[Matsu]

I think you're waiting for a D400 maybe, with some variation of the D3200 sensor behind a higher spec AF. The 24 and 16MP APSC are a bit of a wash: in current implementations they seem more or less equal when resized to the same print size. Nikon does have a way of getting a little extra oomph from their sensors, and I would expect that from a D400 or D7200 or whatever follow-up model comes... That would give lots of pixels and a nice convenient AF spread for tracking moving subjects, and a solid frame rate. My D300 was great for this.

I'm almost certain to buy the D800 in the next month and use it for a while before classes start again, maybe even with just my 50mm so we can roam around downtown T.O. and get acquainted. To me this is as close to shooting an S2 as I'm likely to get - complete overkill in many ways; perverse fun in others...

Who knows, if it may end being the last DSLR I buy? For range and resolution, while nothing in APSC has really caught the D3x yet - a very good sensor - they're getting very close. In the next few years most sensors of 4/3 or larger are going to have enough quality to print 16x20, chase ambient light, make portraits etc... We'll going back to choosing a frame and lens combination more for the look and feel rather than "is it enough to do x?" Most of the time it will be.

[PB PM]

I'm sure the D400 is the camera I want, but it seems no closer to being a reality today than a year ago, since there has been no new rumors in that time period. I also have figure in a lack of work (currently unemployed, with few prospecs beyond entry level jobs) so money for a new high end camera just doesn't exist. I'd love to have the camera I want, but justifying that kind of spending on a hobby is becoming difficult in this economy.

I'm honestly hoping a charity gig I shoot this fall gets me connected with paying customers (I'd much rather be self employed).

[Matsu]

Rob, keep shooting the D700. It has fantastic files, especially for events and such. I know about working for free, I do it altogether too often, occasionally I get paid in free food which I've been shooting a lot lately, but them's the ropes...

[PB PM]

Yeah, I can't see myself selling the D700, unless I'm getting desperate for cash, which would be 4-6 months down the road. It's more of a, I could live with a D7000 and 17-55mm F2.8 if I could no longer afford to keep the D700 and 24-70mm F2.8.

[Matsu]

Speaking of APSC, mirrorless, and why would Canon announce now only to ship much later... I wasn't aware that Nikon has four mirrorless APSC lens patents registered, including, a kit lens, an 18mm f/2.8, and f/2.0 and f/2.8VR versions of a 24mm. All APSC, all seemingly with flange distances of about 27mm or less. (though I'm having some trouble with the google translation, on top of my weakness in understanding the engineering terms to begin with)

The earliest of these goes back to 2010. IIRC we also saw a bunch of patents for new ideas on the lens-body interface, including a novel lens attachment and release system, built-in body caps and magnetic rear lens caps. None of this stuff debuted on the Nikon 1, which apart from its small size remains rather conventional. hmmm...

Maybe it's coming sooner than we think? Most people agree that Nikon 1 is not the long term answer to post DSLR designs. It's more of a post P&S design, sort of a Coolpix Pro. But, it does have the best AF and continuous shooting of any non-DSLR product; it's equal to or better than many of those as well. An ASPC/DX camera built around that technology will get a lot of interest

[Matsu]

Funny little bits of camera news. Nikon may soon debut a J2. I think they're missing an opportunity for a cracking field video camera here. The system can already shoot well above 1080 at 60fps, they just have to give it some sort of high bit rate external connection...

Hasseblad mirrorless rumor, "almost medium format" which is also interesting since virtually everything digital is "almost" medium format. The 48x36mm "double frame", 44x33mm (Pentax and various backs), and 45x30 (S2) are all smaller than 645 film. Fuji still makes a very nice medium format compact for even bigger film (6x6 or 6x7). Change the lens a tad for a smaller imager, or introduce movements, and you've got quite an inetresting digital medium format field camera proposition.

Finally, se up my google alerts to track D800 left AF issues and all the boards are alight with it. Supposedly there's a fix, but it's not official everywhere; Nikon know which of the latest cameras have gone out with misallignment, but didn't ID soon enough to stop shipment, so they've given distributors serial numbers and are asking them to service cams presale; no one can say they can ID faulty serials from earlier lots - just a whole lot of confusion.

[PB PM]

Yeah it is about time for a refresh of the Nikon 1 system. The refresh of the high end V1 camera really need to get more high end features, a real mode dial or at the very least a touch screen to make changing settings on the fly at lot easier. It will be interesting to see if they get that 20MP sensor from the Sony RX100.

[Chinney]

Sigma, after their usual delays with cameras, has released the DP1 Merrill and DP2 Merrill, sort of (I am not sure that it is yet possible for most who want one to actually get one), with the new 46MP, sort of (3 layer), sensor.

Their are many other players in the small mirrorless game now, of course, but Sigma continues to offer something a bit different. I am still not convinced from sample shots that the new sensor offers the same, unusual, picture quality as the original Foveon sensor, although I understand that work is still being done to perfect the raw processing. Sigma has preserved the small size of the first generation DP1 and DP2 (actually pocketable - I do it all the time with mine) and has made advances in other areas, although I have not yet seen a full review.

