Are you going to watch the Sony announcement?

[FunWithCameras]

So there is an an official announcement in just over a day from now (14:00 GMT, 7 November).

Rumours have it that we'll se the 300mm GM and the A9 III, maybe a few extras.

Are you planning to watch?

I probably won't, maybe, perhaps...

[Snofru]

No, I won't. I am happy to read the summary afterwards on one of the photography news pages, that will take up less of my time.

[Russ]

If I win the lottery then yes but the chances are very slim😁📷

[FunWithCameras]

the latest rumour makes it even more interesting.

A lot of people have been arguing fervently over how big the increase in the pixel count will be. Will it be 33Mp, 36Mp, 42Mp, 44Mp, or more? If the latest rumour is true, it's going to stay 24Mp, but for a very good reason: Sony can't make a higher resolution global shutter sensor. Heck, it's very impressive if they can make a 24Mp version!

Global shutter would make the A9 III special. As well as eliminating rolling shutter (which is a good thing all by itself), it also eliminates banding from PWM lighting. You can shoot in concerts without worries of dark bands across your images.

I wonder what the implications for flash sync would be? IF you can sync the camera to the flash units precisely, maybe you can be using 1/1000, or faster, with a non-HSS flash? Might need the flash makers to increase the precision of their units (get several units to fire at exactly the same time - not just within the same 1/250 window).

I wonder if Sony managed to keep this a secret from Canon and Nikon? If so, it's really going to upset Canon and Nikon's plans for their next releases - the Canon R1 may be further delayed 😝

[Snofru]

As long as the global shutter sensor doesn't compromise picture quality and noise I'm fine with it. But otherwise for me the stacked sensors are preferable - I haven't used a flash for years since high ISO isn't an issue anymore and rolling shutter is only a problem in very special situations. The PWM lighting is a stronger point, though.

[FunWithCameras]

OK, Sony really blew this one out of the water.

This is a global shutter camera, and insanely fast. Shoots full frame 24Mpixel 14 bit RAW at 120fps, but because they know we won't want to shoot that fast all the time, they have added an extra button to toggle the speed DURING THE BURST! You can shoot a burst starting at the lower frame rate (they suggested a mere 20fps), then speed up to 120fps, then drop back to 20fps, all in one long burst.

That's with full AF one every frame.

There are a lot more features, but two of the headline features: maximum shutter speed of 1/80000 (yes, 80 thousandth!), and flash sync at any speed (yes, include 1/80000)!

Oh, and because they wanted to complete their double-hit: the 300 GM doesn't match the existing 300mm f/2.8 lenses. I think Nikon had a 300mm f/2.8 that weighed about 2.9kg, and Canon had one that weighed about 2.4kg. The new Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM weighs less than 1.5kg! It's 1.4 and a bit.

Final announcement was some firmware updates, including the A1. I didn't take notes, but they were significant. Interestingly, they including the Authenticity feature that Leica just rolled out on their new camera - Sony is putting that into the A1 and other bodies as a firmware update.

This was a big announcement.

[XKAES]

All that and a $1.50 will get you on the local bus.

[FunWithCameras]

Is that your way of saying that you will believe in the firmware updates when they arrive?

BTW: in my city you can't get a bus ticket for $1.50...

[XKAES]

It's my way of saying that even though my bus fares are apparently very inexpensive, I'm not going to spend a penny of my savings on a camera that has a 1/80,000s shutter speed or takes 120 frames per second.  That's even more bizarre than over-priced bus tickets.

[FunWithCameras]

Sorry, I didn't get that. Sometimes I can be awfully literal.

I think there are a whole lot of people who won't be buying this new camera. You are in good company - lots more than a bus-load of them! 

I expect Sony will sell quite a few of them, but I think most of the sales will be to people who aren't paying for them out of their own pocket (and I doubt any of them are on forums like ours). There will some sold to people who can afford them at will, but they will be exceptions.

[XKAES]

Although Sony is charging an arm and a leg for the A9III -- and they should since it cost so much to develop -- I can't see how they will sell enough of them to actually make much money.  My guess is that much of the development was #1: to prove they they are a major player in PRO digital cameras, and #2: to produce new technology for future cameras.  They are not the first camera or lens company to do this.  Consider the amazing Sigma 55-200mm f4.5 auto-focusing zoom lens -- for MANUAL-focusing SLR cameras -- in the 1980's.  Financially it was a "black hole" for Sigma, because they sold very few of them, but it developed their auto-focusing lens technology -- that they are still using today

Edited November 10, 2023 by XKAES

[FunWithCameras]

There's another reason to consider: it's setting a new high point in price for the A9 line, which leaves room to bring in a new line with lesser features at the previous price mark for the A9. People will look at the new line, see that it's "only 75% of the price of the A9 III" and leap upon it. That's the principle of the "halo" product - making the next one down the line look less expensive. 

I still think they will sell quite a few, but it will be to the big press agencies, and maybe it will even give those agencies leverage to attract good photographers: "work for us and you can use the fastest FF camera available". 

I doubt you'll see many (if any) sold to the self-employed photographers, although I'll continue to suggest that concert photographers will want it. To stay self-employed you have to make rational purchasing decisions!

I do think there will be some amateurs buying them - there are amateurs who buy Leica cameras, after all. But that is probably only a handful. Then again, a lot of people suggested that Sony would only sell a handful of A1 bodies because they were really expensive. They sold a lot more than a handful! But the A1 is a much more all-purpose camera - the A9 III is a tightly focused speed demon (pun intended!).

[XKAES]

You may be right, but the pandemic has "taught" many industries that "the sky" is NOT the limit.

[FunWithCameras]

6 hours ago, XKAES said:

You may be right, but the pandemic has "taught" many industries that "the sky" is NOT the limit.

And that’s why it’s US$6k and not more, my guess 🙂

I’m guessing that global shutter is expensive to fabricate, with all those extra transistors for every electron well. No idea how many per, but any number x 24 million is a lot. Plus, as a stacked sensor it has to have memory to hold the value, and that has to be at least 14 bits.