New Sony A7R3a and A7R4a

A higher res LCD is sort of good for photogs but video would need it more. Skewed priorities here.

Djehuty said:

joger said:

Stan in NH said:

Personally, I couldn’t care less. Incremental improvements are fine, but these two upgrades are not enough to make me even consider venturing into yet another planned obsolescence buying cycle.

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yes - funny to see people being annoyed by the resolution of a rear screen ;-)

Marketing is king

I'd not be surprised if the revenue of the A7R IVa sales would go up significantly buy the perceived better A7R IVa model - funny situation.

I am glad I never bought into the hype for the undoubtedly nice Alpha One - unfortunately that might mean that a 102 MP Alpha camera with the IMX555CQR will be further pushed out to end of 2022.

( I guess we'll be seeing further delays in cameras and gear throughout the electronic business - I am dealing on a daily case with that in my main job )

Click to expand...

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

I guess that could be a trigger point to enable automated in camera focus stacking in the first FF Alpha with the IMX555CQR sensor.

Sony would not develop and build it in case it made no sense

Taking equivalence into account it would make also no sense to have a 102 MP small medium format or newly developed 128 MP sensor in the small digital medium format yet their fans swear that there is no way around that

That's one of the reasons why I dislike f/2.8 and slower zooms. They make limited sense in the advent of higher resolving camera bodies.

I guess it can be taken for granted that we'll get the 102 MP IMX555CQR in one for the next Sony Alpha cameras - the recent G and GM lens releases this year with astonishing resolution figures - being the sharpest ever mass produced lenses in their individual focal ranges - could suggest higher resolving camera bodies too.

--
_____________________________________
A7R IV - one camera to rule them all
ISO 9000 definition of quality: 'Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements'
I am the classic “Windows by Day, Mac by Night user'
“The horizon of many people is a circle with zero radius which they call their point of view.” Albert Einstein
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Douglas Adams

tqlla said:

fferreres said:

tqlla said:

Very interesting. they just changed the LCD and the USB?

I guess they ran out of the old parts?

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Extremely unlikely. It's a way to make the camera more up to date, and not have to have another product in the market. it signals they are confident they don't need to push anything you at the $2000 to $2800 price points.

It's also a nice way to say to people to not expect a new model soon that replaces the cameras, and reset the price signaling there may not be big discounts ($800) for some time.

Remember that the Riii listed for $2400 for over a year, with discounts taking it to $1990 or so at peak discount. It now seems to be reset to list price around $2800.

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If Sony wanted to raise the price, they could easily do so without updating the LCD screen. Which is what they have already done with the A7Riii. If you go to Amazon right now, the old A7Riii is $2800.

As a side note, ouch that price is high, the least Sony could do is give us the ability to fully use the LA-EA5.

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Is that for the old A7RIII, or the new one?

On my country’s Sony site the pages for the A7R III and A7R IV now show the model number with the a at the end, but they say “available soon” and “price unavailable”. They switched that over very quickly.

Djehuty said:

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

?

joger said:

Djehuty said:

joger said:

Stan in NH said:

Personally, I couldn’t care less. Incremental improvements are fine, but these two upgrades are not enough to make me even consider venturing into yet another planned obsolescence buying cycle.

Click to expand...

yes - funny to see people being annoyed by the resolution of a rear screen ;-)

Marketing is king

I'd not be surprised if the revenue of the A7R IVa sales would go up significantly buy the perceived better A7R IVa model - funny situation.

I am glad I never bought into the hype for the undoubtedly nice Alpha One - unfortunately that might mean that a 102 MP Alpha camera with the IMX555CQR will be further pushed out to end of 2022.

( I guess we'll be seeing further delays in cameras and gear throughout the electronic business - I am dealing on a daily case with that in my main job )

Click to expand...

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

I guess that could be a trigger point to enable automated in camera focus stacking in the first FF Alpha with the IMX555CQR sensor.

Sony would not develop and build it in case it made no sense

Taking equivalence into account it would make also no sense to have a 102 MP small medium format or newly developed 128 MP sensor in the small digital medium format yet their fans swear that there is no way around that

That's one of the reasons why I dislike f/2.8 and slower zooms. They make limited sense in the advent of higher resolving camera bodies.

I guess it can be taken for granted that we'll get the 102 MP IMX555CQR in one for the next Sony Alpha cameras - the recent G and GM lens releases this year with astonishing resolution figures - being the sharpest ever mass produced lenses in their individual focal ranges - could suggest higher resolving camera bodies too.

Click to expand...

