[Clavius]

Sony interview today: uncompressed RAW confirmed to be coming to all A7x models via firmware. Sony interview and a good news: They are working on uncompressed RAW! | sonyalpharumors

And the A7rII will have a life expectancy of 500K actuations! Half a million clicks: Sony Q&A with Thibault Roland! A7rII has better battery life 5000K shutter cycle no hot pixel issue and | sonyalpharumors

...This spells "PRO" to me. If I look at the development from original A7 to the current A7rII then I really like Sony's learning curve.

[ElrondElensar]

For some reason, the 2 A7 series cameras that have 4K video, also have the totally silent shutter. That would be so cool if that enabled a Pentax silent shutter as well - even with the occasional shutter roll effect. The GH4 also has a silent shutter, i believe. I was watching a dress rehearsal run thru of a play this afternoon, wishing i had a silent shutter to take some pics of onlookers without distracting them from their duties.

DSLRs unlike mirrorless cameras can't focus fast without a moving mirror, and a mirror isn't silent. So on a DSLR silent shutter would either be only manual focus or liveview only with no viewfinder

[Na Horuk]

Yeah, a silent Pentax sounds like fantasy. Mirror, SR, AF, even live view.. none of this is super silent with most of Pentax lenses/cameras, though some are better than others. A K-5II with a DA* 55mm is as good as it gets for Pentax DSLR, I think

[philbaum]

Yep, i've been reading so much about mirrorless, i forgot

Well the K01 in FF format could be silent with the new sensor. For the live theatre that i shoot a lot of, a silent shutter would be very useful at times. I suspect this camera or one like it is in my future. It's amazing to me that of all the Canon and Nikon cameras out there in aps or FF, not one has a silent shutter, as far as i know. Now Sony has 2 models with this feature. And a lot of reviewers seem to mention that feature when it occurs.

[Na Horuk]

The K-01 is not super silent, either! It makes the SR noise, the shutter noise, and it shifts the aperture blades of the lens often (to prevent excessive light on the live view sensor) - which can make people think you are taking photos even when you are not. Honestly, as mirrorless go, K-01 is relatively loud. Some are so silent even the photographer doesn't realize when the photo was taken

[Winder]

http://bokeh.digitalrev.com/article/how-the-sony-a7r-ii-murdered-the-canon-5ds-and-5ds-r

Kai is normally a Canon fanboy and shoots with a 1Dx.

[clackers]

Kai is normally a Canon fanboy

Nuh, he's a Leica fanboi. ☺

[philbaum]

You Tube

You Tube

A "pre-review" of the A7R II which talks about impact on the camera market. Fairly short but interesting, i think.

It looks like this early launch of samples was timed to take some of the wind out of Canon's sails. I don't think Pentax could have picked a better sensor to put in their FF - which is excellent news.

[Winder]

Last Week Today: Our Take on the Sony a7R II (Pre-Review!) - YouTube

A "pre-review" of the A7R II which talks about impact on the camera market. Fairly short but interesting, i think.

It looks like this early launch of samples was timed to take some of the wind out of Canon's sails. I don't think Pentax could have picked a better sensor to put in their FF - which is excellent news.

Yeah. He brings up all the key points. As I have said above, the AF on this camera is the most important feature. Sony's ability to use other brands of glass and still have fast accurate AF is going to give Canon, Nikon, & Ricoh problems. Canon's advantage over Sony was the lens line-up, and Sony just stole all of Canon's glass. Canon has to be scrambling right now.

I have the A7II and I really don't need 4K or 42MP, so I don't have any reason to upgrade. I would rather buy the new 85mm F/1.8 and see what happens with the Sony sensor. The 25mm, 35mm, 55mm, & 85mm pretty much complete my kit. Once I have those I see what bodies Sony is producing. I still expect to see an A9, but it looks like that will be a year away unless Sony has even more high end technology ready to implement.

[Clavius]

After Canon and Contax now an autofocus Nikon F to Sony E-mount adapter is coming up: New Nikon F to Sony E-mount electronic autofocus adapter coming soon! | sonyalpharumors

So yes the A7rII is expensive... But when switching systems to Sony you save bigtime on not having to get rid of your entire lens lineup and re-buying it again. Taking the cost and hassle away of switching systems is the way Sony is realling new users in.

A PK to Sony E-mount will be a bit more complicated due to the screwmount I think... But if it does appear, think of the impact!

