The new SONY A9 III

boojum

boojum

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Apparently not a dual gain if PetaPixel is reliable. Can't wait till the sensor is in ever other camera manufacturers' hands. It's now about videography. Can slice any moment in time.
 
Well it certainly is a beginning of sorts, but I simply have no interest in Sony, $6000 cameras, 120fps, etc…

It is a weird time in the industry. My whole life there have always been cameras that I was chasing but didn’t own. Dreaming. These days, no. There is nothing I really like.
 
I am a pretty basic type of shooter. I typically shoot a single shot, using the central focusing point and centre weighted metering (sometimes matrix) and auto iso within a relatively narrow bandwidth, with few in camera adjustments to the image (I prefer to make my own adjustments in post) That's it. Oh, and I manually focus 90% of the time. I think it will be a long time before I am moved to shell out for something like this as I just have no need. I suspect the vast majority of amateur shooters are the same meaning this really is a niche product for pro shooters with specific needs.
 
In 2020, the Pixii A1112 made its debut with an M mount, a 12-megapixel sensor, and a full global shutter. Hardly anyone paid any attention, and of those who did, most said that nobody really needs a global shutter, 12 megapixels weren't enough, and the price (around $3000 US) was too high. Now Sony introduces a global-shutter camera with twice the pixels at twice the price, and everybody is saying it's a "world's first" (no) and a game-changing revolution (doubtful.) I guess it pays to be Sony!

PS -- So far it seems that PetaPixel (of all people) is doing the best actual reporting on this camera... they've noted likely dynamic-range limitations and a lot of "asterisks" in its performance specs that most of the more enthusiastic websites have been glossing over...
 
ranger9 said:
In 2020, the Pixii A1112 made its debut with an M mount, a 12-megapixel sensor, and a full global shutter. Hardly anyone paid any attention, and of those who did, most said that nobody really needs a global shutter, 12 megapixels weren't enough, and the price (around $3000 US) was too high. Now Sony introduces a global-shutter camera with twice the pixels at twice the price, and everybody is saying it's a "world's first" (no) and a game-changing revolution (doubtful.) I guess it pays to be Sony!
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Well, to be fair, the Pixii was outdated immediately upon hitting the market ...the Sony isn't. It also is not a mainstream camera. I think the biggest bias against the Pixii is that it is APSC and for service you always have to send it to France. I mean, their latest camera is pretty nice and has specs people cannot really complain about. It no longer has a global shutter though.
 
peterm1 said:
I am a pretty basic type of shooter. I typically shoot a single shot, using the central focusing point and centre weighted metering (sometimes matrix) and auto iso within a relatively narrow bandwidth, with few in camera adjustments to the image (I prefer to make my own adjustments in post) That's it. Oh, and I manually focus 90% of the time. I think it will be a long time before I am moved to shell out for something like this as I just have no need. I suspect the vast majority of amateur shooters are the same meaning this really is a niche product for pro shooters with specific needs.
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I am in agreement with your assessment, and your working style. But let's not forget that a significant portion of the amateur market buys a camera for bragging rights, or to compensate for their insecurity about their own abilities. And the marketers target those folks, hard.
 
Retro-Grouch said:
I am in agreement with your assessment, and your working style. But let's not forget that a significant portion of the amateur market buys a camera for bragging rights, or to compensate for their insecurity about their own abilities. And the marketers target those folks, hard.
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True. And what we see here is the first of SONY's efforts not the last. New cameras and operating systems and sensors and chips and so on are rarely the finished product. What is interesting to me is the direction it is showing to the industry. M bodies do not do it for everybody and certainly not for those who gather the images for the "We need the images right now" crowd. And I will bet you a mortgage payment that this gets improved quickly, passed on down the line to cheaper cameras and licensed to other manufacturers. This is the beginning not the end. SONY makes good sensors and electronics. Many manufacturers agree by buying them.

I just Googled it and it seems SONY has over half the sensor market now. This is not a fluke or a marketing gimmick. Honda sells a lot of racing engines to F1. Or at least they did. I am not current. Great engines and must-haves to stay in the game. There seem to be some good engineers in the Land of The Rising Sun.

This new A9 III is more than an ego stroke. It is a great piece of engineering.
 
I think when this technology hits a 42meg sensor size without necessarily the speed, it'll be a great seller. I'm looking forward to A9 speed with A7Riii specs so to speak. I think that's the sweet spot for a camera for me.
 
JohnGellings said:
I honestly will miss the physical shutter when they are completely gone. I like to feel when I made my exposure. I know I'm in the minority here (not RFF, but the camera buying world).
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I'm sure they'll still program in the sound for you and might add a little shake of the IBIS just to give you a sense of wellness in the hands.
 
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AlwaysOnAuto said:
I'm sure they'll still program in the sound for you and might add a little shake of the IBIS just to give you a sense of wellness in the hands.
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This is how PIxii handles it. There is a click and the viewfinder data at the bottom changes and returns. These are the problems farmed out to the junior engineers.
 
Mirrorless was game changer now global 'shutterless' is next game changer. Exciting times. So is everyone moving forward will wait for the next camera manufacturer to produce global shutter cameras? Global Fuji, Nikon, canon, Leica cameras. I'm certainly gonna save my pennies 😁

Mechanical shutter will be eventually be dead unfortunately. Like SLRs...
 
If the global shutter is as good as it promises to be the abandonment of the mechanical shutters will not be unfortunate but overdue. In my opinion. As always, YMMV.
 
I`ll freely admit that I`m not up to date with these changes or indeed what advantages that a global shutter brings to the market.
It all sounds like rapid change though and begs the question ; how much one invests in a camera in the face of this.
I suspect if you`re way behind the curve anyway (like me) it will have little impact ,but for those who like to take advantage of new tech things could get more expensive even more quickly .

Michael Markey
 
jayton said:
I`ll freely admit that I`m not up to date with these changes or indeed what advantages that a global shutter brings to the market.
It all sounds like rapid change though and begs the question ; how much one invests in a camera in the face of this.
I suspect if you`re way behind the curve anyway (like me) it will have little impact ,but for those who like to take advantage of new tech things could get more expensive even more quickly .

Michael Markey
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The key to me is the sensor image quality. 120fps of crap is not much. 120fps of good images is. I know a lot of money has been invested in this. And other SONY sensors in cameras not by SONY have been tuned very well so SONY can do it, too. Are they motivated?
 
boojum said:
The key to me is the sensor image quality. 120fps of crap is not much. 120fps of good images is. I know a lot of money has been invested in this. And other SONY sensors in cameras not by SONY have been tuned very well so SONY can do it, too. Are they motivated?
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Well, anyone using 120fps for stills is not expecting 100s-1000s worth of perfection. They will take the best few images of course. I just feel bad for those who use 120fps and get nothing, which is of course going to be the majority of spec chasers. Sure, a bird in flight or a some kind of action shot, but without proper compostion and balance, it'll still suck.
 
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