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09-19-2011, 05:48 PM   #1
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Sony's new 16.1 MP EXMOR sensor

I just received my Sony NEX 5N and it seems that Sony have improved the 16MP EXMOR sensor used in the K5. It's now 16.1MP rather than 16.2MP. I compared it to my outgoing NEX C3, which uses the older sensor and there is a difference. The following shot is a 100% crop of a vase & book. The top picture is from the NEX C3 and the bottom is from the NEX 5N both with the same Pentax FA77 lens at F8. Shutter speed was 1/25 s and ISO used was 3200. From my perspective, the new sensor is remarkable at ISO 3200 and still quite usable at ISO12800. The shots were in JPEG so there might be some impact from a new processor in the 5N as well. If the K5 replacement gets Sony's NEX 7 sensor, the KR replacement might get the 5N's.



The original files are at:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6153/6162613178_97ca81e3a0_o.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/6162071013_29200acbb6_o.jpg


Last edited by tsammyc; 09-19-2011 at 11:09 PM. Reason: The F-stop was F8, not F1.8
09-19-2011, 05:51 PM   #2
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Pretty huge difference - K5 Super would be great with that sensor...





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09-19-2011, 06:22 PM   #3
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Very impressive, but I'm also sure that the K-5 sensor as is can get 100% crop sharpness like the bottom result, especially with a lens like the 77 ltd.

I've got a number of very sharp full crops (without PP sharpening) on all my previous Pentax dSLRs that would outdo the results of that first image above.
09-19-2011, 06:29 PM   #4
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Wow. Like Ash, I too believe that the K-5 with it's sensor could get as good of sharpness as the bottom result. However, just imagine the new sensor in a K-5 super... 12800 ISO would be incredible!

09-19-2011, 06:42 PM   #5
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The images look very nice. However, I would think that you would need to compare Raw to Raw in order to be able to perform a sensor to sensor comparison. In that these are JPG, each camera's image processing chain would apply differing amounts of processing (sharpening, noise reduction, etc.), resulting in possibly these results.

09-19-2011, 06:45 PM   #6
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Even still, #1 is considerably soft for a 77 ltd + 'K-5 sensor'.
I'd wager focusing was off in #1.
09-19-2011, 07:03 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ash Quote
Even still, #1 is considerably soft for a 77 ltd + 'K-5 sensor'.
I'd wager focusing was off in #1.

I was just gonna say - I really think the focus was off on that first shot, it doesn't look like NR softness/plasticity or noise blur, it looks like slightly missed focus (to me.)

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09-19-2011, 08:00 PM   #8
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Hmmmmm

QuoteOriginally posted by tsammyc Quote
I just received my Sony NEX 5N and it seems that Sony have improved the 16MP EXMOR sensor used in the K5. It's now 16.1MP rather than 16.2MP. I compared it to my outgoing NEX C3, which uses the older sensor and there is a difference. The following shot is a 100% crop of a vase & book. The top picture is from the NEX C3 and the bottom is from the NEX 5N both with the same Pentax FA77 lens at F1.8. Shutter speed was 1/25 s and ISO used was 3200. From my perspective, the new sensor is remarkable at ISO 3200 and still quite usable at ISO12800. The shots were in JPEG so there might be some impact from a new processor in the 5N as well. If the K5 replacement gets Sony's NEX 7 sensor, the KR replacement might get the 5N's.
]
The first shot looks to me to be under-exposed compared to the second based upon the white portion of the shot. The exposure was the same, so this seems odd.

The second shot also looks over-sharpened to me and also seems to have had some serious NR applied in the processing (in-camera, apparently) as the artifacts in the smooth areas are quite noticeable.

It would be interesting to see a shot with more fine detail to compare.

I have a P&S with an Exmoor sensor, and I must say that the IQ impressed me enough to buy the first P&S I have even considered in years, so the technology has promise.

Ray
09-19-2011, 11:17 PM   #9
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I focussed pretty carefully using Sony's focus assist, which involves magnifying the area. Also, the FA77 was set to F8 (I corrected the original post) so thin DOF should not be an issue. The camera was on a large heavy tripod and I used the self timer. You can look through the EXIFs on the link to see if you can spot anything. I didn't change any of the default JPEG settings.

I'd also point out that Imaging Resource got a similar result (http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/NEX5N/NEX5NA.HTM) again off JPEGs as the Adobe RAW converter for the 5N isn't out yet. Just for fun, I inserted imaging resource's K5 result in between the NEX5N (left) and NEXC3 (right). The K5 does seem to outperform the C3, but the white on the 5N does seem more shiny:


Last edited by tsammyc; 09-19-2011 at 11:34 PM.
09-20-2011, 12:13 AM   #10
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All good, tsammyc.
But I can get *much* better results with my K-5 + 77 ltd. And even wide open.
There are a number of good examples of how sharp and contrasty images come out from just about any camera at 100% crops using the 77 ltd - check out the FA limited club for example.

An example with the less refined K20D sensor at 100%:

no sharpening, no manipulations other than a default contrast and brightness adjustment...
09-20-2011, 12:40 AM   #11
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That was a very clear shot especially from how far away you were (can see you in the reflection in the iris). Was that at ISO 3200? Do you have some 100% crop K5 examples at ISO 3200 and above?
09-20-2011, 12:41 AM   #12
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The trick here is maybe not the sensor, but the new jpg engine used by Sony.
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