Have we reached peak camera? - Sony unveils the a1 with 8K30p recording, stacked BSI 50MP sensor with a 30FPS continuous burst rate & $6499 price tag

[D13H4RD]

 

Summary

Canon: Introducing the EOS R5, the first mirrorless camera with 8K video recording!

Sony: Hold my sake

 

Sony has pulled the wraps off the Alpha 1, its new flagship mirrorless camera that replaces the a9 as the top-tier Alpha mirrorless camera in terms of technology (and price).

 

Some of its core features include a newly-developed 50MP backside illuminated sensor with stacked memory, an improved e-shutter allowing for blackout-free bursts at up to 30FPS (mechanical is limited to 10FPS max) and uncropped oversampled 8K video recording at up to 30p with HDR. Some enhancements introduced on the a7Siii also feature on the a1, including its hybrid CFX-A/SDXC UHS-II card slots, overhauled menu system, 4K120p HDR recording and dual BIONZ XR processors. Also coming from the a7Siii is its 9.44m dot OLED viewfinder, now able to refresh at up to 240Hz. However, the a7Siii's fully-articulating display does not feature, which may puzzle some who may be intrigued by its video specifications.

Quotes

Quote

Sony has announced the alpha 1, a fast, high-res 50MP camera capable of shooting at 30 fps with no blackout. It is capable of 8K video.

 

It uses a stacked CMOS sensor and a pair of new Bionz XR processors, allowing silent, no-blackout images at up to 30 fps. Despite having twice as many pixels, the a1 promises to have 1.5x less rolling shutter than the a9, this allows flash sync at up to 1/200 sec with the electronic shutter or 1/400 sec using the mechanical shutter.

 

The a1 can shoot 8K video at up to 30p using its full width. This uses all its horizontal pixels, capturing 8.6K footage and downsizing it to 8K to provide improved resolution. 8K footage can be captured in up to 10-bit 4:2:0 using the XAVC HS format. The camera uses a similar heat-dissipating design to the a7S III, allowing it to record 8K for up to 30 minutes, if the temperature warnings are set to their most tolerant setting.

 

It becomes the first Sony camera to offer Lossless compress Raw and can also capture HEIF for 10-bit compressed capture. It uses a pair of CFExpress Type A card slots that, like those in the a7S III, also accept SD cards.

The camera will be available for purchase in March, and given that this is Sony's highest-tier Alpha body with its very latest tech, it naturally doesn't come cheap? How much damage precisely? A cool $6500. Not cheap, but this is far more camera than most will realistically need, and if you are one of the few who needs a camera this beefed up, you probably are already making arrangements...

 

My thoughts

Wewlad, looks like Sony's come out with the ultimate flexing tool. Obviously, this is far more camera than most of us will realistically need for quite a while, but it is an impressive showcase for photography tech. It's essentially a fusion of the speed and workflow flexibility of the a9, the resolution of the a7R and the video-making capabilities of the a7Siii. This really is Sony's "holy-grail" product, although you do pay a pretty penny for it.

 

Sources

DPReview (includes press release)

Sony product page

[jaslion]

To answer your title of course not. The moment we reach human eye fidelity we reach peak. Anything beyond that is going beyond peak performance.

 

Otherwise neat camera seems a bit in a weird spot as it's not specifically a pro camera and not really a higher end hobbyist camera due to the price.

[RTX 3090]

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

To answer your title of course not. The moment we reach human eye fidelity we reach peak. Anything beyond that is going beyond peak performance.

 

Otherwise neat camera seems a bit in a weird spot as it's not specifically a pro camera and not really a higher end hobbyist camera due to the price.

For a yt channel it would still be better then a DSLR tho

4 minutes ago, jaslion said:

not specifically a pro camera

not a pro camera but making "pro" features a lot more accessible 

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, RTX 3090 said:

For a yt channel it would still be better then a DSLR tho

not a pro camera but making "pro" features a lot more accessible 

Most channels just use a decent camera or their phone. You really don't need that much gear to go.

