Canon/Nikon/PhaseOne - eat your heart out - This is a Sensor

eoren1eoren1 Registered Users Posts: 2,391 Major grins
edited May 29, 2012 in Cameras
Zeke at Spectral Instruments is proposing building one of their custom sensors for a landscape photographer. Check out the video below - seems like a really cool guy.
He notes a 120 MP sensor that is 95mm x 95mm. Black and white. No bayer. No AA filter. Cooled down to -100C to remove any noise issues. Apparently the dynamic range of their sensor would let you take an image in the middle of the day and get the sun and stars in view.
They plan to build this thing if they get enough of a 'social'/viral push.
He's also looking for landscape photographers who want to take him up on the offer to shoot with the beast :wink

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6gEu3T8DcrI&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Eyal
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos

Comments

  • ZBlackZBlack Registered Users Posts: 337 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    That will be pretty damn cool to see made!
    -Zach
    www.zblackwood.com
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,244 moderator
    edited May 18, 2012
    Crocodile Dundee (or perhaps Peter Lik?): "That's not a sensor... that's a sensor!"
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • time2smiletime2smile Registered Users Posts: 835 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    clap.gifroflheadscratch.gifiloveyou.gifthumb
    Ted....
    It's not what you look at that matters: Its what you see!
    Nikon
    http://www.time2smile.smugmug.com
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,118 moderator
    edited May 18, 2012
    I'm nominating Marc Muench, our landscape Artist In Residence, for the Spectral Instruments landscape photographer. thumb.gifthumb

    i-BB6F3gr-S.jpg
    zeke@specinst.com

    "Dear Zeke,

    Without a doubt, my nomination for the landscape photographer for the Spectral Instruments ultra-performance camera, is Marc Muench, one of the most noted landscape photographers of our time, and son of David Muench, one of the most noted landscape photographers of all time.

    http://www.muenchphotography.com/
    http://lightworkshops.com/marc_muench.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Muench&quot;
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    It is healthy, every now and then, to be exposed to something that forces you to realize that you ain't as smart or well informed as you'd like to think you are. eek7.gif
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
  • insanefredinsanefred Registered Users Posts: 604 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2012
    I doubt any one but large corporate can even afford one of those.
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,118 moderator
    edited May 18, 2012
    insanefred wrote: »
    I doubt any one but large corporate can even afford one of those.

    Small government.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2012
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    Small government.

    PLEASE! The GSA will be giving these away in their next convention gift bags.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • Manfr3dManfr3d Registered Users Posts: 2,008 Major grins
    edited May 25, 2012
    Icebear wrote: »
    It is healthy, every now and then, to be exposed to something that forces you to realize that you ain't as smart or well informed as you'd like to think you are. eek7.gif

    So true and very refreshing I might add. Also, imagine how many crates of beer ... err, soda you
    could cool with -100C out in the wilderness pretending to shoot photos with your pals on a hiking trip. mwink.gif

    I wonder who makes the lense(s) for such a gigantic custom fit prototype camera ?!
    “To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.”
    ― Edward Weston
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,118 moderator
    edited May 25, 2012
    Manfr3d wrote: »
    ... I wonder who makes the lense(s) for such a gigantic custom fit prototype camera ?!

    95mm = 3.7402 inches, so any 4" x 5" view or field camera lens should cover the imaging field. I have 4 such lenses.

    Whether they would do justice to the 120MPix resolution of the system would have to be tested and proven. I suspect that 3 of my lenses would do just fine. mwink.gif
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • OverfocusedOverfocused Registered Users Posts: 1,068 Major grins
    edited May 25, 2012
    It'd be fun to use this beastcamera... :D

    Its a beast first before a camera, lol
    www.overfocused.com
  • OverfocusedOverfocused Registered Users Posts: 1,068 Major grins
    edited May 25, 2012
    Seymore wrote: »
    Then, the next question... Do you have enough storage space for even one RAW image? mwink.gif
    And what about your SW... can it deal with the format? :D:D

    (personally, not going there... rolleyes1.gifhappy with my current setup... thumb.gif)

    Since they seem very smart and know what they're doing, I think (I really hope) they'd use DNG format.
    www.overfocused.com
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,118 moderator
    edited May 25, 2012
    Seymore wrote: »
    Then, the next question... Do you have enough storage space for even one RAW image? mwink.gif
    And what about your SW... can it deal with the format? :D:D

    (personally, not going there... rolleyes1.gifhappy with my current setup... thumb.gif)

    The Spectral Instruments imager is a true monochromatic (B&W). That should reduce the storage requirements somewhat per exposure. I don't recall a mention of the bit depth, however.

    I would be willing to give it a shot. (Pun intended. :D)
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,118 moderator
    edited May 25, 2012
    Overfocused wrote: »
    Since they seem very smart and know what they're doing, I think (I really hope) they'd use DNG format.

    The easiest way is just to strip the data from the camera's buffers and save it to a custom TIFF file. There's really no need for a DNG file format for an experimental camera like this. As long as the sensel data is recorded in a logical sequence or array, it should be easy to reform the data back into an image shape.

    Since there is no color mosaic (again, it is monochromatic) the sensor will only display luminance levels in the data.

    It will take a little doing to create a proper profile to convert the linear data readout into tones that we would call normal.

    P.S. According to this document:

    http://www.specinst.com/Brochures%20Rev%20A/1100S-camera-broch_RevA.pdf

    ... they are using an FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) file format for the images.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • OverfocusedOverfocused Registered Users Posts: 1,068 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2012
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    The easiest way is just to strip the data from the camera's buffers and save it to a custom TIFF file. There's really no need for a DNG file format for an experimental camera like this. As long as the sensel data is recorded in a logical sequence or array, it should be easy to reform the data back into an image shape.

    Since there is no color mosaic (again, it is monochromatic) the sensor will only display luminance levels in the data.

    It will take a little doing to create a proper profile to convert the linear data readout into tones that we would call normal.

    P.S. According to this document:

    http://www.specinst.com/Brochures%20Rev%20A/1100S-camera-broch_RevA.pdf

    ... they are using an FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) file format for the images.


    B&W does make it a bit simpler so whatever works! I hope the camera doesnt throw FITS! rolleyes1.gif

    It'd be cool if they had internal color filters for making color images too... digital dye transfer prints! ... or whatever term is correct if thats not the right term :D You know what I mean.
    www.overfocused.com
  • jheftijhefti Registered Users Posts: 734 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2012
    Impressive, though I am a little skeptical of the DR claim that it can bracket both the stars and our sun in one image. This is orders of magnitude beyond the dynamic range of any sensor of any size that I know of, and I work with some extremely capable sensors in my day job.

    I also wonder why -100C is the operating temperture. I would have thought that liquid nitrogen temperature (-196C) would be easier, but perhaps they have some sort of super-Peltier cooling system on it.
    http://johnhefti.com/
  • Manfr3dManfr3d Registered Users Posts: 2,008 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2012
    Approximately how portable could such a cooling system be?
    “To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.”
    ― Edward Weston
  • spacefuzzspacefuzz Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited May 29, 2012
    wow awesome camera.....

    Id love to see its DR in action, that is quite the spectrum but from what Ive seen I guess its possible. As for portability Manfr3d Ive used thermal cameras in the lab that are about the size of a phase one which use liquid nitrogen to cool the sensor. They dont have to be that big. Man I wish I could afford one.
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