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Sony eliminates sensor noise

For the last 3 years, Canon sensors have consistently delivered clean images at high ISO. Sony sensors, meanwhile, have been plagued by higher levels of luminance and chroma noise.

Sony has now dealt with this issue once and for all, introducing a brand new sensor technology that eliminates the problem of noise altogether. Watch out Canon, because this brilliant new sensor will appear in both Sony and Nikon products soon.

No more noise

The technical wizards at Sony have found a way to suck more light down onto each individual photocell on their latest sensor. This results in a signal that completely overwhelms quantum noise, delivering a clean image right up to ISO 6,400.

The increased 'sensitivity' is achieved by seeding each photocell with a tiny black hole. These black holes then suck in a lot more light than would otherwise be the case, literally flooding each photocell.

The new process has other benefits too. For example, it tends to force the light into straight lines, allowing manufacturers to do away with expensive 'extra dispersion' glass.

Sony technicians say this process isn't compatible with CMOS sensors, because the extra transistors surrounding each photocell tend to be pulled down into the black hole along with light. The result is a clogged up sensor that stops working before it even leaves the fabrication plant.

Nikon VRIII

Nikon is the first company to deliver a product that utilizes this new technology, and it isn't a camera. Nikon have just announced the introduction of Vibration Reduction III (VRIII), which uses Sony's tiny black holes to realign light at it passes through the lens.

This eradicates the effects of camera shake.

Nikon claim the new system is a lot safer than shaking either the lens, or the sensor. According to Nikon, a sensor containing millions of tiny little black holes could create all kinds of havoc if it was shaken too hard.

'Our worst scenario,' a Nikon engineer told us, 'is having the black holes in the new 22MP D3x shake loose. If that happened, all the little black holes would quickly combine to form one big black hole. Management debated it for a while, but eventually decided it wasn't in Nikon's interests to be held accountable for the destruction of the planet.'

Nikon have also announced a new tilt-shift lens for their DX (APS) format. This lens uses Sony's black hole technology to bend light back into shape, delivering accurate architectural images (no more building 'lean').

Sensor cleaning now a thing of the past

The tiny black holes have another benefit for their users, and that's the fact you'll never again need to clean your sensor.

As dust makes its way down the lens, into the camera body, and finally settles on the sensor, the black holes literally gobble it all up! Sensor cleaning is finally a thing of the past.

In fact, Sony specifically mentions that cleaning your sensor will void the warranty. If you try to swab the sensor, your cleaning stick will become permanently stuck to it. Imagine trying to take a photo using a camera with a Pec*Pad permanently lodged in it.

The good news doesn't stop with a self-cleaning sensor, because now it also grows in size over time...

A dream come true

As each tiny piece of dust is absorbed by the black holes in your sensor, it slowly but surely grows in size. Over time, the sensor in your camera will transform from APS to full-frame. And it won't cost you a cent.

Sony claim an average photographer can expect to achieve a full-frame sensor within 3 years. And just one and half years after that, your camera will have reached medium format.

Sony have beaten Canon to one of its stated goals, and delivered full-frame quality at APS prices! Thank you Sony.

Much faster image processing

One of the benefits of a black hole, is its ability to distort time and space. You've already seen how Nikon is making use of this technology to provide better vibration reduction, plus tilt-shift functionality in some of their latest lenses.

Sony has been focussing on another area where black hole technology can be used to advance the art of photography. They've used the black hole's distortion of time to speed up image processing.

What Sony have done, is to cleverly place the image processor, transfer pipeline, and memory card inside the event horizon of the sensor. This effectively gives the next Sony DSLR infinite time to process each image, opening up a world of advanced processing options.

To the photographer, stuck outside the event horizon, images seem to be processed and written to the memory card instantly. Of course, they're taking the normal amount of time. But relative to the observer (i.e. the photographer), it all happens instantly.

Sony claim their next DSLR will be able to shoot an infinite number of frames per second, and will remain completely noiseless up to ISO6,400 despite packing 22 megapixels into an APS-C sized sensor.