Sony’s E mount: a DSLR game changer
by eNoBlog on May.13, 2010, under News
Sony’s recent release of their new NEX mirrorless interchangeable lens camera line may come across as Sony doing what they have to do to keep up with the Joneses, namely Olympus and Panasonic with their much-acclaimed micro-4/3 line. But I think Sony is besting the Joneses on at least two counts.
First, not only have Sony produced a smaller mirrorless interchangeable lens body, but they have done so with a larger APS-C sensor. While Olympus’ and Panasonic’s micro-4/3 sensor comes at 18.0×13.5mm, Sony’s sensor features the APS-C dimensions of 23.4×15.6mm. This means more potential for improved noise performance. At 14MP some are already saying that Sony didn’t do so well in the high ISO, low noise department. Nonetheless, the exciting prospect here is that others (Canon and Nikon) have shown they can do better in this format. Some have predicted a development like this would spell the end of the entry level DSLR, and that may well prove true in short order.
Second, and perhaps just as exciting are Sony’s plans to release a camcorder line using the same E mount system that they developed for the NEX cameras. This at a minimum renders DSLR video irrelevant, if not altogether obsolete. Some folks have been clamoring to DSLR video as an affordable option to shoot high quality HD video with all the creative advantages of using DSLR lenses. The problem with this approach is that hand-holding a DSLR for video isn’t the most user-friendly path to win a cinematography award, and other DSLR video gotchas (rolling shutter effects), make it at best a compromise. Sony now gives us all those nice depth-of-field creative choices in a proper camcorder package. Independent and/or low-budget film makers and videographers will likely jump on this with as much if not more enthusiasm than they showed with DSLR video.
We will have to wait to see some results and reviews before we decide how good of a system Sony can put together, but it appears that this E mount will indeed be a game changer — and perhaps more so than just for DSLRs.
References: Sony NEX-5 review.
