16-50mm has 72mm filter size (and an explanation why sometimes rumored specs do change).
We just got a confirmation that the 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM lens has 72mm filter size. But this post is more about an explanation I have to give you. Some of my trusted sources gave me slightly different specs (for example different filer size or SAM /SSM characteristics of the lens). The thing I may had to tell you more clearly is that usually Sony (like other companies) does develop a couple of slightly different prototypes. I know for example for SURE that there wee A77 camera with CF slot, A77 cameras with fixed LCD, and so on, but as you know the final A77 will have a tilting LCD and most likely no CF slot. What matters is that most of the core features are correct. I knew since almost nine months the A77 would have a 24 Megapixel sensor (and I have been the first to tell you that), since months I knew there is a 16-50mm kit lens, and so on. What changed in the meanwhile are the “minor” features (which are of course also very important).
I ask you to keep in mind that we are dealing with rumors here and not with official news. It’s not an easy job believe me, and I am learning more every day!
Marcohard
2 years ago |Thank you for your updates
Don'z
2 years ago |appreciate admin great job here. i visit this site everyday just to check on some great rumors. life won’t be so exciting without SAR site. well done admin
Sky_walker
2 years ago |thanks for the news
It’s still smaller than Canikon counterparts, so that’s good.
Edgars
2 years ago |I think it not necessary to justify yourself, because most of readers appreciate your work. There is just some kids which read this as news, not rumor site.
I remember you “claimed” there will be NEX4, while Japanese companies never put 4 in their models. Now it’s NEX-C3 and nobody cares, because pictures take with camera, not name of it.
Some negativism in comments is manly because of disappointing specs and there is hope that Sony management reads peoples claims e.g. to include CF in final A77.
Carl
2 years ago |I fear the boat has already left the harbour as far as CF is concerned. It’s just too close to release now.
FK
2 years ago |That’s one of my biggest concerns, too.
For the rest the A77 Features sound very promising but a lack of CF would be somehow disappointing, not that MS or SD woulden’t be Ok but i personally prefer CF because they are more handy, tougher, you can label them with label printers and they are fast.
When it comes to what is written on top I don’t see a need for an apology, rumors are rumors so we cloud even expect the kit lens to have far more significant changes in my eyes. (I was also somehow irritated by the discussion about who would produce this lens, I think that people have to realize that not even companies like leica did manufacture each lens themselves, and that if Sony would let someone else manufacture this lens that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.)
Q
2 years ago |Fuck photonut and his bullshit trolling, ignore him and he will go away.
Keep up the work Andreas
john
2 years ago |The trouble is when these cameras are released there will be hundreds like Nut to replace him.
:-/
PhotoNut
2 years ago |Clearly the admin is not following your advice and I do commend him for trying to make his site better and for responding calmly and courteously to critics.
Overall, I hope that the A77 delivers the kind of bang-for-the-buck that the rumors so far have suggested.
My only fears are that the entrenched Sony management, which is used to high premiums,margins and proprietary lockins in the past on what are now commodity electronics, will screw things up. I cross my fingers and hope not.
My December
2 years ago |Yes! 72mm filter. I just love large front element
lhkjacky
2 years ago |So you will be more happy to have Sigma’s.
It got 77mm filter.
My December
2 years ago |Its funny you say that, because the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 OS HSM is really on top of my list before this. The OS is really good for videos. With new rumors of the Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 SSM, I might just stick to original brand (Sony) lens.
lhkjacky
2 years ago |I agree with you.
Sometimes, in lens OS is better than in camera SSS.
But Tamron’s IQ is better than Sigma’s.
PhotoNut
2 years ago |Two big advantages of buying Sony brand lenses are that it will always work on new camera bodies and that the lenses will be correctly identified in post-processing software.
The latter is a big deal for me as I always want to be able to go back to shots taken in the past to see what lens was used. It also makes the built-in lens corrections features of PP software work right.
HB
2 years ago |Andrea,
I think you don’t have to justify some small changes. It’s a rummours site.
As I said before, You are doing a realy great job. Many of us would already left Sony if SAR doesn’t exist.
