# Sony A9 rumor: unlimited RAW buffer



## ahsanford (Apr 7, 2016)

We presumed a higher-than-enthusiast A-brand mirrorless model was in the works, but we presumed it would tout crazy battery life, be built for war, have a proper grip for heavier glass, compete on the AF front with SLRs, etc.

Instead, the first rumor we get has nothing to do with competing with the 1DX II or D5's specs that we would have expected. They are touting an _endless buffer_, of all things:

Original article can't be linked as it's from a competitive rumor site. 

Petapixel fanning the flames of the same rumor: http://petapixel.com/2016/04/07/sony-a9-dslr-like-camera-unlimited-raw-burst-report/

- A


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## Antono Refa (Apr 7, 2016)

How do people live with a puny raw buffer that runs out under 20 seconds?

Clearly anything under 30 minutes is unacceptable, preferably at 25fps or higher.


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## ahsanford (Apr 7, 2016)

Antono Refa said:


> How do people live with a puny raw buffer that runs out under 20 seconds?
> 
> Clearly anything under 30 minutes is unacceptable, preferably at 25fps or higher.



Sony folks want their timelapse videos captured and played back at real time. 

- A


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## J.R. (Apr 7, 2016)

Hope it comes with an unlimited battery cause the current ones just won't cut it :-X


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## ahsanford (Apr 7, 2016)

J.R. said:


> Hope it comes with an unlimited battery cause the current ones just won't cut it :-X



Oh yeah. There's complimentary scoop of irony included with every purchase -- that unlimited buffer lasts as long as their batteries do.

- A


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## IglooEater (Apr 7, 2016)

ahsanford said:


> J.R. said:
> 
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> > Hope it comes with an unlimited battery cause the current ones just won't cut it :-X
> ...



You beat me to it.. . But seriously, what is Sony battery life expectancy? I've heard through the branches around 350 shots. Is that accurate? If so, big deal about buffer size. :. At 10 fps were talking 35 seconds of battery life. Lol


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## LDS (Apr 7, 2016)

ahsanford said:


> They are touting an _endless buffer_



Which looks like no buffer at all - if the card is fast enough, just write there 

I wonder if no one ever thought about using two channels to write to two fast cards alternating them - you need a processor each to handle the data transfer, but the overall speed should be higher.


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## tpatana (Apr 7, 2016)

ahsanford said:


> J.R. said:
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> > Hope it comes with an unlimited battery cause the current ones just won't cut it :-X
> ...



Reminds me of the review for Veyron. Dude was blasting some 400km/h at a test track, and was saying that at such speed the tires last only 15 minutes but that's not a problem since the gas tank lasts only 12.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 7, 2016)

There is always a limit, nothing is infinite.

My 40D had a unlimited buffer, I could hold down the shutter button all day long until the card filled up. At least at the low speed.

Unlimited needs to be put in context. How many FPS with AF for each image?


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## Sharlin (Apr 7, 2016)

Antono Refa said:


> How do people live with a puny raw buffer that runs out under 20 seconds?
> 
> Clearly anything under 30 minutes is unacceptable, preferably at 25fps or higher.



I see what you did there.


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## RGF (Apr 7, 2016)

Sharlin said:


> Antono Refa said:
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> 
> > How do people live with a puny raw buffer that runs out under 20 seconds?
> ...



at what resolution? 4K video resolution. we already have that ;D


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## bardamu (Apr 8, 2016)

AC adaptor and a few 10m extension cables - I'm good to go.

And for wildlife, a portable generator. Hope it doesn't spook off the animals too bad.


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## LDS (Apr 8, 2016)

bardamu said:


> And for wildlife, a portable generator. Hope it doesn't spook off the animals too bad.



Just use solar panels, less noisy. It has to be a sunny day, though


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## AvTvM (Apr 8, 2016)

Looking forward to a really great Sony A9 that drives the final nail into mirrorslapper's coffin. ;D


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## ahsanford (Apr 8, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> Looking forward to a really great Sony A9 that drives the final nail into mirrorslapper's coffin. ;D



I'm sure they'll blast all the specs up to 11, but what new/'pro' features will it get?

Do you expect an integral grip? Is this to be their 1-series?

- A


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## AvTvM (Apr 8, 2016)

ahsanford said:


> AvTvM said:
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> > Looking forward to a really great Sony A9 that drives the final nail into mirrorslapper's coffin. ;D
> ...



