Neil Duffin Blog

DPReview have a press release from Kodak about their sensors - used in the new Leica S2, various other medium format and 35mm cameras. The interesting paragraph is…

The sensor also includes specific design features that optimize its use in the S2 camera, such as the use of microlenses to increase the overall light sensitivity of the device, enabling improved image quality under low light conditions. In addition, an infra-red absorbing optic was incorporated directly into…

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Fuji have announced they intend to release a new series of ‘premium’ compacts using their new Super CCD EXR chip in 2009.

The chip technology uses an unusual bayer patter and is proported to improve detail, noise and dynamic range (it uses two sensitivities to improve this).

It could prove interesting but will the new ‘premium’ compact have an optical viewfinder, a wide-angle zoom (starting at something like 28mm) and properly buffered RAW mode? The F31d didn’t…

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MacNN are rumouring a new Leica system, the ‘S’ system. Featuring 9 new lenses and a body with a 37 mega-pixel sensor. It’s supposed to be somewhere is size between a 5D Mk2 and a 1Ds Mk3.

It’s interesting but just how much will Leica want for it and the lenses? They are aiming it at high-end DSLR users but Leica kit is normally pretty expensive.

Update

There a scan of the leaked Professional Photographer page here. The…

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The first Micro 4:3s camera and lenses have been announced today. To my mind the camera is a bit of a mixed bag, some very interesting looking elements and some disappointments.

On the plus side it has an interesting new electronic viewfinder and is significantly smaller than the model it replaces. In the negative column, it’s trying to be a DSLR and given the fact that they could have made the camera any shape, it’s a…

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Samsung have announced that they are going to make a new camera system using a APS-C sensor, interchangeable lenses and use a smaller body than a DSLR.

It sounds a lot like the Micro 4:3 system but they are reputedly going to use the sensor from the GX-20. This is definitely not a 4:3 system sensor.

Why they would decide not to go with the 4:3 system is unclear. Surely it would be better to have a…

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After recovering (almost) from my machine failure. I thought it would be good to catch-up on the world of photography, unfortunately there’s not much of interest out there.

However, there are a couple of things and the main one is version 2 of Lightroom. I’m still running 1.4.something at the moment but intend to update to the latest once I’ve made 100% sure my system is restored. It has some very nice new features and …

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I notice that the march of the megapixels is continuing with Samsung’s announcement of the L310W and NV100HD. These cameras sport 13.6 and 14.7 megapixel chips respectively.

I sincerely hope they use something like Sony’s new ‘back illumination‘ technology because otherwise these models are going to be very noisy (even at base ISO). The press release don’t mention it, so probably not. The only alternative recourse will be heavy noise reduction which is quite likely to…

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In addition to Hasselblad’s camera news, they have also released a major new accessory for the H-series in the form of a tilt-and-shift adapter. It’s called the HTS 1.5 and there’s an extensive datasheet here [pdf]. This gives more information, including possible uses, MTF charts, etc.

One very cleaver feature of the adapter is built in sensors for the tilt / shift settings allowing the camera’s DAC (Digital APO Correction) to optimise the resulting images,…

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Hasselblad have updated their H3 system with a new Kodak 50Mp sensor. It purports to have the same low noise and high dynamic range as the previous 39Mp chip but with a faster reading speeds, better colour and improved battery life.

You’ll need very deep pockets or an understanding bank manager to purchase the new H3DII-50. The kit (body, 80mm lens, viewfinder and digital back) will set you back a huge $40,000.

There is competition in the…

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Is 2008 going to see a major change is sensor technology? There have been a number of recent news articles and rumours indicating a major jump in the sensitivity of chips and this could make Photokina ‘08 a very interesting show.

These changes in sensor technology by a number of companies, such as Sony with their ‘Back Illuminated’ sensor look as if they could deliver what Kodak’s refinements to the Bayer Pattern promised but didn’t really…

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