Working in the semiconductor industry, there are some cost models that indicate that cost of silicon is not a function of image sensor resolution but it is proportional the silicon area and the number of steps needed in the manufacturing process. Therefore , FF cameras should have the higher pixel count , at the same price point as the lower pixel count , as long as the size of pixels does not impact the defect rate of the sensors. Practically, defect rate is a function of silicon area a defect density given a specific fab, rather than pixel density. Therefore, the new Pentax FF should be equipped with a 50Mpixels sensor, and not a 24Mpixels sensor.
Having the new Pentax FF with 51Mpixel has a lots of advantages:
- give a reason to k-3 owner to buy a FF cam
- sensor with 51Mpix gets rid of AA filter, same advantage as the K-3 but on larger sensor.
- sensor is almost the same cost with 51Mpix versus 24Mpix
- bring Pentax again very competitive in the full frame segment , able to compete with new Nikon FF and Canon FF (if Canon has done the 5DS, Nikon will follow).
What is your opinion?
Last edited by biz-engineer; 02-20-2015 at 12:27 PM.