[tomO2013]

What Sensor Does the K-1 Use?
It's the same Sony sensor used in the Nikon D800, though it's been adapted to Pentax's specifications.

That pretty much confirms that it's a D800 family class chip or a revision of this chip. The degree to which is varies from the stock D800E package is what we have been debating and will likely have to debate until ifixit does a tear down!

However, the 'built to pentax' specifications has me wondering a few things besides the obvious possible differences in sensor substrate ( D800E IMX094AQP and A7r IMX094AQR) and potential rev C differences of a 3rd generation of this sensor class.

I wonder if Sony/Pentax have completely removed the physical AA filter from the K1 variant instead of disabling it. On the D800E the AA filter is physically present but disabled. However on the K1 site they make mention of using the SR to simulate AA when in *theory* this could be something that could be enabled/disabled electronically. I believe that Sony had this built in as a feature on the original D800 chip and is also present on the variant of the A7rii chip used in the Rx1rii. It is not outside the realms of possibility that Pentax's "specifications" include it's removal.

With respect to the differences between ISO64 and ISO100 - my feeling is that for real world uses it has very corner case advantages where it would be perceptive. The D810 and D800 have similar ISO100 performance and both are exceptional at ISO100 already.

Practically speaking, it's subjectively hard (for me anyway) to see any noticeable difference between ISO64 or ISO100 looking at the DPReview studio scene. On a graph , yes 2/3 of a stop does show up in SnR. In real world usage maybe not so much.

Pixel shift is more likely to provide a tangible and practical visible benefit to your overall IQ than a 2/3 drop from ISO100 to ISO64 where it too can be leveraged. The introduction of motion compensation pixel shift should extend the shooting envelope of this feature beyond the K3ii or EM5ii implementations. Although I expect it to still be a feature with limited use cases.

Focus stacking uses colour pixel information that has already been interpolated for each pixel before you actually do the actual stacking operation in PS.
Hardware based pixel shift reads the luminance value at each pixel to get a true pixel color value at each and every pixel. In theory (and practically where it can be deployed) it provides significant improvements to moire, noise, colour accuracy, tonality and detail.
diglloyd: Pentax K1 Super Resolution Pixel Shift Mode
Pentax K-3 II Review: Now Shooting! - Pixel Shift Resolution mode

To echo your earlier point falconeye, I would love to see a side-by-side of a k3ii with pixel shift vs a k3ii in a normal shooting scenario that has been stacked in PS. Lloyd Chambers has an interesting article here on the EM5ii implementation and the advantages go beyond stacking diglloyd Mirrorless - Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II - Hi-Res Sensor Shift Mode vs Standard Resolution, NOISE (Mining Artifacts) (diglloyd.com excerpt) (subscription needed).

As a Sony shooter I can attest that the Sony smooth reflections app has not provided me with massive improvements in IQ in the areas of detail and colour acuity. It's a nice way to simulate not having a ND filter, but I gave up on it and went back to shooting bracketed for stacked images in PS when I want to pull every last drop of detail for large prints greater than 30X40.

There is a certain irony in chatting resolution when the majority of my work goes to web, home print costs are nuts and despite my preference for printing BIG, I have a bunch of prints in art folder slieves that cannot by hung on the wall as I've no space! (I'm typing this on a 2mp laptop monitor with 8bit colour )

[Zen4Life]

Focus stacking uses colour pixel information that has already been interpolated for each pixel before you actually do the actual stacking operation in PS.

Speaking of Focus tacking, I see in the latest Olys they are implementing a Focus Bracketing and Focus Stacking (in camera) feature which sounds great. Do you think Pentax will ever introduce such a feature?

[biz-engineer]

I don't see anymore posts by bizengineer. But normally, when a sensor is reused by another brand, the Bayer filter is altered to meet the color calibration standards of that other brand. I assume the same has happened here.

