SONY’S NEW SENSORS ARE MORE EXCITING THAN ITS NEW CAMERAS
The new 1-inch-type sensor in the RX cameras shuttles data five times faster than the previous version. SONY
The new A7R II boasts a 42-megapixel full-frame sensor that Sony says performs well at very high ISO settings. SONY
In video mode, the A7R II captures 4K video with full-pixel readout, which delivers professional-level footage. SONY
The latest pocket camera in the RX series, the RX100 IV, has a slow-motion video mode that captures 960 frames per second. SONY
Both new RX cameras, including the larger RX10 II, shoot 4K video at 100Mbps. SONY
The new 1-inch-type sensor in the RX cameras shuttles data five times faster than the previous version. SONY
The new A7R II boasts a 42-megapixel full-frame sensor that Sony says performs well at very high ISO settings. SONY
THE INFLUENCE OF Sony’s imaging sensors extends far beyond its camera lineup. Some of the biggest names in tech use Sony sensors: The iPhone 6 camera has a Sony sensor, as does the Samsung Galaxy S6, Nikon DSLRs, and Olympus mirrorless cameras. All told,nearly half of the image-sensor market is dominated by Sony. The company’s three newest cameras are intriguing in their own right, but it’s their brand-new sensors that will likely have a real impact on the entire photography industry.
But first—the new cameras in question. The marquee new camera is the Sony Alpha A7R II, a full-frame follow-up to the A7R. With sensors, you usually have to choose between resolution and low-light performance—bigger photosites on the sensor translates to better light-gathering capabilities at the expense of megapixels—but Sony claims this new camera’s sensor is the first to offer “higher resolution without compromise or tradeoff,” according to Mark Weir, senior manager of technology at Sony Electronics. “Photographers are no longer forced to choose between resolution and sensitivity.”
Here’s what that means: This is a 42.4-megapixel CMOS sensor with backside illumination—the first full-frame sensor of its kind, according to Sony. Normally, all those megapixels would generate a pock-marked mess at high ISO levels. With this camera, you’re able to jack the ISO up to an insane 102,400—which you may want to do if you use its top shutter speed of 1/8000 of a second—and Sony claims the images still look sharp at the upper reaches of that range.
The A7R II is likely to be a go-to camera for filmmakers, too. Manual exposure controls are enabled in video mode, where the camera captures 4K video using a full-pixel readout from the large sensor. Sony says this is another first, and the sample videos the company showed at the launch event were jaw-dropping. This is essentially a professional 4K video camera shrunken down into a DSLR-sized body.
Sony has also revamped the AF system of the camera, which boasts 399 phase-detection points and 25 contrast-detection sites. That robust system makes it possible to reach a continuous shooting speed of 5fps with autofocus enabled. There’s also an EVF with what Sony claims is the best magnification in the full-frame class (0.78X) and a new body-based stabilization system that corrects movements on five axes.
This is a high-end camera, and it’s priced accordingly. When the A7R II comes out in August, it’ll cost $3,200 for the body only—very expensive, but we’re talking about a camera that can do brand-new things for its class.
The popular RX100 series of compact cameras—the best point-and-shoot cameras out there, by most accounts—also will get a new sensor in their next generation. However, the “stacked CMOS sensor” found in the brand-new RX100 IV and RX10 II cameras is less about resolution or image quality. It’s all about shuttling image data from the sensor to the image processor more quickly, and that opens the new cameras up to some speedy features.
Namely, these two new RX cameras will take aim at high-speed cameras like the Phantom Flex, capturing super-slow-motion video at frame rates of up to 960fps at 1200×800 resolution.
960 fps. That’s insane.
The shutter speed for both new cameras also seems impossible, clocking in at 1/32,000 of a second—quick enough, Sony says, to eliminate the slanted rolling-shutter effect that you see when you shoot out of the window of a car or an object in fast motion.
Continuous-shooting speeds are also crazy. The RX100 IV has a slightly faster burst mode of 16fps, while the RX10 II shoots at a still-admirable 14fps clip. And of course, both cameras shoot 4K video at a bitrate of 100Mbps using the XAVC S codec.
Otherwise, both cameras are practically spitting images of their predecessors in terms of body style and hardware specs. The RX100 IV still has that F1.8, 24-70mm zoom lens and the pop-up EVF. The RX10 II still has that F2.8, 24-200mm lens and chunkier size. And while these are new designs, the 1-inch-type sensors in both cameras still have a resolution of 20 megapixels.
Both will be available in July, and the prices are predictably high. The RX100 IV will go for $1,000—twice the price of what the still-excellent RX100 II is now—while the RX10 II will sell for $1,300.
But the bigger takeaway is that we’ll soon be seeing a lot of these enhancements in cameras across the board, from smartphones to mirrorless cameras to DSLRs. What starts in Sony’s cameras often shows up in everything eventually: That sweep panorama mode in your phone, the way it shoots several shots and stacks them to improve images in low light, and backside-illuminated sensors themselves were all Sony inventions.
Whatever Sony trots out in its latest sensors has a trickle-down effect that will touch anything with a camera in it. With that in mind, expect full-frame DSLRs everywhere to combine higher resolution with greater sensitivity, and expect the slow-motion movie and 4K capabilities of pocketable devices to improve—quickly and dramatically.
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