Soon you will see a NEX-5n sensor without AA filter.
The Sony NEX-5n sensor
If you were wondering what the already amazing Sony NEX-5n sensor can do without AA (Anti Aliasing) filter you will soon get the answer. Ricoh will release a new GXR M-mount module which features exactly the same NEX-5n sensor but with removed AA filter. A wonder if there will be any major difference!
P.S.:
Links to the AA filter page on Wikipedia (Click here).
Sony NEX-5N Studio Sample Photos at Photographyreview (Click here).
Sony NEX-5n direct shop links to Amazon, Adorama, B&H, J&R, eBay.
Related Posts
Share
Recent comments
Comment from ageha: It's not the same sensor, it doesn't eve...
Comment from GH: Most of this is marketing hype. As per ...
Comment from Miserere: Not to mention different image processin...
Comment from joe: like +1...
doug
6 months ago |The NEX-5n’s AA filter is already very weak, so I doubt if removing it will make much difference.
Vivek
6 months ago |Yes, it would.
ptc
6 months ago |There is not much difference between camera with no AA filter and very thin aa filter – just compare Kodak DCS14n (it does not have aa filter) and Nikon D7000. Removing aa filter bring one big problem – dust. Dust, dust and dist again, every single dust particle visible as big black spot (not out-of-focus gray circle). And of course, moare, but moare can be reduced by electronic.
Carl
6 months ago |Dust should be no worse if you replace the AA filter with a clear (or straight IR) filter of the same thickness. The dust will be the same depth from the image-side focal point, and thus will be resolved the same.
I’d imagine the real reason for the different dust performance is that the DSC-14n lacks any form of anti-dust system (sensor vibration, negatively charged top layer, etc).
Joe
6 months ago |Agree with dough, the 5N’s AA filter is very weak as evidenced by easily produced aliasing artifacts.
Matthew
6 months ago |Wait, I’m confused, what’s so bad about an AA filter?
Aero
6 months ago |It’s not really that bad. It sometimes decreases some resolution under limited circumstances, mostly for studio portraits or landscape images. For street photography, outdoor portraits, indoor portraits, sport photography, or many other type of photography, the difference is too little to be noticed.
Vivek
6 months ago |It would make no difference when you use Sony primes on a NEX body. Nothing to worry about.
Twaddler Belafonte
6 months ago |No doubt. Where the heck the lenses at Sony? I’d love a NEX-7, but there just ain’t crap for lenses. Samsung has a killer lens lineup; I only wish the sensor in their newest was as good as the a77er.
Vivek
6 months ago |“Samsung has a killer lens lineup”
Only on paper (or slide presentations), if that is of any consolation!
Twaddler Belafonte
6 months ago |http://www.adorama.com/ISGNX85I.html
http://www.adorama.com/ISGNX30.html
http://www.adorama.com/ISGNX60MI.html
Looks like more than paper to me.
JonasM
6 months ago |Last review I read on Samsung glass, they weren’t looking too good. What’s killer about it? Please don’t say “the blue ring”.
Twaddler Belafonte
6 months ago |Samsung at least *has* lenses. Sony is situated a couple paces away from squat. I sure hope this is rectified next year. I’d love to buy me one of those sweet NEX-7s, but they don’t have lenses I want yet.
matgay
6 months ago |samsung lenses are lighter … if you prefer plastic
Matthew
6 months ago |sweet, nothing to worry about then.
joe
6 months ago |like +1
JonasM
6 months ago |Andrea, you forgot the “SR” label on the heading, or it this fact?
pancanikonpus
6 months ago |we are not in meeting minute, doesn’t need to have a tracker here
lol…
GH
6 months ago |This should make a big difference with rangefinder wides compared to NEX. The filter pack in front of the sensor normally has an AA filter and IR filter. Get rid of the AA filter, and you have less astigmatism with high angles of incidence at the sensor edges, so no more smearing with all of the semi-symmetrical rangefinder wides. I’ve been considering removing my AA filter from my 5n.
