[osv]

MJPEG is really just I frame h264 without the improved still image compression that comes with h264 (think JPEG2000 or so...).

i think that they are different, not the same... even in i-frame only mode, h.264 is superior, and in lossless mode, it rocks...

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146979

mjpeg is fully obsolete, which is why it's no longer used.

[Mikesul]

Unless there is a dramatic change it would have to be a manual focus lens, so why not (as has been written) just make a couple thousand A50/1.2's with HD, Aerobright and Ghostless coatings in Limited barrels?

HD D-A 1:1.2 50mm

Yup! That would keep the price down and provide a wonderful lens to K-mount.

[kadajawi]

i think that they are different, not the same... even in i-frame only mode, h.264 is superior, and in lossless mode, it rocks...

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146979

mjpeg is fully obsolete, which is why it's no longer used.

h264 CAN be superior. Pentax has proven that that doesn't have to be the case though. The MJPEG in the K-5 worked really well, the h264 in subsequent cameras didn't. Until it does (I know it is possible...) it would have been nice if Pentax offered the option. Just the possibility for MJPEG.

I can create you low bitrate files that you can't distinguish from their source... but the thing is, that requires a high quality encoder ran on really potent hardware that makes use of h264. Cameras don't have that. I estimate that using my settings you'd need about 120 Intel Ivy Bridge cores running at 4,5 GHz to provide realtime 1080/25p encoding. The little chips inside a DSLR can't even come close to that, as dedicated to video as they may be.

[Mistral75]

(...)

Not sure why the Sony, at least with a sensor that has PDAF sensors on it, needs to have an adapter with a mirror. Doesn't make too much sense to me... maybe the adapter was designed for the time before sensors themselves gained good dedicated AF sensors?

Actually Sony propose four different adapters.

LA-EA1 and LA-EA2 are limited to APS-C lenses whilst LA-EA3 and LA-EA4 cover the 24x36 image circle.

LA-EA2 and LA-EA4 have a translucent mirror, a dedicated phase-correlation autofocus module and a built-in motor and allow for autofocus with any lens in Minolta AF / Sony Alpha mount at DSLR speed. LA-EA1 and LA-EA3 have none of these and only allow for (slower) contrast-detection autofocus with lenses with a built-in motor ('SAM' and 'SSM' in Sony's marketing language, corresponding to our DC and to Canon's ring USM respectively).

[clackers]

The Sony adaptors are needed even in their hybrid AF systems because those systems are literally a dog performance wise. Check out this article and comments from one of the guys who runs the SonyAlphaLab site and tried to take pics of greyhounds:


First Few Days with the Sony Nex-6 – More Sample Photos, Hybrid AF Speed Tests, Dynamic Range and Highlight Detail!! | SonyAlphaLab.com

[philbaum]

The Sony adaptors are needed even in their hybrid AF systems because those systems are literally a dog performance wise. Check out this article and comments from one of the guys who runs the SonyAlphaLab site and tried to take pics of greyhounds:


First Few Days with the Sony Nex-6 – More Sample Photos, Hybrid AF Speed Tests, Dynamic Range and Highlight Detail!! | SonyAlphaLab.com

You're kidding right? The test you quote dates from Nov 2012. The current model is now the A6000. Watch this video for a comparison between Pan. G4, Sony A6000, Fuji XT1, and Olympus EM1. They also had a Nikon D4s to compare it to. Taken on a motocross track. After seeing the kind of shots they took, you will understand how far mirrorless cameras have advanced. And the Nex6 does not compare tracking wise to the newer A6000.

You Tube

You Tube

One of the reasons, i'd like to see mirrorless on the new Pentax FF, is that other companies are making sig. progress from one mirrorless to the next generation. Nikon and Pentax are both not in the large sensor mirrorless arena and aren't learning from their early mistakes. Canon at least has the EOS-M.

