Sony’s Sweep Panorama technology, the feature it first introduced on the HX1 back in March 2009, has now become a standard feature in almost all Sony cameras be they compact, DSLR, EVIL or SLT cameras.
Yesterday, Sony announced four cameras — five if you count the A55 variant — namely the SLT A55, SLT A55V, SLT A33 and the DSLRs A580 and A560. The A55 and A55V are the same camera except that the A55V has a built-in GPS.
SLT or DSLR?
A quick note on the numbering convention of cameras announced yesterday: cameras with three digits in the names are traditional DSLRs while those with two digits are Sony’s newer breed of SLT cameras or “Single Lens Translucent” cameras, meaning, instead of using a mirror that reflexes light, these cameras use translucent mirror that allows light to pass through the mirror to reach the sensor.
Sony says: “Translucent Mirror Technology uses a fixed, translucent mirror that ‘splits’ the optical pathway between the main image sensor and a separate phase-detection autofocus sensor”. It’s most important use will be in allowing the camera to use phase-detection focusing while shooting videos as well as in shooting rapid-moving objects in stills.
For more information on these cameras and the technology behind it, 1001NoisyCameras has compiled a comprehensive resources on where you can start looking.
Back to the Sweep Panorama, the only question left now is whether the technology will make its way further upward into Sony’s future full frame cameras, which, going by the trend, is very likely.
Back in August last year, we speculated about the possibility of the Sweep Panorama technology making its way upward and eventually become a standard feature in Sony DSLR.
It didn’t take very long for the speculation to come true; and better still, it’s not just the old Sweep Panorama, but a 3D Sweep Panorama. Here is a sample image of the Sweep Panorama taken with Sony SLT A55.
