Focus Numérique has posted an interview they did with Tôru Katusmoto et Masaaki Kojima of Sony Japan. The interview is in French and we provide a summary in English here.
EVF on the successor of the alpha A700
Sony presented a concept DSLR that will replace the alpha A700 and which uses an electronic viewfinder (EVF) instead of an optical viewfinder. Tôru Katsumoto (Alpha development manager) reveals that the new camera will also use the translucent mirror design used in the A33 and A55 which allows rapid burst with continuous AF. An EVF can also display a more precise image and Sony expects to introduce an improved EVF.
For the successors of the full frame A800 and A900, the optical viewfinder will probably remain for now.
MP, ISO & Burst
Is the megapixels race over? Are we now into the ISO and Burst race?
From an engineer’s perspective, improving one does not preclude improving the others.
Mechanical vs. Electronic Shutter
On a CMOS sensor, each pixel is read one by one. That takes time and is the origin of the “rolling shutter” effect in video. It will be a couple of years before we can improve the electronics enough to read all the pixels all at once.
3D
Masaaki Kojima, development head for the Handycam, says they are working on consumer 3D products though it will be some time before the public adopts 3D TVs and computers in any significant number.
Tôru Matsumoto does not believe image quality for a 3D NEX will be up to par and does not foresee any such product in the near future.
Compact Prosumer Model
Tôru Katsumoto: YES! There is increasing demand and, though nothing has been decided yet, I definitely believe we need a model to compete with the rest.
JPEG 2000, DNG RAW
For best image quality, photographers already prefer to use RAW and JPEG allows compatibility with the most imaging products such as digital picture frames, TVs, etc.
As far as DNG RAW is concerned, each camera manufacturer wants the optimal image quality and the best compression algorithms and so develop their own format based on their sensors and electronics.
Read the original interview at: Focus Numérique.