A7sIII - Get ready?

[Don Kotlos]

– 15.4MP BSI-CMOS with LSI
– Variable IR Filter can be used as variable electronic ND filter
– Native ISO: 100-102400
– Maximum ISO: 409600
– 3” 1.23million dot articulating LCD screen
– 4:2:2 8bit 4K recording support

- Infrared Night Shot mode

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-new-sony-a7siii-probably-not/#disqus_thread

[Nodnarb]

Would love a built in variable ND. Now be sure to include a touchscreen and focus tracking (with PDAF) like the a6500.

[Phil A]

I really doubt any Alpha camera getting integrated ND filters.

[Luke Mason]

Very likely to be fabricated spec, CMOS sensors only benefit from BSI when the individual photosite gets really small, think A7R II/RX100 V, a 15MP FF sensor won't gain anything at all from using BSI design, the photosite area is already big enough for high quantum efficiency.

[Don Kotlos]

14 minutes ago, Luke Mason said:

Very likely to be fabricated spec, CMOS sensors only benefit from BSI when the individual photosite gets really small, think A7R II/RX100 V, a 15MP FF sensor won't gain anything at all from using BSI design, the photosite area is already big enough for high quantum efficiency.

I have no idea whether this rumor is true or not, but I thought with BSI Sony also changed the circuit to allow faster readouts as well. Together with a new LSI it could lead to less rolling shutter. 

Here is a quote from A7rii press release:

"Additionally, the sensor’s back-illuminated structure, with an expanded circuit scale and copper wiring design, enables faster transmission speed and ensures content can be captured in high resolution without sacrificing sensitivity.  Data can also be output from the sensor at an approximately 3.5x faster rate compared to the original α7R.." from here.

 

[Luke Mason]

7 minutes ago, Don Kotlos said:

I have no idea whether this rumor is true or not, but I thought with BSI Sony also changed the circuit to allow faster readouts as well. Together with a new LSI it could lead to less rolling shutter. 

Here is a quote from A7rii press release:

"Additionally, the sensor’s back-illuminated structure, with an expanded circuit scale and copper wiring design, enables faster transmission speed and ensures content can be captured in high resolution without sacrificing sensitivity.  Data can also be output from the sensor at an approximately 3.5x faster rate compared to the original α7R.." from here.

 

All modern Sony sensors use copper interconnect, it has nothing to do with BSI which is a photosite architecture, Sony calls it Exmor R, R for Reverse. It's only used on pixel-dense sensors like A7R II, RX100 series and most mobile phone sensors.

BSI on a alleged 15MP FF sensor is just scientifically and commercially unnecessary.

[zerocool22]

Only upgrade it needs is +10bit prores

[Don Kotlos]

7 minutes ago, Luke Mason said:

All modern Sony sensors use copper interconnect, it has nothing to do with BSI which is a photosite architecture, Sony calls it Exmor R, R for Reverse. It's only used on pixel-dense sensors like A7R II, RX100 series and most mobile phone sensors.

BSI on a alleged 15MP FF sensor is just scientifically and commercially unnecessary.

While I am not an engineer, from their quote I get that moving the circuit behind the photosites, allowed an "expanded circuit scale" with copper wiring design that led to faster transmission. I could very well be misinterpreting their words though. 

[Michael Ma]

10 hours ago, Don Kotlos said:

– 15.4MP BSI-CMOS with LSI
– Variable IR Filter can be used as variable electronic ND filter
– Native ISO: 100-102400
– Maximum ISO: 409600
– 3” 1.23million dot articulating LCD screen
– 4:2:2 8bit 4K recording support

- Infrared Night Shot mode

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr2-new-sony-a7siii-probably-not/#disqus_thread

8bit....always leaves something to be desired.  Articulating screen seems interesting.  I've always felt that the fully articulating swivel screen and the weak battery are the top 2 reasons I don't own a A7S.