[D13H4RD]

14 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Otherwise neat camera seems a bit in a weird spot as it's not specifically a pro camera and not really a higher end hobbyist camera due to the price.

This is really more of a "holy-grail" level of camera meant to showcase Sony's best tech on offer at the time of release.

[jaslion]

Just now, D13H4RD said:

This is really more of a "holy-grail" level of camera meant to showcase Sony's best tech on offer at the time of release.

Fair enough. I do like those camera's when they become replaced and pretty cheap on the used market :p.

[D13H4RD]

3 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Fair enough. I do like those camera's when they become replaced and pretty cheap on the used market :p.

Which is pretty much a given because it's a Sony. xD

 

After it gets replaced, there will be some on the used market for a bargain.

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, D13H4RD said:

Which is pretty much a given because it's a Sony. xD

 

After it gets replaced, there will be some on the used market for a bargain.

Hoping for my something like my Sony a7r for 270€ in 2020 in near mint condition deal again :p.

[D13H4RD]

7 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Hoping for my something like my Sony a7r for 270€ in 2020 in near mint condition deal again :p.

Heh, maybe I'll pick up a GFX when they drop down inevitably after the 100S drops.

[Downkey]

34 minutes ago, D13H4RD said:

 

Summary

Canon: Introducing the EOS R5, the first mirrorless camera with 8K video recording!

Sony: Hold my sake

 

Sony has pulled the wraps off the Alpha 1, its new flagship mirrorless camera that replaces the a9 as the top-tier Alpha mirrorless camera in terms of technology (and price).

 

Some of its core features include a newly-developed 50MP backside illuminated sensor with stacked memory, an improved e-shutter allowing for blackout-free bursts at up to 30FPS (mechanical is limited to 10FPS max) and uncropped oversampled 8K video recording at up to 30p with HDR. Some enhancements introduced on the a7Siii also feature on the a1, including its hybrid CFX-A/SDXC UHS-II card slots, overhauled menu system, 4K120p HDR recording and dual BIONZ XR processors. Also coming from the a7Siii is its 9.44m dot OLED viewfinder, now able to refresh at up to 240Hz. However, the a7Siii's fully-articulating display does not feature, which may puzzle some who may be intrigued by its video specifications.

Quotes

The camera will be available for purchase in March, and given that this is Sony's highest-tier Alpha body with its very latest tech, it naturally doesn't come cheap? How much damage precisely? A cool $6500. Not cheap, but this is far more camera than most will realistically need, and if you are one of the few who needs a camera this beefed up, you probably are already making arrangements...

 

My thoughts

Wewlad, looks like Sony's come out with the ultimate flexing tool. Obviously, this is far more camera than most of us will realistically need for quite a while, but it is an impressive showcase for photography tech. It's essentially a fusion of the speed and workflow flexibility of the a9, the resolution of the a7R and the video-making capabilities of the a7Siii. This really is Sony's "holy-grail" product, although you do pay a pretty penny for it.

 

Sources

DPReview (includes press release)

Sony product page

honestly im way more excited for 4k120. Could care less about 8k (that is just my opinion!)

[PlayStation 2]

now I can look ugly as fuck in 8k and for $6500+tax

[D13H4RD]

13 minutes ago, seee the state im in nooow said:

large format prints... 

For that, the upcoming GFX100S for purportedly $5999 for a 102MP digital medium format camera body is hugely appealing 

[Sauron]

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

To answer your title of course not. The moment we reach human eye fidelity we reach peak. Anything beyond that is going beyond peak performance.

Cameras are better than the human eye in many respects while being worse in some others. They're different systems that aren't directly comparable. While of course improvement is almost always possible I think the point of the title is that this camera pretty much has every top feature available on the market while remaining relatively compact compared to a DSLR.