[Mikesul]

You're kidding right? The test you quote dates from Nov 2012. The current model is now the A6000. Watch this video for a comparison between Pan. G4, Sony A6000, Fuji XT1, and Olympus EM1. They also had a Nikon D4s to compare it to. Taken on a motocross track. After seeing the kind of shots they took, you will understand how far mirrorless cameras have advanced. And the Nex6 does not compare tracking wise to the newer A6000.

The Great Mirrorless Camera Autofocus Shootout! (GH4, X-T1, A6000, E-M1) - YouTube

One of the reasons, i'd like to see mirrorless on the new Pentax FF, is that other companies are making sig. progress from one mirrorless to the next generation. Nikon and Pentax are both not in the large sensor mirrorless arena and aren't learning from their early mistakes. Canon at least has the EOS-M.

The A6000 autofocus was a big step up for Emount cameras. Sony folks are hoping the next iteration of the A7 cameras will improve on the A6000 for an excellent AF camera.

[reh321]

You're kidding right? The test you quote dates from Nov 2012. The current model is now the A6000. Watch this video for a comparison between Pan. G4, Sony A6000, Fuji XT1, and Olympus EM1. They also had a Nikon D4s to compare it to. Taken on a motocross track. After seeing the kind of shots they took, you will understand how far mirrorless cameras have advanced. And the Nex6 does not compare tracking wise to the newer A6000.

The Great Mirrorless Camera Autofocus Shootout! (GH4, X-T1, A6000, E-M1) - YouTube

One of the reasons, i'd like to see mirrorless on the new Pentax FF, is that other companies are making sig. progress from one mirrorless to the next generation. Nikon and Pentax are both not in the large sensor mirrorless arena and aren't learning from their early mistakes. Canon at least has the EOS-M.

The other option is for Pentax to learn in some other area and then apply those lessons to an APS-C mirrorless camera , which is where most of the action is right now.

(1) Make changes to the K-50 successor. That is basically what Canon did, experimenting on the Rebel line and then applying that technology to the EOS-M.

(2) Make changes to the Q line, which could benefit from those changes right away.

However, looking at release dates for the K-50 and Q-S1, the next releases could be nearly a year away.

[rawr]

I like the AF coverage of the A6000. Would be very impressive to see this AF coverage on a high-fps A7 full-frame:



But the mirrorless Samsung NX-1 - with it's 205 Phase Detection AF points and 153 cross-type sensors covering 90% of the frame, and sensitive to EV -4-20 - beats even the Sony A6000.

So clearly mirrorless AF is on a roll at the moment.

[philbaum]

I like the AF coverage of the A6000. Would be very impressive to see this AF coverage on a high-fps A7 full-frame:



But the mirrorless Samsung NX-1 - with it's 205 Phase Detection AF points and 153 cross-type sensors covering 90% of the frame, and sensitive to EV -4-20 - beats even the Sony A6000.

So clearly mirrorless AF is on a roll at the moment.

I agree with you. As others have pointed out, we don't know whether the Samsung NX1 will stand up to closer scrutiny - sounds very good on paper though. If Samsung's NX1 can approach the low light performance of Sony FF models, than they would really shift the market around. But i suppose thats contrary to the laws of physics We;ll just have to see how good it is. I think its got an electronic shutter which gets my vote.

[kadajawi]

I agree with you. As others have pointed out, we don't know whether the Samsung NX1 will stand up to closer scrutiny - sounds very good on paper though. If Samsung's NX1 can approach the low light performance of Sony FF models, than they would really shift the market around. But i suppose thats contrary to the laws of physics We;ll just have to see how good it is. I think its got an electronic shutter which gets my vote.

I wouldn't expect it to get close to the low light performance of Sony FF models. They said something like they get 20 MP sensor performance out of a 28 MP sensor, which is not too shabby IMHO. More pixels without the drawbacks.

[mecrox]

I wouldn't expect it to get close to the low light performance of Sony FF models. They said something like they get 20 MP sensor performance out of a 28 MP sensor, which is not too shabby IMHO. More pixels without the drawbacks.