I’m waiting for the A700 replacement for too long.
Thanks!! And keep the good work!!!
JOSÉ MARIA
2 years ago |+1. Sony is the one to be criticized because it does not a good job of attracting consumers. I also hope to replace my A700, and if not for the SAR, it would have changed. There is no other source of information about the life of the Sony a-mount, only the SAR. Congratulations on your work and I keep watching for new information every day.
Amer
2 years ago |I’m a completely new photographer and I’ve been reading the reviews you’re posting to learn. Everything you’re doing is wonderful to somebody like me who is discovering a new love in life.
admin
2 years ago |Thanks HB!
Matt
2 years ago |And you avoid the stigma of sigma.
Pacman
2 years ago |You don’t have to worry about it Andrea. We understand that, there are a bunch of silly people over here, which I think they are also interest in.
Don’t worry I’ll be the one to depend you, If someone wants an uppercut or left hook, just call me! LOL. {no I’m just kidding.}
Overall you did a great job! You should be paid you did for Sony in that sense, honestly.
Shevko
2 years ago |Great job Andrea. Support you as always.
brahimcha
2 years ago |I am wondering where are the E-mount lens ?
The Nex-5 has been out for two years now.The C3 is out and still nothing. They are working on A-mount lens knowing that there are many A-mount lens available, it’s kind of discouraging…
Me
2 years ago |The Nex 5 was released a year ago, not two years ago. I know, because I pre-ordered one and it was dispatched on July 1st.
JS
2 years ago |Many thanks for the clarification and the updates. This site has gone from something I would visit infrequently to one that I bookmarked and view several times a day. I think some people just come to talk shit without offering anything of value beyond complaints and they seem to forget that you’re providing this info for free. If someone doesn’t trust your ‘trusted sources’ then maybe they can start their own site and develop their own sources.
Many thanks and keep up the good work.
c preece
2 years ago |+1
sonyboy68
2 years ago |Good job, however some informations are wrong. Passion for Sony is here !!
mike_2008
2 years ago |Don’t stress it Andrea. It says clearly ‘RUMOURS’ on the site and even SR5 are labelled ‘almost certainly correct’.
Don’t let the whingers get you down in other words, and keep the info flowing; slightly flawed info is better than no info.
mike_2008
2 years ago |BTW this 16-50 is sounding more tamron like every day. Now it’s 72mm filter just like the tamron. I’m sure it’s tweaked a bit, but it’s not going to be a a different planet, apart from the price tag and ssm. Tamron need to have more ssm equivalent lenses, that would stop the price gouging.
Sky_walker
2 years ago |Last time I checked Tamron had 67mm filters. Sony is nothing alike Tamron besides long end focal lengh and brightness.
Zstan
2 years ago |There are no correct or wrong information here. Only accurate and inaccurate RUMOURS for goodness sake. some people have clearly took this too seriously.
And the tamron is 67mm for the non VC version. Why would they rebadge the VC version. Unless it has more space to fit the SSM engine.
Pacman
2 years ago |E-X-A-C-T-L-Y Zstan! Read between the lines!
PhotoNut
2 years ago |Well it may be the 72mm version because it has Optical stabilization which goes along with the original rumor claim that it was designed for video where OSS is important to avoid SSS sensor heating issues and also to stabilize the viewfinder.
Spoon
2 years ago |Another hilarious theory. The chances of Sony releasing a stabilized native a-mount lens are zero. It would only lead to confused cutomers (thinking it’s Sony’s way of saying lens OS is better and/or that they might abandon IBIS. A waste of money for Sony. They’ll let Sigma serve that niche. Just admit your Tamron claim was false. We might believe you next time.
john
2 years ago |Anyone who is serious about video and stabilization should consider a Merlin or $200 knockoff.
Better than SSS or OS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqJZ4M6huC0
cas
2 years ago |72mmm is a very good idea !
We do not need too many different filter size.
55mm and 72mm as standard size is enough !
pancanikonpus
2 years ago |Permanent ban those idiots IP from this site. Peace!
your sincerely,
Peacemaker
lol……
admin
2 years ago |I really do hope to not have to do that. Don’t like bans!
