Sony a850 - last of its kind? No new "full-frame" models?

The Sony a850 is not a flashy camera, there's no extensive feature list or bloated menus. It just gets on with the business of taking top class pictures. I like it very much but it may be the last of its kind. Sony have already indicated that all future alpha cameras will have pellicle mirrors and EVF's. When (and if?) Sony come out with another camera with a 35mm sized sensor it will be radically different to both this and the a900. 














All the current cameras with a 35mm sized sensor have been around for a while. The Nikon D3 series and D700, The Sony a900 and a850, The Canon 5DMkII and 1DsMkII and the Leica M9 all date back to 2008 and 2009. Nothing was announced last year, and apart from a few rumours, there is currently nothing on the horizon. The global economic situation obviously makes a difference, and the market for these large sensor cameras is quite small. While manufacturers still announce new models at the cheaper end of the scale, "full-frame" is conspicuously absent. 


In many ways this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most of these cameras require a substantial financial investment and those who buy don't really appreciate them being quickly upgraded. There is generally a slower upgrade path for "professional" gear anyway and there is none of the lots of cameras at every conceivable price point philosophy that happens with what might be described as "consumer" cameras. 


Certainly I'm very happy with the a850 and though live view would be useful, I can live without it. It is nice to use a camera for a days shooting without making any adjustments other than to change the aperture a couple of times. Reminds me very much of using film. This less complex approach is a breath of fresh air and I'm certainly concentrating much more on the important bit, taking pictures, instead of operating cameras. 


Words - David
Images - David and Ann

"Full Frame" sensors

Kodak Pro SLR/n


There was an assumption from many people that when the first somewhat mis-named "full-frame" or 35mm size sensors appeared that it signalled the end for the smaller APS-C format. This certainly hasn't happened and far from being the dominant format the 35mm sized sensor has been restricted to fairly expensive high-end cameras. The Canon 5DMkII and the two Sony models are the cheapest currently, but still cost more than their APS-C equivalents. 



Canon 5DMkII


The cameras so far released are:-

• Contax N Digital (2002)
• Canon EOS-1Ds (2002)
• Kodak DCS Pro 14n (2003)
• Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n (2004)
• Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c (2004)
• Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II (2004)
• Canon EOS 5D (2005)
• Nikon D3 (2007)
• Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III (2007)
• Nikon D700 (2008)
• Sony α DSLR-A900 (2008)
• Canon EOS 5D Mark II (2008)
• Nikon D3X (2008)
• Sony α DSLR-A850 (2009)
• Nikon D3S (2009)
• Leica M9 (2009)

I've used quite a number of these, the ones in bold, and two of my four current cameras use this larger sensor. The Leica M9 and Sony a850. 

Leica M9

Sony a850

So why hasn't the 35mm sized sensor become the standard? It should provide better quality, being larger and for the most part having less pixel density. It also gives an opportunity for the use of super wide-angle lenses. 

Price is obviously a factor, and companies have invested heavily in their APS-C and 4/3 lens ranges, so these smaller formats aren't going to disappear, but I would have assumed by now that we would see more cameras with the larger format sensor than we have. If they had proved more popular by now perhaps we would have seen more "budget orientated" models. Its always surprised me that no-one ever tried this anyway. Currently even with discounts the cheapest you can buy a 35mm sized sensor camera for in the UK is around the £1600 mark, for a body only. If you're moving up from a smaller format, then lens costs have to be added in to this. 

I don't really have an answer as to why this has become a somewhat marginalised format. Certainly there have been great advances in APS-C and 4/3 technology but the ultimate non-MF image quality and indeed the best high ISO performance still comes from the "full-frame" models. They are usually larger and heavier, but the Canon 7D is a brute of a camera and still sells very well indeed. Maybe it is price that is the ultimate factor in determining how many cameras get sold, and maybe there are good reasons why manufacturers aren't able to offer the larger format at a smaller price. Whatever the reason, the sensor revolution that the Canon 5D seemed to indicate, hasn't happened.