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Sony NEX – 7
We find out whether the Sony NEX – 7 is just another high – resolution camera or whether its the advanced compact system camera photographers have been waiting for
WHEN Sony bought Konica Minoltas camera division in 2006, there was much speculation about the impact the acquisition would have on the DSLR market. On one hand, Sony is a large technology company and a leader in many fields, including broadcast video, and therefore had the investing power and potentially the know – how to create a class – leading range of DSLRs. On the other hand, it lacked any photographic heritage and would be challenging long – established brands with huge followings including serious professional user bases. To Sonys credit, five years later the company has an impressive line – up of cameras and a significant market share.
OGDEN CHESNUTT
The abridged history presented by iconic photographs leaves us expecting too much of our own efforts behind the camera.
WHAT will it be? I said, and when the words left my lips I noticed my first wisp of frosty breath since last winter. It was then that I realised nine months of cold and grey had arrived, and suddenly the choice before didnt seem to matter that much.
Id been mulling over which camera to use: my Pentax SV or a pocket compact. Eli and I, partly inspired by Malcolm Brownes dramatic photo of Thich Quang Due, a Buddhist monk who burned himself to death on a Saigon street in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government, had travelled to the Occupy London encampment at St Pauls to document the protest against corporate greed.
Fortunately, there were no signs of self – immolation here. The closest moment I saw was when a gust of wind caught the flame from a cigarette lighter and singed the iPod cable of a stunned smoker.
Letters
Share your views and opinions with fellow AP readers every week
LETTER OF THE WEEK
Wins a 2Q – roll pack of 36 – exposure Fujifilm Superia ISO 200 35mm film or a Fujifilm 4GB media card.
DUST AND GNASHING OF TEETH!
Sensor cleaning is photographys equivalent of peeing into the wind. Personal experience of it, along with letters like that of rightly aggrieved Jim Turpy and his full of dust Sony Alpha 550, drives me bonkers. Surely it isnt beyond the scope of those brilliant camera designers to come up with some sort of simple cover or blind to protect the delicate little mite that is the DSLR or CSC sensor!
Ive tried those failsafe sensor – cleaning kits and I felt like a surgeon trying to remove someones tonsils. All I want is a DSLR free from what AP reader Joe Bird, in his Backchat of АР 15 October, rightly called teeth – gnashing sensor dust.
Were paying a fortune for state – of – the – art DSLR and compact system cameras that, unlike our once – beloved 35mm SLRs, come with a built – in Achilles heel. Its time the teeth gnashing Joe Bird alluded to stopped so we can get on with worrying about the content of our images rather than fretting over how much retouching theyll require! Steve Smith, Northumberland
The ultrasonic shaking systems work well on particles, but can do nothing for grease or spit spots. For those, we need some sort of windscreen wiper arrangement – Damien Demolder, Editor
NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED
I joined a guided tour of Syon House in West London recently. Its quite an imposing building in its park setting and, as it was a bright day, looked very nice in the sun. I was with a party of 50 elderly people and was, to my knowledge, the only one with a camera.
Canon EOS – 1DX
With the launch of the EOS – ID X, Canon has now merged its two professional camera lines. Having handled the camera, Richard Sibley gives his initial thoughts on this full – frame, professional DSLR
INTENDED to replace both the full – frame, 21.1 – million – pixel, studio – based Canon EOS – 1 Ds Mark III and the APS – H – format, 16.1 – million – pixel EOS – 1 D Mark IV press model, the forthcoming EOS – 1 D X is designed to be something of a master of all trades. While many photographers will no doubt be rather surprised that its 18.1 – million – pixel resolution is less than that of the EOS – 1 Ds Mark III and the EOS 5D Mark II, there is in practice only a slight difference in image size of less than 10%. Printed at 300ppi, images from the new Canon EOS – 1 D X measure 43.89×29.2cm, compared to 47.54×31.70cm using the 21.1 – million – pixel sensor of the other two cameras.
There would appear to be good reasons for reducing the resolution, the most obvious of which is to increase the size of the photosites. This allows more light to be captured, which in turn can improve dynamic range and reduce image noise. As such, the photosites of the EOS – 1 D X sensor are 21 % larger than those of the EOS – 1 D Mark IV. It is also the first full – frame sensor to have gapless microlenses. Again, these ensure that no light hitting the sensor is wasted and as much as possible is directed onto the photosites. Canon claims to have opted for 18 million pixels because it produces less moire patterning than a higher – resolution sensor. The entire sensor and its various components were developed entirely in – house by Canon, giving the company full control over how the sensor can be integrated with the rest of the cameras electronics.
Let the team answer your photographic queries
SEEING THE LIGHT
The spectral response of silicon varies according to the wavelength throughout the visible spectrum, with red light, for example, generating a larger output than blue light of the same intensity. However, can you tell me how this variation is adjusted in a digital camera? Trevor W Pocklington
In a human eye there are nearly twice as many cones sensitive to green light as there are cones sensitive to red and blue light. To replicate what our eyes see, Bryce Bayer of Kodak designed an image sensor with twice as many green pixels as those sensitive to blue and red light, thereby mimicking what we see. This so – called Bayer pattern is still in use today in the majority of digital cameras, although there are a few notable exceptions.
Pixels themselves are colour blind, seeing only brightness in terms of a greyscale. They are made sensitive through the use of coloured filters in front of them. The raw output from the sensor can be turned into a full colour image by applying various demosaicing algorithms, either in camera or with raw file processing software Ian Farrell
SIZE MATTERS
When a competition website specifies that the file size of a photograph being submitted online must be no greater than 1,024KB, does this refer to the JPEG size on a disc or the opened file? I have used Photoshop to create a file of 1,024KB, but once saved it takes up only 856KB on the disc.
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