Toronto
2 years ago |You are doing great job and don’t worry about what others say.
By the way, I saw Vistek Canada has A35K in stock and ships next day:
http://www.vistek.ca/store/DigitalSLRs/257471/sony-a35k-sal1855-lens.aspx
admin
2 years ago |Thanks…Toronto! lol
Walt
2 years ago |I may not necessarily like the information, but you are the one to go to for the leading edge on information on where Sony might be going. Even if that has to be rumors due to Sony’s lack of timely information for those of us who plan for the future.
Thanks, much, for your site and efforts.
admin
2 years ago |Thank you Walt!
Dulaney Ward
2 years ago |Btw, Andrea, I believe that this is the only site on which I see Walt any longer. That speaks volumes about your value to the community. Thank you for your good work, and thanks to Walt for his comment.
Maveric19
2 years ago |Don’t worry about the individuals who don’t bring any rumors but always complain about what is posted.
Maveric19
2 years ago |Something positive from you is always appreciated.
MIchael
2 years ago |For a ‘pro’ level camera, why on earth is sony not using the CF cards?
This is SO STUPID.
I dont care for their own cards since I’ve got, like most pros out there, tons and tons of CF cards that are really fast, AND a CF CARD READER to transfer all these things…..
CF Cards are reliable and have been proven to work! Why mess with that? I’m disappointed in this news since everyone still uses CF cards and most people dont rely as much on SD cards. I might just buy a 1D mk4 next and move away from my 900 and 850 just so I can use 2 cf cards at the same time. Lame Sony Lame.
Almond
2 years ago |The A77 is not a ‘pro’ camera.
Terryfried
2 years ago |Its you who is Lame. The obsesion some have with CF is ridiculus. not only is there no point as just as many have SD cards in there colection to use but nether Nikon or Canon have relesed a SLR in the last 18 months with CF.
Cannon 60D/600D/1100D Nikon D7000/D5100/D3100 ALL USE SD. So far more people have SD cards and curent and near futur SD is better than CF which has toped out.
but I would like to see A77 suport SDXC UHS-II.
sonyboy68
2 years ago |+1
PhotoNut
2 years ago |CF *is* better. The only benefit of SD is that all laptops have SD card readers built in but none have CF card readers anymore.
Spoon
2 years ago |Last time I checkef the connectors were much easier damaged and the cards much larger, putting constraints on camera designs. Besides the lack of wide support as mentioned.
Sky_walker
2 years ago |Bigger size of CF is actually an advantage. Especially in Winter.
Froo
2 years ago |You are sadly mistaken. The CF connectors are specified for way more insertion/removal cycles than SD. For those inserting with the short side first and damaging their cameras, well, that’s the stupidity tax.
Esa Tuunanen
2 years ago |Trying to prove shortness of average consumer’s memory?
Funny thing how decade ago Canon fitted CF slot just fine into their tiny Ixus compacts. And that without any kind compromising of features compared to competition.
If anything you should complain about current trend of oversized LCDs which compromise ergonomy and controls very heavily.
Esa Tuunanen
2 years ago |It’s you marketroid believers who are lame.
History of MMC/SD has seen way too many backwards incompatible new versions because designers of that proprietary bus failing to include necessary flexibility into it withotu long practising.
In comparison CF is built on top of flexible computer originating IDE/Parallel-ATA bus whose faster signaling updates are backwards compatible with older host devices. And unlike in PCs where cable length started to mess with parallel signaling max speed of newest CF version is up to 167MB/s from 133MB/s of PC side.
Recently introduced Serial-ATA based CFast (cards are available and not vaporware) is first backwards compatibility breaking change since introduction of CF in 1994 and currently rated for 300MB/s of SATA 2 but 600MB/s of SATA 3 is surely coming.
For capacity limits of CF/CFast you just have to look has there been any limits for growth of computer HDD capacities.