This is truly a niche product and I can't understand how Sigma makes any profit with their cameras, but I give them credit with carrying on with the concept. I have not decided yet whether I am interested in getting one as a replacement for my first generation DP1.

[PB PM]

I've said it before, but Sigma needs to stick to lenses. Their cameras are nice, but too expensive for the minimal, if any in the real world, improvement in image quality other other APS-C options. Having slightly superior colour, and falsely advertising a 15MP sensor as being 46MP isn't going to sell cameras, if they haven't figured it out by now. Not to mention that few people want to be stuck with a brand that doesn't have third party lens support.

A year or so ago Sigma said that they would going to develop a mirrorless camera, but this week they turned around and said they were abandoning that project. The DP1 and DP2 were ahead of their time, but ever the Merrill revisions just aren't enough to keep pace with the mirrorless cameras of today.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by PB PM Having slightly superior colour, and falsely advertising a 15MP sensor as being 46MP isn't going to sell cameras, if they haven't figured it out by now.

Is it any more false advertising than selling a bayer-filter sensor based camera as xyz megapixels when every image it outputs uses interpolated color information? A 12mp image from a Nikon D700 is the result of red and blue light only being recorded at 3 million pixel locations each, and green at 6 million.

[Matsu]

On the image capture side we generally use "pixel" to denote a discrete sample unit. Sigma's X3 sensor has 46 Million of those, so their nomenclature seems appropriate. It's just that they're stacked 3 deep.

On the output side we generally (but not always) use it to describe a full color point/tile in the grid/mosaic that makes up the image. Sigma's X3 outputs a 15 million pixel file - each point derived from a full RGB sampling at that exact position in the mosaic.

The Bayer's capture side is spatially arrayed to output the same sized mosaic, but each output pixel is uses estimates from neighbouring pixels.

In many ways Sigma's nomenclature is the least deceiving.

Generally speaking the X3 output seems to render color detail on par with a bayer grids with higher MP output - how much higher, depends on the scene

The best Bayer's are very efficient at turning photons into electrons, and have many other advantages that make them a better overall proposition - sensitivity, speed, noise, dynamic range - but the X3 idea is a promising one. All the major sensor producers and camera companies have at least some patents related to similar capture methods. Sony, Nikon and Canon all. So, you have to imagine they will produce such a sensor when they can get a better overall performance from it.

[PB PM]

Yes, I believe the D1 and D1H used a similar format, but gave closer to true sensor output (or was that the D1X?). They were 2.6MP sensors, but you could interpolate the images in Nikon's software to 10MP files (if used today, they would be called 10MP sensors). I think sensor interpolation from Bayer sensors has come a long way from those early days in 1999 when the D1 was released. Interestingly enough Fuji was the first to introduce cameras with MP counts based on in camera interpolation in the Fuji S1 Pro.

Looking back at the D1 review, showed me that APS-C sensors are smaller than the APS-C type film (30.2 x 16.7) that they are named after, which is kind of funny in retrospect.

[Eugene]

I believe the Nikon D1 sensor design still only used one color filter per 4 photosites, so while it achieved great light sensitivity, it still only produced the color accuracy of other 2.6mp bayer filter sensors at the time...or perhaps slightly worse if it required more power.

[PB PM]

Yes, the D1 was still limited compared to the foveon sensor that Sigma is using. I believe it was the D2H that used a non-Bayer sensor, not sure though. That might have just been a CMOS like sensor Nikon tried to develop, since they were trying to catch up with Canon's CMOS sensors which offered better high ISO at higher resolution.

[Eugene]

Everything Nikon based has used a bayer filter AFAIK.

[PB PM]

That's what I thought. It must have been the Fuji DSLRs based on Nikon bodies that used Foveon, I believe the S3 Pro (F100/F80 Hybrid) and S5 Pro (D200 body) used them.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by PB PM That's what I thought. It must have been the Fuji DSLRs based on Nikon bodies that used Foveon, I believe the S3 Pro (F100/F80 Hybrid) and S5 Pro (D200 body) used them.

Those used SuperCCD, which is for the most part a traditional bayer filter with pixels arranged diagonally.

[PB PM]

Okay, I thought for sure there was one camera brand that used the Foveon sensor tech before Sigma, but I guess not.

[Kyros]

Fuji's sensor is really neat, actually. Every photosite has a smaller, additional photosite associated with it. The smaller photosite has lower sensitivity (naturally), and thus can be used to fix blown highlights. It's like being able to take some information from an ISO 100 photo to fix the blown highlights of your ISO 400 photo. This is how the sensor got huge dynamic range for its time. Other than that, I believe it's standard Bayer, arranged diagonally.

According to Wikipedia, the Polaroid X530 (an old point and shoot) is the only non-Sigma camera to use Foveon.

[Matsu]

Imaging Resource has a section where they evaluate the printability of files over a camera's sensitivity range. It would be very interesting to see an evaluation of the sd1 files. I haven't looked, and I don't know if they have one on the SD1.