Not every sensor they develop would be for consumer use, industrial use devices are meant to function within a specific parameter for a specific purpose which would probably be not practical for consumer use. It makes sense if they made it for a certain industry, it just doesn't have to be for you. The best low light sensor they have isn't even practical for MILCs.

But of course this is all mere conjecture at best.

joger said:

Djehuty said:

joger said:

Stan in NH said:

Personally, I couldn’t care less. Incremental improvements are fine, but these two upgrades are not enough to make me even consider venturing into yet another planned obsolescence buying cycle.

Click to expand...

yes - funny to see people being annoyed by the resolution of a rear screen ;-)

Marketing is king

I'd not be surprised if the revenue of the A7R IVa sales would go up significantly buy the perceived better A7R IVa model - funny situation.

I am glad I never bought into the hype for the undoubtedly nice Alpha One - unfortunately that might mean that a 102 MP Alpha camera with the IMX555CQR will be further pushed out to end of 2022.

( I guess we'll be seeing further delays in cameras and gear throughout the electronic business - I am dealing on a daily case with that in my main job )

Click to expand...

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

I guess that could be a trigger point to enable automated in camera focus stacking in the first FF Alpha with the IMX555CQR sensor.

Sony would not develop and build it in case it made no sense

Taking equivalence into account it would make also no sense to have a 102 MP small medium format or newly developed 128 MP sensor in the small digital medium format yet their fans swear that there is no way around that

Click to expand...

I just purchased a GFX 100s. If I may ask, there is no way around what?

joger said:

That's one of the reasons why I dislike f/2.8 and slower zooms. They make limited sense in the advent of higher resolving camera bodies.

Click to expand...

What does the max aperture of any lens have to do with its resolution. I got the fairly slow Fuji 32-64 with the aforementioned GFX 100s and resolution-wise, it puts to shame any zoom of any type I have used in FF. Of course it has been 4-5 years since I last purchased any FF lens (Canon).

joger said:

I guess it can be taken for granted that we'll get the 102 MP IMX555CQR in one for the next Sony Alpha cameras - the recent G and GM lens releases this year with astonishing resolution figures - being the sharpest ever mass produced lenses in their individual focal ranges - could suggest higher resolving camera bodies too.

Click to expand...

This is a good educated guess.

All Bushs Fault said:

joger said:

Djehuty said:

joger said:

Stan in NH said:

Personally, I couldn’t care less. Incremental improvements are fine, but these two upgrades are not enough to make me even consider venturing into yet another planned obsolescence buying cycle.

Click to expand...

yes - funny to see people being annoyed by the resolution of a rear screen ;-)

Marketing is king

I'd not be surprised if the revenue of the A7R IVa sales would go up significantly buy the perceived better A7R IVa model - funny situation.

I am glad I never bought into the hype for the undoubtedly nice Alpha One - unfortunately that might mean that a 102 MP Alpha camera with the IMX555CQR will be further pushed out to end of 2022.

( I guess we'll be seeing further delays in cameras and gear throughout the electronic business - I am dealing on a daily case with that in my main job )

Click to expand...

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

I guess that could be a trigger point to enable automated in camera focus stacking in the first FF Alpha with the IMX555CQR sensor.

Sony would not develop and build it in case it made no sense

Taking equivalence into account it would make also no sense to have a 102 MP small medium format or newly developed 128 MP sensor in the small digital medium format yet their fans swear that there is no way around that

Click to expand...

I just purchased a GFX 100s. If I may ask, there is no way around what?

Click to expand...

1st of all congratulation to your purchase - GFX100

All Bushs Fault said:

All Bushs Fault said:

That's one of the reasons why I dislike f/2.8 and slower zooms. They make limited sense in the advent of higher resolving camera bodies.

Click to expand...

What does the max aperture of any lens have to do with its resolution.

Click to expand...

Nothing - f/2.8 zooms are limiting the possibilities being quite slow (theoretically all lenses are best wide open) - most lenses tend to be best 2 steps closed down - works pretty well when looking at the corners performance of most lenses - some of the best ever built lenses tend to be top notch in the center wide open like the GM 24 & GM 35 & GM 50 & GM 135 & GM 400 & GM 600 - starting 2..3 steps earlier means reasoning perfect sharpness across the frame 2..3 stops earlier and allows for more Pixel per mm. That said I‘d alway choose the higher resolving camera over a lower one provided the base ISO performance is still good enough.

Pixel Shift does a very fine job for not moving objects.