Besides stronger casing bigger physical size also allows putting multiple memory chips in parallel increasing both capacity and speed possible with same memory chip tech and that’s something what paper specifying can’t change.
As example Kingston and Sandisk are among biggest memory card brands and Kingston advertises lowly 35MB/s as write speed for their fastest SD card while for CF that’s 90MB/s. Sandisk again hypes 45MB/s SD card while for CF fastest speed is 100MB/s and 60MB/s cards are easy to find.
And cameras you listed are lowest end/consumer models and consumers behave like dung flies so it’s no wonder those use lower performance card standard. For serious products like next 5D version I would expect them to start using CFast.
CF cards simply haven’t gone forward in capacity because for still images capacities have been already at good level and embedded computer systems have probably moved to using SSDs instead of CF cards.
Again loud hyping of SDs as so good for HD video is plain BS because compared to RAW shooting video is very low bandwidth stuff in consumer products, making for example Canon 7D’s buffer full RAW rate’s ten times as high write speed requirement look insane in comparison when video bitrate is already higher than in consumer models.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/page13.asp
DigiFilm
2 years ago |Yep, me too. I’m going to go plunk down an extra $2500 so that I can continue to use CF cards and start collecting another camera system. Yep, that makes so much sense.
kalpurush :)
2 years ago |@ Michael
You are changing brand just to use your CF card?!!!
Ha! Ha!! Ha!!! Thanks for the lough
michaelwhyte
2 years ago |I just wanted to add to some of the comments above in support of your hard work and excellent “rumors” that you publish. I, like several other readers go to this site almost daily…To me you are doing a fantastic job…
startowa13
2 years ago |Andrea, you doing excellent job. Most of the other sites when it comes to news mention they got it from here. So, be very proud because we are very happy with what you are doing. Keep it up, and like somebody mentioned there is no need to apologize for anything… it’s a rumor site and every bit of information is just a rumor until we all see the actual camera, lens, etc.
reinz
2 years ago |admin, are this lens for DT or Full frame? thx
David
2 years ago |C’mon man… obviously it’s for small sensor cameras. The Sony 16-35 2.8 is £1300. Really think there is a 16-50 2.8 for full frame for £700? I’m not sure 16-50 2.8 full frame is even possible!
PhotoNut
2 years ago |16-50mm f/2.8 FF lens is theoretically possible but in practice the performance would be awful.
admin
2 years ago |DT of course!
PhotoNut
2 years ago |SAR is probably responsible for a lot of A-mount users staying with Sony and for increased interest in the A-mount future for Sony.
This shows that more information and communication is good for sales for Sony and its digital imaging division and I hope they learn something from it.
Brands have to be nurtured and having a long distance, one-way channel between Sony Digital Imaging and its customers is a bad thing.
admin
2 years ago |PhotoNut, I don’t think I am responsible for Sony useres to stay with Sony. I am only playing a very little role here. And I don’t even think Sony lieks what I am doing!
Bye!
LifeStoryImages
2 years ago |Andrea, when I was getting very frustrated at the lack of new cameras and eyeing D3s, the community here at the least gave me hope that good things were coming – and this year and next we shall be rewarded for our patience. So, bottom line, it was my choice to stick it out (even though I sometimes pay some high-ISO noise price (like using 3-year old sensor technology of my A900 to photograph a dark wedding reception or the Space Shuttle landing in the dark)), but SONY should not only like you, they should thank you immeasurably (even if they won’t admit it.)
And don’t worry everyone, I’m *SURE* SONY will reward us with a second Memory Stick slot to make us forget there’s no CF — whew!
SRL
2 years ago |Is far as I’m concerned SAR is not responsible for keeping me on the A-mount, I am!
To be clear, every few years as its time for me to replace my cameras I make a decision to stay or to go to Canon or Nikon. And it always comes down to one thing; do I also, at the same time I’m purchasing the latest and hopefully the greatest professional camera can I also afford to spend six to eight thousand dollars USD for glass and flash and So far, my answer has been no I can’t afford it, and thankfully no I don’t need to, to be able to continue my photography.
SAR helps me know what happening and helps me plan how and when I spend my money.
