Comments on: APS-C videocameras http://terrychay.com/blog/article/aps-c-videocameras.shtml You tell that other boy, not to touch the woodwork... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:06:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-hemorrhage hourly 1 By: The Woodwork » Blog Archive » Live preview http://terrychay.com/blog/article/aps-c-videocameras.shtml#comment-78880 The Woodwork » Blog Archive » Live preview Mon, 14 May 2007 07:53:09 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/aps-c-videocameras.shtml#comment-78880 [...] place I think this will kick butt is when Sony builds a photo body around their new APS-C 60 fps sensor. That’s going to put the Mark III to shame at a fraction of the price. Heck, for the price of the [...] [...] place I think this will kick butt is when Sony builds a photo body around their new APS-C 60 fps sensor. That’s going to put the Mark III to shame at a fraction of the price. Heck, for the price of the [...]

]]> By: tychay http://terrychay.com/blog/article/aps-c-videocameras.shtml#comment-2168 tychay Tue, 16 May 2006 08:38:31 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/aps-c-videocameras.shtml#comment-2168 <a href="http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/saturday_shout_can_sony_or_panasonic_break_the_dslr_monopoly/" rel="nofollow">PhotographyBlog’s Saturday Shout</a> covers Sony (and Panasonic) forays into the dSLR market share. My post: I agree that Sony is better positioned because of their sensor manufacturing, advances in the video and professional digital cinematography, and K-M user base (in that order). As for Nikon being affected, I do not think it is Sony’s strategy to withhold any chip designs in order to break into this market. There are a couple of points to note here. 1) Pentax also uses Sony dSLR chips. Nikon has their own chip design capability (Nikon-designed MOSFETs in the D2H and D2Hs) 2) Almost every manufacturer, including Canon, uses Sony sensors in their consumer cameras. Does Sony withhold sensor chips for themselves there? 3) Sony’s 3CCD video chip in their HDR-FX1 is the same video chip (with a different video processor) in Canon's XL-H1. Sony could have easily “sat” on it and watch Canon delay their high-definition entry another year. 4) Sony already announced a 3CCD CMOS dSLR sensor that does 60fps + chipset (but no camera). Why would they do that if they plan on withholding it? In fact, I feel the last point is the most indicative of the strategy. If this sensor is provided to everyone, including their competitors, the company most likely to take advantage of this is… Sony. Pentax and Nikon would not want to risk themselves on a radical departure of the dSLR design that a 60fps system would entail (live preview, non-optical viewfinder, mirrorless design, movies in a dSLR). The weakspot for Sony is going to be the optics. As the Zeiss ZF lenses show, Sony does not have exclusivity with Zeiss so they will have trouble on the lens front. This is a pity because Sony could bring a lot of innovations buried from the cinemetography world that could go into the future lens designs, esp. in regards to the 60fps sensor. As for Panasonic, I don't think Panasonic by itself has much force. But Panasonic co-developed the live preview you see in the L1 and in the Olympus E-330. Also, Panasonic brings Leica along with it which brings along with it a lot of legitimacy (though unfortunately in the same price points that Olympus’s Zuiko line is). I think the real question there is the 4/3 format legitimacy, not Panasonic or Olympus per se. Panasonic’s entry thus spells a good thing for the #3 dSLR format. (That’s Olympus 4/3, dincha know?) PhotographyBlog’s Saturday Shout covers Sony (and Panasonic) forays into the dSLR market share.

My post:
I agree that Sony is better positioned because of their sensor manufacturing, advances in the video and professional digital cinematography, and K-M user base (in that order).

As for Nikon being affected, I do not think it is Sony’s strategy to withhold any chip designs in order to break into this market. There are a couple of points to note here.

1) Pentax also uses Sony dSLR chips. Nikon has their own chip design capability (Nikon-designed MOSFETs in the D2H and D2Hs)
2) Almost every manufacturer, including Canon, uses Sony sensors in their consumer cameras. Does Sony withhold sensor chips for themselves there?
3) Sony’s 3CCD video chip in their HDR-FX1 is the same video chip (with a different video processor) in Canon’s XL-H1. Sony could have easily “sat” on it and watch Canon delay their high-definition entry another year.
4) Sony already announced a 3CCD CMOS dSLR sensor that does 60fps + chipset (but no camera). Why would they do that if they plan on withholding it?

In fact, I feel the last point is the most indicative of the strategy. If this sensor is provided to everyone, including their competitors, the company most likely to take advantage of this is… Sony. Pentax and Nikon would not want to risk themselves on a radical departure of the dSLR design that a 60fps system would entail (live preview, non-optical viewfinder, mirrorless design, movies in a dSLR).

The weakspot for Sony is going to be the optics. As the Zeiss ZF lenses show, Sony does not have exclusivity with Zeiss so they will have trouble on the lens front. This is a pity because Sony could bring a lot of innovations buried from the cinemetography world that could go into the future lens designs, esp. in regards to the 60fps sensor.

As for Panasonic, I don’t think Panasonic by itself has much force. But Panasonic co-developed the live preview you see in the L1 and in the Olympus E-330. Also, Panasonic brings Leica along with it which brings along with it a lot of legitimacy (though unfortunately in the same price points that Olympus’s Zuiko line is). I think the real question there is the 4/3 format legitimacy, not Panasonic or Olympus per se.

Panasonic’s entry thus spells a good thing for the #3 dSLR format. (That’s Olympus 4/3, dincha know?)

]]>