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Posts Tagged ‘sensor’

Rumor: Canon’s next mirrorless camera could have 45MP sensor with IBIS and possible 8K/30p video

29 Jan

Yesterday, Canon Rumors posted an interesting list of rumored specifications for a Canon mirrorless camera it believes will be called the EOS R5. Today, additional details have emerged, painting a picture of what would be an impressive mirrorless camera if the rumored specifications hold true.

According to Canon Rumors’ report, which was created with information shared via multiple, unrelated anonymous sources, the camera could feature a 45-megapixel sensor with in-body image stabilization and still frame rates up to 20 frames per second. Specifically, Canon Rumors claims the IBIS will offer five stops of image stabilization on its own and up to 7–8 stops when used with in-lens stabilization as well. The still frame rates are still up in the air, as the sources are apparently offering conflicting information, but it appears as though it could be 14 fps and 20 fps for mechanical and electronic shutter, respectively.

According to Canon Rumors, the camera will offer 4K video at 120 fps and could offer 8K Raw at up to 30 fps, although it is noted that the 4K / 120 fps could be a crop mode to control heat and the 8K Raw could refer to a special timelapse mode in the camera.

Those specs are enticing, but it’s the rumored video features that are really interesting. According to Canon Rumors, the camera could offer 4K video at 120 fps and could offer 8K Raw at up to 30 fps, although it is noted that the 4K / 120 fps could be a crop mode to control heat and the 8K Raw could refer to a special timelapse mode in the camera.

Other details rumored include the addition of a scroll wheel, the removal of the touchbar, a larger-capacity battery that looks similar to the LP-E6/N batteries currently used by Canon, and an announcement date ‘ahead of CP+ next month.’

Canon users have long been asking for an R-series camera body worthy of Canon’s growing lineup of RF-mount lenses and if these rumors indeed come to fruition, it’s safe to say there won’t be much room left to complain. However, these specifications are just that: a rumor, so there’s also the possibility these are little more than hearsay or misleading fragments cobbled together from multiple other rumors.

In light of these rumored specifications, let us take a second to ask you, the reader, how you would like to see Canon evolve its R-series lineup going forward?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: Adobe Lightroom trick makes it easy to search images for sensor spots

04 Jan

Professional photographer Anthony Morganti of ‘I Am Mr Photographer’ has published a new video that shows viewers how to systematically search for sensor spots (or water droplets and other unwanted specks) in an image using Adobe Lightroom Classic. The method is very simple and relies on a few keyboard shortcuts, as Morganti explains in his video.

Using this method, Lightroom users zoom in on the image and set the zoom box to the upper left-hand side of the image. From there, Morganti simply uses his computer’s Page Down function to scan through zoomed portions of the image in columns. The video includes instructions for viewers using Mac and viewers whose keyboards lack dedicated shortcut keys, among other things.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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This DIY ‘digiObscura’ digital camera features a massive 1-kilopixel image sensor

31 Dec

Creator Sean Hodgins has published a new video detailing his creation of ‘digiObscura,’ a large boxy digital camera that features his own 1-kilopixel image sensor. The camera’s creation involved 3D printing the camera body and soldering phototransistors on a custom printed circuit board alongside a pair of 32-bit analog multiplexers.

As you might expect, the 1KP images captured by digiObscura are very blocky and pixelated due to the camera’s very low resolution, but it’s an incredible look at what’s possible with enough time, patience and knowledge.

In addition to the video above, the project is detailed on Instructables, where tools and components are listed. More detailed information, as well as firmware and other files, are available on the project’s Github. Files for the 3D-printed components are available on Thingiverse.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sony’s semiconductor business is working around the clock keep up with image sensor demand

25 Dec

Sony is working around the clock to keep up with the demand for its image sensors, Bloomberg reported on Monday, but it’s still not enough. According to the report, Sony is running its image sensor manufacturing business 24/7 straight through the holidays in an effort to keep on top of demand. As well, Sony is building a new facility in Nagasaki to expand its production capacity.

The Nagasaki manufacturing plant won’t go live until April 2021, meaning Sony’s current operations will remain strained for the foreseeable future. Sony Semiconductor head Terushi Shimizu recently said in an interview that the company is having to apologize to customers for its inability to keep up with image sensor demand.

As well, Shimizu said during the interview, the company has seen such huge growth in demand for its image sensors that the new Nagasaki facility may not be adequate enough once it goes online in 2021.

The rise of double- and triple-camera modules on flagship smartphones is driving this demand, the report claims. Whereas smartphone manufacturers previously needed one image sensor per handset, these same companies are now ordering two or more sensors for each unit (of select models), meaning that Sony has seen demand for its sensors increase even as the overall smartphone market’s growth begins to falter.

Falling only behind the PlayStation, Sony’s semiconductor business has become its most profitable business with image sensors accounting for the majority of the revenue. The company is investing in the semiconductor business to expand capacity, also eyeing new generations of image sensors for budding technologies, including ones involving AR and 3D sensing.

