Here’s a cross section view of the consumer light field camera unveiled by Lytro yesterday. Many people have been wondering about the camera’s output resolution. The official specs are enigmatic in this regard, as the resolution isn’t listed in megapixels (it boasts “11 Megarays”). If the diagram is to scale, however, we can learn a little about the sensor’s size. The camera is listed as being 41mm tall, so the sensor appears to be between 7.5×7.5mm and 10.5×10.5mm — roughly the size of a Fujifilm X10 sensor.

Update: Photographer Jim Goldstein did his own calculations can guesses that the photos are equivalent to 1-2 megapixels.

CAPA magazine over in Japan asked some professionals in the camera industry to speculate on the rumored Nikon D4 and D900 DSLR cameras, and came up with some concept drawings for what the cameras might look like based on the information gathered. Their imaginary Nikon D4 packs a full-frame 18MP sensor, ISO 51200, 11fps burst mode, a tilting LCD screen, built-in Wi-Fi, and a 51-point cross-type autofocus system.
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There was a rumor circulating today that Sony was potentially an acquisition target of Apple, which has $51 billion in cash lying around waiting to be used. Shares of Sony were up nearly 3 percent at one point before the rumors were quashed by analysts. If Apple did somehow acquire Sony in the future, it would bring the company back into the digital camera market that the company explored and then abandoned back in the 90s. However, it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll see an Apple Alpha DSLR anytime soon.

Another photo-related company that’s being mentioned as an acquisition target: Adobe.

(via Reuters)

The Internet was abuzz yesterday due to a secret meeting at Adobe’s offices between the head honchos of Microsoft (Steve Ballmer) and Adobe (Shantanu Narayen). The New York Times reports:

The meeting, which lasted more than an hour, covered a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could team up in the battle against Apple. A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options.

Whoa. Acquisition. That’s a pretty deal. So big, in fact, that the rumor drove Adobe’s stock price up 11.5% yesterday, adding about $1.5 billion to their market cap.
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Nikon’s President Makoto Kimura did an interview with Reuters a couple days ago in which he stated that Nikon is trying to develop a camera that creates a new camera market.

A lot of companies make bold claims about their upcoming products “changing photography forever”, but the products usually don’t deliver much beyond increased megapixels, improvements in quality, and flashier specs. Sony actually succeeded in changing the landscape of DSLRs recently with their new pellicle mirror cameras.

In addition to Nikon, Pentax is also rumored to be developing a camera that is unlike any existing camera on the market.

Here’s the specific quote made by Kimura,

We want to propose another type of photography. I don’t think there is any need to limit it to two categories. We want to create a new market.

Let’s put on our thinking caps. What do you think these companies might have up their sleeves? Can you think of anything they might be building that might actually change the digital camera industry?

Nikon says preparing camera to create ‘new market’ (via Nikon Rumors)

Sony has been quite mum with regards to their upcoming ultra-compact camera. However, they’ve begun releasing some teasers to give us a better idea of what’s to come, including the above YouTube video and the following screenshots of the touchscreen interface:

Here’s what we know about the system so far:

It will be an interchangeable lens system boasting a DSLR quality sensor and HD video recording capability. Controlling the camera settings and features will mostly be done through a large, touchscreen LCD interface on the back. The camera will support both RAW and JPEG modes.

Now onto speculation…

Based on the concept camera shown at PMA, and the camera icon shown in the screenshots, it looks as if the camera will have a traditional point-and-shoot design, rather than the mini-DSLR design many micro four-thirds cameras are going for. Also, the camera will likely use MemoryStick memory cards (based on the MS-shaped icon in the screenshot).

Is there anything else you can deduce from the screenshots Sony released?

(via PhotographyBLOG)

Based on patents recently filed with the United States Patent Office, Canon seems to be working on technologies that could have a huge impact on how you photograph.

Since these are simply patent applications, there’s no guarantee the technology will find its way into cameras anytime soon. However, it’s interesting to see what the camera corps are working on and what we might expect sometime further down the road:

Viewfinder LCD

One of the developments is the introduction of a small LCD screen in the viewfinder, separate from the live, optical view. In the images from the patent application shown above, you can see the LCD view above the traditional optical view and information bar on the right.

This means you can keep your camera pressed to your face while shooting, reviewing prior images on the in-viewfinder LCD rather than the LCD on the back of the body. If you constantly pull the camera away from your face to review what you just shot, this feature might give you an extra boost in productivity.

Sensor-based Stabilization

Another interesting thing found by Photography Bay in the patent application for the in-viewfinder LCD is the mention of an in-camera image stabilization feature.

This is interesting to note due to the fact that Canon and Nikon have long advocated image stabilization and vibration reduction built into lenses rather than camera bodies, even while other DSLR-makers (i.e. Sony) have offered stabilization built into bodies via sensor shift technologies.

Will we see Canon and/or Nikon introducing sensor shift stabilization soon? This would be a big deal, since it would instantly improve the performance of non-IS/VR lenses.

Your Thoughts?

You can learn more by reading the patents yourself here: 20100003025 and 20100002109.

What do you think of these two features? Do you want them included in Canon/Nikon bodies, or would cameras be better off without them?

(via Photography Bay)