Canon Develops 8 X 8 Inch Digital CMOS Sensor 209
dh003i writes "Canon has developed a 8 x 8 inch CMOS digital sensor. It will be able to capture an image with 1/100th the light intensity required by a DSLR and will be able to record video at 60 fps in lighting half the intensity of moonlight. There are already many excellent quality lenses designed to cover 8 x 10 inches, although Canon may develop some of their own designed specifically for their requirements."
Telescopes (Score:2, Interesting)
There is currently no information about the sensor's resolution.
Darn, that was my biggest question. Low light photography has always been one of my interests, so I would have a lot of fun with a camera based on this technology :D ... Actually, I'd be rather keen to have a try making my own... Maybe that's for another day though. ;)
Re:no resolution (Score:1, Interesting)
even 640 by 480 would be pretty amazing if it was low-noise, 60 FPS, in moonlight.
I can't be arsed to post-process everything like NASA can.
Shutter speed (Score:3, Interesting)
"It will be able to capture an image with 1/100th the light intensity required by a DSLR"
I'm reading that as ultra fast shutter speeds being available for fast moving photography. Cool.
Re:Shutter speed (Score:3, Interesting)
Nikon d3s (35mm size sensor) can currently do up to 102400 ISO and produce usable images.
Can anyone tell me why this wouldn't be used with an electronic shutter if ultra high speed photography was the goal?
Re:Telescopes (Score:3, Interesting)
Things *have* changed in recent times. Nikon introduced a 35mm-frame DSLR about two years ago, the D3, and now has four fullframe models that are just astounding in low-light performance. The D3S is the best of them: see dpreview's review at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond3s/page33.asp [dpreview.com] .
The D700 I mentioned above is their affordable fullframe model: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond700/page32.asp [dpreview.com]
Re:back to old style camera sizes? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ansel Adams used various format camera's throughout his long career. Everything from a 35mm up to and including the Polaroid 20x24 inch instant camera which he had hauled up a mountain in Yosemite to take photographs as at the time he was on retainer from Polaroid.
His favorite was an 8 x 10 view. I know this because I was very privileged to meet the master in 1980 and actually asked him.
To be honest I am not sure what he would think of all the new tools there are to take photographs. Much of his magic occurred in the darkroom as he meticulously used his masterful understanding of printing and printing chemistry to create breathtaking images that to this day have not been surpassed in my opinion.
I have been a shutterbug since the early seventies and I am really not sure if you can duplicate the incredible subtleness of being able to alter the print developer just so so to render a more striking contrast or to bring out the very subtle shadow detail. I mean it is close, but I don't think it is there yet, just as digital has still yet to achieve the pure gradients that film provides so readily.