Hopefully NOT. Integrated grip is absolutely stupid. Attachable is the intelligent solution. If designed "really right", of course. 

But we shall see if/when/what Sony delivers. Also important: if they'll charge 1DX prices for an A9 ... then good luck.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 8, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> Integrated grip is absolutely stupid. Attachable is the intelligent solution. If designed "really right", of course.



Attachable = flex = vibration on tripod = blur. Attachable = removable to eliminate vibration on tripod = cumbersome and annoying. Yeah, sounds smart. :


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## AvTvM (Apr 8, 2016)

neuroanatomist said:


> AvTvM said:
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> > Integrated grip is absolutely stupid. Attachable is the intelligent solution. If designed "really right", of course.
> ...



bullsh*t. Attachable grip done *really right* means NO FLEX whatsoever. Just a few nooks and crannies in the right places. Just because Canon so far has not been able to deliver this, does not mean it is difficult to get it right. 

And *really right* also means: Arca-grooves *integrated* into bottom of every camera and every attachable grip. Canon was stupid enough not to figure that one out either. 

Also *in real practice* when shooting using tripod: 
a) if longer lenses are used where flex would be a problem due to more torque, those lenses are attached with tripod ring/foot. 
b) for shorter lenses, landscape, astro stuff ... even a little flex is a non-issue if one just waits a bit until the system has settled down before triggering the shutter. 

In my practice I've never had "flex-induced" issues with attachable vertical grips, even the 50 bucks grip from China on my 5D 3. [It did cause electronics problems, however, so I discarded it].


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## 3kramd5 (Apr 8, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> neuroanatomist said:
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You're proposing an arca-style joint to attach a grip to a body?

Mkay


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## Skatol (Apr 8, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> And *really right* also means: Arca-grooves *integrated* into bottom of every camera and every attachable grip. Canon was stupid enough not to figure that one out either.


I agree that I wish there was a standard but there currently is not. Manfroto has at least 2 mounts that are not Arca compatible. Are those users supposed to ditch their heads and convert because Canon was too stupid to integrate an Arca-groove into the base of the camera and grip? How would one mount the grip to the camera?


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 8, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> bullsh*t. Attachable grip done *really right* means NO FLEX whatsoever. Just a few nooks and crannies in the right places. Just because Canon so far has not been able to deliver this, does not mean it is difficult to get it right.
> 
> And *really right* also means: Arca-grooves *integrated* into bottom of every camera and every attachable grip. Canon was stupid enough not to figure that one out either.



Lol, sure. Just a nook and cranny or two, that'll work. : It would need to _fully interlock_ for 'no flex'. Let us know when Sony overcomes the laws of Newtonian physics concerning eccentric loads and vibration in a system where most high quality lenses are much heavier than those small, light cameras of which you're so enamored. 

Of course, Sony should come out with your *really right* grip not too long after they launch YOUR PERFECT camera...which is scheduled for the 6th Tuesday in May of the year when pigs fly over snowbanks in Hell. ;D


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## The Supplanter (Apr 8, 2016)

tpatana said:


> Reminds me of the review for Veyron. Dude was blasting some 400km/h at a test track, and was saying that at such speed the tires last only 15 minutes but that's not a problem since the gas tank lasts only 12.





neuroanatomist said:


> Of course, Sony should come out with your *really right* grip not too long after they launch YOUR PERFECT camera...which is scheduled for the 6th Tuesday in May of the year when pigs fly over snowbanks in Hell. ;D



Ha! Funny people on CR. ;D


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## ahsanford (Apr 8, 2016)

3kramd5 said:


> You're proposing an arca-style joint to attach a grip to a body?
> 
> Mkay



Far be it from me to speak on someone else's behalf, but I _think_ AvTvM meant this as a general value-add feature and not as a grip-attachment feature -- eliminating the need for L-plates, body plates, etc. by baking them into the design of the camera and grip itself has some merit, provided you don't need the grippy bits the arca mount would carve into.

This 100% would work on the camera bottom, but the standard grip and modular vertical grip would suffer from this, I think.

- A


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## 3kramd5 (Apr 8, 2016)

ahsanford said:


> 3kramd5 said:
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> 
> > You're proposing an arca-style joint to attach a grip to a body?
> ...



Possibly/probably, however his reply was in context of designing a detachable grip which doesn't allow more flex than the camera body itself.


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## 9VIII (Apr 8, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> neuroanatomist said:
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There is no such thing. A tripod made out of a solid block of cement will still allow less vibration than anything on the market, there is no such thing as overbuilt with this subject. There is certainly "very good" and "acceptable for most people", but as soon as you start throwing around statements like "no flex whatsoever" then you've automatically lost the argument.


