Incidentally, I think there some fact behind it, but a lot of speculation too. I guess we'll see what comes out when it finally does come out. If it does.
Incidentally, I think there some fact behind it, but a lot of speculation too. I guess we'll see what comes out when it finally does come out. If it does.
Well Fuji brought out the stacked sensor APS-C X-H2S almost exactly 4 years ago. It is a very nice camera with a 26 MP sensor made by Sony. That sensor has obviously been available for Sony and presumably Nikon for a long time. Either of those companies may well bring out a stacked sensor APS-C camera at any point.
I have the Canon R7. It is a great camera in many. ways, but sensor scan speed is a weak point. I would expect an R7 II to address sensor scan speed, but I would not expect Canon to go with a stacked sensor. Building the DRAM into a stacked sensor with the price of DRAM these days is going to result in a pretty expensive camera. The Fuji X-H2S costs more than the Canon R6 III. I doubt that a stacked sensor Canon camera is going to be much if any cheaper, so we are talking making a much more expensive R7 II if it comes with a stacked sensor. I can't see Canon doing that and I don't think they will sell a lot of the them if they do (people will pick the R6 III over that sort of R7 II and they would be similarly priced).
What I think is more likely is that the R7 II greatly improves the sensor scan speed to be in the range of R6 III (the R7 has a 29ms sensor scan speed and I would expect it to improve to maybe 12ms), but not as fast as a stacked sensor (for that we would expect a 6ms sensor scan speed) and they keep the price to something like $1,800.
R7II at the price of the R6III would still have takers. Yes, it would be premium priced compared to the current R7, so there would still need to be something in that range as well. But a stacked high MP R7 II would be attractive to birders and others who want the pixel density and fast readout speed. If Canon does a stacked APS-C sensor, the big question will be at what resolution.
nightnight wrote:
Between this, D500 successor, and the next A6xxx camera, online rumor sites have predicted 40 of the last 3 APS-C releases.
As always, hopeful, but not expectant.
I have to wonder, sometimes, if some rumors aren't started by the camera companies themselves, to gauge interest.
The R6 III shows (heck, the R5 showed it too) that you can have a reasonably fast readout speed without a stacked sensor.
And, of course, a lot of it is speculation. Camera companies put out test units, probably more than we know, and word of that does leak. Friend tells a friend, pretty soon, it's a rumor, but it's a rumor of a test camera that will never see production.
My biggest beef with the R7, and it's most likely a physics constraint, is that the high ISO isn't cleaner. Yes, we can clean up images a great deal with newer noise reduction software, but each of those removes some detail and/or replaces with AI-based "guesstimates" of what each pixel should be. Not terrible, but it detracts from the fidelity of the original capture.
Tom_W wrote:
I have to wonder, sometimes, if some rumors aren't started by the camera companies themselves, to gauge interest.
Oh, for sure. I think it's pretty self-evidently true that a lot of the posts on rumor sites are explicitly "leaked" from the companies themselves, as a sort of advanced marketing push ahead of the actual announcement. Maybe not so much stuff like the endless APS-C speculation, but when you hear about the launch of the Nikon Zf or the Canon R6V six weeks in advance of the actual announcement, and that "leak" has the announcement time and a complete spec listing, those are almost certainly coming directly from the respective marketing departments.
Tom_W wrote:
I have to wonder, sometimes, if some rumors aren't started by the camera companies themselves, to gauge interest.
The R6 III shows (heck, the R5 showed it too) that you can have a reasonably fast readout speed without a stacked sensor.
And, of course, a lot of it is speculation. Camera companies put out test units, probably more than we know, and word of that does leak. Friend tells a friend, pretty soon, it's a rumor, but it's a rumor of a test camera that will never see production.
My biggest beef with the R7, and it's most likely a physics constraint, is that the high ISO isn't cleaner. Yes, we can clean up images a great deal with newer noise reduction software, but each of those removes some detail and/or replaces with AI-based "guesstimates" of what each pixel should be. Not terrible, but it detracts from the fidelity of the original capture. ...Show more →
Does it need to be stacked? Depends.
I have successfully used the R6II to photograph sports in e-shutter and depending on the sport, you'd have to look pretty hard, or evaluate entire sequences, to pinpoint rolling shutter distortion. But hands down, the R5II is the better camera for this type of work because of the benefits a stacked sensor brings - faster responsiveness/AF without as noticeable EVF disruptions (lag, jitters, blackouts). The R5II is simply a smoother, more enjoyable experience photographing action.
Canon doesn't absolutely need to make the R7II stacked. If they can get it to the current R6II/R6III readout speeds it will be a very welcome improvement over the original. But... stacked would make it just that much better. Yes, there'd be noise tradeoffs, opinions about which will be subjective. My preference is always for more in-camera speed/performance and am willing to trade away some DR and/or high ISO noise performance, assuming it will only be roughly a half or 2/3-stop penalty.