 

Can't wait for this to be like 1200$ used on ebay in 5 years

[D13H4RD]

BTW, the color space in 8K is limited to 8-bit 4:2:0 apparently 

 

10-bit 4:2:2 is available in other recording modes

[sub68]

why doesnt it have a flip out screen like a7smk3

[jaslion]

29 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Cameras are better than the human eye in many respects while being worse in some others. They're different systems that aren't directly comparable. While of course improvement is almost always possible I think the point of the title is that this camera pretty much has every top feature available on the market while remaining relatively compact compared to a DSLR.

 

Can't wait for this to be like 1200$ used on ebay in 5 years

That is fair. I more meant it in the way of a camera that at least matches the human eye in every way as peak performance and anything on top of that being beyond.

[Brooksie359]

2 hours ago, jaslion said:

To answer your title of course not. The moment we reach human eye fidelity we reach peak. Anything beyond that is going beyond peak performance.

 

Otherwise neat camera seems a bit in a weird spot as it's not specifically a pro camera and not really a higher end hobbyist camera due to the price.

The problem is even if you have a high fidelity picture if you put that picture on a big enough screen and depending on how far away you view the screen it will no longer look sharp. There will always be room for improvement as you can always improve digital zoom. Imagine taking a picture and then after you can zoom into any part of the picture very closely and still get an ultra sharp image. 

[williamcll]

It's only 50MP, that's still a way to go to hit the eye density, samsung is halfway there sort of.

 

That said, even on a 1080p screen I can see some serious details in that video. How does this compare against 8K cameras like the Red Heliuim or the Blackmagic 12Ks that Linus bought?

 

Though, the connectivity on that camera is amazing. USB 3.2 AND gigabit LAN AND 2x2 MIMO is something I did not expect from a camera. Though at this point they should just replace the CF slot with a M.2 Slot.

[poochyena]

5 hours ago, jaslion said:

human eye fidelity

what does that mean exactly? Cameras now already show just as much detail as a human would see irl, no?

[TempestCatto]

Raising the bar for noods, one megapixel at a time.

[wall03]

5 hours ago, D13H4RD said:

4:2:0

nice

[YellowJersey]

Wowzers. This came out of nowhere. There were rumours about an announcement today, but not much about this beast. Sony did a great job keeping this under wraps.

 

Obviously, this isn't for most people and would be overkill for a lot of people.

 

 Reasons why this exists:

1) Bragging rights

2) Sports shooters are going to love this

3) Wildlife shooters are going to love this

I don't really do video, but I'm sure there are some video people who are going to love this provided the heat management is good enough.

[GDRRiley]

8 hours ago, jaslion said:

Otherwise neat camera seems a bit in a weird spot as it's not specifically a pro camera and not really a higher end hobbyist camera due to the price.

its a wildlife/sports camera. I've seen at least 2-3 who shoot on a9ii thinking about it

 

6 hours ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Hmm, they didn't fix the overheating issue.

they didn't really have one

[GDRRiley]

5 hours ago, williamcll said:

That said, even on a 1080p screen I can see some serious details in that video. How does this compare against 8K cameras like the Red Heliuim or the Blackmagic 12Ks that Linus bought?

 

Though at this point they should just replace the CF slot with a M.2 Slot.

resolution doesn't matter but looking at data rates it isn't the 4x the data rate that we'd expect only around 2x so it maybe slightly bandwidth starved.

 

Its CF express which uses PCIE with A and B (1 and 2 lanes) gen3 being in use now

[Beskamir]

11 hours ago, jaslion said:

To answer your title of course not. The moment we reach human eye fidelity we reach peak. Anything beyond that is going beyond peak performance.

 

Otherwise neat camera seems a bit in a weird spot as it's not specifically a pro camera and not really a higher end hobbyist camera due to the price.

Even when we reach human eye resolution I don't think it'll be "enough" cause then we could have digital zoom or other novel uses that'd make the actual resolution a lot smaller.