SAR is not always correct in its rumors, but it does provide an insight to Sony’s direction and what’s going on in the world of the A-mount.
Thank you SAR!
kalpurush :)
2 years ago |Totally agee you mate. Also, Sony needs to improve it’s customer service policy and attitude to keep it’s loyal customers
jackau
2 years ago |hmmm good, i am pretty sure i will be getting this lens, but i guess this lens wont carry any G label. It is just a new mid price range high quality SSM lens, something much better than the 18-55, more like the old 16-105, it should be below the 16-80 ZA in colour…
camilo
2 years ago |yeah, you dont have to justify anything. people should understand that they are RUMORS not FACTS. I really enjoy reading sony rumors, they keep me interested while I wait for my nex c3!!
admin
2 years ago |Want to thank you all for your very kind messages. I really need some “hug” from time to time
frosti7
2 years ago |admin ur the best! (you and 43rumors admin, both doing great jobs and very dedicated, we call can feel it;)
Jim Baxter
2 years ago |Bummer, the latest A77 rumors are deal killers if they are in fact the final production.
i.e. 24 mp, who needs that much, give me 16 and a good sensor.
Dropping the CF card slot, I have several CF cards from my A700,A580.
Tilting LCD, I have yet to use it on the A580.
Video, I have a video camera.
Fix these items, drop the price by 2-300 US and call me when it’s ready.
SRL
2 years ago |The adage “if it too good to be true it probably is” is good to remember when hearing rumors.
I think the price is about right on the a77, but sorry to learn about the CF slot, although reading many of the posts here at SAR about fears that the camera would be too big!
Smaller memory slots are one way to keep it small.
I use the a850 and love its 24mp and find it often helpful
Terryfried
2 years ago |Stop winding people up and talking nonsense. You will have to look around old cameras for what you want. No one will make a new FF with the low spec you want and Canon and Nikon haven’t released new APS-C cameras using CF for the last 18 months.
Erational
2 years ago |Video is here to stay on every model, whether we think it’s value-added, or not. If one doesn’t like Video on their camera in the future, their choice will narrow to Leica or Medium Format for a stricly still-image camera.
redfern
2 years ago |I can’t tell you how jealous some of my Canon friends are. Have you seen the Canon Rumors site? When things get posted — rarely — they are almost always CR1 or just something that everyone already knows. Their forums have to make up stuff to talk about.
But here there is always something going on, and I check the site several times a day to see what updates have been made. No, it’s not always SR5, but these are all rumors anyway, and they get people talking and interested in the A and E mounts again even when it feels like Sony is dragging their feet.
I think it’s true that we owe a lot of the interest people have in the Sony line to you, Andrea. Thank you for all your efforts!
Zstan
2 years ago |ok off topic a bit, any leaks about the a65?
admin
2 years ago |Not yet…but this could change at any time!
Carl
2 years ago |Mate, stop with this inferiority complex. It’s amazing how many comments are posted saying “canikon killer” or better than “Canikon”.
It’s so childish to keep this brand loyalty. Try to appreciate the cameras for what they can do and not because of some brand!
Btw Andrea, great job! I am always checking SAR!!!
Erational
2 years ago |Andrea: is there any more news about the A-mount mirrorless cam?
admin
2 years ago |No. But I should get 100% reliable info soon.
Rurik
2 years ago |Hi Andrea.
I’ve just been in a Sony shop and had an interesting talk.
I mentioned that Sony got a strategy to make EVF cameras only from now on. Shop assistant looked very “surprised” and said about FF camera/cameras that should be announced in September and should have OVF.
Can you ask your sources to comment/confirm it?
Yes, and than you for your work
kalpurush :)
2 years ago |Andrea, you are doing a great job and hope it will continue as well.
I have a limited budget for my photography hobby, thus, has to sell my a300 to make up a fund for the upcoming a77. Currently I do not have any dSLR other than a P & S camera! And, you keep me on track by feeding info day in day out for the last few months, otherwise I would have buy the a55 which I didn’t want to buy in any means (due to color fringing and limited battery life etc).