Sony remains in competition with Samsung, which has seen demand for its own image sensors likewise increase. In 2018, Korean publication ETnews reported that Samsung Electronics had announced a plan to increase its image sensor production capacity with the goal of overtaking Sony in this market. Whether it will be able to do that remains to be seen.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S11+ sensor to use Nonacell technology

20 Dec

Yesterday we posted a story about the technology in Samsung’s 108MP ISOCELL Bright HMX image sensor and said the chip was likely to make an appearance in the Korean manufacturer’s upcoming Galaxy S11 series.

It looks like this might not be entirely correct. According to a tweet by infamous mobile industry leakster Ice Universe the Galaxy S11+ will use a customized version of the chip that uses a technology that Samsung calls Nonacell.

The standard sensor comes with the company’s tetracell technology, also known as Quad-Bayer, that uses pixel merging for better detail and lower noise levels in low light. Nonacell follows the same concept but instead of four combines — you guessed it — nine pixels into one.

The sensor is said to be called ISOCELL Bright HM1 and will be the successor to the HMX variant that we’ve seen in the Xiaomi Mi Note 10. On the latter four 0.8µm pixels are combined into one 1.6µm effective pixel. On the new sensor the effective pixel size would increase to 2.4µm, theoretically allowing for significantly improved low light performance at a still more than acceptable 12MP output size.

The Galaxy S11 series is scheduled to launch in February 2020, so hopefully, we’ll be able to have a closer look at then sensor and its performance then.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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This is how the Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX 108MP mobile image sensor works

18 Dec

More recently we have seen a significant increase of resolution in high-end mobile image sensors, with market leaders Sony and Samsung launching sensors with pixel counts that are firmly in medium format camera territory.

However, in the mobile world, the high resolutions aren’t so much about an increase in detail. Instead, they allow for improved digital zooming with only a small loss in detail, and the option to use pixel-binning methods in difficult light conditions in order to improve noise levels.

Samsung has now published a video and blog post detailing the technology and improvements in its ISOCELL Bright HMX 108MP sensor that is deployed in the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro and will likely also be used in the upcoming Galaxy S11 series.

The sensor’s large 1/1.33″ surface combined with 0.8?m-sized pixels allows for the massive pixel count and increased light gathering capability compared to smaller variants. It uses Samsung’s ISOCELL Plus technology which minimizes optical loss and pixel crosstalk by installing a barrier around each pixel.

Previously this barrier was made from metal. In this latest generation of ISOCELL sensors, it is now made from an ‘innovative new material that minimizes optical loss and light reflection’. Samsung says the material also allows the photodiode to absorb more light, allowing for much better performance than you would usually get from such small pixels.

In addition, Samsung has implemented its Smart-ISO technology which lets the sensor pick the best level of signal amplification for a given lighting situation, reducing highlight clipping and noise levels.

Samsung’s Tetracell Technology helps increase performance in low light by merging clusters of four pixels into single pixels, combining the native 0.8?m pixels into larger 1.6?m ones. Even in this mode, the ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor can still deliver 27MP image output which should be more than enough for any mobile application. The complete article is available on the Samsung website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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News: The Nikon D6 Will Be Released in February, With a 24 MP Sensor and Much More

14 Dec

The post News: The Nikon D6 Will Be Released in February, With a 24 MP Sensor and Much More appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

 

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The Nikon D6 has officially been in the pipeline since early September, when Nikon announced the development of its flagship action snapper.

But now we have a rumored release date:

February 12, 2020.

Whether the D6 will actually come out on February 12 isn’t certain (Nikon Rumors notes that this may be the date of an internal Nikon presentation), but it seems highly likely that the camera will be announced in February.

Note that this puts the D6 announcement close to the expected Canon 1D X Mark III release date (which is sometime in the first few months of 2020), and the potential announcement of the Canon EOS Rs (which is also in February of 2020).

While the D6 won’t be competing against any Rs-type camera, the Canon 1D X Mark III will be the D6’s direct competitor, forcing sports and action photographers across the world to make a tough choice between the Canon and Nikon flagships.

We already know that the Canon 1D X Mark III will feature 20 fps continuous shooting in Live View and 16 fps when using the viewfinder. Canon has also promised an upgraded autofocus system that sports enhanced tracking and improved low light AF capabilities.

As for the D6, while nothing official has been announced, we do have some updated specification rumors:

  • Upgraded IBIS from the Z-system
  • Upgraded silent shooting
  • Dual CFExpress card slots
  • 4K video at 60p
  • A 24 MP sensor
  • Enhanced dynamic range
  • Better autofocus, but with the same point count as the Nikon D5 (153 points, 99 cross-type)

While there is no official information on the Canon 1D X Mark III megapixel count, it’s likely that it will be close to 24 MP (and some rumors suggest it could be even higher), so Nikon D6 may not surpass the 1D X series in that area.

But I’m certainly looking forward to learning more about the new Nikon (and Canon) AF system, and equally excited about the continuous shooting speeds on the Nikon D6. Will it be able to match Canon’s 16 fps/20 fps combo? Or could it possibly surpass it?

If you’re a sports, action, or even wildlife shooter, I recommend you keep your eyes peeled for more news.

The Nikon D6 will almost certainly be here soon, hopefully with the features we all want to see!

