Interview With Kenji Tanaka, Head of Sony ILC Business

An interview with Sony's head of their ILC business that was originally posted on Imaging Resource has surfaced over at Sony Addict, as it appears Imaging Resource pulled it for whatever reason.

It's an interesting interview, as it really gives you a good idea about Sony's philosophy on growing the mirrorless camera space.

Sony Addict broke down the major points of the interview:

• Some sensors are reserved for Sony (Maybe this is why no one else is using their 42MP Full Frame sensor)
• Sony invested billions in sensor technology and lenses
• The Full Frame market is the most stable, but Sony wants to grow it slowly
• “Before 42 megapixels… nobody needed such a resolution……but right now, people enjoy 42-megapixel cameras.”
• “Now we are focused on three essential factors. One is of course the resolution, and another is the sensitivity, and third is the speed.”
• Sports shooters target one millisecond in time so they might enjoy shooting 100-120fps
• There is room for AF speed and intelligence improvement
• Nikon/Canon use two systems for AF so their system can’t be intelligent. Our system can be intelligent because our sensor manages the AF.
• AF and Exposure could benefit from Intelligence (AI)
• The real advantage of mirrorless is direct information not the lack of a mirror.
• An early problem with mirrorless was getting the data off the chip fast enough. Now the problem is interpreting all the data.
• Sony a7RII mainly brought in customers form other systems, but Sony hopes to grow the ILC market beyond current DSLR/ILC users.
• “I have said, too, that amateurs, people who don’t consider themselves photographers, like moms and dads, they need more advanced technology than the pros, because they’re the ones who more than anything need smart cameras and intelligent sensors. So maybe that will come.”
• Full frame is their primary area
• The price difference between Full Frame and APS-C could get closer together with time.
• “I want to show our technology. The technology can change the future. Right now, I think American people still think the DSLR structure with mirror and shutter is best. But the technology can change that kind of way. And I think only Sony can do it. So I want to explain why the future is changing. And sensor is one aspect, and the lens is another one. Of course, intelligence is another aspect, but there are many technologies we have, so these things I want to tell your users. And of course [by combining] these technologies we create new cameras. So I want to show you the new camera…mirrorless can take a photo that the even professional DSLRs couldn’t capture.”

You can head over the Sony Addict for a cached version of the entire interview.