I thank you for all your hard work and wish you all the best
Mikey
2 years ago |One more +1 for SAR from me. Thanks for passing all this stuff along – you have some great contacts, Andrea.
b shaw
2 years ago |@Admin / Andrea
There are many reasons why you do not need to apologize; here a just a few:
1) You do a great job of reporting rumors quickly and accurately as you learn of them.
2) You get confirmation when you can and report changes to the rumors.
3) You are careful to rank your rumors.
4) These are only rumors, yet you are careful.
5) Although SAR costs you a bit, you don’t charge us.
6) You are transparent in your discussions with us – that is, you don’t present a false face.
7) You choose to write in a second language v. your first language. You are very gracious to do that.
8 ) You do this in your limited free time, yet you put much effort into this.
…
- – - – -
In regard to those few adolescents who have negative comments of you or of this site, their own comments reveal their own immaturity, their own naiveté, and their own insecurity.
Walt
2 years ago |On the business of CF cards I have 8 16gig or bigger CF cards for use with my a700s. All are top brand and for the most part one step down from the bleeding edge in CF speed. There’s a lot of money tied up in those cards, and on longer forays I’d not want to be carrying even one less card or any slower. All my a700s also have 8 gig memory sticks in them, emergency use cards that I’ve never needed. Way poor performance compared to CF.
Even if the SD cards were appropriate and could match the performance of what I use, that’s a big chunk of change to buy that much capacity in the very fastest SD cards. To say nothing of finding Firewire 800 readers for them. (BTW, neither my Macbook pro or my Mac pro have built in SD card readers.) That adds directly to the actual true price of the a77 for any a700 owner. So much for the a77 being the replacement for the a700, one more way it fails at that if it cannot use CF.
I’ve never broke a pin in a CF socket or damaged them in any way. Never had a failure of a CF. I have had a number of failures of SD with it’s exposed contacts. And due to their tiny size I’ve flat out lost a few SD. Never lost a CF and their size is plenty small enough. SD are fine for P&S or Consumer cams where most only use one card, but really a poor choice to be forced into in a supposedly advanced camera.
JS
2 years ago |Yeah, I’m still not sure if SD slots and no CF is a dealbreaker, but it’s weighing heavily on my choice between this and an a900 (just can’t wait until the next sony ff comes out in 1.5-2 years).
While it is a pain to have to get out my USB card reader, I still like the speed of the CF and unless you’re a total dunce, the card won’t even get to the pins if you insert it the wrong way.
Sure, I do have some SD cards for other P&S cameras but most of those are 4-8GB and for a camera that boasts 24MP, I’m guessing the RAW files alone will be 25+MB….so yes, buying several SD cards to compensate brings the price up considerably and may not be worth it for me.
terryfried
2 years ago |I wish people would get it through there heads. As I have said before this is not a Sony thing. Canon and Nikon have not released a camera in last 18 months with CF. so backward compatibility with old CF requires OLD camera design. next gen CF wount be available for a while and as size is increasing (SDXC theoretical limit 2TB)and price decreasing it will soon be posible to repace all your old cards with 1 or 2 new ones afordably.
My big hope is that UHS-II will be suported. but as this is new it wont be a deal breaker but could definatley be a deal Maker.
Froo
2 years ago |Nothing old about CF. Much faster, and the larger form factor way more future-proof as you can do internal RAID to several chips etc.
terryfried
2 years ago |they are not much faster. they are optimised for write Sd for read but SD UHS-II at 350MB/s is over 3 times the theoretical speed limit of CF. for transfar of large files read is more important and where write is usfull camara buffer is more important.
Froo
2 years ago |CF optimized for write and SD for read? LOL! You made that up. It’s not true.
The “theoretical speed limit for CF” is only ´limited to the speed of a parallel bus, but the latest CF standard is 167MB/sec. UHS-II cards can’t be bought and requires new cameras/readers for speed, so it’s a little unclear what you’re after.
That the buffer should be more important than card speed is bizarre. The buffers mere existence is because of slow main storage. With fast enough cards, there would be no buffer.
