lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Well, Chris T, I might have transiently confused the terms Pixel-Shift and Sensor-Shift with each other; but I just went over, again, the B&H article and its sales listing for the a7R iv; it mentions an "upgrade to the pixel-shift shooting mode ..." So I thank you for making this distinction.

Now that I think about it, I do remember that sensor-shift technology is the foundation of so-called Digital IS (as opposed to Optical IS,) employed in the the first Sony digital ILCs and then in their mirrorless full-frame line. Guess I either had a TIA or just wasn’t thinking.

Somebody on page 2 of July 17th posted something about "sensor shift" and I do not recall if this term was subsequently employed misused out of context, but does this mean that discussion of Sony’s sensor-shift technology is irrelevant to the posted topic?

My only goal is to seek a practical answer, if it is possible to know at this time.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

You didn’t offend me, Chris T. My expression was intended to convey both my confusion and lack of understanding as to how what you wrote is a successful retort to Bill de's apparent rebuke. That’s all. And thank you again for elaborating on the "-shift" concepts.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I don’t know how the Sony system works - I use Pentax, so I know what Pentax says - but I would expect the two systems to be similar. My understanding is that the Pentax sensor ‘floats’ in a magnetic field, so their IBIS is an actual physical thing. Somehow they are able to control this ‘floating’ sensor, which how they provide other neat things, such as leveling the horizon and pixel shift by actually moving the physical sensor.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Bill de - goes out of his way, whenever possible - to retort to my comments - ANYWHERE on this Forum - in as rude a manner to me, as he can possibly muster. When he first interfered on this thread - he was acting as the UHH Police (of which, there IS none) to try and get us back on track - since the conversation - between me and RE, particularly - had turned away from Sony, to Pentax. But, since Pentax was the first brand of APS-C to initiate the Pixel-Shift technology Sony has now adopted in its 61MP MILC - it's natural we developed into a few observations about that. Had Bill de bothered to go back in the thread to see why it went that way, he would have seen for himself, but, he never bothers to read back more than 3 comments!

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Lev - not entirely irrelevant, but it IS a different element of the same concept - in a sense - which governs both. Sensor-Shift Technology has been with us, for quite some time, ever since Olympus first used it. They are now up to 6.5 stops of IBIS in their latest EM1X … which is really quite astonishing!!! But, Sony has also used IBIS to various degrees in their FF MILCs, and their SLTs, and the 5-axis version is now in their latest FF MILC models, as well as in the FF a99 II SLT, AND in their compact a6500 MILC. But, this new Pixel-Shift Technology - has nothing to do with Sensor-Shift - in that it acts independently of it - in order to attain greater resolution when using HDR, or Stacking Techniques - with a limitation of four exposures being applied at slightly different registration - thus improving on the overall composition. Pentax was the first APS-C brand to use this, in their now discontinued K-3 II, but, they have since also used it in all their later models, including the advanced KP, the entry-level K-70, and the Pro K-1 / K-1 II.

So, it is only natural this thread should embrace both Pentax and Sony, as the latter company has now decided to incorporate Pentax's Pixel-Shift technology into their new 61MP FF MILC - which, I assume - will also have the 5-axis Sensor-Shift Technology now in their top-of-the-line models (a9, a99, a6500, etc)

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Perhaps, RE … but, I do have that "floating" Horizon Leveler action going on in both of my a77 models - and they don't have the newer 5-axis IBIS - just the older style (up/down, and lateral) so, I am not too sure that's all connected. But, this is not to knock the Pentax system - they have achieved a remarkable feat. I'm only surprised other camera manufacturers have not picked up on this, sooner. It's no surprise Sony has become the first "adoptee" - since it was them who first came up with Sensor-Shift Technology - although, they well may have "borrowed" it - to some degree - from Olympus. They ALL worked together, to a degree.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Here’s a review from Imaging Resource (IR) released today with a 13m55s video. No, I personally have not viewed this video at this time, though its accompanying text appears to list most, if not all, of its features.

https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/sony-a7r-iv/sony-a7r-ivA.HTM?utm_source=Imaging+Resource+Newsletter&utm_campaign=78a0b57291-2017_12_11_newsletter_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_21bbde8306-78a0b57291-83856281#interview

The following is a modestly abridged quote of the text from today’s IR e-newsletter with respect to this camera and video.

