First image of the Full Frame Curved sensor!…made for the RX2?

Image courtesy: Sony via Spectrum.

What you see here is the first image of the Sony CMOS curved sensor! Sony says they create a unique bending machine to curve it and after that they use ceramic to stabilize the sensor. Interesting: The sensor has the same level of curvature found in the human eye!

On a curved sensor light rays will hit the corner pixels straight on instead of obliquely. The lens doesn’t have to use extra lenses to correct for distortions, vignetting, aberrations in corners and other issues. Therefore you can pair the sensor with flatter and larger aperture lenses. Curved sensors are 1,4 times more sensitive in the center and 2 times more sensitive in the corners.

Sony showed a 43mm (Full Frame) and 11mm (for mobile devices) curved sensor at the 2014 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits. And as we reported earlier on SAR the Full Frame curved sensor is likely to come on the new RX2 paired with a 35mm f/1.8 Zeiss lens! Exciting tech!

Sigma 24-105mm A-mount not coming any time soon…

SAR reader Adam sent me this:

Sigma 24-105mm not coming any time soon for Sony A-mount.
Sent an E-mail to Sigma inquiring about it’s availability for A-mount and received this response:

Good morning,
Unfortunately we do not have a release date for this yet.  My parent company hasn’t put it on our backorder report yet which means it’s at least 3 months out.  So I would estimate maybe late September but unfortunately I cannot know for sure.
Please let me know if you have any questions.  Have a great day!

Best regards,
xxx
Sigma Corp of America

The lens can be preordered at Amazon US (Click here).

Panasonic FZ-1000 uses the same RX100M3 sensor and makes a 4K camera out of it!

Today Panasonic announced the FZ-1000 superzoom (25-400mm) camera and specs and price info can be read at Amazon (Click here). At that point you will think. Why should we care about this camera? Well there are many good reasons:

1) The camera uses the same Sony RX100M3 1 inch sensor. For the first time Sony is selling their famous 1 inch sensor to an external company!
2) As suspected the RX100M3 sensor is capable of 4k. The new Panasonic FZ-1000 records 4k at 30 fps with 100mbit/s. This lead to one question. Why is this feature not enabled on the RX100M3 or RX10? I got some “word” that it has to do with a possible heating issue on the Sony’s. Something Panasonic was capable of solving.
3) The FZ1000 is an amazing competitor of the RX10: wider zoom range, 4K recording and costs $400 less! Looks like Sony has to lower the price or offer a RX20 soon…

It’s good to see competition finally starting to challenge Sony. It will force Sony to lower prices and innovate more!

Sigma patents some more exciting APS-C A-mount lenses…

This week we reported the new 18-35mm f/1.8 A-mount lens (on preorder here at Amazon) will finally ship from June 20.  It’s a superb APS-C zoom and we cannot wait  to see what is coming next from Sigma: Egami spotted a series of Sigma lens patents (which also includes the already known 18-35mm lens). And according to them Sigma is working on a new 16-50mm f/2.8 and a new 12-24mm f/2.8 ART lens.

Now let’s just hope Sigma will increase their production to be able to ship A-mount lenses along the usual Canon and Nikon mount versions!

 

Sony TidBits…

Another week with SLR Magic Anamorphot (Sony A7/OM-D/SpeedBooster) from Seb Farges on Vimeo.

α6000 + Distagon T* 25mm F2.8 at DC.watch.
Art vs Otus – A Real World Test (CameraPro).
Sony Semiconductor Business Update (Image Sensor World).
A7r and Metabones deal in Australia at CameraPro.
Sony A7R – test aparatu at Optyczne (Google translation here).
A77II test at Kasayapa.
Sony 70-200mm FE lens review at Danisolphotography.
Photos of Geneva shot with Sony a7R and Zeiss 50mm 1.4 ZA at Eternallycreative.

Ralf: “Have you ever seen somebody with a rather outspoken tattoo and you wondered ‘why’? You’re not alone. Photographer Ralf Mitsch shares this fascination. In fact, it encouraged him to do a book on the subject. His quest doesn’t stop with portraying the permanent ink on the skins of their respective owners – Ralf goes under their skin to find out about the stories behind the Maori tribal design peeping out from under the collar or the snakes that curl themselves around people’s legs and arms. Is it a religion, an addiction, a documentation of ones life or is it an impulsive decision, that will haunt the tattooed for the rest of his / her life? Why I Love Tattoos contains over 50 portraits of inspiring people, telling the stories behind their tattoos: http://www.whyilovetattoos.com/”

 

RCCDroid/Pro released for Sony A7 and A77II. And new A77II tests.

The A77II will ship tomorrow at Amazon US (Click here). And in the meantime let’s catch up with some A77II news and tests:

Gary Fong posted that Sony a77 Mark II 12fps And Lock-On Autofocus video you can watch on top. And there is also a second video about Lock-on Autofocus Expand Flexible Spot (her eon youtube).

Steve: “Not a Rumor Link to a nice test, Sony A77MS ISO Test Raw to JPEG, performed by this Sites Owner. Since LR does not yet support Raw, I have only tried and seen other tests performed by JPEG only. Everyday I become more and more impressed with this Camera. May just be an “upgrade” but Sony picked the right area’s to improve! http://wimarys.com/sony-a77ii-iso-test/”

RCCdroid: The RCCdroid developer did an amazing work and already released a new update of the Android App. It allowe tethering on the A7 and A77II. Additionally, there is a new feature for making HDR timelapse. Please check: http://rccdroid.glensk.com/ and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glensk.RCCDroidPro&hl=en.  Features list:
Preview of taken pictures on an Android Display (Semi-Lifeview)
Change of Cameraparameter
Wireless shutter release over Bluetooth
Shutter release via sound monitor
Focus Trap
Long Term exposures without touching the camera
HDR without touching the camera
Timelapse
HDR Timelapse
Extended HDR up to 13 shots +-4EV
Bulb intervalometer (Startrail and HDR Options)
Start of Video
Write GPS-Data to JPG pictures (EXIF)
Selfportraits with correct focus

Sony A77II specs, preorders and shipment date:
Sony A77 body in USA at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 with 16-50mm lens at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Sony Store (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sony A77 body in Europe at Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony IT, ES, NL, BE, AT, CH, PT, NO, SE, FI and Wex UK.
Sony A77 in Asia at Digitalrev and Sony Australia.