, but not in the D800.
 

jonoslack

Active member
No doubt lots of enthusiasts would disagree but the pro's who use and love the D700/D3 pretty much use them for one purpose rather than the 5DII crowd who will shoot street with it one day and fine art the next day and travel the day after that. I'd prefer the chip to stay with a smaller megapixel upgrade than competing with the canon megapixel hysteria but get even better at what they already do so well, DR and high iso, big buffers, small files and not having to compromise on pro features and even the top pro processing of the signal from that chip to pay for a more expensive chip (ala canon 5DII again).

Here's to hoping, having to deal with 1200 36 megapixel files at the end of a wedding is far from my ideal and the various versions of downsized raw files so far have all been IQ compromised.

There should be a 36 megapixel sensor, but not in the D800.
Hi Ben

Whilst I completely understand the argument with respect to PJs, where you just aren't going to need the extra resolution I just don't agree about weddings. You never know when you've going to get that shot which needs to be BIG, and with the fact that cropping can be a necessity, the D700 simply doesn't provide the real-estate.

I never found processing the 24mp files from the A900 a problem after weddings. Give me a choice between an A900 and a D700 for a wedding (and I've used both on several occasions) and I'd choose the A900 every time.

Mind you, it seems to me that what would be really good would be a pixel binning option - preferably across two cards, so one card would hold your nice 36mp file, and the other a 12mp file. Would that suit you?

all the best
 

turbines

New member
Who needs 36MP? I would be happier with a 16MP Full Frame or a NEX7 with the 16MP NEX5N sensor. I wish the manufacturers' would spend their efforts on improving high ISO performance.
 
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