Canon Commits to Continuing In-House Sensor Development
Image sensor research and development is notoriously costly, which is why so many manufacturers have opted to work with an existing sensor fabrication company, like Sony Semiconductor, rather than develop their own in-house. Canon has been one of the few exceptions and, according to its executives, that will remain the case.
Speaking to PetaPixel at the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan in February, the company’s executive team expressed their desire to maintain the development of image sensors in-house.
“You’re right, the development of sensors requires a lot of investment but Canon is going to stick to the current direction, which is to continue to invest in our in-house sensor development for use on our cameras,” Go Tokura, executive vice president and head of the Imaging Group at Canon, says.
“We really want to maintain our in-house development strategy because it’s essential to continue the differentiation that we have, for example, in providing the high-quality R1 cross-type AF capabilities.”
While Sony is the only manufacturer to release a consumer camera equipped with a global shutter, Canon has many global shutter sensors in its industrial and scientific lines. The question, then, is if Canon is looking into bringing that technology into its interchangeable lens consumer cameras.
“We of course understand the importance of the global shutter, but at the same time, we’re familiar with the challenges. So the issues with the dynamic range, for example, we are aware of and we will continue to work on improving upon those issues as we continue our own internal development of those sensors.”
Tokura is referring to the dramatic dropoff in low light performance and weak dynamic range results that the Sony a9 III shows. Based on the discussion, it doesn’t sound like Canon believes the global shutter’s benefits are worth such tradeoffs — at least at this point.
At the other end of the spectrum are high-resolution sensors. While Canon won’t be making a high-resolution version of the flagship R1 camera, its sensor development team has created multiple sensors that feature much more resolution than is currently available in its consumer cameras. For example, it announced a new 410-megapixel 35mm image format sensor in January.
“We also are developing sensors for general use mirrorless and we will continue to develop our technology in a way that can be shared across domains,” Tokura says. “We won’t really be able to share any specific product plans with you just yet but we would definitely like to leverage the sensor capabilities that we have with the 410-megapixel sensor and continue to explore how this can be used in the camera products for larger print and then also finer resolution. We also would like to improve upon our frame rates, sensitivity, and SN noise. So we will continue to explore which products we will be able to apply these features to.”
There is a perception among some photographers that Canon has difficulty with high-resolution sensors since the company hasn’t made a consumer camera with more than 50 megapixels.
“If we were to simply develop a high-resolution camera, that would be possible. However, if we try to develop a 100-megapixel camera using current technology, I believe we would have to compromise on many other performance factors, such as high sensitivity performance, continuous shooting performance, rolling shutter distortion, image transfer speed, and video recording time. If we do not want to compromise, the price of the camera body will skyrocket, and considering heat dissipation measures and other factors, it may not fit into a size that allows for comfortable shooting. The technology for high-resolution sensors does exist, and we have it, but the challenge lies in the commercialization of a viable product. That is why we believe it is still premature.” Tokura says.
“But I think one day absolutely we will be able to do it because I’m also expecting that myself.”
Image credits: Canon
