What you see here on top is the first ever published image taken with the new Sony curved sensor! I know you really cannot learn anything from it but it’s a “Historical shot” anyway 🙂
Nikkei posted some more info about the new Sony curved sensor and there are a couple of interesting points:
– “The first idea was to mimic the eyes of the organism” said Yarn Soichiro (Sony Device Manager).
– There is no vignetting and no aberration in corners.
– Sony said the Full Frame curved sensor prototype has not the resolution of current FF Sony sensors.
– Sony confirmed the mass production process is ready.
– As a positive “side effect” of the curved silicon is that also the electrical properties changed allowing less noise!
– A yet untold problem with curved sensors is the following: it’s extremely difficult to design zoom lenses for it!
Like I told you before there is a great chance to see a new RX FF camera using that lens in combination with a Zeiss 35mm f/1.8 lens. Sony patented that kind of design months ago! It’s going to be a hot summer with hot rumors here on SAR. be sure to not miss any of our rumors by subscribing our newsfeeds:
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0 Responses
this is the future
I agree. Curved, multi-layer sensors. Unfortunately it renders older lenses useless. But I’m sure that’s seen as a positive thing for Sony.
why useless? metabones and K will make adaptors xD
Game over for Nikon and Canon. Good job Sony!
Yeah I am sure that CaNikon with huge dSLR sales are quaking in their boots…
Game over how? Sony already have better sensor technology than Canon, but that hasn’t helped them gaining any substantial market share.
Why would this curved sensor technology make people abandon their Canon/Nikon systems? Does it solve some user problem that is constantly plaguing Canon/Nikon shooters? Will it produce images that is visibly superior in every respect at normal print or display sizes? If so, will it be to such an extent that clients would prefer hiring photographers shooting with curved sensor cameras?
If the answer to these questions is no, then I don’t see why it would be game over for the two market leaders.
Maybe it’s just me, but the curved sensor has made that vibrant scene look like a model replica. Who is going to want that effect from their sensor?
Seriously?
Sigh
😉
lol, this is wonderful!
Didn’t you know? Curved sensors are the next step in tilt-shift photography. Everything looks miniature without the need for out of focus trickery! It’s great!
This IS a miniature. .its a model railroad.
*woosh*
In case you dont realize it..this is a desktop photo of a model railroad..this is not a real town.
Barry, do you have even the tiniest sense of humour?
LOL
Barry… It’s called fuc@#ng sarcasm… BAZINGA! (if you’re familiar with “the big bang theory” tv series).
LOL
Great. Pointing that 3 hrs after Graeme B has already pointed the same thing. You are acutely aware of your surroundings
Great that there are people like you thinking that everybody lives in the same time zone and have the chance to be on this forum 24/7… BAZINGA!
Ever wondered that some of us might be busy at work?
Ever wondered that this is called “joking around”?
But thanks to point that out to all of us!
Why repeat what another poster has said in a more intense wording? BAZINGA! i said that just to please you. You seem to like that word.
Why do you have to grab others’ balls and squeeze them like they were oranges?
Or should I just repent for my biblical mistake by putting my balls on an anvil and hit them with an hammer?
Can’t you just “live and let live”?
Who’re you, Barry’s lawyer?
Just get a life or a couple of pounds extra of… what is called again?… Oh yeah: humor!
The second line will do.:) Have you previously suggested you might be busy at work? Just wondering? Truce now, anyway
Might be busy while others are posting. Actually I just got home one hour ago.
Truce?
You started.
Anyway: have a good one.
Cool. That Barry’s lawyer was funny. Have a good one too.:)
Next step : lenses that will on purpose mimic vignetting and aberration in corners….
Great post, Admin! 🙂
I do not see the difficulty with the zooms as a problem but a blessing! Sony can’t churn out run of the mill P&S cams but have to make primes. Great!
I also notice that the lens they have used is quite wide and sharp corner to corner! Awesome! 🙂
This is likely targeted for a fixed prime camera like the RX1 successor(s) and zooms don’t matter in that case. The concern is, “Sony said the Full Frame curved sensor prototype has not the resolution of current FF Sony sensors.”
I am not very sure about that. Something could have been lost in translation. If the RX2 comes with this and the rumored 35/1.8, it will be almost as compact as a Contax T. I don’t need 24MP from such a camera. 16MP will do it for me.
Depends which sensor they’re comparing it to – remember the a7s is full frame…
The A7S is just 16 MP and that is a current FF Sony sensor, which the statement says that Sony cannot achieve. But yes, there could be a problem in the translation.
A7S is 12 MP you mean. Maybe the prototype has not had the res of the current RX FF sensor – 24 MP. An RX2 35mm f/1.8 and more compact then the RX1 would be amazing and seems to be realistically announced at Photokina.