I did notice that at base ISO, many modern APSC sensors in the 16-24 MP range give what IR considers an acceptable 30-36" wide print, but print size drops as ISO climbs. Basically, any decent dslr, crop or otherwise, is now clearly superior to 35mm color film.

That's pretty amazing. Just keep in mind that 35mm film was never really acceptable for commercial work unless you were shooting war, documentary, or sports or dangerous animais in unpredictable enviroments.

Full frames start there and hold on to larger output sizes higher into the ISO scale. The unmitigated champ has to be the D800, which should yield 60" prints up to ISO400 and can still be printed 36" wide at ISO3200 !

Those are some big prints. You can replace medium format film, easily. The look is an aesthetic matter, but clinically speaking, you've got enough to go huge, crop, process, etc etc...

[PB PM]

Big rumor on SonyAlpha Rumors website, full frame NEX camera coming. Wow, that could be a big hit for Sony, if they have some good glass in the works.

[PB PM]

A review of the DP2 Merrill by Steve Huff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlyYr...&feature=g-u-u

[Matsu]

Sigma really ought to pour all sorts of cash into developing this for a mirrorless system. It's not there yet, the best Bayer's still trounce it the second you need better sensitivity. That said, this is the future, they just need to get there faster...

Thom Hogan has an interesting read on sensor size and cost. Thinks it hasn't changed much at various sizes, nor have the relative costs of one size to the next, but that we'll see cheaper full frames anyway. There's a hint of speculation that the nikon FX, DX, CX sizes may in part be chosen to maximize the use of a wafer during fabrication - think of it as filling in the jaggies as the rectangular sensors approach the edge of a round wafer, big tiles (FX) in the centre, mid size tiles (DX) around those, and small tiles (CX) mixed in at the edges. 1x, 1.56x and 2.7X, mixed up just right, might draw a relatively smooth circle...

[PB PM]

Sigma recently announced that they were not going to be developing a Mirrorless system. They want to focus on being a third party lens maker in that area. Considering the poor selection of NEX lenses, they could easily cash in if they get some decent glass out.

[Asher]

Digital cameras are become very famous and introduce us the new technology about the photography these cameras have very high mega pixels and shoot the photos in high resolution...

[PB PM]

So Photokina is coming in a few weeks, what do you all think we'll see this year?

I think it will be interesting for consumers and advanced amateurs, pros not so much. My guesses, based on rumors, D600, low end Fuji X mount camera, Sony full frame SLT, GH3, refresh of the PEN line, and maybe some minor lens announcements.

No sign of a D400 coming, and considering that lack of leaks this close to a possible release date, something tell me that it isn't going to be announced. To be honest, I am starting to think it wont come at all.

[Dorian Gray]

I think your guesses are about right, PB PM.

When the D7000 came out I suspected it meant the end of the D300S, but then Nikon never really filled the gap between the D7000 and the very expensive full-frame cameras (but you can still buy a new D300S!). Now with a rumoured D600 it’s hard to see where a D400 would fit, price-wise.

Of course there are people who’d prefer to pay more than a D7000 for a D400 (even if the sensor was the same, though it’s too late to launch that now), and people who’d pay as much as a D600 for a DX camera with tougher construction and faster operation, but there may not be enough of them to tempt Nikon into actually making the camera.

The question from Nikon’s point of view is probably: if no D400 is made, would the D400 dreamers buy a D7000 or D600 instead? Or an eventual D7100? And I suspect most of them would, rather than switching systems or dumping SLRs in favour of mirrorless.

What do you think Canon will do at Photokina, if anything? They’ve been under pressure lately, and the rumoured D600 (low-priced FX) must increase that pressure (though I notice the 5D Mark II is still widely available; in fact, a friend of mine just bought one).

[Dorian Gray]

Michael Reichmann (at Luminous Landscape) has reviewed the Sigma DP2 Merrill, which I know has been discussed here before.

I think this paragraph sums up his review nicely:

‘In the context of the DP2 Merrill the only photographers who are going to be happy with this camera are ones who can ignore its few faults and rejoice in the remarkable image quality that the camera is capable of. To get the most from the DP2M will require not just patience (hesitant AF, slow buffer writes, lousy raw software, wobbly screen image, etc) but the willingness to put these aside in exchange for what is delivered – the highest image quality from any camera this side of a 36MP+ DSLR or Medium format camera or back. No mincing words. That's what I see.’

To be compared with other, more technical, reviews, perhaps.

I'm a bit disappointed that Sigma hasn't managed to smooth off some of those rough edges by now. I guess they just can't commit the necessary engineering resources to their cameras, which strike me as a bit of a hobby for them, like the Apple TV is for Apple.

[Matsu]

To me the Sigma sensor really comes into its own with nature. The comparison of foliage is unbelievable. I'd have liked to see a few more shots at some distance, to see if the "look" holds up under the impact of atmospheric conditions, but there's no reason to suggest it wouldn't.

[PB PM]

Landscape shooters could be interested in the Sigma sensor, but I suspect they would want the SD1 over the DP series, for lens flexibility.

At the end of the day though I would grab a D800 or D800E over any Sigma camera.