photo:sonynex_fx
Sony NEX FX full frame mirrorless cameras
introduction
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this E-mount is TOO SMALL for full frame:1)
the diameter does not allow for optimum sensor movement for IBIS, not edge image quality with wide angle lenses
the short flange distance makes extreme wide angle lenses very difficult to engineer and unlikely that they will perform well on the edges
major selling points of the latest Sony full frame mirrorless cameras:
best sensors on the market for dynamic range and high ISO performance
best video quality - oversampling of full frame instead of line skipping or pixel binning
great video codecs and face autofocus tracking
the best Eye AF that even works in continuous AF
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reasonable AF speed when used with Canon EF lenses and a Sigma or Metabones adapter
issues with these cameras
colour technology and skin tones in particular can be problematic
ergonomics and menu system is awkward, front heavy with most pro lenses
camera bodies are not fully weathersealed
many of the models are not useful for astrophotography due to the “Star-eating” NR algorithms which even affect the RAW files - this seems to be addressed for the
Sony a7 III full frame mirrorless camera and later models
battery life is extremely poor on the older models
Sensor Filter Stack Issues makes it harder to clean sensors
Touchscreen has limited functionality
Banding with electronic shutter mode and certain lighting
High burst mode forces 12bit RAW and not able to shoot in 14 bit RAW
Buffer lag prevents use of camera after burst shots
No XQD card reader
Rack Zoom During Burst: When shooting moving subjects on high frame burst, zooming in causes dropped focus
Moiré and Rolling Shutter in videos
Overheating during video - this is one of the issues with using full frame sensors for video
Compressed RAW format creates posterization effect with green compression blocks between black and white pixels
lenses are large (compared with Micro Four Thirds) and very expensive (compared with most other full frame manufacturers)
as of June 2020, it appears around 2% of heavily used rental stock may have cracks in the mount binding the sensor to the IBIS system which may cause increased variation in the lens flange distance and some softening on parts of the image
2)
3rd party sensor-based filters
comparison of current cameras
model | release | mp | IBIS | PDAF | video | price | weight | main features |
Sony a9ii | Oct 2019 | 24mp back-illum. | “5.5EV” | 693PDAF/425CDAF | 4K 30p/1080 120p 100Mbps | $US4500 | 678g | 20fps AF-C, 10fps mech, tilt touch screen, 3.7mdot EVF |
Sony a9 | Apr 2017 | 24mp back-illum. | “5EV” | 693PDAF/425CDAF | 4K 30p/1080 120p 100Mbps | $US4500 | 673g | 20fps AF-C, 5fps mech, tilt touch screen, 3.7mdot EVF |
Sony a7r IV | Sept 2019 | 61mp | “5.5EV” | 567PDAF/425CDAF | 4K 30p/1080 120p? | $US3500 | g | perhaps the best landscape/product/portrait/wedding full frame camera in 2019, no AA filter, 10fps, 5.76mdot EVF, pixel shift |
Sony a7r III | Oct 2017 | 42mp | “5.5EV” | 399PDAF/425CDAF | 4K 30p/1080 120p | $US3200 | g | perhaps the best landscape full frame camera in 2017, no AA filter, 10fps, 3.7mdot EVF, pixel shift |
Sony a7 III | Feb 2018 | 24mp | “5EV” | 693PDAF/425CDAF | 4K 30p / 100Mbps 1080 120p | $US1999 | g | 10fps; IBIS, PDAF, Eye-AF in C-AF; best wedding camera in 2018 |
Sony a7r II | Jun 2015 | 42mp | “4.5EV” | 399pts | 4K 30p/1080 60p | $US3200 | 625g | perhaps the best landscape full frame camera in 2015, no AA filter |
Sony a7s II | Sept 2015 | 12mp | “4.5EV” | NO | 4K out | $US2999 | 446g? | mainly for videographers; 4K video and 120fps 100Mbps HD video |
Sony a7 II | Nov 2014 | 24mp | “4.5EV” | 117pts | 50Mbps 1080 60p XAVC-S | $A1688 | 600g | IBIS, PDAF |
Sony a7s | April 2014 | 12mp | NO | NO | 4K out | $A2349 | 446g | mainly for videographers; 4K video but only via HDMI out |
Sony a7r | Oct 2013 | 36mp | NO | NO | 1080 60p | $A1799 | 465g | 36mp, no AA filter |
Sony a7 | Oct 2013 | 24mp | NO | 117pts | 1080 60p | $A1199 | 474g | 24mp, PDAF |
timeline of FX cameras
Sony a7c
announced Sept 2020
compact version of Sony a7III with EVF to left and articulating screen designed for vloggers
world’s smallest and lightest full-frame camera with IBIS.
24mp 10fps burst
5EV IBIS
oversampled 4K/30p (8-bit only)
2.36M dot EVF but only 0.59x magnification
fully articulating screen 900K dot
single UHS-II SD card slot
NP-FZ100 battery
124 x 71.1 x 59.7mm
509g
$US1800
Youtube preview - not a great vlogging cam at all - poor res. LCD screen, poor IS, poor rolling shutter, kit lens doesn't suit vlogging as not wide enough.
