"Interestingly it seems the NEX-7 files are slightly less noisy and slightly less sharp. Indicating possibly a slightly stronger Anti-Aliasing / Low Pass filter?"
Seems sort of contradictory to expectations given the translucent mirror of the A77. Perhaps Sony is using the translucent mirror as a sort of AA filter in itself and forgoing an actual filter on the sensor of the A77? If so, I guess this bodes well for upcoming FF A99. It also makes me wonder if the NEX-7 does indeed have a stronger AA filter, if removing it might help with wide angle rangefinder lenses.
Given the obvious variables I don't know how one could come to any conclusion from the "so called" tests. As is always the case this particular lens might be the issue, or the focusing adjustments on the camera's, or Sony's processing of Raw files, or the fact that you have to use an adapter to mount the lens on a NEX-7 . To come to a conclusion that the AA filter is the issue is certainly a stab in the dark. People once used similar mighty scientific methods to come to the conclusion that the moon was made of cheese.
Hmm, it looks like the new Sony LA-EA2 A mount adapter is being used on the NEX-7 which has a built in translucent mirror. If so, that might explain the results?
from lula "Before we look at another interpretation, please note that there is colour moire visible on the railing of the spiral staircase on both cameras. Since both cameras show very similar moire, and the Leica does not have an AA filter, it may well be that the one on the NEX-7 is either very weak, or maybe even not there at all. Sony isn't saying."
Tariq Gibran wrote:
"Interestingly it seems the NEX-7 files are slightly less noisy and slightly less sharp. Indicating possibly a slightly stronger Anti-Aliasing / Low Pass filter?"
Seems sort of contradictory to expectations given the translucent mirror of the A77. Perhaps Sony is using the translucent mirror as a sort of AA filter in itself and forgoing an actual filter on the sensor of the A77? If so, I guess this bodes well for upcoming FF A99. It also makes me wonder if the NEX-7 does indeed have a stronger AA filter, if removing it might help with wide angle rangefinder lenses.
Looks like this also suffers from an amateurish fault common to self-anointed internet reviewers. They are not focused in exactly the same place (very evident in the ISO 100 comparison). The lenses in the background of the NEX-7 shot are clearly sharper than they are in the A77 shot.
Lotusm50 wrote:
Looks like this also suffers from an amateurish fault common to self-anointed internet reviewers. They are not focused in exactly the same place (very evident in the ISO 100 comparison). The lenses in the background of the NEX-7 shot are clearly sharper than they are in the A77 shot.
Seems like one would have to even try to make such a silly mistake given live view on both cameras.
Yes, the focus point is certainly different, as can be seen in the 100% crops that the A77 is focused closer and the oof background highlights are larger than the NEX-7 crops. Also in the reviewer's more recent post about the CV28 on the NEX-7, he gives a glimpse at his processing parameters for the 7, which seems to be fairly strong application of sharpening and luminance NR. No indication is given that these settings are (or aren't) also used in the NEX-7 vs. A77 comparison.
Except for the misfocus, they've also used the main detractor from the A77 image quality (the fixed mirror) to destroy the NEX7 PQ. Hardly a relevant test.
Their AA filters are almost exactly the same spec, the difference between the cameras are mostly in the mirror internal reflections. It's very hard to get moire in the A77, since the fixed mirror is a lot stronger vertical dispersion than a reasonably strong AA filter.
I played around a bit in the lab, and found that the A77 is horribly sensitive to pattern orientation when it comes to moire/aliasing. Not very surprising since the MTF50 is 30% lower in the height direction.