I thought it was 12mp……
the rumored 35/1.8 is quite small, but unless they make it collapsible there will be very minor space savings.
The resolution and zoom comments are interesting. It would be perfect for smartphones, given that resolution is largely irrelevant (given that you’re hardly hanging the results in a gallery) and prople don’t expect opticsl zoom. Any idea which full frame sensor they’re computing it too? If it’s lower res than the a7r, fair enough. Lower res than the a7s and we could have a bit if a problem…
The future belongs to the company that takes the customer’s needs seriously. More good & middle priced lenses, good flash support, good customer service etc. … not a curved sensor. The Sony portfolio is not well balanced.
+++++
lenses will be cheaper with a curved sensor
but you need new lenses …again… 🙁 … consistency for photographers is the goal.
If the new lenses are cheap and better performing, I’ll jump ship. That said, Sony is a mess, and it’s a mistake to jump on any of their ILCs. Look at the value of an A7R! BH will give me 850 for a like new one to trade in for the A7s. Insane.
So Sony should just tell the sensor-designers stop innovating, because new and radically better sensors would force some people to buy more stuff? Yeah…
Not necessarily… There are material savings (as the design should be less complicated) but my understanding is that they need to be designed to focus on an arc, take than a plane. They would also need to align precisely…
Simpler designs and less material. Should be cheaper–they’ll only be more expensive because Sony decides to charge a premium for new tech. They’ll be easier to design, but I question how an ILC might work with multiple focal lengths (ideally we’d get multiple fixed lens cameras).
I might prefer the Ricoh GXR approach.
Don’t worry, the price of the curved sensor will cover for any savings in the lens tech.
If the future is not about progress so shoot a film camera. Cheap fantastic lenses, depending of model good flash support and not stinky customer service needed because you can buy another body with the price of a song.
I want a curved sensor.
looking forward to see full-size images from curved sensor right from open F1.8 aperture
Hopefully we will see an RX2 with the size of the RX100, soon !
Echoing a few other comments, while Sony sensor innovation is pretty amazing and exciting, what they really need now is consistency. Their FF E system is just getting off the ground and Sony needs more lenses to turn this into a good system. And we don’t want the feeling that Sony is going to drop this system in the next year in favor of a new curved sensor system.
The curved sensor will break their consistency once again, if they ever want to make interchangeable lens cameras with it. 😉
My understanding is they can’t make an ILC with a curved sensor unless they go for a major mount and lens design change…
I think the latter is the main concern that most of us here have.
Being realistic, I don’t see it happening as an ILC – you’d be tied to whatever lenses Sony released, with no prospect if adapting lenses. At least FE is adaptable…
I had thought one of the maln advantaces to this sensor would be high resolution since it is BSI.
The factthat it is low reslution….if true….is a huge limitation.
If this will only be a low res camera thats a major game changer..I hope that will not be the case when they go into production
it’ll catch up. it’s new tech.
“Sony said the Full Frame curved sensor prototype has not the resolution of current FF Sony sensors”
Where did you read that it is LESS resolution? From the Quote above it could be MORE 🙂
I’m not an optical engeneer, but the problem with zoom lenses was the first I thought of, when reading for the first time about this rumor. I imagine it’s hard to “match” the curve while the lenses are moving inside the barrel.. Anyway, I’m not a zoom-lover therefore I hope to see this tech evolving soon. (Ready for Photokina?)
Historic photo that could make people hysteric.
Good stuff. Let’s see other specs besides the fact that its curved.
But, as it sounds, even if the new RX2 35mm 1.8 with the curved sensor comes out of the market…the resolution would be less than the current RX1 then?
Great for first gen imagery if the ISO is better and the image, technically, is perfect.
The first image taken with the curved sensor is probably badly-framed part ceiling, part engineer’s head, and part lab equipement.
Exactly what I thought! lol, looks like you have also worked in R&D
If it is interchangeable FF with excellent IQ corner to corner, I might sell everything (A&E Mounts) and invest in this system, I’m happy to live with Primes alone and do not require the Zooms.
Maybe they put it into the A99II? Would be awesome.
I own all A-mount Zeiss and G (except the 35/1.4), so I am already geared up for a photographic battle. 🙂
Unlikely as you need new set of lenses to match the curved sensor. Most likely it will come in fixed lens compact and if the IQ surpasses Otus & Leica lenses, then we may see a complete series of compact cameras: 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm & etc.
Haven’t read about curved sensor due to lack of time.
So, conventional lens design does not work on this sensor at all? That would almost be a no go for me unfortunately.
Could you please explain in some words?
Here: http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/devices/sony-creates-curved-cmos-sensors-that-mimic-the-eye
Thanks, understood.
