R8 predicted specs: Full frame at $1499

dmartin92 wrote:

SafariBob wrote:

dmartin92 wrote:

thunder storm wrote:

I don't think a smaller sensor isn't cutting manufacturing costs so much.

Yes, over the years I have come to suspect the "per unit" manufacturing costs are very small. The majority of the cost is the r&d that was done 5, 10, or 15 years ago. And the machines to manufacture the sensors. And the special buildings to house and run the entire manufacturing operation. The size of the sensor is a very small factor. They give different prices to full frame cameras versus aps-c cameras, but that is just to segment the marketplace and bring different customers in at different price points.

Image sensors are huge compared to almost any other type of integrated circuit. The larger it is, the more errors and the lower the yield. I would imagine sensors cost to be maybe around 500 for full frame sensors and 100-200 for aps

Well, I am 100% sure that I, myself, me, I don’t know. But this is not to say that I would be 100% sure of something somebody else in the forum says is true. But maybe, I don’t know.

But even that, what you are saying, wouldn’t it be more related to the number of pixels than the overall physical size of the sensor ?

no, the cost driver is primarily the size of the sensor, as well as how advanced the process is (think nm for processors, or bsi, stacked etc) as well as how long it has been in production, and thus optimisation of error mitigation, and hence yields. Yields may start out at say 50% and end up at 95% implying a 50% reduction in cost. Thus old sensored cameras are cheaper. Like z5

Please forgive me, but 20 years ago I was reading in these forums some rather technical discussions, with apparently knowledgeable people, of why an aps-c camera could never be sold for under 2000 Dollars.

Maybe one could say something about the cost of a piece of silicone or sq mm, and it would not follow moores law, etc.

but bear in mind, the reason we have so advanced cameras is because the sensor technology  and processors are produced at scale for smartphone. This is why Sony is making sensors for every manufacturer, and specialised camera sensor manufacturers struggle to compete.

Camera sensors are a tiny part of Sonys sensor business