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## 3kramd5 (Apr 9, 2016)

9VIII said:


> AvTvM said:
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Sony A-X: comes with an unlimited buffer and an infinitely stiff tripod mount.


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## tpatana (Apr 9, 2016)

9VIII said:


> AvTvM said:
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> > neuroanatomist said:
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Many many years ago, we did this Michelson & Morley demo at local university once a year. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment )

Basically the system has couple mirrors reflecting laser beam, and it creates pattern on screen. One of the mirrors was fixed on a ~2-3 feet long railway steel beam (or something like one), and it was really easy to demonstrate that you can bend the beam with just press with your pinky.


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## Maui5150 (Apr 9, 2016)

I would be more impressed if Sonny came out with the never needs recharging battery or endless memory card.

Endless Buffer? Just means the resolution is not as high as it could be, or the FPS. 

Even space is ultimately likely finite


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## Aglet (Apr 9, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> neuroanatomist said:
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I can +1 that.
Only sloppy grips I've ever used were attached to my 40D and 7D; they didn't pre-load properly so flexed easily.
Even grips on my 350D and 450D were more rigid. My Fuji, Pentax and Nikon ones are pretty solid too.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 9, 2016)

Aglet said:


> AvTvM said:
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Oh, so 'pretty solid' = 'NO FLEX whatsoever'? Do your Fuji grips have nooks and crannies like a Thomas' English muffin? :


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## IglooEater (Apr 9, 2016)

Canon beefed up the tripod mount on the 5ds to prevent movement from there, so I have a hard time believing even the best of grips are perfectly stable. On the other hand, I'm betting even the integrated grip body is not perfectly stable. But it's very difficult to believe that adding 1 1/2 inches of mechanical advantage to a tripod mount that is already very slightly unstable can do anything but make the rig even more unstable.


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## AvTvM (Apr 9, 2016)

again, in real life any flex introduced by a well made detachable battery grip is a non-issue. 
* Long teles go on the tripod using their own tripod ring+foot, so flex on camera grip is totally irrelevant. 
* Shorter/WA lenses do not create a large amount of torque on the system. 
Give the system 2 seconds after you have framed the desired image, then trigger shutter. Especially, when mechanical shutter blades and slapping mirror plus submirrors are built into the light path of your chosen photon capturing device. 

"Grip flex" on detachable battery grips is definitely a minor worry .. in real life. Of course not so in Canon fanboy forum discussions with 1D-X owners enamorated with their bulky, huge and heavy camera hardware.  

But ... we digress from topic. Sony A9 it is. Hope it will come soon,. be really good and kick Canon and all mirrorslappers in the butt for good.


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## Don Haines (Apr 9, 2016)

There is no such thing as a detachable mount with no flex, but there is such a thing as a detachable mount with not enough flex to be significant.....

Your tripod flexes.... your tripod-head connection flexes... your tripod head flexes.... your head to camera connection flexes.... and your lens to camera mount flexes.... Your lens flexes, and so does the grip to camera mount. In the grand scheme of things, the grip to camera flex is dwarfed by tripod flex and head flex so it is generally insignificant..

As to vibration.... who boy! We have the mirror, pressing the shutter, and wind all making that camera vibrate. Adding a grip? It could make things worse (longer mechanical element) or it could make things better (more mass to dampen)... it all depends on the type of vibration. And by the way, even if your tripod, head, camera, grip, and lens were so insanely solid that they produced no vibration at all, then you have the ground you place it on to worry about... (there is a reason astronomers use vibration isolation pads  and why audiophiles do the same)


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## beforeEos Camaras (Apr 9, 2016)

Don Haines said:


> There is no such thing as a detachable mount with no flex, but there is such a thing as a detachable mount with not enough flex to be significant.....
> 
> Your tripod flexes.... your tripod-head connection flexes... your tripod head flexes.... your head to camera connection flexes.... and your lens to camera mount flexes.... and so does the grip to camera mount. In the grand scheme of things, the grip to camera flex is dwarfed by tripod flex and head flex so it is generally insignificant..
> 
> As to vibration.... who boy! We have the mirror, pressing the shutter, and wind all making that camera vibrate. Adding a grip? It could make things worse (longer mechanical element) or it could make things better (more mass to dampen)... it all depends on the type of vibration. And by the way, even if your tripod, head, camera, grip, and lens were so insanely solid that they produced no vibration at all, then you have the ground you place it on to worry about... (there is a reason astronomers use vibration isolation pads  and why audiophiles do the same)



+1 love your reply


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 9, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> again, in real life any flex introduced by a well made detachable battery grip is a non-issue.
> 
> But ... we digress from topic. Sony A9 it is. Hope it will come soon,. be really good and kick Canon and all mirrorslappers in the butt for good.