What do you think? How will the Nikon D6 compare to the Canon 1D X Mark III? Are you excited about the Nikon D6 release? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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The post News: The Nikon D6 Will Be Released in February, With a 24 MP Sensor and Much More appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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News: The Canon EOS Rs to Have 75 MP Sensor and Dual Card Slots

12 Dec

The post News: The Canon EOS Rs to Have 75 MP Sensor and Dual Card Slots appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

gear-news-canon-eos-rs

Over the past few months, rumors have abounded regarding a “professional” Canon EOS R. But recent news has given us the month of the release, making this new Canon camera more exciting than ever.

As initially reported by Canon Rumors, this Canon mirrorless snapper is about to enter the market, offering a resolution far beyond anything previously offered by Canon.

The Canon EOS Rs (as the folks at Canon Rumors are calling it) will apparently be announced in February of next year, presumably around the same time as the Canon 1D X Mark III and the Nikon D6, though it’ll be aimed at a completely different audience.

So what should we expect from Canon’s pro-level mirrorless model?

The EOS Rs will have plenty of the features you’d expect based on the EOS R, but better:

  • The latest and greatest Canon processor, the DIGIC 9.
  • A “similar” continuous shooting speed to the EOS R (which clocks in at 8 fps in One-Shot AF).
  • An improved EVF.
  • Weather sealing.

But the Canon EOS Rs is also rumored to possess a few traits that should pique the interest of quite a few professional photographers:

  • Dual card slots and a 75 MP sensor.

The dual card slots are somewhat expected, given the slew of complaints that Canon received regarding the lack of dual slots on the EOS R. But a 75 MP sensor is groundbreaking for a 35mm camera, offering a higher pixel count than either the Canon 5DS and 5DSR duo or the Sony A7R IV. It would be, in fact, the highest-resolution 35mm digital camera currently available.

Now, a camera like the EOS Rs is designed with professional photographers in mind. The huge megapixel count is required by, for instance, commercial photographers, as well as those looking to make giant landscape prints.

But while megapixel monsters are undoubtedly powerful, they come with some downsides.

The first is the price; the Canon 5DS debuted at around $ 3700 USD, and I don’t expect Canon to knock many dollars off the EOS Rs MSRP.

The second is file size. The RAW files produced by a 75 MP camera will be huge, which makes storage (both in memory cards and on computers) potentially frustrating.

And third, higher megapixel counts result in smaller pixels. This hurts high ISO performance on even the most professional of cameras, which is one of the reasons why megapixel monsters are often outperformed by other full-frame cameras in low-light scenarios, especially when images are compared at native resolutions.

What do you think about the Canon EOS Rs? Is it something you’d be interested in? What would you like to see in it?

Let me know in the comments!

The post News: The Canon EOS Rs to Have 75 MP Sensor and Dual Card Slots appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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Sony teases its next-generation Quad-Bayer smartphone sensor

09 Nov

The people at Sony’s image sensor division have posted a teaser video for an upcoming new smartphone image sensor, the IMX686, on the Chinese social media site Weibo. The new chip is the successor to the IMX586, which was one of the first 48MP Quad-Bayer sensors and has been deployed in several high-end smartphones.

Sony does not reveal the sensor resolution or other specifications in the video but based on rumors about phones that will supposedly use the sensor GSM Arena estimates it to be between 60 and 64MP.

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The video reveals that the new sensor will be released in 2020 and shows a selection of still images captured in a variety of light conditions. The images are not full size, so it’s hard to make any judgements about image detail or noise, but they do look quite impressive in terms of exposure and dynamic range.

Given no phone is using the new sensor yet, Sony has used a prototype board connected to a computer to capture the samples. Have a look at the gallery above and check out the full video over on Weibo.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Xiaomi teases Mi Note 10 penta-camera smartphone with Samsung’s new 108MP sensor

02 Nov

Xiaomi has officially teased its new Mi Note 10, an upcoming handset, first teased in early August, that packs Samsung’s 108MP camera sensor inside.

The Mi Note 10 is the first smartphone to offer a ‘penta camera,’ according to Xiaomi, which has also included a 12MP portrait camera and 5MP 50x zoom camera in the same module. The model also features two other cameras on the phone’s rear that are isolated from the other three sensors: a 20MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a tiny 2MP macro camera.

Xiaomi published an image (above) of the Mi Note 10 and its five cameras on Twitter this week, teasing the handset that will be detailed at an event later this month. The company has shared a couple of sample images captured with the 108MP camera on its Twitter account, as well:

Xiaomi also tweeted a brief video clip, indicating that it demonstrates the 5MP 50x zoom camera’s capabilities:

A pair of dual-LED flash modules are expected to accompany the five cameras. GMS Arena notes that the Mi Note 10 is a global version of the China-only Mi CC9 Pro model set to launch on November 5, which packs optical image stabilization for two of the cameras, as well as a 32MP front-facing selfie camera.

Other official details about the handset are lacking at this time, but based on a previous leak, the Mi Note 10 may feature a 6.47in Full HD+ OLED display. Xiaomi will fully detail the CC9 Pro variant on November 5 and the Mi Note 10 will be fully introduced on November 14.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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