[ND64]

15.4 is like 4800x3200, so gonna crop (1.25x) to get UHD? 

[Emanuel]

Fake.

[adamoe]

I want external 4K  then u can get ProRes HQ with a $1000 black magic recorder.

and 60fps at 4K..obviously.. But doubt that's happening 

[Django]

18 hours ago, Phil A said:

I really doubt any Alpha camera getting integrated ND filters.

electronic NDs like on the FS5 is plausible and doable on a A7S series considering it's the video specific camera.. but other things in that spec list don't sound quite correct/logical so i'm going to call fake as well.. what really needs to be addressed imo is much better AF (hopefully touch AF from the 6500) and hopefully no crop easy quick & slow function.

[aldolega]

I don't see internal ND happening. The only way internal ND is feasible on a tiny body like the A7 series is if it's fixed in place, and electronically variable. There's just nowhere to move/swing the filter to when you want no ND. So it stays fixed, but then you're stuck with always having whatever the electronic filter's lowest setting is- it's two stops on the FS5 I believe.

Even if they got it down to one stop, that's a big hit to take in sensitivity, even for the A7s. Let's say they squeezed one more stop out of the new sensor; that would normally be one of the major specs to sell the new model- but it's now negated by your ND filter. ND also being almost entirely a video feature, with very little photo relevance (other than blurring waterfalls and the like). And even if the A7s line is for all intents and purposes a video camera, I don't see Sony ignoring its photo marketability that much.

[Mattias Burling]

I think alot of still photographers would make that trade. Long exposure photography is extremely popular, especially among hobbyists. And pretty much the rest of them hunt for SDOF. And hobbyists is a much more profitable target audience than pros.

So imo it makes sense to have the A7iii, A7riii and the more specialized A7siii.

[Django]

Of course it would be a fixed electronic ND, not mechanical. I think one stop hit would be a perfectly acceptable trade-off. A7S2 despite it's consumer-ish body is a speciality cam, especially at it's price point. Nobody is buying this camera primarily for stills ($3K for 12MP?!). Also keep in mind A7S has outstanding ISO performance (will be even better on S3). Again you'd hardly feel a one stop loss. An ND is also absolutely essential on a A7S shooting exteriors with S-Log2/3 as the base ISO is very high. The auto-variable electronic ND on the FS5 is quite amazing too, game changing I would dare say (like dual pixel for AF). I would not be surprised Sony use that tech on another video centric cam. That alone with touch AF would make a lot of people upgrade I believe..

[IronFilm]

On 10/8/2016 at 7:08 PM, Eric Calabros said:

15.4 is like 4800x3200, so gonna crop (1.25x) to get UHD? 

Agreed, this is why I don't believe this rumor to be true. Highly likely a fake.

[mkabi]

 

On 10/8/2016 at 2:08 AM, Eric Calabros said:

15.4 is like 4800x3200, so gonna crop (1.25x) to get UHD? 

I'm confused by this logic. Canon crops I understand... Red Cropping I understand...

But Sony cropping? How is it that 12MP is perfect for FF UHD and even the 42.4MP is perfect for FF UHD... but 15.4 is crop?

 

[Luke Mason]

12 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Agreed, this is why I don't believe this rumor to be true. Highly likely a fake.

It's confirmed fake, the Japanese text has grammar mistakes and not professionally worded.

[JurijTurnsek]

Ok, so to address the sensor possibilities for the mark III version. I highly doubt that 4K60p is possible in such a small body even with LSI, so the next big thing might be increasing the FF sensor to something like 20mpx and doing a 5K full readout (like RX100V) and downscaling it to 4K, giving superior detail reproduction. 20mpx also gives you approximately 8mpx in APS-C crop and a 4K capable crop mode.

Built in ND filter seems like a stretch: the FF sensor already occupies the extreme edges of the mount and how would you physically cram a file in there? The did it on a super-35 sensor so far, but the size difference is huge.