Sony a7s III
announced July 2020
12mp BSI sensor with base ISO of 80 and PDAF and face detection in video (but no animal AF)
new Bionz XR processor allows image and video processing to be handled entirely separately from file management and handling
5 axis IBIS
10fps burst rate
9.44M dot EVF with 0.91x magnification
native 4K UHD video at up to 120p(1.1x crop 280Mbps 4:2:2), 60p full width (200Mbps 4:2:2) for 'at least an hour' and 24p 100Mbps 4:2:2
1080HD 24p 10bit 4:2:2 50Mbps up to 60p 10bit 50Mbps and 120p 8bit 4:2:0 100mbps
four channel audio via two XLR inputs and a 3.5mm stereo input
1.44mdot fully articulating LCD
twin card slots that each accept either SD or CFexpress Type A
external white balance sensor
10bit 4:2:2 HEIF format as well as jpegs
699g
$US3500
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Sony a9II
announced Oct 2019 same a9 sensor, EVF, and screen, but with significant improvements overall, especially the mechanical shutter and file saving/transfer options, and some of the Sony a7RIV features and ergonomics
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Sony a7R IV
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announced July 2019, coming Sept 2019
61mp 15 stop dynamic range; 10fps with C-AF; 567 PDAF covering 74% frame; 5.5EV IBIS;
5.76mdot EVF; upgraded grip and weathersealing;
4K video
$US3500
Sony A7 III:
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announced Feb 2018
24mp, 5EV IS, 10fps burst, 4K video, many of the features of the a9 (including AF coverage) and a7RIII
much improved over the a7II in nearly all aspects
$US1999
Sony a7RIII:
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announced Oct 2017
same 42mp sensor as a7RII but improved circuitry and processing delivers 1EV more dynamic range at low ISO
IBIS improved to “5.5EV”
10fps burst rate
better mirror shock handling and better shutter shock handling
adds HiRes mode (“Pixel Shift Multi Shooting”) similar to Olympus OM-D cameras but delivering 4 pixel shifted RAW images covering 169mp but outputs to a single 42mp RAW with better colour fidelity and texture reproduction than a single shot (ie. much less moire)
double the AF speed with low light capability extended down to -3EV and with 425 CDAF pts in addition to 399 phase detect points which provide improved image coverage of 68% of frame (cf 45% in a7II and 93% in the a9)
adds the a9's touchscreen focus point control and multi-selector joystick on the back of the body in place of the button-style directional pad as well as anti-flicker ability, a 2nd card slot, larger grip and the larger a9 NP-FZ100 batteries
4K video plus now can do 120fps 1080HD mode
USB-C 3.1 connector
$US3199
Sony a9
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24.2MP Full-Frame Stacked CMOS Sensor
ISO range of 100 – 51200, expandable to 50 – 204800
Blackout-Free Quad VGA 3.7m-Dot OLED EVF
silent electronic shutter to 1/32,000th sec
3.0″ 1.44m-Dot Tilting Touchscreen LCD
Internal UHD 4K/30p Video Recording
full HD 1080 120p at up to 100mbps with AF Tracking
20 fps Shooting with AF/AE Tracking for up to 241 RAW/ 362 JPEG images
693-Point Phase-Detection AF System with 60 AF/AE tracking calculations per second
5EV 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization
Mag. Alloy Body, Dual SD Card Slots (one for UHS-II media), Ethernet port for file transfer
all-new Sony battery (model NP-FZ100) giving double the battery life of a7R II
$US4500
optional: VG-C3EM Vertical Grip; NPA-MQZ1K Multi-Battery Adaptor Kit; GP-X1EM Grip Extension;BC-QZ1 Battery Charger
Sony a7S II:
Sony a7R II:
the best camera of 2015?
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42mp, IBIS, 399pt PDAF, faster AF for Canon EF lenses
shutter issues addressed, silent shutter mode, 500K shot shutter rating
awesome video capabilities including 4K 30p/24p, uncompressed HDMI out
Sony a7II:
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announced Nov 2014
24mp, similar to a7 but:
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not as good as the Sony a7s for video despite the IS:
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the a7S at ISO 12,800 is as good as the a7II at 3200 which negates much of the IS advantage of the a7II
does not have the full pixel readout or 4K HDMI output of the A7S, and gives more moire and anti-aliasing issues in fine detail imagery
the EVF is not as good as the Fuji X-T1’s EVF which is much bigger, much brighter and optically stronger
still has some ergonomic issues
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Sony a7S:
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announced Apr 2014
newly developed, 12.2 mp 35mm full frame Exmor® CMOS sensor paired with powerful BIONZ X image processor
ISO 50 – 4096002
1st full frame camera with full pixel read out in movie mode (ie. no pixel binning) which allows videos with much reduced aliasing, moiré and false color artifacts
4K (QFHD 3840 x 2160 pixels) video using the full width of the sensor, this can be output to a 3rd party external recorder (eg. Atomos Shogun ~$2000) but apparently cannot be saved to a memory card
photo/sonynex_fx.txt · Last modified: 2020/09/16 23:20 by gary1