All Bushs Fault said:

I got the fairly slow Fuji 32-64 with the aforementioned GFX 100s and resolution-wise, it puts to shame any zoom of any type I have used in FF. Of course it has been 4-5 years since I last purchased any FF lens (Canon).

Click to expand...

There are not many small zoom ratio FF quality lenses in existence. Ever tried the G 12..24 or GM 12..24 ?

Both are unparalleled in any system - especially slightly stopped down. The G 12..24 is stunning at f/5.6..7.1 at the short end and good enough on the long end - easily beating all primes I‘ve tested in this range - GM 12..24 is a bit better at larger apertures and basically identical at f/5.6..7.1.

All Bushs Fault said:

All Bushs Fault said:

I guess it can be taken for granted that we'll get the 102 MP IMX555CQR in one for the next Sony Alpha cameras - the recent G and GM lens releases this year with astonishing resolution figures - being the sharpest ever mass produced lenses in their individual focal ranges - could suggest higher resolving camera bodies too.

Click to expand...

This is a good educated guess.

Click to expand...

From my perspective it‘s only a question of months or worst 1..2 years. The good thing is that this Sony body will probably get many of the features from the Alpha One - the band thing is that it will probably also get a similar price tag.

The introduction of the A7R IIIa and A7R IVa could probably mean that these cameras are here to stay for a longer period - otherwise it would hardly make any sense to update part on them - except a very severs delivery issue has happened.

--
_____________________________________
A7R IV - one camera to rule them all
ISO 9000 definition of quality: 'Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements'
I am the classic “Windows by Day, Mac by Night user'
“The horizon of many people is a circle with zero radius which they call their point of view.” Albert Einstein
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Douglas Adams

I think at this point it's cheaper for Sony to use those higher resolution screens than to keep ordering older screens that get more expensive over time because they're not being produced in high quantities anymore.

All Bushs Fault said:

Djehuty said:

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

?

Click to expand...

Without going into too much detail, basically higher pixel densities reduces sharpness past a certain aperture, a 24mp FF picture would look sharper vs lets say a 200mp FF picture shot at F11 if viewing distance, framing, medium etc is equal.

Practicality wise whether the diffraction is noticeable, I don't know, I shoot wide open most of the time and never tried to push the limit of my 61mp.

There are ways of mitigating this by going to a bigger sensor, shoot at larger apertures, focus stacking etc

Djehuty said:

All Bushs Fault said:

Djehuty said:

Or never since a 102mp sensor would make any lens diffract at f5.6.

Click to expand...

?

Click to expand...

Without going into too much detail, basically higher pixel densities reduces sharpness past a certain aperture, a 24mp FF picture would look sharper vs lets say a 200mp FF picture shot at F11 if viewing distance, framing, medium etc is equal.
Practicality wise whether the diffraction is noticeable, I don't know, I shoot wide open most of the time and never tried to push the limit of my 61mp.
There are ways of mitigating this by going to a bigger sensor, shoot at larger apertures, focus stacking etc

Click to expand...

Details can be foundhere

I‘d also prefer the higher resolution on FF beyond f/5.6 since it wont be worse than a lower resolution sensor but it can be significantly better on top notch lenses at larger apertures.

100ish MP might be the real world maximum though - considering the current pixel performance.

The diffraction limit is no limit but a limiting factor for different wave lengths to a different degree.

Further undisputed valuable background can be found here

--
_____________________________________
A7R IV - one camera to rule them all
ISO 9000 definition of quality: 'Degree to which a set of inherent characteristic fulfills requirements'
I am the classic “Windows by Day, Mac by Night user'
“The horizon of many people is a circle with zero radius which they call their point of view.” Albert Einstein
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Douglas Adams

FarHagh said:

If this is per part shortage (the most reasonable explanation) they should have discontinued the a7Riii already; a new ~36MP a7iv would fill the gap without all the trouble of maintaining the Riii in production for a little longer.

Or maybe they prefer keeping all models available till we reach a7Riiiaθ27N⅝ṏ4

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I went with the A7RIII last fall and it's a great camera, but it's a shame that there was no update of the A7III / A7RIII with the latest processor, 2 fast card slots, and real-time tracking. Sony released the A7C instead, which is a niche.

Ideally you'd replace the A7III with a 32-42MP A7IV that replaces both the A7III and A7RIII, so the product line would be:

• A7C (24MP)
• A7IV (3X MP)
• A7RIV (61MP)
• (A9II) (24MP - fast)
• A1 (50MP - faster)

I sold my A7III and both of my A7RII's when I got my A7RIII. The EVF in the A7III and A7RII has a bit of flicker. I didn't really pay attention to it until I got the A7RIII. I feel that the A7III needs a better EVF. The LCD resolution hasn't been an issue for me. I am also happy with USB-3.0.

