MORE Canon Mega-Pixels, 250 of them, but none for you!

[DonkeyKong]

Back in 2010, there was this little beauty:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=109.0

and it was room for excitement. I got excited by it.

But in the 5 years since then, what has Canon delivered to show us that the R&D for that sensor was worthwhile?

So you'll forgive me if I'm cynical that this latest announcement is worth anything more than a headline and some chest beating.

Truly understand your reasoning logic, but when Nikon D3 appears, it seems game over for Canon, but look at what Canon has done to close the gap. Autofocus system completely reworked, sensor improvement, and an arsenal of pro-L-Series Lens covering a wide spectrum, even External Speedlite has improved, especially with their 600EX series.

There are indeed some disappointments especially on 7D Mark II, but overall, their pro-bodies seems to be holding up, and if the company is not serious, why are they bothering to show the world what their imaging capability can deliver in the future. Its clear they have something up their sleeves. The 1DX and 5DS may well be their current technological end of this generation of sensor. The future systems may employ a much improved tech especially on their sensor front. We all just wish to have it as soon as possible, and I believe they are coming soon, starting with their next 1D.

 

[TeT]

"But who actually needs that kind of resolution?"

"Canon is considering the application of this technology in specialized surveillance and crime prevention tools"

8)

Apparently Big Brother is Watching.... with a Canon.

 

[TeT]

Back in 2010, there was this little beauty:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=109.0

and it was room for excitement. I got excited by it.

But in the 5 years since then, what has Canon delivered to show us that the R&D for that sensor was worthwhile?

So you'll forgive me if I'm cynical that this latest announcement is worth anything more than a headline and some chest beating.

the 120 nor the 250 will ever see a camera that anyone in this forum will hold, unless they work for NASA or NSA.. it is more than just a headline... it indicates significant technological advances.

in the meantime, watch your p's & q's because they can see you....

 

[Etienne]

No matter what camera that Canon, Nikon, or Sony puts out, it's always going to be behind my hopes for a new camera because I, like everyone else, have some set of ideals in a new camera that is not shared with everyone else, and of course I want to get huge value for my money. But that's not the real world.
I bought the 5DII when it came out, the 5D3, and lots of different lenses over the years. Not one of these things were perfect, or exactly what I want. But by and large they've all been really good purchases that on balance were the best solutions available for my needs, and they delivered really good results.
When the 5D IV hits the shelf, I will probably feel some disappointment. Then I'll look around at what other manufacturers offer, I'll weigh the pros and cons, like I've done before, and in all likelihood, Canon will still be offering the best value for my needs.
The big question for me is if, when, Sony offers some version of the A7 and lenses that makes a compelling case to switch. I'm not seeing that yet, but as I get older, size and weight is becoming more important.

 

[Diko]

Back in 2010, there was this little beauty:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=109.0

and it was room for excitement. I got excited by it.

But in the 5 years since then, what has Canon delivered to show us that the R&D for that sensor was worthwhile?

So you'll forgive me if I'm cynical that this latest announcement is worth anything more than a headline and some chest beating.

Truth been told there, indeed. But I am quite positive about this announcement.

- 5 years ago Canon revealed its 120 MPx.
- Last year we had DAF (Dual Pixel CMOS AF)
- Now we have 50 MPx DLRs.

All that while Canon is developing the new improved internal workflow.

It took almost 5 years to implement Proof Of Concept technologies with the usage of the old process.

Let us see now and wish that we will see the fruits of the new processes and this new 250 MPx in the next generation (1D Mark III & 5D Mark V) that is to come in 3 or 4 years at most.

 

[pedro]

Hope we gonna see some of this tech in the 5DIV, or is it too late already...?

Well, as it seems, this new tech won't be implemented in upcoming bodies. Too sad... Over at theverge they say: "Don't expect this to land in your next DSLR or five, then. But the announcement is a sign that sensor technology will continue to improve; Canon announced a 120-megapixel APS-H sensor back in 2010, when this year's 50-megapixel EOS 5DS would have been unthinkable."

I think the more interesting things relating to this announcement are:
+ the readout speed of that sensor,
+ it's evidence on the direction Canon has been investing research,
+ they've got at least a working prototype
+ this tells me my investment in Canon glass was a good investment because future Canon bodies are likely to take full advantage of the new resolution/sharpness/contrast of the latest lenses, and
+ I think there is a reason why Canon photography gear produces good images - Canon understands the art of creating good photographs.

Also, over the years Canon and Nikon have continually leapfrogged each other. The real winners in the long run are those who stay loyal to the brand they chose to invest in rather than repeatedly buying all new gear with each new novelty one or more of the camera manufacturers make.

I think the real value in Canon gear is in the glass and the ease of use and the ergonomics. All the rest are under-the-hood technical capabilities that are already very good and are still improving with each new model.

I like my camera and I think I made the right investment choice when I chose Canon over Nikon - I'm so looking forward to getting the new EF 35 1.4.

