imagesensor

Sony Should Split From Its Sensor Business: Investor

One of Sony's crown jewels in its empire is its image sensor business, which dominates global market share and has helped the company hit record profits. But now a famous investor is calling for Sony to spin-off the sensor business into a completely independent company.

Microsoft Develops a Curved Sensor That Beats the Canon 1DS Mark III

The development of curved image sensors may be the biggest advance in camera technology in decades, allowing for simpler, flatter lenses with larger apertures as well as dramatically better image quality. Canon, Nikon, and Sony are working on the technology, and now Microsoft Research has developed a sensor with three times more curvature than previously achieved.

Canon Unveils a Monster 250-Megapixel Sensor

Canon today announced that it has created a monster of a CMOS sensor with the world's highest pixel count (for its size). The DSLR-format sensor manages to capture gigantic 250-megapixel photos with each exposure.

DxOMark Disappointed with the 7D Mark II; Sensor Lags Behind Some MFT Cameras at Base ISO

If you're a Canon user and a hater of all things DxOMark, you might want to skip over this one and read this article on how well the 7D Mark II is weather sealed instead. If you're a Canon hater, read on! You'll love this!

Earlier today, the lab released their official review of the Canon 7D Mark II, and while there were a few bright spots, the tone of the review in general might be summed up by the word 'meh.'

New Imaging System Promises 12-Times More Color Sensitivity than a Traditional Sensor

What's the use of an image sensor that's 12 times more color sensitive than the human eye? We're not entirely sure, but thanks to a team of researchers at Universities of Granada, Spain and Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy you may someday get to try it out and find out for yourself.

Researchers at those two universities are using "Transverse Field Detector" technology to distinguish 36 individual color channels without any need for a filter, making it 12-times more color sensitive than standard Red/Green/Blue sensors and the human eye both.

Specs for Sony’s 2/3-inch Curved Sensor and Super-Thin Accompanying f/1.2 Lens Leaked

We've heard a lot about Sony's ready-for-production curved sensors -- which will supposedly come in 2/3-inch and full-frame variants -- but no concrete specs had made their way online... until now.

Reported initially by CNbeta, the site has obtained a copy of specs for the 2/3-inch variant of the exciting sensor and the accompanying lens, which is itself an impressive piece of hardware by the looks of it.

Rumor: Sony to Release a Full-Frame RX 1 with a Black & White Sensor in Late 2014

It seems Sony is intent on capturing that segment of the market that would like a Leica but can't afford one. First, the company released the A7 and A7r, full-frame mirrorless cameras that were the first in the world with autofocus. And now, if rumors are to be believed, they're working on a black-and-white only version of the fixed-lens Full Frame RX 1.

Canon Patents a Multi-Layer Image Sensor with Five Layers Instead of Three

Remember the advent of multi-blade shaving razors? Single blades gave way to two blades and then three, four and five. There are even a six+ blade razors out there in case you want a REALLY close shave. Well, a fresh Canon sensor patent has us wondering if the same thing isn't happening to digital sensors.

Canon has patented a Foveon-like sensor before -- a type of sensor, initially implemented by Sigma, that uses individual layers for detecting red, green and blue -- but the company's newest multi-layer sensor patent shows not three, but five layers.

Sigma Tests Show the Foveon Sensor Can Out-Resolve Conventional 36MP Shooters

Sigma took a unique approach when it worked together with its sensor subsidiary, Foveon Inc., to build the newest version of Foveon sensor found in the DP Quattro camera.

Using technology that captures light simultaneously across three separate layers of sensors -- one each for blue, red, and green -- Sigma claims that, while smaller, the sensor is actually capable of out-resolving a 36-megapixel full frame sensor similar to those found in the Nikon D800E and Sony A7r.

Sony Unveils Curved Sensor Technology

What happens when someone creates a camera sensor that better replicates how our eyes are shaped? Well, according to Sony and a recent presentation they published, this curved sensor and accompanying glass will allow for faster apertures without taking a hit on image quality.

