[disconnekt]

Link: Image Sensors World: Curve-One to Bring Curved Sensors to Market

Seems really interesting, wounder if they are going to do sensors for Dslr's since they are releasing sensors for "civil applications (cameras, civil drone)". Wounder if Pentax would get their sensors from Curve-One instead from Sony if the price is right (and cheaper than Sony)

[BigMackCam]

I'm sure it has been discussed before, but what are the supposed benefits of curved sensors? And wouldn't they result in significantly altered rendering from the entire current and back-catalogue of Pentax and third-party glass that's designed with a flat film or sensor in mind?

[D1N0]

It wouldn't work on an ILC because field curvature is very lens specific. It can also change depending on focussing distance. In a zoom it changes going from wide to tele.

[BigMackCam]

It wouldn't work on an ILC because field curvature is very lens specific. It can also change depending on focussing distance. In a zoom it changes going from wide to tele.

Thanks... That's what I thought. I could see how it might work with certain fixed prime lens designs, to overcome field curvature... but with multiple primes or even a single zoom, that field curvature (depending on the lens design) can change with focal length, aperture and focal distance

[sqrrl]

It seems like a great idea for compact cameras, cellphones and the like where designing a lens/ sensor combination at once is viable, not so much for an ILC.

[swanlefitte]

I think wide angle could work well so maybe a good candidate for realty and landscape. Perhaps the curvature is flexible and can be tuned to work with many lenses? It would still require all new lens designs.
What is the final media? If it's flat then new raw developer should be needed to transpose to it or is the lens design incorporating that part. We all know a flat map distorts the world.

[RobA_Oz]

It wouldn't work on an ILC because field curvature is very lens specific. It can also change depending on focussing distance. In a zoom it changes going from wide to tele.

Spot on. To make it work, the curvature would have to be able to change with the lens and the focus point, which would require a flexible substrate and a means of monitoring and changing the shape. Possible, but mightily expensive and probably redundant with the gradual move to more aspherical lens components, even in phone cameras, I believe.

[kaseki]

Presently all the film and focal plane array cameras we generally deal with have flat focal planes. Zoom or not, the lens prescription has to deal with the flat plane bringing it all into focus. A different prescription could deal with a curved plane, if not too steeply curved. The disadvantage of curved is that the optimal curvature changes with focal length. The advantage of curved, however, lies in the closer to constant image irradiance with angle* (instead of proportional to the cosine of the angle) and less change in the back focal length with angle. Some advantage toward minimizing chromatic aberration may also accrue. These advantages only become significant when the field of view is wide and the rays intercepting a flat focal plane off-axis do so at a steep angle.

The presentation of the exterior world at the focal plane may change from tangent of angle toward angle as the focal plane curvature is optimized.

Some of these effects may be observed with curved monitors vs. flat monitors.
____
*not including the cosine effect that may be present a the lens input side depending on how it intercepts rays.