I understand that the lens design will be less complicated then for plane sensors. but wouldn’t “conventional” lenses work with that sensor technique?
The projected images by the lenses must be curve in shape in order to match the curved sensor, but all the lenses now will only project planar images.
Great news, I didn’t expect them to have so much progress already. I personally am not worried about the zoom lenses issue since I hate zoom lenses anyway, but this might be a problem for pros I guess.
Well we can worry about that when pros start using Sony 😀
Sony, I habe an idea for you: Invent a new lens mount for the new curved sensor and developp a new lens line-up of primes.
Sounds Leica great idea. 😛
Don’t even whisper that Sony needs a new lens mount ! Sony already has A, E and EF lenses, and you want them to make a new line ? Sony couldn’t make a full line line-up of A-mount lenses, even after buying Minolta’s designs. They are struggling now to make an adequate lens line-up of EF lenses (yes it takes the same mount as the older E lenses).
Sony could pack the curved sensor with more photosites to take advantage of lower noise/ high ISO ability of the curved sensor and mitigate resolution losses compared to flat FF sensors But that doesn’t seem in the cards for the near-term. Sony seems obsessed lately with getting the best high ISO numbers of any camera manufacturer- witness the 12MP A7s.
For the RX-2 to be a home run, they need to have better resolution than the previous generation. That’s what the genera public has been conditioned to expect. Better noise, vignetting or corner aberration is not going to sell more FF cameras to a wider base. It means the RX-2 will be a novelty item for the well-healed photography aficionado. Lower noise levels will be great for the cellphone market, though.
“Sony already has A, E and EF lenses, and you want them to make a new line?”
Sony has four lines of lenses. Both E- and A-mount have lenses that cover the FF image circle, as well as lenses that cover the APS-C image circle.
yesterday I tried to find underwater housing for rx1r and only one existed on the internet for about 2500 dollars. ouch. this is not fun for me. sony must make next rx1 able to work underwater without housing.
I use dicapac underwater housings for my scuba dives. Up to 30 feet down.
Even a go pro isn’t designed to work underwater without a housing. Saltwater will ruin that great lens on the rx1.
> it’s extremely difficult to design zoom lenses for it!
That’s bulls%%t
Especially if you remember that many zoom lenses are designed as afocal variator + main lens.
Sony already published a zoom lens (RX100-like) patent for curved sensor.
one thing is a patent, and another is a developed functional design. And they’re the optical engineers, not you.
Who are the mysterious ‘They’?
50mm please….
40mm please 😉
43mm please!
55mm please!
Smart phone cameras….They will sell millions of these….literally.
Seems unlikely – a flat component is best for phone makers continually striving for ultimate thinness of their device.
Look at Samsung S5 and Note 3. The camera is sticking out of the back. Considering that a curved sensor requires a simpler lens assembly, the depth increase on a 1/2.3 sensor is minimal, if any. The performance gain will be a big deal though.
What people are looking for is better quality images on their phones. Considering that Sony is that largest supplier of camera sensors in the smart phone market. It is not a leap in logic to see how well this product will do.
I disagree. Phone photo quality is generally an afterthought for those in the market for a smart phone. The design, the coolness factor, thinness, screen density/size, battery life, the OS – come before the camera quality for the majority of consumers. They reached a point where they are good enough and many take the quality for granted.
In the continued push in Smart phone technology it is a no brainer to have better sensor tech. If Sony offers it. Smart phone manufacturers will by it.
Curved rail tracks are not sharp?!? Will it be even worse on straight tracks?!? This thingy needs more work I say!
like the pic.
don’t like the wait.
might not like the price 😉
The RX2 better have a serious bling factor- all metal. I even want the Sony logo in the front to be solid brass. Give me a .95 Zeiss Nocitilux in a small package. Since it’s curved I expect it to be smaller than the previous 35mm. It also has to beat the A7S for noise and have faster auto focusing speed than the A600. I think that about does it. Oh, and 4k with internal recorder- and discount it day one.
A600, when does that comes to the market?
So funny, the first impression one gets is that the curved sensor makes straight lines show up as, well…, CURVED!
The question is whether the rail tracks, steps and fence were actually curved in real life.
I think the train track is actually curved but if you look at the steps, there is distortion too. Remember the RX1 and RX1R also have very heavy distortion and rely on software correction.
yes-clear fixed 4k the lense all in a small 399$ house and i will not by
any camera the next 20 years- dont care about logo- no littele by from
asia-no-own-ego so do it..go on
I can imagine how the prototype looks like… a circuit board with a lens assembly on top of a sensor.
Don’t worry, this is just a prototype. The DSLR was dumb in the 1980s, 100×100 res…