Sensor Gel Stick: Safely Clean Your Sensor Like They Do at the Service Center

Sensor cleaning, especially if you've never tried to do it yourself, is a scary prospect. Sure, taking off your lens and using a rocket blower isn't all that nerve-wracking, but start talking to someone about wet cleaning a sensors and beads of perspiration will immediately begin to accumulate on their newly-furrowed brow.

Attention Camera Marketing Departments: Tell Me About the Sensor

Since its spec sheet leaked on Monday, there's been plenty of buzz surrounding Pentax's newly-released K-3 APS-C DSLR. Many are particularly atwitter about the K-3's unique anti-aliasing system, which relies on a vibrating sensor to remove moire-effects. Because it's not filter-based, the effect can be turned off.

Therefore, the K-3 offers the moire-eliminating effect of an anti-aliasing filter when it's needed, and the greater sharpness of a filterless sensor when it's not. Not only do people care about this innovation, but for many it was a cardinal feature of the camera.

Nikon Files Patent for an Interchangeable Sensor Camera

The big camera companies get criticized fairly often for failing to innovate, but Nikon at least has been giving us a lot to write about recently in the patent department. Case in point: the Japanese company has just filed a patent for a camera that will allow you to swap out, not lenses, but sensors.

Samsung Debuts ISOCELL Sensor Tech, Promises up to 30% More Dynamic Range

Although the pixel war probably isn't ending anytime soon, a new sensor technology from Samsung shows how yet another company is focusing on improving the tech instead of stacking the spec sheet.

We've seen amazing low-light sensors and dual-pixel AF tech from Canon, organic sensors with insane dynamic range from Fuji and Panasonic, and now new ISOCELL technology from Samsung, which promises substantial increases in color and light sensitivity.

Photog Turns His DSLR Monochrome by Swapping Out the Sensor

Earlier this month, we showed you how some astrophotographers were turning their standard DSLRs monochrome by physically scratching the color filter array off of their sensor in order to get sharper black-and-white photos.

Another photographer is doing something similar, only instead of scratching off the color array and possibly doing damage to the sensor, he decided to swap out the sensor entirely.

Video: $20K Camera’s Image Sensor Fried by a Concert Laser in Just Seconds

Update: The video has been taken down by the uploader.

The harmful effects of concert lasers when exposed to your camera's image sensor are well documented. In the past we've shared several videos (here and here) that showed three different Canon 5D Mark IIs rendered unusable after a concert laser passed over them for only a second.

And if it can happen to a 5D Mark II, you better believe it can happen to a sensor much more expensive than that. The video above shows what happens when a $20K RED EPIC's image sensor goes head to head with a similar laser. Gear lovers might want to look away ...

Fuji and Panasonic’s New Organic Sensor Boasts Insane 29.2 Stop Dynamic Range

Fujifilm and Panasonic have joined forces and created an image sensor that blows everything currently on the market completely out of the water. By using Fuji's patented "organic photoelectric conversion material" to collect light instead of the traditional silicon photodiode, they've created a sensor that nearly doubles the dynamic range of the best sensor currently on the market.

NTU Graphene Sensor 1

New Camera Sensor 1000x More Sensitive Than Current Sensors

Researchers at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have developed a graphene image sensor one thousand times more sensitive to anything available on the market today. The sensor is capable of detecting broad spectrum light, making it a great solution for all types of cameras. Its uses could include traffic cameras, infrared cameras, and so forth.

Nikon D5200 Contains a Toshiba Sensor

Toshiba is really getting invested in the world of cameras. First, they draw some attention by jumping into the CompactFlash game, claiming that theirs are the fastest CF Cards, and setting a goal to capture 1/3 of that market by 2015. Now, according to Chipworks, it looks like Toshiba has managed to get their APS-C sensor inside Nikon's D5200.

Image Sensor Implants Used as Makeshift Eyes for the Blind

Image sensors and the advent of digital imaging have been met with differing reactions from the photographical community. But what a team of doctors at the Oxford Eye Hospital have managed to do with the technology is 100% digital, and 100% amazing. Clinical trial leaders Robert MacLaren and Tim Jackson have helped two blind men to partially see again.