Here’s an interesting look at the guts of the pellicle mirror Sony A55 and how the camera works. The camera being examined in the video is already disassembled and neatly organized by layer. If you haven’t seen or read much about the A33/A55 before, this video will bring you up to speed on the advantages of having a translucent mirror instead of a traditional one.
(via 1001 Noisy Cameras)
Sony and Olympus are headed in very different directions when it comes to DSLR cameras. While Olympus may be looking to step out of the DSLR market in favor of EVIL cameras, Sony is opting to stay put while transforming its line of DSLRs into translucent mirror cameras. During a Sony event in Zaragoza, Spain, company representatives confirmed to Quesabesde that all future Alpha DSLRs will have the translucent mirrors found in the A33 and A55.
If Sony succeeds in this technology shift, it will be quite a change from the 1960s, when Canon introduced their version of the translucent mirror for film cameras but ended up going back to normal mirrors before long.
(via Photo Rumors)
Image credit: Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 and accessory by Jacky W
SonyAlphaRumors received a pretty interesting tip yesterday regarding the design of the upcoming Sony Alpha A77 (which is still a rumor at this point). The anonymous tipster wrote that the camera — successor to the A700 — will have an innovative design that boasts a hybrid viewfinder by blending optical and electronic images:
Yesterday Sony explained the new system that will be used for the incoming a77 (the a750 will use a regular SLR design). Practically the are using two semi-transparent mirrors and a high-resolution EVF to reinforced the live image. They are using a reflexive technology design called 70/30, between each semi-transparent mirrors.
The final image in the viewfinder will have 30% of original image and 70% of electronic reinforced image through the new EVF.
Sony has issued an “important notice” that shooting HD video for semi-long periods of time with the A33 and A55 may cause the sensor to overheat, shutting off the camera. How long the camera lasts depends on ambient temperature and image stabilization is enabled. If it’s 30° C (~86° F) the A55 can only go 6 minutes with IS turned on.
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Sony dropped quite an announcement today with its new pellicle mirror DSLRs, but Canon doesn’t want us to forget that they have announcements coming up as well.
They released an (semi-meaningless) announcement of their own today: the development of a 120-megapixel APS-H sensor that can handle HD-video recording and 9.5fps shooting. This is the same sensor size found in the 1D line of DSLRs. But get this — they have no plans for actually producing this sensor in a camera anytime soon.
Thus, even though this is pretty interesting news that was widely reported today, it appears that this was some sort of clever scheme devised by Canon’s marketing department to steal some thunder from Sony’s pellicle mirror news. Lets see if Canon can match it when they release their new camera on August 26th.
The rumors that have been circulating in recent weeks were spot on: Sony has just announced four new DSLR cameras: the A33, A55, A560, and A580. As expected, the A33 and A55 are the world’s first pellicle mirror DSLRs, and have the features and specs we posted just yesterday: phase-detect autofocus while recording HD video or shooting 7fps or 10fps respectively.
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The above is supposedly a leaked photo of the not-yet-announced Sony A33 and its pellicle mirror, the first of its kind on a DSLR. Rumor has it that the camera will officially be announced early tomorrow morning.
SonyAlphaRumors received a tip that Sony will be using the following arguments promoting the new pellicle system:
Stay tuned. Official news about the A33 and A55 should arrive shortly.
Update: Amateur Photographer just published a post titled, “New Sony Alpha 55 and Alpha 33 EVF DSLRs to feature fixed Translucent Mirror“. Almost as soon as it was published it was taken down (darn those easy-to-click “Publish” buttons!). Here’s a quote from the now-removed article:
Sony is set to introduce shooting speeds of up to 10fps, as well as video, in its latest Alpha DSLR cameras, the Alpha 55 and Alpha 33, by using a new non-moving ‘translucent’ mirror. Echoing the technology of the pellicle mirror in Canon’s EOS RT of 1989, Sony’s new semi-transparent mirror allows light to be fed simultaneously to a camera’s imaging sensor and AF system, removing the need for a moving mirror and providing the potential for much improved focus tracking as well as active AF in Live View and video modes.
Looks like this is no longer a “rumor”.
(via SonyAlphaRumors)
Here’s what the next couple weeks are going to look like in terms of press events possibly related to DSLR announcements: Nikon goes first on August 19th, Sony does theirs on August 24th, and Canon has one scheduled August 26th. Nikon will likely be announcing the D3100, while Canon drops the 60D during theirs.
A big rumor regarding Sony’s upcoming unveiling is that they’re going to be showing us the world’s first pellicle mirror system on a DSLR camera. This means instead of a traditional bulky mirror that swings out of the way — as found in current DSLRs — the Sony DSLR will have an ultra-thin and ultra-lightweight semitransparent mirror that allows photos to be shot without the mirror swinging out the way.
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