Impossible made Possible? Sony NEX goes Full Frame!
According to latest rumors posted by Andrea on SonyAlphaRumors Sony is about to launch a new NEX Full Frame system. I am trying to figure out if it means that it will use the same E-mount or some kind of other mysterious trick to make it work on an E-mount. No idea yet, but I think Sony is going to surprise quite many of us at Photokina if they bring it for real! It would probably the first cheap “Leica” alternative of the history 
More info at SonyAlphaRumors.
Rami G.
10 months ago |That would really be great. I have an M8 and 5n (and RD-1) for my 6 Leica M lenses and 2 CV lenses. I could really not afford the M9 or the upcoming M10. The only thing I am really hoping is that they will not stick an AA filter in front of the sensor. If they will, at least I hope the camera will lower the price of the M9 once it is (and the M10) are out.
Art
10 months ago |No, this site is run by the same person who runs 43rumors.com. SAR is run by Andrea. A different guy
uiti
10 months ago |http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20100929_396897.html
Sony says that it’s possible to put full size sensor on E-mount.
kylberg
10 months ago |About Leica prices: A representative told me they wheight (over time) the price of cameras towards against average salary (in Germany I guess). According to him the current relation is the same as in the 50′s.
He also added “all the others have gone much cheaper of course”.
A Leica camera is a conservative brass box, developed as little as possible. It’s main purpose is to carry all the excellent and profitable lenses.
A camera with a D800 type sensor designed to carry Leica M lenses could cost half as much as a Leica, still cost a lot more than the D800. A great thing for all who owns Leica lenses and do not need AF.
I remember when I my Leica was not museumed: Had to have it sent in for adjustment of the RF system about once a year. – Always after discovering out of focus issues, sometimes coming home after a vacation trip.
Leicistas claim/brag they focus faster than AF. This is not true! Add to that AF nailes right more often…… My source here is a professional having M9 as his main work tool and comparing is with Fuji X-Pro 1!
EnPassant
10 months ago |I don’t know about German salaries, but remember that Leica M6 cost a little more than two month salaries at introduction. A month salary now is four times as much, as is the price of the mechanical M7 and MP.
The digital M9P do however cost three month salaries! The same goes for the lenses. The new ASPH lenses are considerably more expensive than its predecessors. If one take inflation in account a Summicron 90 ASPH cost twice as much as the previous non asph. To buy a 90 mm Leica lens today for the same price one have to accept the slower 90 mm Summarit 2.5 aperature. So YES! Leica has become more expensive and less affordable.
My observation of other camera (and lens) producers are the opposite. There the prices are about the same or cheaper compared to 25-30 years ago. Especially the lower priced kits selling at a discount can be had very cheap now compared to before. There is now also a lot of used lenses that in most cases are more cheap than before. The gap between Leica, not only in price but in technology as well has increased a lot since the middle of the 80′s.
I would not trust a Leica representative’s claim about prices! Sure Leica was expensive in the 50′s as well. However salaries was also generally lower in that time. Not “everybody” with a work could afford a car as today. Just look at how much the western world evolved since the 50′s and then look att Leica!
Leica is the dinosaur of the camera world, a living fossil!
Paulo Moreira
9 months ago |All very well, except that the Leica M is not made in Germany, it is made right here were I live in Portugal. The camera is sent to Germany to receive the sensor, leather coverings and have the range finder calibrated. Wages in Portugal are 3 to 4 times lower than in Germany. There is no excuse for them to be as expensive, except lack of sales, and poor marketing vision, not to mention product line-up, that’s a different story.
Frankly, when I read about this full frame NEX, I did not think of Leica at all. The world has seen some cameras like the M before(Konica, old Canons), but, I think the M concept is dead. The M is not for serious shootors, but for rich investors or collectors. Apart from them, frankly, I seriously doubt that there is a large market for the FF NEX, except if the digital sensor market moves completelly to larger sensors, cheap compacts included, thus pushing the NEX and all others to go FF.
I have the NEX 7, I´ve never thought of myself as a poor man’s Leica user. I know that I would make the same photos with the M, perhaps less sharp and more grainy…
SON
10 months ago |Sony has the following secret long-term strategy:
1. Cell phones with 2 cameras. One with 28 mm lens. Other one with 75 mm lens. Pixels will have diagonal arrangement and with digital zoom, there will be resolution over 4 MP from 28 to 200 mm. It will be superior system to the Nokia one camera cell phone.
2. Small sensor ultrazoom cameras
3. 1″ system, fixed lenses, zoom and ultrazoom
4. NEX system
5. NEX FF system. That is the FF NEX system described in this article. Sensor phase detect autofocus. Short NEX flange distance. FF sensor. Inexpensive adaptors for FF and APC Alpha lenses. NEX and APC Alpha lenses will produce about half the resolution, because they will not cover the whole sensor area. The reason Sony is slow in developing lenses is because future lenses will be either NEX, with emphasis on collapsable, and FF with short flange distance and built-in image stabilization. They will mount directly to the hybrid camera NEX mount and with an adapter will mount to Alpha bodies. The FF NEX cameras will have in-body image stabilization, which will be defeatable or could be combined, for super results, with stabilized lenses.
FF and APC Alpha system will eventually, but very slowly, fade away. Nikon and Canon, will follow Sony, but will hang on to their current system much longer. Sony system will be superior especially because it will better integrate the video function and there will not be mirror shake. Consumer level camcorders will become the thing of the past.
roger48
10 months ago |FF is a waste of time. In a very few years the quality of APS-C and smaller sensors will make FF redundant in the quality stakes. Save your dosh and stick to APS-C or m43. It will be interesting to see the main camera makers back tracking from FF.
By the way, all formats that use the entire sensor are full frame, regardless of the sensor size.
Joe
10 months ago |Sounds like sour grapes to me and obviously “full frame” here is in comparison to the size of 35mm film.
Denis
10 months ago |Wasting of time is that you are doing here. APS-C is almost reached its limit in current configuration (CMOS, bayer color filter). It’ll die most probably, because it’s significantly worse than 36×24, but not much better than m43 or even cameras like RX100.
jake
10 months ago |right , as a NEX-MFT and FF user , I think you are right , the APS-C is too middle the way and dying , my NEX7 is much worse than 35mm FF and not much better than my EM5 or Pana GH2 or Nikon one in many many regards.
Sergio
10 months ago |Today, even on the computer screen, medium format sensors have a quality that can be seen that’s not found with smaller sensors. The physics says it all. Why all of sudden will a smaller sensor yield better results than a larger one, I wonder. It’s all about signal to noise ratio and dynamic range.
james
10 months ago |lol they can barely satisfy new lens demand for the existing NEX E mount. now they think they can provide lens support for 3 (or 4, i think) different systems? sorry sony, you don’t have the resources. or at least you haven’t been using them.
i’m sure the bodies will be awesome, but assuming pros/higher level enthusiasts will be investing in this, they will also want lenses that can handle the high res sensors.
Sky
10 months ago |It won’t be another system. You’ll just use A-mount Full Frame lenses. Think of it as a camera with interchangeable bayonet – you either use A-mount or E-mount. With E-mount you always get crop mode. With A-mount you get crop mode while using DT lenses or Full Frame mode while using any other lens.
This opens a huge world of possibilities for 3rd party developers – imagine Alpha camera with native F-mount?