It is relatively clear that Nikon decided to segment its marketing offering. These new cameras open a clear pathway to a new range of image quality but Nikon recognizes that the potential customers of the Nikon 1 will probably accept a slightly lower IQ compared to the SLR gear.

This is quite logical: They must avoid cannibalizing the SLR range by these new Nikon 1. Good move! Better than at some other camera manufacturers.For example, Sony takes the risk of seeing the NEX range consume a part of the market of SLR cameras (all the more because the Alpha cameras are now ready to fight at the entry-level of costs thanks to the technology of semi-transparent mirrors).

It has to go through a repai (replacement of the sensor of the anti-aliasing filter, apparently).

Pentax will do it for free.

• Pentax Imaging North America: Customer Service / Toll Free: (800) 877-0155
• Pentax Canada Repair Centres (Phone: (905)286-5585)
• Pentax After-Sales UK and Tel: 01782 753350
• Deutsch Pentax Reparaturservice
• Pentax Serwis (PL)
• Pentax Italia : Centro Assistenza
• Pentax SAV France (Tél : 0826 103 163 pour 0,15 €/min)
• Pentax Service Clientèle Belgique (Tél : 0826 103 163 pour 0,15 €/min)

Apparently, this comes from very little scratches on the surface of the sensor. Combined small size, immediate proximity with the sensor (the AA filter is stuck directly on the sensor) and the softening action of the filter explain the roundish stain appearance rather than a simpler rectilinear mark.

These marks are not present of the digital SLR from Sony or Nikon even though they use the same sensor. So, it is quite easy to sort out possible root causes:

• Some bad handling or minor errors in the Pentax manufacturing process.
• A defective anti-aliasing (AA) filter added by Pentax (Sony and Nikon do not use the same filter).
• At worst, a machine defect or a tool issue in the Pentax plant.

Visibly, Pentax quickly identified the actual cause and could correct it as quickly. This pushes me toward the internal Pentax issue hypothesis. I admit that from my own Quality Management background, I would really appreciate getting more precise information. It should be interesting to understand Pentax quality ability.

So, now the only thing left is to repair the Pentax K-5 involved in this.

It takes the second rank among the APS-C digital sensors for DSLR photo cameras. But its price is 300-400€ below a Pentax K-5. Nice price-performance ratio.

Just a reminder: Above 80, the DxOMark sensor rankings are normally attributed only to very high-end cameras most of them using a Full Frame sensor…

It was not even a full day after I indicated that the Sony Alpha 55 was at the top of the competition since it had the best sensor evaluation ranking among the APS-C camera sensors. Here comes a new update from DxO Labs and the DxOMark ranking is revolutionized.

Not only is the Pentax K5 is at the top, the Pentax K-5 has the best APS-C sensor according to DxOMark, but while the next ones are very similar one to the other (all have 73 points) the Pentax K-reaches the stratospheric score of no less than 82, which nearly puts it in a different category altogether (near the Nikon D3s that has a Full Frame sensor). Impressive! The Pentax K5 leaves the competition far behind in the dust of its lift off.

photo credit: Edur8

There is currently a Full Frame digital sensor being developed by Sony. Or more precisely, Sony currently works on a 24 mega-pixel technology in the Full Frame form factor (FX in the Nikon local language) and the two applications actually forecast are at Nikon for building the Nikon D800 and at Sony for the successor of the Alpha 850 and Alpha 900 (the name has certainly not been fixed right now). I’m told that there is also another brand talking to Sony right now about the opportunity to share this technology (another 24 MP in Full Frame clothes).

For the time being, it seems that (faithful to the Nikon tradition- the Sony digital sensor will be modified according to the needs of the yellow brand. It’s true that Nikon is never perfectly satisfied with what Sony offers in terms of sensors (but that the sensor core does not change, justifying completely the “same sensor as…” mention often repeated in the past around this issue) but that Nikon does not totally share the intensity of the Sony commitment for video in this part (the high-end) of the camera range.

Right now, Sony works to optimize the digital sensor sensitivity (given a Full Frame surface size, they try to bring the best image quality, the lowest digital noise and the highest ISO sensitivity). According to the data we got here, the cameras based upon this new digital sensor would be announced at the end of Summer 2011 with availability in the last quarter of 2011.

It is clear that Sony has impressed a number of the users with its Alpha 55 (A55-SLT). Despite the very legitimate concerns about the length of video sequences, the camera seems to be appreciated a lot by all the evaluators. The latest and possibly the most impressive (or the most telling) is the recent evaluation of sensor/image quality by DxO Labs in DxOMark.

Actually, the Sony Alpha 55 appears as the best APS-C from all the competition even with splendid cameras like Canon EOS 7D or Nikon D300s.

In a rather unusual move, Canon has announced a surprising sensor the developed: a 120 Mega-pixel APS-H sensor.

APS-H is the size of the photo sensors used in the EOS 1D series (clearly Pro cameras). And this big sensor has a huge amount of pixels (nearly 7.5 times larger than the company’s highest pixel count commercially available sensor), and is able to do HD video capture on 1/6th of its surface or 9.5 fps continuous shooting.

There is no immediate commercial application to expect from this technology demonstrator, but this is an impressive achievement.

Nota bene: The latest Canon demonstrator of this kind had 50 MP in 2007.

The news: OmniVision announced a 1/4″ digital photo sensor with 5 mega-pixel resolution. Its reason for fame: It will allow to shoot RAW files even in mobile phones. But, why, oh! why is it such a news?

The reality: No cheap photo camera, like found in the mobile phones, produces anything else than a JPEG file (no RAW).

As a matter of fact, we should notice something: This reality does not come from the limits of the sensor but from the explicit will of the camera manufacturer to integrate the direct production of a very usable file format for users who are not very well technologically endowed. So, one the one hand, marketing does not need RAW files, one the other hand the sensor providers must sell a full-fledged solution including a sensor and chips for automatic JPEG production. Some people, like DxO-Labs, well known for their image management software (clearly aiming at the high-end of photo imaging), are also (more discreet) suppliers of electronic solutions to produce easily JPEG pictures, well cleaned of their noise, a bit improved, and ready to use.

So, where does OmniVision stand? They do not have a full solution and they publish a press release that will turn their weakness of not having the right tools for their market into its exact opposite; But, for that, they had to ignore the reality that RAW is not needed in the mobile phone market. So, the Marketing Department of OmniVision managed a good PR communication: Have many people speak/write about their slightly limited product on “high-end” blogs and web sites, giving it a visibility which goes much farther than the intrinsic qualities of the product.

Kudos to OmniVision, but not to all those who wrote about it without questioning the PR first. They should have asked: “Why a 10-bit RAW in a 5 MP sensor?”

One of the most moderated articles: Photography Blog.

Even for a Full Frame sensor, this is a lot of pixels. But this is what can be obtained from using the newest photo sensor that Sony just revealed: 34.8 MP for the Super HAD CCD II.

Source: Photo-Rumors.