The video is from Jaron Schneider, who was on-site at the recent Sony A7R Mark IV product announcement in New York; he sat down with a couple of managers from Sony to discuss some of the design factors and features of this new high-resolution full-frame camera, including Sony's addressing the camera's “missing features."

Imaging Resource decided to take some of the internet's loudest complaints about the new camera directly to Sony for this exclusive on-camera interview. Sony's latest full-frame mirrorless camera has many new features over its predecessor, but some critics have complained many long-time, highly-requested features are absent. Though it brings impressive autofocus features to a huge 61-megapixel sensor, it doesn't offer anything new on the video front, keeps the same chassis as the previous cameras, and doesn't use XQD/CFexpress among other complaints.

Rather than just guess why Sony decided to give the A7R Mark IV the features it did and didn't, IR decided to go straight to the source and let you know exactly why they made the decisions they did. Below is IR's exclusive interview video where both El-Dean Naude, the Sr. Product Information Manager in the Digital Imaging Division and Mark Weir, the Senior Technology Manager of Imaging Products and Solutions openly discuss some of the Alpha camera series' main points, giving insight into their design.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I’m thinking Sony owns XQD patent; interesting that they don’t use it on their own camera.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

I think Sony figured everyone would go rushing to the new format, as it was so much faster, and had a so much larger capacity. But, when that didn't happen - they decided not to push it, quite so much. The std. SD slot - now accepts cards which equal or surpass the speed of the XQD design, something very much in favor of the standard SD card and SD card slots. The XQD card, requires an XQD slot … which did not get embraced, across the board. Sony knows, when their new designs, don't quite cut it. So, they fold 'em up.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Why, thank you, Lev … this is very interesting. The Specs list for this new camera, are formidable, indeed:

"the A7R IV may look very familiar, but it includes numerous changes. The camera has enhanced dust and moisture resistance, a redesigned grip, a new 5.76M-dot UXGA OLED electronic viewfinder and a revised control layout.

61-megapixel full-frame BSI image sensor
15-stop dynamic range
Native ISO range of 100-32,000
567 phase-detect autofocus points
AI-based real-time eye-detect autofocus and subject tracking
26-megapixel APS-C mode with 325 PDAF points
Full-resolution continuous shooting with AF/AE at up to 10 frames per second
4K UHD video at up to 30 frames per second with real-time Eye AF
In-body 5-axis image stabilization promising up to 5.5 stops of stabilization
Can capture 240.8-megapixel images using Pixel Shift Multi Shooting
Revised camera design, including a redesigned front grip
Enhanced moisture and dust resistance
5.76-million dot OLED electronic viewfinder
Dual UHS-II card slots
Digital audio interface through enhanced Multi Interface Shoe"

... particularly, this line about its APS-C mode -

"26-megapixel APS-C mode with 325 PDAF points"

Like having the best of ALL worlds, huh? ... 61MP FF, and 26MP Crop Mode ... incredible!!!!!

I gather you can CHOOSE between 4-shot Pixel-Shift Mode, and 16-pic Pixel-Shift Mode. When using it - you wind up with 240MP images!!!! … That tops EVERYTHING, including ALL current MF Digital!!!!

Note: when using the 16-pic Pixel-Shift Mode - your images will equal 976MP resolution!!!!

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

No, when using 16 image Pixel Shift Mode, you end up with 240MP resolution. The half pixel steps in horizontal and vertical cause resolution to double in both directions equaling 240 MP.

But it is true that 16 images equals 976 MP's being recorded. But 976 MP is not resolution.

User ID

Freakin buzz killer }:-(
Revoke his account !

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Give him an account upgrade for speaking sense!!

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Semantics, Semantics, Jim …

The final tally - with 16-Pic Pixel Shift - is 976MP …