Copenhagen (Denmark) – Let’s assume you have $40,000 lying around to spend on a gadget. What could you buy? You could get a full-featured Kaleidescape home entertainment center or Barco’s 56” Quad-HDTV. You could get two Toyota Prius hybrids, one for your spouse and one for yourself. You could buy an 18th century bottle of Chateau Lafite wine to enjoy the entertainment your existing gadgets provide. Or, you could buy a PhaseOne digital camera – with a 65 megapixel sensor.

PhaseOne announced its P65+ digital back, which offers a resolution of 8984 x 6732 active pixels, resulting in a total resolution of 60.5 megapixels. The company did not provide information on the CCD sensor, which the company calls “Sensor+” technology, but said that the system is capable of taking one image every second.

An 8 bit RGB image will result in a 180 MB file, which means that an 8 GB memory card is good for about 45 pictures in full resolution.

The P65+ digital back is priced at $39,900. The full camera starts at $41,990. PhaseOne also offers cameras with less resolution – such as a 21-megepixel camera for about $13,000.

Last week, Kodak announced a 50 megapixel image sensor, which will be used in Hasselblad’s upcoming H3DII-50 camera. The camera will be available in October for $39,995.

Medium format camera?

Jul 14, 2008 12:11     

Are these oversized CCDs? I'm not sure that I'm all that much a fan of just finer resolution as you can run into other issues w/image quality. Still, I'm not aware of too many photogs who can drop 40k on a single camera. Needless to say, insurance is definitely required.
Jim L report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

RE: Medium format camera?

Jul 14, 2008 16:55     

Yes, this and the 50MP Kodak CCDs are medium format. Not sure about the exact sensor size, but I'm sure they are massive. Also, these types of cameras are used for very specific studio shots with near perfect flash syncs, and most photogs that use them probably just rent...
lo report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

not quite the camera for a party

Jul 14, 2008 17:41     

For the amateur photographers enjoying taking photos in and around their (main or vacation) residence - the audience this article seems to address - there are many better choices. For *some* professional photographers, the two latest announcements of medium format cameras are important and the prices are not too high compared to the income they can generate.
Darien report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1