Both Leica and Ricoh advertise all kinds of “special” micro lenses and whatnot for improved rangefinder lens performance, but much of it comes down to simply removing the AA filter. Sony should follow suit, as it would also help with their native lenses in the corners, for the small price of occasional moire.
emopunk
6 months ago |People have already been going crazy for slt ghosting, when it was actually very difficult to spot it. Do you think they would be happy in the forums with fresh moire patterns in new cameras? I think it would be terrible advertising for Sony. Definitively not a good idea.
Carl
6 months ago |The way to appeal to everybody would be to make the AA filter removable.
pancanikonpus
6 months ago |As what i read over nikon rumor, nikon is speculated to release 2 new camera with and w/o AA filter. which mean the next new camera from sony likely to enable w/o AA filter sensor is highly possible since they are all use Sony sensor and due to competition reason
lol…
GH
6 months ago |Sony only makes the sensor. Pentax, Nikon and Sony cameras, despite having the same underlying silicon, use different color filters, AA filters, IR filters, etc. on top of that sensor.
pancanikonpus
6 months ago |i see. thx for educate me.
Boooe
6 months ago |Color filter is essential part of sensor: it is positioned in between of silicon chip and microlens array, and has to be precisely aligned, so there is no way third party would easily replace it.
AA/IR filters, on other hand, can be easily removed by everyone.
ptc
6 months ago |It is possible with Canon CMOS sensor – you can buy customised camera with bayer mask removed (of course only black and white). Therefore, it must be possible, at least when camera is new (they customise only new cameras).
Miserere
6 months ago |Not to mention different image processing engines, which makes a huge difference in the output at high ISO. Nikon and Pentax have the best processing, then Sony, and last of all, Ricoh.
Job
6 months ago |According to this retarded reviewer there are no Manufacturer Mirror-less camera out there that has a Dslr capabilities… only Point and shoot interchangeable lens including the NEX series… hahaha! what a moron!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ0NHjPzkJM&feature=related
Anu Nyymi
6 months ago |The expensive AA-filter is there for a reason. Without it there will be aliasing, enough to ruin some shots. Difference in details is very low, in apparent sharpness more, but that’s why there is unsharp mask.
GH
6 months ago |Because of the short registration distance and high angle of incidence with some lenses, removing the aa filter will improve corner performance.
emopunk
6 months ago |How is it possible that on NR they post D800 and D4 specs and news, and today even 36mpix kinda samples while we don’t hear anything on Sony FFs?
Lar
6 months ago |Investigate further and you will easily find more mention elsewhere.
emopunk
6 months ago |I wish you could tell more about that. There’s no TOP SECRET on these rumours I guess..
Carl
6 months ago |They need to worry about shipping their current models before they start talking about upcoming ones.
Sam Waldron
6 months ago |It will help corner performance and while the 5N does has a light AA filter, the GXR M is noticeably and meaningfully sharper.
Moire will only be problematic in some cases and easily fixable – 16mp on APSC will help minimize it too, as will stopping down etc.
Daemonius
6 months ago |Corner sharpness is micro-lens issue.. or lack of them.
Ricoh has micro-lens tweaked for very short sensor-lens distance (eg. for rangefinder lens). NEX has best performace with dSLR lens usually (or something with bit longer flange distance).
GH
6 months ago |Most of this is marketing hype. As per the Dr. Nasse Paper about Zeiss wides, the sensor toppings are what cause many issues with corners and rangefinder wides. Removing the AA filter is much of the battle.
Steve Jones
6 months ago |It’s really quite silly to call this the “NEX-5n sensor”. The basic sensor existed before the NEX-5n, and it’s fundamentally the same piece of silicon as that used in the A580, D7000, K5 etc. There may be minor differences in the density of the filters, the strength of the AA filter, detailed design of micro-lenses and so on, but it’s all essentially the same core.
As this new implementation of the sensor will differ in detail from the NEX-5n (not least the omission of an AA filter), then it no more deserves to be called an NEX-5n sensor than an A580 sensor.
ageha
6 months ago |It’s not the same sensor, it doesn’t even have the same pixel count. The C3 uses 2010′s sensor.