Jump to content

Looks nice but.....


Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi Mark

Haven't a clue . . .but I'm pretty sure it's also the same Sony sensor in the Sony NEX6 and the Pentax K5 (with or without AA filter). Dimensions and DxO marks etc.

 

fwiw, when I purchased the GR, my vendor claimed it wasn't the Sony sensor. And Adorama in NYC did an in-depth presentation on the GR (it's still online) and said: "While Ricoh, which owns Pentax, says the sensor is not the same highly-rated Sony sensor that is in the Pentax KII DSLR and several other cameras, my informal image quality tests show it is in the same league."

 

Anyway, who knows. And does any of this sort of stuff really matter that much? I think the issue is simply whether or not the image quality/characteristics (and the camera itself) fits into one's own needs and desires. And I'm not so sure that an 'older' or more ubiquitous sensor necessarily always equates to 'lesser value' in a new device (there are some 'old sensors' out there that I'd would be happy with in an updated body.)

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

fwiw, when I purchased the GR, my vendor claimed it wasn't the Sony sensor. And Adorama in NYC did an in-depth presentation on the GR (it's still online) and said: "While Ricoh, which owns Pentax, says the sensor is not the same highly-rated Sony sensor that is in the Pentax KII DSLR and several other cameras, my informal image quality tests show it is in the same league."

 

Anyway, who knows. And does any of this sort of stuff really matter that much? I think the issue is simply whether or not the image quality/characteristics (and the camera itself) fits into one's own needs and desires. And I'm not so sure that an 'older' or more ubiquitous sensor necessarily always equates to 'lesser value' in a new device (there are some 'old sensors' out there that I'd would be happy with in an updated body.)

 

Well - I couldn't agree more :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

It is not the same sensor as on the Nex 6 because it lacks that sensor's PD pixels. It may be similar.

 

From DPReview:

 

"The NEX-6, like the NEX-5R, uses a modified CMOS sensor which accommodates pixels devoted to performing phase-detection to provide a hybrid autofocus system. The phase-detection pixels are used to determine depth information about the focus target, which means the camera has to perform less hunting to hit accurate focus. Sony is the fourth manufacturer (following Fujifilm, Nikon and Canon) to go down this route, with the potential of faster focus, improved continuous focus performance and better autofocus in movie shooting. The NEX-6 has 99 phase detection 'AF points', ranged in the middle of the frame."

Edited by AlanG
Link to post
Share on other sites

It is not the same sensor as on the Nex 6 because it lacks that sensor's PD pixels. It may be similar.

 

From DPReview:

 

"The NEX-6, like the NEX-5R, uses a modified CMOS sensor which accommodates pixels devoted to performing phase-detection to provide a hybrid autofocus system. The phase-detection pixels are used to determine depth information about the focus target, which means the camera has to perform less hunting to hit accurate focus. Sony is the fourth manufacturer (following Fujifilm, Nikon and Canon) to go down this route, with the potential of faster focus, improved continuous focus performance and better autofocus in movie shooting. The NEX-6 has 99 phase detection 'AF points', ranged in the middle of the frame."

 

The NEX-6 has phase-detect AF, which the Leica T lacks.

So any sensor with phase detect AF will not be the same as the Leica T sensor.

Link to post
Share on other sites

fwiw, when I purchased the GR, my vendor claimed it wasn't the Sony sensor. And Adorama in NYC did an in-depth presentation on the GR (it's still online) and said: "While Ricoh, which owns Pentax, says the sensor is not the same highly-rated Sony sensor that is in the Pentax KII DSLR and several other cameras, my informal image quality tests show it is in the same league."

Fuji, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, and Ricoh have all been using Sony sensors but are reluctant to admit as much, officially anyway (off the record, representatives of those vendors are more outspoken). Sony has truly excellent 12, 16, and 24 MP sensors in their portfolio and anyone on the market for such a sensor couldn’t do much better than source it from Sony.

 

That doesn’t imply that everyone was using the exact same sensor. Some would order a version with the standard Bayer pattern while Fuji would order an X-Trans version, some would buy the version with an antialiasing filter while others would prefer to do without, and then some customers would order some pixels to be partly masked so they could be used for phase-detection. But even when Sony will happily agree to manufacture bespoke sensors, these are all based on the same chip design which implies that signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range etc. will be similar, if not identical.

  • Like 8
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...