I won't change to the dark side, though...;-) I could imagine that some of the new sensor tech partly would appear in the 1DX2 and whatever might trickle down could appear either in a 5DV (or 6DII???)

 

[JBSF]

Just curious. Why would Canon test this technology on an APS-H size sensor?

 

[StudentOfLight]

Back in 2010, there was this little beauty:

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=109.0

and it was room for excitement. I got excited by it.

But in the 5 years since then, what has Canon delivered to show us that the R&D for that sensor was worthwhile?

So you'll forgive me if I'm cynical that this latest announcement is worth anything more than a headline and some chest beating.

Speculation:
1) I would imagine that the APS-H R&D feeds into the powershot line. Manufacturing pixel scale is similar. (The 120MP = 2micron pixels, which is same as some powershot models)
2) These APS-H sensors can be used to test optical elements and materials for APS-C and covering most of full frame, barring the most extreme corners regions.

So perhaps the R&D has a dual payback.

 

[danski0224]

I suspect that the next 1DX will be pretty darn exciting.

Canon has something up their sleeves.

 

[siegsAR]

am I the only one thats seeing this

"Canon applied its sensor technologies cultivated over many years to realize an architecture adapted for miniaturized pixels that delivers high-sensitivity, low-noise imaging performance"

and getting very excited?

You're not alone Tom.

 

[StudentOfLight]

Well, just trying to play on the other thread here..
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=27593.0

But Canon's latest press release goes on about an APS-H sensor with ~250MP (19,580 x 12,600 pixels)

www.canon.com/news/2015/sep07e.html

excerpt:

When installed in a camera, the newly developed sensor was able to capture images enabling the distinguishing of lettering on the side of an airplane flying at a distance of approximately 18 km from the shooting location.2

2. Image capture employed a combination of optical and digital zooming while distinguishing of image content was realized through the magnification of an approximately 1/40,000th-sized area of the captured image.

-

I wonder what lens...

obviously with the kit lens

 

[Busted Knuckles]

I am going w/ the positive. Lots of development, see what can make it into a DSLR or C body.

As signal noise gets lower through whatever means (materials, engineering, etc) is there a cross over point where as some else mentioned the over sampling provides a better data stream than larger pixels for DR/Low light?

 

[Maximilian]

It is funny to see that Canon always (like back in 2010) takes an APS-H sized sensor as experimental vehicle though they've killed that size with the end of production of the 1DIV.

About the pixel count:
Okay 250, and now?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

R&D can result in a better understanding of what it takes to build a new camera 5 or 10 years from now. You did not see the super computer that reads out the image at 5 FPS, because the technology breakthrough was the ability of the sensor to transfer data that fast. Canon has to depend on others for faster processors at low power levels, so that alone prevents dropping the sensor into a current camera.

Undoubtedly, we are and will see patents for the many new processes required to make it work. Every week, there are dozens of Canon patents published. About 1/2 of them are for printers, some are for life sciences, about 1/3 are for video and still cameras. We only see about 1 in 250 that seem to point towards a new product, most of them are for internal workings that taken alone don't tell us what might be coming.

If I had time, I'd sort thru them all, but I don't.

 

[Antono Refa]

What lens is connected to the camera? Seems black with a red ring, maybe EF 200mm f/2.8

 

[privatebydesign]

What lens is connected to the camera? Seems black with a red ring, maybe EF 200mm f/2.8

It says under the picture, it is a 35mm f1.4L.

 

[Tinky]

"But who actually needs that kind of resolution?"

"Canon is considering the application of this technology in specialized surveillance and crime prevention tools"

8)

I was being facetious / ironic.

My intent was to mock those people that will always moan no matter what Canon does. I thought the A7 & the SL2 bits might have been the bit that gave it away...

It is of course very good news for those who believe in trickle down...

 

[Tinky]

Just curious. Why would Canon test this technology on an APS-H size sensor?

Is it

A) Because it's actually an APS-HDTV sensor, not the made up APS-H format: they are going after the 70mm widescreen movie market

B) Because Canon don't see so called full frame as the be all and end all? They leave that to 5D owners.

C) Because the 1D line is going to diverge again. This chip is for the 1DV. The 1DXs gets 19MP but a stop more DR.

 

[privatebydesign]

A few years ago Canon showcased some future design concepts, one was a very high resolution sensor based camera that could resolve sub diffraction. The point was that they thought one approach would be to use very high resolution as a way of capturing the scene, then you can crop to ridiculous extents and still have good quality images, kind of like a Lytros for focal length, shoot the scene and choose the focal length later.

One thing is certain, R&D won't stop in the imaging field now, the DSLR market is one tiny tip of a massive iceberg.

 

[LDS]

"But who actually needs that kind of resolution?"

"Canon is considering the application of this technology in specialized surveillance and crime prevention tools"

8)

I was being facetious / ironic.

I know... it's just that sometimes there's an imaging world far beyond the "artistic photographer" one. Sometimes, there are lots of sales (and money) in gear aimed at specialized imaging tasks you don't see on web image galleries not at your local art gallery...