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DXOMark: Pentax K-1 and Nikon D800E Sensors Outdo Sony a99 II

Chris Gampat
No Comments
12/01/2016
2 Mins read
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The Sony a99 II has pretty much the same sensor that’s inside the Sony a7r II, but for some odd reason cameras with older sensors appear to outdo it according to the latest DXOMark scores. While Sony clearly beats out Phase One and Canon, both Pentax and Nikon outdo the a99 II’s sensor. The Sony a99 II has a 43.6MP sensor while both the Nikon and Pentax house what’s likely the same 36MP full frame sensor. All of the sensors are honestly good, but it’s a bit insane the newer sensor isn’t outdoing the old. Maybe it’s the processor.

In terms of pure image quality, this means that your older camera is surely holding up in the case of the Nikon. But when you consider Pentax, you’re also getting the same results. Where Sony is most likely to take the cake though is with the new autofocusing system. When we joined other journalists and bloggers out on a press trip to Austin, Texas we found the Sony a99 II to be incredibly fast to focus. We also gave it a bit of a torture test at Photokina earlier this year and even with an f1.4 lens, it was able to accurately track a moving subject.

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Photographers that have been wanting to get into Sony’s camera system but that shoot really fast moving subjects may want to go for the Sony a99 II. But when it comes to pure image quality, it’s questionable whether or not the Sony a99 II is really what you need depending on the type of subject matter you’re shooting.

All of this though brings up an even bigger question: did Sony really need to create this camera? It’s very clear that DSLRs are on their way out and lots of bloggers and journalists complained about how large and weighty the cameras and kits were. Mirrorless cameras like the company’s Sony a7r II are becoming more and more standard overall at least amongst high end enthusiasts and semi-professionals. Lots of people don’t need the craziest, fastest autofocusing out there. They just need to be able to get the subject most of the time in fair lighting. As it is, the Sony a7r II and the Sony a7s II have very good autofocus capabilities. With that said though, we’re sure that the Sony a99 II is going to be quite a workhorse for many photographers out there.

dxo mark Nikon D800E Pentax K-1 ratings sony a7r II Sony A7s II sony a99 II
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Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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