[mecrox]

After Canon and Contax now an autofocus Nikon F to Sony E-mount adapter is coming up: New Nikon F to Sony E-mount electronic autofocus adapter coming soon! | sonyalpharumors

So yes the A7rII is expensive... But when switching systems to Sony you save bigtime on not having to get rid of your entire lens lineup and re-buying it again. Taking the cost and hassle away of switching systems is the way Sony is realling new users in.

A PK to Sony E-mount will be a bit more complicated due to the screwmount I think... But if it does appear, think of the impact!

Think of the impact on Sony if either Canon or Nikon decide to do their own version of a high-tech FF camera without a mirror, whether with a new mount or using their existing mounts. I doubt Sony are going to have the field to themselves forever, and many folks would probably prefer to return to their old fold than have to rely on cheap Chinese adapters for their photography. If either Canon or Nikon did this well, the impact on Sony might be fairly dramatic. Nikon, for example, already have a lot of the pieces of the puzzle from their work on the Nikon I series while Canon have their huge expertise in video cameras to feed in. In the longer term, it might be seen that Sony was the catalyst which forced Canon and Nikon to modernize rather than their supplanter. I'm sure there must be elements in Canonikon who are just as frustrated as many of their customers and who are ready to raise their swords and say "Death to the old crusties!"

[Winder]

Think of the impact on Sony if either Canon or Nikon decide to do their own version of a high-tech FF camera without a mirror, whether with a new mount or using their existing mounts. I doubt Sony are going to have the field to themselves forever, and many folks would probably prefer to return to their old fold than have to rely on cheap Chinese adapters for their photography. If either Canon or Nikon did this well, the impact on Sony might be fairly dramatic. Nikon, for example, already have a lot of the pieces of the puzzle from their work on the Nikon I series while Canon have their huge expertise in video cameras to feed in. In the longer term, it might be seen that Sony was the catalyst which forced Canon and Nikon to modernize rather than their supplanter. I'm sure there must be elements in Canonikon who are just as frustrated as many of their customers and who are ready to raise their swords and say "Death to the old crusties!"

Canon and Nikon both have issues right now with mirrorless. Canon wants to do everything in-house and they are trailing Sony in the technology needed to make a competitive mirrorless option. Canon is using 2 Digic 6 processors to do what Sony is doing with a single Bionz processor. Canon doesn't have the BSI or copper technology. The speed of the AF has a lot to do with processing power and how fast you can read information off of the sensor. Canon has fallen behind. Does Canon even have an R&D department anymore? They are like the Ricoh marketing department.

Not all lens adapters are cheap. You can drop $650 on a lens adapter with full electronic functionality. No different than a good teleconverter.

Nikon has been working on it and I think they have the same problems. They depend on 3rd party for just about everything and while Sony can build an integrated imaging pipeline in-house, Nikon is trying to piece together parts for different manufacturers.

[mecrox]

Canon and Nikon both have issues right now with mirrorless. Canon wants to do everything in-house and they are trailing Sony in the technology needed to make a competitive mirrorless option. Canon is using 2 Digic 6 processors to do what Sony is doing with a single Bionz processor. Canon doesn't have the BSI or copper technology. The speed of the AF has a lot to do with processing power and how fast you can read information off of the sensor. Canon has fallen behind. Does Canon even have an R&D department anymore? They are like the Ricoh marketing department.

Not all lens adapters are cheap. You can drop $650 on a lens adapter with full electronic functionality. No different than a good teleconverter.

Nikon has been working on it and I think they have the same problems. They depend on 3rd party for just about everything and while Sony can build an integrated imaging pipeline in-house, Nikon is trying to piece together parts for different manufacturers.

My own feeling is that alliances are the way forward as the big three manoeuvre around each other. Nikon, for example, could look outside the imaging biz for software and processor expertise (Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, etc). Nikon have a top-drawer branding to trade. The smaller outfits need to find a shelter in tie-ups with the bigger ones or they won't remain viable. Olympus has clearly already sussed that one. Fuji, Ricoh and co have it to look forward to. The software/processor challenge must be huge, and well beyond all save the largest companies, but it's the engine of these machines and their future, I guess. Nikon and Canon will change, though. They don't have a choice. Thus, more armchair strategy from the Summertown laundrette

[rawr]

Thus, more armchair strategy from the Summertown laundrette

You strategy discussion was persuasive. All that you missed from your crystal ball is China.

[mecrox]

You strategy discussion was persuasive. All that you missed from your crystal ball is China.

The washing machines were all made in China - that's enough China for today But, yes, that's a really big item.