Comments on: (FT3) First rumors about the new Panasonic sensor

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:56:06 +0000

Archer is right. In a normal sensor a lot of the circuits actually lie above the photosites. This blocks some of the light coming in. Putting those on top would allow the sensor to collect more light. The smaller size of 4/3s sensors should make it easier for Pana/Oly to implement first, although it will come to all the sensors eventually. Because the photosites will be less deep Oly’s telecentric design will probably be a little less important. You might see a lot more improvement using older lenses with sensors of this design. It might be one reason the telecentric requirements were relaxed for m4/3s and/or we might see lenses faster then f2 to go alone with a backlit sensor. These are all wild guesses though.

By: Archer

Archer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:36:51 +0000

Back illumination is good for all sizes of chips. It was developed by astronomers using REALLY BIG sensors to improve QE. It also takes care of the angle of incidence problems on larger sensors.

By: drj

drj — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:44:27 +0000

Entirely agree with Agent00soul, but this also suggests that the earlier rumors about Olympus 4/3 cameras with Fuji sensors won’t come to reality. Be that as it may, a Fuji m4/3 camera – I have never used a camera with their EXR approach but the DR of their earlier Super CCD technology was just fantastic – would be a nice compensation though.