JS
2 years ago |Well the CF card or lack therof isn’t a matter of holding on to old technology, per se, but for some of us this is a matter of price considerations and whether or not we have to add another $50-100 to buy SD cards to replace our CF cards. This is a very legitimate concern for many people, especially those looking to upgrade their cameras.
Bruce Ramage
2 years ago |Thanks Andrea. Instead of making any new CF card purchases, we will continue with what we have, and when the a77 is available purchase whatever the then current fast (but not fastest) SD cards are. We find memory devices, including cards for the cameras, are not a one-time expense, but rather an ongoing expense as the specs for memory technology move up and up and up, and we will just switch streams to SD.
Really appreciate the site. IF there was a P.O.Box to send money to and an operating name to make the payment to (SonyAlphaRumors?), I would be delighted to voluntarily subscribe to this site. We like to buy our gear from local shops, but would like to pay for having this great site available (tanstaafl).
Walt
2 years ago |I should probably point out that there are functional differences between CF and SD. There’s reasons for the smaller size of the SD, they contain less electronic functionality. Just a couple:
CF has it’s memory management built into the card, SD uses your camera’s processor to manage it. Not necessarily a big problem, but if you are pushing the limits of your camera’s processor then it matters. It also means with CF in the future when you buy a newer CF card you get newer memory management with it, with SD you don’t.
CF, because of it’s 50 pin arrangement has a bus bandwidth of 16bit, vs SD which due to it’s 9 pin arrangement has a bus bandwidth of 4 bit. This could be a difference in newer cameras going for bigger and bigger files pushed out the camera faster.
These things have not been a problem in consumer cameras and such, which don’t produce enough memory speed requirements to count. But the a77 is going to push out 12FPS at presumably 24MB. And think about the future generations of this level of camera and about future FF cameras. Do we really want to be moving in new limitations due to manufacturer’s card choices?
It’s clear Sony is thinking on the consumer camera level even while producing the a77.
For those who think it should go smaller and smaller, go take a look at micro SD. Ask for smaller, and soon that’s what you will be faced with. Try keeping track of those, or even just manipulating them under all the variety of situations of camera use. My GPS uses those, where I use 4gig versions so as not to have to change them to get to different display maps. There are already bigger sizes of those cards than I use.
Beer_Stalker
2 years ago |It’s actually the 16 bit bus of CF that is the millstone around its neck.
As date rates increase you need narrower buses. It may seen counterintuitive but at high data rates clock skew becomes a major issue on wide buses. This is why all modern computer interconnects are serial (PCIe, SAS, SATA, FC, USB3, Thunderbolt, etc).
Soon the ATA interface of CF cards will not be able to keep up with flash memory speeds and even if the form factor lives on there will be a move to a serial bus (SATA or PCIe).
CF is a relic of the 1990′s. It’s had a good innings but it’s not the format of the future.
Froo
2 years ago |This is true. Well, partly true. Clock skew is greatly influenced by cable length and here CF is at advantage, because it is practically nil. ATA and SCSI cabling needed to be decimeters or even meters in length, and this was a major factor in the decisions to go serial. CF should easily be able to do half a gig/sec.
If manufacturers really wanted to keep compatibility for future devices, there would be no need to even change interface; parallel/serial communication could be done through the same interface, with a handshake phase determining mode.
This is unlikely to happen however.
Froo
2 years ago |While I am on your side
it’s a little more complicated than that. The camera with CF must also support the transfer modes required by the card. Newer, faster standards means the camera must be upgraded with firmware, and if manufacturers drop support for older cameras no speed increase will be achievable even with new, faster cards.
Krätzsche
2 years ago |Keine Bange,
Du machst einen ausgezeichneten Job
dennisf
2 years ago |Btw, is this going to be an apsc or FF lens? Any idea, anyone?
LifeStoryImages
2 years ago |APS-C I believe. It is optimized for this camera’s 24 million 4-micron pixels. (Not that it won’t work splendidly on other APS-C cameras.)
passer-by
2 years ago |For once in my life, I love rumors.