Canon EOS R Sensor Test Data Available at Photons To Photo

Canon Eos R
View Post

Photons to Photo made their Canon EOS R sensor data available. The Canon EOS R can also be compared with other cameras.

The Canon EOS R is in stock and ready to ship at major retailers in the USA.

Please use the links below to put your order (international shipping available).

Order the Canon EOS R in the USA: B&H Photo | Adorama | Canon USA | Amazon

Order the Canon RF mount lenses in the USA: B&H Photo | Adorama | Canon USA | Amazon

Availability should be given also at major retailers in Europe and around the world (you have to check for your country). Please use the links below.

Canon EOS R world-wide order links:

America: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon RF mount lenses world-wide order links:

America: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon EOS R Sensor Measurement Published, Comparison with EOS 6D2, Nikon Z and Sony A7III

Canon Eos R Firmware Update
View Post

PhotonsToPhoto appear to be the first to have published figures taken on the Canon EOS R sensor. Click on the images below to get a larger view.

You can see that the EOS R sensor has a similar performance as the EOS 5D Mark IV sensor (and to some degree also with the Nikon Z7) while the EOS 6D Mark II sensor show a clearly different behaviour. The Sony A7 III has a clearly better noise performance.

More Canon EOS R information, hands-on reviews, first impressions, videos etc we collected so far are listed here.

Pre-orders for the EOS R will start tomorrow, September 12, 2018, you can get notified by B&H Photo or Adorama when they are available. For pre-order notification at B&H for all new Canon gear announced today see here.

If you’re based in UK you can already pre-order the EOS R:

World-wide pre-order links:

America: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon’s Ultra High Sensitivity 2MP Sensor Has Gone Into Production (the sensor that can see in the dark)

35MMFHDXSCA Image Sensors
View Post

Canon’s ultra high sensitivity sensor, the 35MMFHDXSCA, with a 2 MP resolution has been released into production, as Nikkei reports.

The new product, “35MMFHDXSCA” is targeted at astronomical observation, monitoring of a natural disaster, industrial use, etc. Its pixel is as large as 19 x 19μm. Canon reduced noise, which tends to increase as pixel size increases. As a result, it became possible to shoot color video with a low illuminance of 0.001lx or less, enabling to take video of shooting stars.

The 35MMFHDXSCA is capable of reading out video with a pixel count of 2,160 x 1,280, which is broader than full HD. Therefore, it is suited not only for astronomical observation, for which wide-angle video needs to be taken, but also for monitoring and industrial use, which require special aspect ratios.

There was a press communication by Canon Japan (machine translated) and while their are not revealing the price, Canon USA is offering the sensor for sale. You won’t be able to order online or to just stop by at you nearest camera shop. To know the price and purchase it you have to contact Canon for further information.

For those more technically inclined, a white paper can be downloaded from this page.

[via Image Sensor World via Nikkei]

Did You Know Nikon Designs its own Sensors?

Nikon
View Post

I didn’t.

Imaging Resource’s Dave Etchells had the rare chance to visit Nikon’s super-secret sensor design laboratory. But, wait, didn’t Sony manufacture the sensors in Nikon cameras?

So what is Nikon exactly doing? Say’s Etchells:

Companies designing chips of whatever sort generally rely on standard processes established by the “foundry” company that does the actual manufacturing. In these cases, the design process is “just” a matter of defining the layout of the devices on the chip. I say “just” though, because it’s far from a routine process to do this. The size and shape of transistors, photodiodes, resistors and capacitors determines their electrical characteristics, and there are loads of tradeoffs involved in balancing light-gathering efficiency, noise levels, readout speeds, on and on. A big trick is designing the pixels and readout circuitry so there’s as little “dead” (non-light-sensitive) area as possible, while maintaining readout speeds and minimizing power consumption.

Nikon designs its sensors and Sony manufactures them. The surprising thing here is how deep into details Nikon’s sensor design goes, let alone all the simulations and the testing. The reason Nikon is doing this, has to do

with being able to optimize the camera system as a whole, in ways that you can’t if you’re just using off-the shelf parts

In other words: Nikon wants their sensors to be optimised for their lenses and to work at best with Nikon’s also in-house designed EXPEED image processing engine. The sensors featured in the Nikon D850 and Nikon D5 are an example of Nikon’s testing, simulation and overall sensor design.

To learn more about imaging sensors in general and about Nikon’s super-secret sensor design laboratory head over to Imaging Resource.

AMS announces production of 48MP full frame global shutter sensor

Global Shutter
View Post

AMS CMV50000 at a glance:

  • 8T global shutter pixel with true Correlated Double Sampling (true-CDS)
  • Resolution of 7920×6004 at 30 frames per second
  • Low noise (8.8e) and high sensitivity (QE=60%), with on-chip noise reduction
  • Capable of using standard optics
  • 35mm full frame optical format sensor
  • Capture fast moving objects
  • Designed for high performance applications
  • Use in low light conditions

Belgian based company AMS (formerly CMOSIS) announced the start of production of their 48MP full frame sensor with global shutter and 30fps. For those interested in technical detail, here is a datasheet.

