If you recall back in November, I talked about a sensor that Canon was going to show off at IEDM (International Electron Devices Meeting) in December, we haven't heard much about that until now. When I talked about this twisted sensor back in November, my thoughts on it were that it was a quad-pixel arrangement to support better AF in horizontal and vertical directions.
You may tell me, Richard, the title is clickbait. Well, perhaps. New information has recently surfaced about Canon's presentation and reading the sensor descriptions in the two articles, this is very much an “I don't know what it is.”. Canon specifically mentions that autofocus in various orientations and edge alignment improves with this new sensor and that they “twisted” the photodiodes to accomplish it. They mention that the pixels are rotated 90 degrees from each other, which traditionally indicates a quad-pixel arrangement (and they call this in the articles as being twisted). Canon describes this sensor as a “cross dual-pixel twisted-photodiode” sensor. So even Canon calls it a dual-pixel sensor, and not a quad sensor. So that's why you got that title and here we are.
Canon showed off this diagram at IEDM which illustrates how much better the new autofocus can see lines at various angles versus the more traditional DPAF sensor.
The far left column is the item being imaged, the middle is with the new twisted sensor, and the far right column shows the autofocus output from a traditional DPAF sensor. You can see that with a regular dual-pixel AF sensor, it simply can't recognize some of the lines at all, but that's not the case with the new sensor. The more the AF can recognize, the more it can do pattern recognition and autofocus, and the quicker it can do the calculations.
Canon also claims that this sensor is much quicker at autofocus than the current DPAF sensors, even with increased data reading. Canon suggests that it should be almost twice as fast as current sensors.
We are lacking any more information on this, to which I'm very sad. I would have loved to see if they are actually twisting the photodiodes for improvements or just used that terminology as a catchy phrase. I was telling Craig that I tried for a week to get my dirty little hands on that whitepaper.
We talked more about twisted photodiodes in the prior article, but just a refresher, the difference between a twisted photodiode and a regular one, is the small layer on top of the photodiode, in the above picture called TBG. In this example, it's a twisted bilayer graphene photodiode. We don't know if this is what Canon is doing. But it should be something similar.
This is research – we don't know when Canon would implement (if ever) this sensor, but it stands the reason that if Canon is talking about it publically like this, they have a high degree of confidence in the solution. No one wants to look like an idiot in front of their peers when Canon presented it at IEDM last December.
Source: Image Sensors World
On my R5 (DualPixel AF), time to time I can have AF problems with horizontal lines (AF can't lock on horizontal patterns), when the 5D4 can lock on everything, even on ultra low contrast areas the R5 can't see. Subject tracking is far better on R5 than 5D4, but the initial lock can be better with the 5D4 for all patterns, and especially on low contrast subjects.
So with this new technology we will find a mix of DSLR AF sensitivity in all directions and the best of ML AF possibilities. Promising !!
I mean, instead of all being left-right subpixels, use a top-bottom subpixel configuration in alternate positions.
For a square of 4 adjacent pixels:
LR TB
TB LR
So spill the beans as the NDAs wouldn't apply if your agency won't use it - right!?!
Your recent posts....
- I just came out of a meeting for agencies covering the Olympics and none of us have had enough time to put the R1 debugged through any formal worlflow and the networking issues were not even covered yet. Be back here after the Olympics to let you how the early adopters did
- Always wished Canon would put some secret sauce in there.... But it never happened
- Nikon's Z9 seems to be the clear winner for resolution, if this report is true.
If PJ and Sports are the target market 30MP will do.
For the BIF shooters, that have tried the Z9, the enhanced resolution and room for crops has been well received.
Something in me, tells me that the final R1 will have better specs. If these specs are true, then the R3 was the intended R1 and Nikon ruined Canon's party
- We made our choices for 2024, unfortunately Canon was not budgeted aside from CPS. First time in 27 years.
- Makes you wonder if the R3 really was the R1. Canon puts out as little as they can. No matter, for the first time in 27 years our budget in 2024 makes no expenditures to Canon, aside from CPS.
- Thr R1's delay was caused by competition and Canon not wanting to put an obsolete into the market. I fear however, that Canon will again, put a less than spectacular R1 on the market.
The R1 was supposed to be Canon's giant killer. A flagship to end all flagships... The Mother of All Cameras.
Adapt in the Studio, Sports Arena, PJ's, Weddings, Portrature, Fashion Runway, BIF and on and on.
The R1 will not be all these things. The R1 will be a drip... drip... drip... with the R1 II announced and rumored as another drip... drip... drip... anounced to make up for the camera's shortcomings compared to SONY, Nikon and others technology.
Unless there is substantial innovation, I don't see the need for an R1 anymore
- R1 / R3 II ? Nikon Z9 Z8 and Sony as a whole have both done an amazing job. Canon faces real headwinds. Will the the R3II be as good as the Z9 before the Z9II is out? Will the R1 be as good on the fashion runway as in the studio or on the Olympic fields? Canon has a lot to prove, I just don't have faith after shooting the GFX 50's and 100's, Nikon Z9 and the SONY A9 etc.... Our agency hopes the R1 will keep us with Canon, time will tell.
- Canon will not give you QPAF in the R1. Drip... Drip... Drip.... So far.... the camera sounds boring
- Canon is about to surprise everyone who has not been included as a CE or advisor.. To those who say they are happy with 24MP... The R1 can still be for you.... Just dial it down. When you want greater resolution it wiil be there. We have been early adopters of every Canon 1DX, 1DXMKII...