Yes, if modifying the bayer filter array is considered as a modification of the sensor, then Ricoh can say that the sensor was modified according to their specifications. Beside that, changes that require change of photolitho masks, I doubt Ricoh engaged in this direction as it would be rather costly and if that was the case it would make more sense to use one of the latest version of sensors produced by Sony. But that's only a hypothesis from me, since I'm not a Ricoh insider.

[ogl]

However, the 'built to pentax' specifications has me wondering a few things besides the obvious possible differences in sensor substrate ( D800E IMX094AQP and A7r IMX094AQR) and potential rev C differences of a 3rd generation of this sensor class.

It's interesting that D810 has real hardware ISO64 (not software expanded), no any camera with Sony 36 MP sensor have such ISO.

It means that Nikon ordered this IMX094 sensor with some modification.

[Fredooo]

Was a D 800 E shooter till end of January (all my gear stolen) and was thinking on the D 810 or Sony 7 R II,and the Sony was winning because the SR !On the D 800 E if you don´t put it on tripod and mirror up have a blur motion free picture was a lottery and......The K-1 appear!!!! I´ve preordered mine a month ago (waiting the 25 th.) The quality of the sensor is not a problem i ´m sure is almost as good than the D one,but all the others features make that camera near perfect (hope no hiden bugs) for the half of the price!i have yet the 100 WR,the 50 2,8,an samyang 14 mm all news and an Autorevuenon 50 mm F 1,4 ,Vivitar 28 mm 2,8 close focus(in box) and an 135 mm f 2,8 used for start! Still waiting the Body !But i ´m confident that i´ll forgot quickly the D 800 E and this limited use.

[todd]

Was a D 800 E shooter till end of January (all my gear stolen) and was thinking on the D 810 or Sony 7 R II,and the Sony was winning because the SR !On the D 800 E if you don´t put it on tripod and mirror up have a blur motion free picture was a lottery and......The K-1 appear!!!! I´ve preordered mine a month ago (waiting the 25 th.) The quality of the sensor is not a problem i ´m sure is almost as good than the D one,but all the others features make that camera near perfect (hope no hiden bugs) for the half of the price!i have yet the 100 WR,the 50 2,8,an samyang 14 mm all news and an Autorevuenon 50 mm F 1,4 ,Vivitar 28 mm 2,8 close focus(in box) and an 135 mm f 2,8 used for start! Still waiting the Body !But i ´m confident that i´ll forgot quickly the D 800 E and this limited use.

What a painful but hopefully serendipitous journey! Welcome aboard!

[janneman]

I learned at WPPI that the K-1 uses the same Sony sensor as the Nikon D800, though the sensor has been adapted to Pentax's specifications.

The recent earthquake has put one CMOS factory out of busniness, at least one other is temporarily shut down awaiting safety inspections . Ofcourse not sure which one is used for our sensors. Rumor has ist mostly Apple phones will be affected

[Tan68]

.4 EV extra highlight headroom may not sound like a big deal, and it certainly won't prevent you from getting stellar results from the K1 raw files, although when shooting jpeg, the ability to dial in an extra stop of exposure and still have better highlight preservation can be very usefull.
...

Chris

To get the most of dynamic range takes very careful exposure. I think that partly cloudy days with constantly shifting brightness as clouds pass the sun makes this more difficult.

So, any extra ~1/2 stop dynamic range is, for me, a little more room for error. As careful as I might be with exposure, the 810's extra range simply increases the likelihood I will achieve what is possible with the 800...

[interested_observer]

The recent earthquake has put one CMOS factory out of busniness, at least one other is temporarily shut down awaiting safety inspections . Ofcourse not sure which one is used for our sensors. Rumor has ist mostly Apple phones will be affected

The link below references off line camera related plants due to the quake, but really does not identify exactly what parts are affected....

On Thursday, it said it expected production to resume around the end of May. The disruption, it said, could cause "major" opportunity losses.

Canon Inc and Nikon Corp have said Sony's plant halt would affect their camera production.

Yoshida warned at the news conference that quake-related damage could exceed 20 billion yen, the upper limit of its insurance coverage.

• Sony's sensor business slows even as cost cuts lift profit | Reuters