That's pretty irrelevant really. The real movement and the $$$ will come when the capabilities in these new and very expensive items are shifted downwards to around the D5xxx level or below. Then buyers will be faced with buying a DSLR - for what? - but depending on the model of DSLR foregoing things like wifi, gps, touchscreen OS, full-screen FP selection, high frame rates, top-class video, TS rear screen, close integration with mobile apps and all the rest. Sony have a pretty similar approach to Samsung and if they step it up then there will be enough marketing behind all this to make a difference. From one POV, they are throwing in all the features in a single reasonably priced model that Canonikon like to dole out one by one by gaming buyers up the range into increasingly expensive models. It's this kind of thing and not low-light performance or another enthusiast parameter which will draw in the vast bulk of buyers. All ifs of course since we're just seeing the beginning of what might happen when high-power processors are dropped into a camera and many features become more a matter of software than hardware. We don't know how it will play out.

[kadajawi]

beta.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/digital-slrs-hybrids/samsung-nx1-1265386/review#articleContent

Doesn't look too bad. The metering system seems to work really well, ergonomics seem fine, ...

[RonHendriks1966]

wow. Talking about progressive.

4K will come when Fujitsu offers it in the Milbeaut. Nikon will probably push them to do so, and hopefully Pentax can profit from it. Pentax doesn't have to be on the forefront with this, just perhaps time their products well (i.e. don't release a new high end camera JUST before they are able to make a 4K one.


WiFi... yes. I mean it seems like perhaps it is limited due to the body, but surely they can find a place for the antenna that isn't covered by metal. Think journalists and event shooters who work in a team and need to be FAST.


GPS... I'd find it useful, but running a GPS logging app on my phone isn't too big of a deal.

NFC... more of a gimmick, unless you very much extend what's there.

Connecting to social media... more something for entry level cameras, IMHO. I'm not too interested in that, though if it were there I might occasionally use it.

SIM card... I don't see a need for that. You can always tether to your phone... I don't want to have 2 SIM cards, one just for my camera.

I'd like the ability to connect an external hard drive via USB 3.0, and to copy files to the hard drive. Say you're on holiday, you just bring one or two external drives. You can use them for backup, or to clear up space on your SD card. Viewing photos from there could also be possible. Also the ability to charge and power the camera via USB (please use micro USB, as everyone else). There is no need for an AC adapter, and over night you can just plug in the camera into a phone charger and that's it. Or if you run out of juice you can connect the camera to one of those batteries you use to charge phones on the go. I have a really good 10400 mAh one that I bought for around 10 Euro, that should keep my camera and my other gear going for a very long time. My non-original camera battery charger can take USB as power source, and it works great.

Just the highlights. I think Wifi and GPS are just things that are as essential as once the cigarette lighter in a car was. It is there and you don't have to ask for it. Now with smoking less popular, it is the way to charge your smartphone. Indeed this should be made more easily with a camera too.

NFC could help with transferring files. No idea how fast it is, but probably improving over time, so you don't need that usb-cable to transfer to your harddrive and other devices.

On the SIM card. I think that connecting the camera to 4G (why is everyone asking for 4K video) the new fast transfer speed. Maybe not for entrylevel, but I guess in time I could use it to transfer files much faster directly to an editor. I have 50 Mbit/s data transfer on my smartphone with 4G and you never find that on public WIFI.

[kadajawi]

Actually cigarette lighters are optional on cars these days. Of course the socket is still there to charge devices etc. (some cars do come with USB ports to charge devices... a very thoughtful addition IMHO). But the thing you actually light a cigarette with, and the ashtray, those are optional. Including on a Mercedes S class.

NFC is AFAIK extremely slow. It is only used for devices to communicate their particulars... so they can use WiFi to transfer the actual data. Might be wrong on that one though.

You can share your 4G connection from your phone with the camera... That should do, instead of adding an expensive data plan just for your camera. The added hardware cost for a feature that really few people will use is way to high... if you thought they are up in arms over video...

Connecting a hard drive via USB directly to the camera would be faster than any wireless connection could be, plus most external hard drives don't have any wireless connectivity.