People probably thought Nikon wasn’t serious when it relased the D3200 – after all, noise levels for the 24 megapixel sensor were laughable, especially at higher ISO settings. The chickens also did not stir when the D5200 came out – same megapixels, better signal/noise ratio. Apparently, the writing was not on the wall until the announcement of the D7100. OH NO! You don’t mean they can use that same sensor in a sturdier, pro-looking body, OH MY. OH MY GAWD, WE ARE ALL GOINGS TO THE GALLOWS NOW. That pretty much sums up the response from the Canon (yup), Olympus, and Pentax camps. Meanwhile, Sigma kept playing with its own toys in a corner, blissfully unaware that this other Bayerverse existed.
It’s clear that Sony can send the rest of the bunch scurrying at its whim. Release a new sensor, give it to one of the other camera manufacturers and watch how the rest get jealous like little children. That little bit of control must feel good for Sony after having boldly switched its own entire line-up to what it calls SLT – a technology whose time seems to lie in the distant future, if at all ever.
But it remains to be seen how many customers can actually fork out enough money to pay for lenses that actually take advantage of this new-found resolving power on APS-C. Already, one photography magazine has fallen into the trap of comparing the D600 (35mm format) with the D5200 (APS-C) of the same resolution without ensuring that the lens(es) used exceeded the resolving power of each sensor, concluding that the D600 retains more detail, especially at high ISO. If the lenses used had been explicitly stated, a critical interpretation of the outcome might be possible. As it stands, the test was useless.
breakfastographer 