I saw today where the Olympus CEO said the E-M5 sensor is made by Sony.
Yes bakubo, I saw it on SAR as well, but not sure I understand the Yahoo translation. http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/olympus- ... nsors-too/
I must admit that I am surprised that Sony are now into making 4/3 size sensors. Maybe they have just taken a "knife" to the NEX-7 24Mp sensor to make it 16Mp for 4/3.
I don't have any personal experience of Panasonic sensors other than those in Lumix LX2, 3 and 5. As stated before I am impressed by the performance of these and the quality of Jpegs out of camera. Sony must have decided to "buy" into this segment as they would have had to set up new "moulds" and must have lower production runs than Panasonic. Surely volume is a determinant of unit cost in this business because of the up front investment in equipment. On the other hand Sony have put money into Olympus so maybe it is a case of "I scratch your back and you scratch mine in return".
I also notice that some people are still thinking that Sony make the sensor for Nikon's V1 model. That is despite Thom Hogan denying it.
By Thoms argument anything labelled as Nikon from CD's through printed instruction manuals and flashguns are all totally produced by Nikon if it has a Nikon logo on it. And the same goes for Microsoft, IBM, Ford, BMW etc if that argument is to be believed. Not all companies are that uptight as in the HiFi industry several companies actually say in their product information that they use Rotel transformers or even specify which Sabre models they use in their CD players, DVD players, DACs etc.
Sony makes all sorts of things including Apple iPhone camera units ( probably including other manufacturers bit and pieces as well) and you couldn't say that Apple and Sony aren't competitors in several brutal market segments. Sony has the battle scars and the red ink in the ledgers to prove it. If there is a manufacturing opportunity these corporations will look for them. Also the more product that Sony ship the quicker they realize their R & D and plant costs and deny their competitors the opportunity.
I must admit that I am surprised that Sony are now into making 4/3 size sensors. Maybe they have just taken a "knife" to the NEX-7 24Mp sensor to make it 16Mp for 4/3.
I haven't given it much thought since I don't care that much who makes the sensors as long as the results are good. The E-M5 results are good. Sony is making good sensors as seen in lots of different cameras these days. I don't keep up with this stuff so much, but didn't I hear something about Sony investing some money in Olympus recently?
I know a number of people who have moved over to the OM-D, and abandoned their DSLR's. It's not for everyone I have to say I'd agree about the handling which is pretty subjective on the OM-D or any other body come to that.
I think the appeal is for some shooters who have "by default" geared up with a DSLR system when they probably didn't really need one in the first place, some might have been better off with a premium bridge type model (take your pick) some better served with a decent compact or a CSC type camera.
I can't see myself going for one, or the micro 4/3 system because I really do need an SLR type camera for what I do. As for other options I'm still toying with the X100 idea.. I love the images Fuji produce even if I don't want to invest in another lens mount again. OM-D is also pretty pricey where I live it's not something I feel is worth that outlay. It must be the only camera I've seen that has not dropped one penny in the UK since launch..Oly are still asking £999 for it body only.
OMD is still the number one on my list...for recommending a serious mirrorless to anyone else, though I must feel sinful to buy OMD after Nex6...
It is simply faster and has more options of prime lenses.
bfitzgerald wrote:Not sure what hybrid 4/3 micro 4/3 means!
A body that can work well with both 4/3 mount lenses and m4/3 lenses. Good AF for both. Most likely an EVF, no mirror, PDAF on the sensor. An adaptor for 4/3 lenses. The same as a Sony hybrid E-mount and A-mount body. A long time ago I wrote about something similar for a Sony body.
Birma wrote:His name looks somewhat familiar but I don't remember checking out the site before. Quite an entertaining blog, especially as he shots Nex and Dslt
From time to time someone posts a link to something he has written. Yesterday I saw this article of his posted and thought it was pretty good so I posted it here.
Yeah, I think he uses an A99, A77, A57, and maybe an A58 too. He has said he shoots a lot with a NEX 7 also. He is in Austin, Texas but I don't know him.
bfitzgerald wrote:Not sure what hybrid 4/3 micro 4/3 means!
A body that can work well with both 4/3 mount lenses and m4/3 lenses. Good AF for both. Most likely an EVF, no mirror, PDAF on the sensor. An adaptor for 4/3 lenses. The same as a Sony hybrid E-mount and A-mount body. A long time ago I wrote about something similar for a Sony body.
Oh, the missus will be glad to hear this. She uses an EPL1 with Olympus MMC2 adapter for her top notch 4/3 mount lenses. AF is rather crappy with this combo however.
mvanrheenen wrote:Oh, the missus will be glad to hear this. She uses an EPL1 with Olympus MMC2 adapter for her top notch 4/3 mount lenses. AF is rather crappy with this combo however.
Yeah, I think lots of people with 4/3 lenses will be happy to see an updated body that can take full advantage of their lenses. Also, be able to use m4/3 lenses with it too. We'll see if they really do it, but for Olympus and Sony it both makes sense to have a hybrid body. With the NEX + A-mount adapter (the one with fast AF and mirror) they are almost there.
bfitzgerald wrote:Not sure what hybrid 4/3 micro 4/3 means!
A body that can work well with both 4/3 mount lenses and m4/3 lenses. Good AF for both. Most likely an EVF, no mirror, PDAF on the sensor. An adaptor for 4/3 lenses.
Yeah, that is what the Olympus E-M1 turned out to be.