Sony Group Corporation, commonly known as Sony and stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional electronic products, the largest video game console company and the largest video game publisher. Through Sony Entertainment Inc, it is one of the largest music companies and the third largest film studio, making it one of the most comprehensive media companies. It is the largest technology and media conglomerate in Japan. It is also recognized as the most cash-rich Japanese company, with net cash reserves of ¥2 trillion.
A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
In photography, shutter lag is the delay between triggering the shutter and when the photograph is actually recorded. This is a common problem in the photography of fast-moving objects or animals and people in motion. The term narrowly refers only to shutter effects, but more broadly refers to all lag between when the shutter button is pressed and when the photo is taken, including metering and focus lag.
Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 31.15 mm field diameter. It is therefore also equivalent in size to the Super 35 motion picture film format, which has the dimensions of 24.89 mm × 18.66 mm and Ø 31.11 mm field diameter.
CineAlta cameras are a series of professional digital movie cameras produced by Sony that replicate many of the same features of 35mm film motion picture cameras.
SteadyShot is the trademarked name of the integrated image stabilisation technologies used in Sony video camcorders, DSLR cameras, mirrorless cameras and on Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets. Different versions of these technologies are known as Super SteadyShot (SSS) in Sony's Cyber-shot product line, in addition to SteadyShot INSIDE (SSI) and Optical SteadyShot (OSS) in the Sony α family.
A full-frame DSLR is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) with a 35 mm image sensor format. Historically, 35 mm was one of the standard film formats, alongside larger ones, such as medium format and large format. The full-frame DSLR is in contrast to full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, and DSLR and mirrorless cameras with smaller sensors, much smaller than a full 35 mm frame. Many digital cameras, both compact and SLR models, use a smaller-than-35 mm frame as it is easier and cheaper to manufacture imaging sensors at a smaller size. Historically, the earliest digital SLR models, such as the Nikon NASA F4 or Kodak DCS 100, also used a smaller sensor.
Sony α is a digital camera system introduced on 5 June 2006. It uses and expands upon Konica Minolta camera technologies, including the Minolta AF SLR lens mount, whose assets were acquired by Sony after the end of Konica Minolta's photography operations in early 2006. Sony also has an 11.08% ownership stake in Japanese lens manufacturer Tamron, which is known to have partnered with Konica Minolta and Sony in the design and manufacture of many zoom lenses.
BIONZ is a line of image processors used in Sony digital cameras.
iISO flash shoe is the unofficial name for the proprietary accessory flash attachment and control interface used on Minolta cameras since the i-series introduced in 1988, and subsequently Konica Minolta and later Sony α DSLRs and NEX-7 up to 2012. Sony called it the Auto-lock Accessory Shoe (AAS). In order to speed up and enhance attachment, detachment and latching, it departs from the conventional circa-1913 mechanical design that is now standardized as ISO 518:2006 and used by other camera systems, including Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, and Leica.
A mirrorless camera is a photo camera featuring a single, removable lens and a digital display. The camera does not have a reflex mirror or optical viewfinder like a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, but may have an electronic viewfinder. Many mirrorless cameras retain a mechanical shutter. Like a DSLR, a mirrorless camera accepts any of a series of interchangeable lenses compatible with its lens mount.
The E-mount is a lens mount designed by Sony for their NEX and ILCE series of camcorders and mirrorless cameras. The E-mount supplements Sony's α mount, allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining compatibility with 35mm sensors. E-mount achieves this by:
The Sony α NEX-5 is a digital camera launched on 11 May 2010. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with the body size of a larger model fairly compact point-and-shoot camera with a larger sensor size (APS-C) comparable to that of some digital single-lens reflex cameras. Its major competitors in the market are the cameras based on the micro 4/3 standard created by Panasonic and Olympus, and a few low end Canon, Nikon, and even Sony α DSLRs. The NEX-5 shoots 14.2 megapixel stills and has a 7 frame/s continuous shotmode. It has the capability to shoot 1920×1080i at 60 frame/s in AVCHD or 1440×1080p at 30 frame/s in MPEG4. The NEX-5 was replaced by the 16 megapixel NEX-5N in August 2011.
The Sony α NEX-7 is a digital camera announced 24 August 2011 by Sony. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as such inherits a smaller body form factor than a traditional digital single-lens reflex camera, while still retaining the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized model. It is targeted at experienced users, enthusiasts and professionals. It is replaced by the ILCE-6000 (α6000).
In Sony digital cameras, the acronym ILCE stands for "Interchangeable Lens Camera with E-mount". In August 2013, Sony announced the first model of the ILCE mirrorless camera with E-mount, electronic viewfinder, contrast-detection autofocus and Multi Interface Shoe, the ILCE-3000. In October 2013, two full-frame E-mount cameras were announced, the ILCE-7 and ILCE-7R.
The Sony α7, α7R, α7S and α7C are four closely related families of full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras. The first two were announced in October 2013, the third in April 2014 and the fourth in September 2020. They are Sony's first full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and share the E-mount with the company's smaller sensor NEX series.
The Sony α6000 is a digital camera announced 12 February 2014. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC), which has a smaller body form factor than a traditional DSLR while retaining the sensor size and features of an APS-C-sized model. It is targeted at professionals, experienced users, and enthusiasts. It replaced the NEX-6 and NEX-7. Review websites note that although the α6000 uses a 24 MP sensor like the Sony NEX-7, the Sony α6000 can also be seen as more of a replacement of the Sony NEX-6. In the Firmware version 1.10, an android subsystem was added. The sub system was used to run Sony's apps.
The Sony NEX-C3 is a digital camera announced 8 June 2011. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with a compact form factor and APS-C size image sensor. The Sony camera was manufactured in Black, Silver, and Pink. This camera was unfairly compared against later models such as the NEX-5R using a body only weight of 225g compared the NEX-5R battery and card inclusive weight of 276g, which lead to the mistaken claim that the NEX-C3 was 51g lighter. The camera was later replaced by the NEX-F3.
The Sony α5000, is a rangefinder-styled digital mirrorless system camera announced by Sony on 7 January 2014. Since it includes near field communication and Wi-Fi, Sony billed it as "the world's lightest interchangeable lens camera" with Wi-Fi. It has been succeeded by the Sony α5100.
