Thursday, April 11, 2013

LEICA WITH 70 MEGAPIXEL FULL FRAME SENSOR?




Since I was looking in my crystal ball about what the future of the Leica M might bring, I thought it might be a good idea to see if anything new has been reported by CMOSIS, the manufacturer of the sensor for the Leica M.  Indeed there is some exciting news.  They have developed a 70 megapixel full frame (35mm) sensor.

CHR70M image


The CHR70M is a high resolution CMOS image sensor with 10000 by 7096 pixels. The image array consists of 3.1μm x 3.1μm size pixels.  It offers a dynamic range of 63 decibels, which is relatively high and comparable to other high end sensors.  CMOSIS states on their website that the sensor is in production.  Another interesting fact is that this sensor apparently is being made in both a monochrome and RGB version.
No indication was given if this will find its way into any digital cameras soon, but the ‘what if’ question immediately turned to the Leica.  Several competing manufacturers are offering cameras with full frame sensors of a higher resolution than the Leica M, and the rumor mill is mentioning even higher resolutions of over 40 and even 50 megapixels.

Leica has obviously decided to bring their cameras into direct competition with the market leaders.  Subsequently a sensor of 70 megapixels in the Leica M and Leica M Monochrom would definitely quiet a lot of the nay-sayers.  Of course there is nothing official, but it is nice to dream ‘what if’?




8 comments:

  1. Does this indicate that CMOSIS is ahead of other manufactures in sensor technology?

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  2. Not at all. Canon, Sony etc. have certainly proven to be very capable in this field. There is no way of knowing what they might be working on this very minute.

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  3. Wouldn't an M camera with such a high pixel count cut into the sales of the Leica S?

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    1. That would depend on the overall performance of the sensor. Let's not forget that the sensor in the Leica S cameras is substantially larger. This generally leads to better signal to noise ratios. In addition, on the new CMOSIS sensor, the individual pixels are noticeably smaller than on full frame sensors with a lower pixel count, they have to be. That might lead to a higher noise level. Finally, as sensor technology progresses, it is certainly conceivable that the pixel count on the Leica S sensor will go up as well. I also think that this discussion is premature because so far there has been no indication that the new CMOSIS sensor will even be used by Leica.

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  4. Will there ever be an end to the race for ever larger pixel counts?

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    1. Good question. I guess this will continue as long as the average consumer is under the impression that higher pixel counts will automatically mean better performance. The fact that this isn't necessarily the case eludes most.

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  5. LEICA WITH 70 MEGAPIXEL FULL FRAME SENSOR = SENSATIONALISM
    Why don't you report on items that can be that are proven to be correct.
    This stinks of yellow journalism.

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  6. Before you get overly critical, you should examine your reading comprehension. I clearly market the headline "LEICA WITH 70 MEGAPIXEL FULL FRAME SENSOR" with a question mark. That should have indicated right there that I was not making a statement that such a camera exists. As I further wrote, "No indication was given if this will find its way into any digital cameras soon" and "Of course there is nothing official..." How this could possibly be misconstrued as yellow journalism and sensationalism is beyond me.

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