AlephNull said:

joger said:

Opera207 said:

As an A1 user, i am angry O_O

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why?

Click to expand...

Because suddenly the shiny new A1 isn’t quite as shiny - now there is a Sony model with more pixels on its rear screen.

That means that the A1 is now obsolete!

-

BTW: I checked, and my A1 is still working. Surprisingly, it seems to be working exactly the way it was working at the start of the week. I did put mine into “airplane” mode, to conserve battery power; maybe that stopped it from getting the radio signal that was supposed to stop it working?

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How many still photographers use the rear screen more than a few times a year anyway. I'll wager not many.

Euell said:

AlephNull said:

joger said:

Opera207 said:

As an A1 user, i am angry O_O

Click to expand...

why?

Click to expand...

Because suddenly the shiny new A1 isn’t quite as shiny - now there is a Sony model with more pixels on its rear screen.

That means that the A1 is now obsolete!

-

BTW: I checked, and my A1 is still working. Surprisingly, it seems to be working exactly the way it was working at the start of the week. I did put mine into “airplane” mode, to conserve battery power; maybe that stopped it from getting the radio signal that was supposed to stop it working?

Click to expand...

How many still photographers use the rear screen more than a few times a year anyway. I'll wager not many.

Click to expand...

Well anyone with a tripod, for starters...

Opera207 said:

As an A1 user, i am angry O_O

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Why would you be angry?

This is for the A7R3 and A7R4 models. It's not like the A1 specs have changed since you got your new camera.

The only people i can see have a legitimate beef are for those that paid MSRP for the A7R3 and A7R4 models recently.

I use mine. It took me a while to appreciate them, that and wearing glasses all the time now. They were a problem when my arms were too short. Beats trying to get on and off my knees at times or looking for a ladder or step stool.

BrentSchumer said:

Euell said:

AlephNull said:

joger said:

Opera207 said:

As an A1 user, i am angry O_O

Click to expand...

why?

Click to expand...

Because suddenly the shiny new A1 isn’t quite as shiny - now there is a Sony model with more pixels on its rear screen.

That means that the A1 is now obsolete!

-

BTW: I checked, and my A1 is still working. Surprisingly, it seems to be working exactly the way it was working at the start of the week. I did put mine into “airplane” mode, to conserve battery power; maybe that stopped it from getting the radio signal that was supposed to stop it working?

Click to expand...

How many still photographers use the rear screen more than a few times a year anyway. I'll wager not many.

Click to expand...

Well anyone with a tripod, for starters...

Click to expand...

Only when the camera is at an uncomfortable level to use the viewfinder. The rear screen is hard to see in bright light, etc. I have two tripods and a monopod and almost never use any. Too much trouble and really unnecessary for sharp photos, except in low light.

Craig Gillette said:

I use mine. It took me a while to appreciate them, that and wearing glasses all the time now. They were a problem when my arms were too short. Beats trying to get on and off my knees at times or looking for a ladder or step stool.

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True.

Euell said:

BrentSchumer said:

Euell said:

AlephNull said:

joger said:

Opera207 said:

As an A1 user, i am angry O_O

Click to expand...

why?

Click to expand...

Because suddenly the shiny new A1 isn’t quite as shiny - now there is a Sony model with more pixels on its rear screen.

That means that the A1 is now obsolete!

-

BTW: I checked, and my A1 is still working. Surprisingly, it seems to be working exactly the way it was working at the start of the week. I did put mine into “airplane” mode, to conserve battery power; maybe that stopped it from getting the radio signal that was supposed to stop it working?

Click to expand...

How many still photographers use the rear screen more than a few times a year anyway. I'll wager not many.

Click to expand...

Well anyone with a tripod, for starters...

Click to expand...

Only when the camera is at an uncomfortable level to use the viewfinder. The rear screen is hard to see in bright light, etc. I have two tripods and a monopod and almost never use any. Too much trouble and really unnecessary for sharp photos, except in low light.

Click to expand...

I 99% use a tripod in low light, where the LCD is essential. Indeed, I feel that one drawback of the A7RIII is how the LCD only tilts on one axis, making tripod portrait orientation a bit of a pain.

I only use the LCD setup menus and never use the touch screen function (off). If my A1 came with a high resolution screen I still would never use it for more than I said above. This is just for my use and others may want more.