Oh, so now you've changed your tune from NO FLEX whatsoever to some flex but not enough to matter. At least, not enough to matter to you, but that may depend more on your personal standards and tolerance for blur. 

Back on topic, is the Sony A9 the PERFECT CAMERA that will MEET YOUR EVERY NEED? Or will it yet again not suffice, leaving you dragging your big, heavy body around and slapping your little mirror all over the place? :


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## scyrene (Apr 9, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> But ... we digress from topic. Sony A9 it is. Hope it will come soon,. be really good and kick Canon and all mirrorslappers in the butt for good.



You inhabit such an obscure fantasy world that I wonder why others even bother to engage with the points you raise.


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## AvTvM (Apr 9, 2016)

scyrene said:


> AvTvM said:
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> > But ... we digress from topic. Sony A9 it is. Hope it will come soon,. be really good and kick Canon and all mirrorslappers in the butt for good.
> ...



Tone it down. No need to launch personal attacks. If u don't like what I write, just ignore it.


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## AvTvM (Apr 9, 2016)

neuroanatomist said:


> Back on topic, is the Sony A9 the PERFECT CAMERA that will MEET YOUR EVERY NEED? Or will it yet again not suffice, leaving you dragging your big, heavy body around and slapping your little mirror all over the place? :



I will definitely let you and the rest of the Canon Defense league here know, once a Sony A9 is out in the wild. Promised! ;D

PS: MY body is not big and heavy, oh no! Only Canon mirrorslappers are big, heavy and ugly.


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## scyrene (Apr 9, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> scyrene said:
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I don't think that's really a personal attack so much as my take on your outpourings. But fine. I do try to ignore you, but then you insist on repeating your monomania all over these forums...


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 9, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> PS: MY body is not big and heavy, oh no! Only Canon mirrorslappers are big, heavy and ugly.



Oh, my...it must embarrass you to carry one of those Canon bodies around. I hope you don't post pictures of you slapping your little mirror on the Internet!


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## AvTvM (Apr 9, 2016)

neuroanatomist said:


> AvTvM said:
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> > PS: MY body is not big and heavy, oh no! Only Canon mirrorslappers are big, heavy and ugly.
> ...



I do like taking pictures with my 5D 3 plus EF / L lenses. But i really hate lugging those clunkers along. that's why meanwhile 90% of my shots are captured with EOS M (1) and EF-M lenses. 5D 3 only comes aliong to planned shootings. Not to mountains. Not on city trips. Not on sailing turns. Really hoping that Sony will bring A9 and turn on the heat further on Canon, until Canon finally comes up with a really great, compact mirrorless FF system. Or if that's asking to much of Canon's geriatric executive ward, then at least a worthwhile EOS M4 "Pro". One does get humble and patient as a Canon Customer.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 9, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> Really hoping that Sony will bring A9 and turn on the heat further on Canon, until Canon finally comes up with a really great, compact mirrorless FF system. Or if that's asking to much of Canon's geriatric executive ward, then at least a worthwhile EOS M4 "Pro". One does get humble and patient as a Canon Customer.



Gee, it must really irk you that Canon knows so much more about selling ILCs than you do. :


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## sdsr (Apr 10, 2016)

AvTvM said:


> Really hoping that Sony will bring A9 and turn on the heat further on Canon, until Canon finally comes up with a really great, compact mirrorless FF system. Or if that's asking to much of Canon's geriatric executive ward, then at least a worthwhile EOS M4 "Pro". One does get humble and patient as a Canon Customer.



Your humility and patience are indeed inspiring.... You should hope, though, that the Sony A9 (or whatever they will call it), proves to be quite different from what the vocal contingent clamoring for such a thing at sonyalpharumors are asking for: a big, standard professional dslr-size camera, along the lines of the A99!


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## traveller (Apr 10, 2016)

A few days ago someone posted a question asking why people tend to drift away from this forum. I think the level of puerility, to which this thread has descended, answers that question. 

BTW -my dad's better than your dad and you smell of poop.


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