If you think the 5-megapixel sensor found on the iPhone 4 is good, wait till you see the camera found on the next iPhone — it’s reportedly going to be a 8-megapixel sensor made by Sony. The Street wrote back in 2010 that the next version of the iPhone to arrive in 2011 would pack an 8-megapixel Sony sensor rather than the 5-megapixel OmniVision one found in the current phone, and Sony’s CEO Howard Stringer seems to have confirmed that today in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Read the rest of this entry »
This Science Channel “How Its Made” segment shows the manufacturing process for CCD semiconductors, which are the sensors found in many digital cameras. For the difference between CCD and CMOS, check out this How Stuff Works article.
Sigma isn’t planning to let EVIL cameras have all the large-sensor fun. They’ve decided to stuff their new DP2x compact camera with a Foveon X3 sensor — similar to the ones found in the Sigma SD15 and SD1 DSLR cameras (about 12 times larger than traditional compact camera sensors). The camera is capable of capturing 14 megapixels worth of data with its stack of three sensors, generating 4.7 megapixel photographs. It also shoots RAW, lacks HD recording (video clips are a paltry 320×240), has a non-zoomable 24.2mm f/2.8 lens, has ISO 100 to 3200, and has a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The company has yet to announce how big of a hole the DP2x will chew in our wallets, or when it’ll be available.
Tech analysis company Chipworks recently did a teardown of the Nikon D7000, and confirmed that the 16.2 megapixel APS-C sensor within is manufactured by Sony (the IMX071 to be exact). This is likely the exact same sensor used by Sony in the A55 translucent mirror camera and the A580 DSLR.
To see what a Nikon 7000 looks like blown up tore down, check out the in-depth analysis.
DXOMark.com just published their review of the Pentax K-5 sensor, finding that it was superior to every other APS-C sensor they’ve tested:
No need for suspense: this new 16.3 MP sensor is simply the best APS-C we have tested so far, sometimes able to compete even with very high-end full-frame cameras.
The overall score of the K5 puts it in the lead with 82 points — more than 9 points better than the D90 or the Alpha 55, and 16 points ahead of the Canon 7D or 60D. The K5 is literally the best APS-C performer for each segment, even in low ISO.
It was only at the beginning of the year that the megapixel race for cell phone cameras hit 14.6 megapixels, but now Sony has unveiled a 16.41 back-illuminated CMOS sensor that can shoot 15 frames per second at full resolution, and is capable of HD video recording (30fps at 1080p and 60fps at 720p). Read the rest of this entry »
Future generations of photographers may one day look back and wonder why we often blinded each other with painfully bright flashes of light for the sake of proper exposure.
NYU researchers Dilip Krishnan and Rob Fergus are working on a dark flash that eliminates the “dazzle” effect of regular flashes in a low-light room. They’ve created this camera rig that combines common infrared photography techniques with an ultraviolet flash that produces a dim purple glow instead.
The team placed an infrared filter on the lens of the Fujifilm S5 Pro, which is has a modified CCD sensor that specializes in IR and UV photography. To supplement existing UV light, the team created a modified filter on an external flash to emit only UV and IR wavelengths. Read the rest of this entry »
A week ago Canon announced the development of a APS-H CMOS sensor that delivers a staggering 120 megapixels. Not content with ruling the megapixel race, they’ve just announced a physically gigantic sensor — the largest CMOS sensor in the world.
In the photo above, the sensor is shown next to a standard 35mm full frame sensor. The thing measures 202 x 205 mm (or 7.95 x 8.07 inches), or 40 times the size of current sensors, and is extremely sensitive. It can supposedly record 60fps video under moonlight. Potential applications of this kind of sensor include capturing the night sky and documenting nocturnal animal behavior, though (like the 120MP sensor) you probably shouldn’t expect this to hit the consumer market anytime in the near or semi-distant future.
Sony dropped quite an announcement today with its new pellicle mirror DSLRs, but Canon doesn’t want us to forget that they have announcements coming up as well.
They released an (semi-meaningless) announcement of their own today: the development of a 120-megapixel APS-H sensor that can handle HD-video recording and 9.5fps shooting. This is the same sensor size found in the 1D line of DSLRs. But get this — they have no plans for actually producing this sensor in a camera anytime soon.
Thus, even though this is pretty interesting news that was widely reported today, it appears that this was some sort of clever scheme devised by Canon’s marketing department to steal some thunder from Sony’s pellicle mirror news. Lets see if Canon can match it when they release their new camera on August 26th.
We all know pointing your DSLR directly at the sun for extended periods of time isn’t too healthy for your sensor, but what about laser lights like the ones used at concerts? Turns out those can be even more lethal for your camera, even with very brief exposures.
Here are two videos shot with DSLR cameras that show a laser briefly passing over the camera and damaging the sensor permanently. Both were shot with Canon 5D Mark II cameras:
Sony dropped quite an announcement today with its 