Press text:

High-resolution, high-speed CMOS image sensor for machine vision systems goes into mass production

Premstaetten, Austria (12 June, 2018) — ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide supplier of high performance sensor solutions, today announced its CMV50000, a high-speed 48Mpixel global shutter CMOS image sensor for demanding machine vision applications, has gone into mass production.

It is available for purchase in high volumes now.

The CMV50000, which features a 35mm-format 7920 x 6004 array of 4.6µm-sized pixels based on a patented eight-transistor pixel architecture, is a breakthrough in CMOS image sensor performance. It operates at a fast 30 frames/s with 12-bit pixel depth at full resolution or a binned 4K and 8K modes, and even faster – up to 60 frames/s – with pixel sub-sampling at 4K resolution.

This means the CMV50000 can provide the detailed views of a large surface area that are required in factory automation applications such as automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment and systems for the inspection of displays of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and TVs. The combination of high frame rate and high resolution enables manufacturers to increase their already high throughput rates at consumer product assembly plants.

The low-noise ams pixel architecture offers excellent electronic shutter efficiency, and the global shutter operation produces distortion-free images of fast-moving objects. The sensor offers 64dB optical dynamic range at full resolution and up to 68dB in binned 4K mode. The image sensor benefits from the implementation of sophisticated new on-chip noise-reduction circuitry such as black-level clamping, enabling it to capture high-quality images in low-light conditions.

The outstanding performance of the CMV50000 lets manufacturers replace the charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors which have traditionally been used in applications requiring ultra-high resolution. Now they can use a CMOS image sensor which is easier to implement in camera systems, uses less power and operates at higher frame rates.

The superior imaging performance of the CMV50000 was recognized earlier in 2018 when it was named the Biggest Breakthrough Development at the Image Sensors Europe Awards 2018.

“During recent months, ams has seen great demand for the CMV50000 from design teams developing new automated optical inspection systems and vision systems for testing flat panel displays,” said Wim Wuyts, Marketing Director for Image Sensors at ams. “The CMV50000 is now fully qualified and available to these manufacturers in production volumes. It is also about to be supported by a full demonstration system for evaluating the sensor’s performance.”

Both the monochrome and color versions of the CMV50000 are available in production volumes now. The per unit pricing is €3,450.

For sample requests and for more technical information, go to www.ams.com/Image-Sensor/CMV50000.

Canon explores large image sensors for academic and industrial application

Canon
View Post

Canon posted a technical article about the company’s efforts in researching large size image sensors. The sensor in the article below is 40 times the size of a 35mm CMOS sensor. Nothing you will see on Canon’s next mirrorless camera.

Canon press text:

The Potential to Open New Frontiers in Academic and Industrial FieldsCMOS Image Sensors

In addition to the image sensors used in its consumer-model digital cameras, Canon is exploring new potential in academic fields and industrial fields through the development of ultrahigh-sensitivity CMOS image sensors and ultrahigh-resolution CMOS image sensors.

The World’s Largest Ultrahigh-Sensitivity CMOS Image Sensor

A certain level of light is required when shooting with a digital camera or camcorder, and without it, images cannot be captured due to insufficient sensitivity.

In the pursuit of further improving the sensitivity of imaging elements, Canon has embraced the challenge of achieving higher levels of sensitivity and larger element sizes while maintaining high-speed readout performance, and has succeeded in developing the world’s largest class of CMOS image sensor measuring approximately 20 cm square. At present, the standard diameter of the silicon wafers on which CMOS sensors are fabricated is 12 inches (approx. 30 cm). As such, a 20-cm-square sensor is the largest size that can be manufactured based on these dimensions, and is equivalent to nearly 40 times the size of a 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor.

Increasing the size of CMOS sensors entails overcoming such problems as distortion and transmission delays for the electrical signals converted from light. To resolve these issues, Canon not only made use of a parallel processing circuit, but also exercised ingenuity with the transfer method itself. As a result, the sensor makes possible the shooting of video at 60 frames per second with only 0.3 lux of illumination (approximately the same level of brightness as that generated by a full moon).

120-Megapixel Ultrahigh-Resolution CMOS Image Sensor

Canon has spent many years working to reduce the pixel size for CMOS image sensors. These efforts have led to astounding results, making possible a pixel size of 2.2 µm for a total of approximately 120 million pixels on a single sensor. The APS-H size (approx. 29 x 20 mm) CMOS sensor boasts approximately 7.5 times the number of pixels and 2.6 times the resolution of sensors of the same size featured in existing products.

This CMOS sensor performs parallel processing to support the high-speed readout of large volumes of pixels, and by modifying the method employed to control the readout circuit timing, Canon successfully achieved the high-speed readout of sensor signals. As a result, the sensor makes possible a maximum output speed of approximately 9.5 frames per second, supporting the continuous shooting of ultrahigh-resolution images.

Images captured with the ultrahigh-resolution CMOS sensor maintain high levels of definition and clarity even when cropped or digitally magnified. Accordingly, this sensor offers potential for a range of industrial applications, including cameras for shooting images for large-format poster prints, cameras for the image inspection of precision parts, aerospace cameras, and omnidirectional vision cameras.

The 120-megapixel ultrahigh-resolution performance of the Canon CMOS sensor may lead to unprecedented industrial applications that could only be imagined in the past.

[via Image Sensors World]