[Michail_P]

Today I read an article about a new , curved image sensor that Samsung has been researching. It’s supposed to be a 12mp or something about there, mimicking the form of the human eye. This would eventually work for the best of any company involved , because it would greatly reduce the production cost of lenses (no need for aspherical element), giving a better corner resolution. Less need for correction and high quality image. . I thought it is very interesting in general. But considering the technical aspects, it would benefit a company as Ricoh , it’s close to the Pentax philosophy and would give an opportunity for cheaper high quality glass. Just a thought. Sorry if this has been already in a thread.
Sorry it’s not Samsung. It’s a French company, CurveOne

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Last edited by Michail_P; 12-16-2020 at 12:53 PM.

[KiloHotelphoto]

You would need all new glass and that is something Ricoh has struggled with getting out now.

[jatrax]

I think the news has been posted a few times. it is very interesting but perhaps more useful in something like machine vision, or fixed lens cameras. Not really applicable to ILC's unless you want to develop a completely new line of lenses and lose all legacy compatibility I would think. And unless the curve or other unique aspects of the format are standardized you would need new lenses every time they updated the sensor.

[Michail_P]

Yeah that’s probably the case. It’s also relatively low on Mp, but on the long run it’s a nice step. Sounds a bit natural if you think about it.

[shyrsio]

this would make sense in cameras where the sensor is close to the back of the lens like on mirrorless cameras or the GR, but not on an SLR, the flange distance diminishes the effect of out of focus areas.

[Wasp]

After over a century of designing lenses that project an image in a flat plane, engineers will now have to go back to the drawing board to take advantage of this technology. Looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

[ramseybuckeye]

Dream becomes reality: Sony officially unveils their curved sensor tech! - PentaxForums.com,

[Bob 256]

There are still a lot of considerations. For example, the field curvature of different lenses is not the same so correcting for one would introduce IQ issues for another (whereas, currently, most lenses are already designed for best IQ on a planar surface). A curved sensor might be a partial solution to complicated lens constructions but all of the new lenses would need to be designed for a specific curvature, and its use wouldn't necessarily eliminate the need for aspherical elements.

If this sensor was to be paired with a single lens optimized for use with it, it would be a different story. I could be wrong but I think the curved sensor will be applicable to niche applications, but not a widespread substitute for the planar sensors we now have.

[Michail_P]

French startup is preparing its curved CMOS image sensor for mass production: Digital Photography Review

So the difference between the first announcement from Sony, is the mass -production ready sensor. Which is the difficult part, if I’m right.

[Mooncatt]

I can see this becoming standard in the very long run due to the required lens changes.

But now I'm also curious what sort of image you would get on a curved sensor with current lenses. Perhaps an entirely new niche area of photography, kind of like Lens Baby users?

[Michail_P]

Supposing there’s no focus issue, I would expect distortion, aberration and idk about the corners ... but as you said, rethinking of the design is only natural. Lighter lenses more realistic geometric control, cheaper (theoretically) ... but it seems that the system will be cooperative. It’s not only about the sensor but also the optics.

[mhoule418]

Well... I may be wrong, but...

Wouldn’t you think this may have an impact on the output devices (screen, tablet, phone... and paper)?
Because if the images are taken with the curvature on the sensor, we will have to «*stretch*» the corners of the image (or the enter ) for the image to show on a flat surface.

I may sit long enough on my cell to slightly bent the corners

[Breakfastographer]

My understanding is that there is no curvature that works well for all lenses. So this would be a good solution for a single focal compact camera, or a mobile phone camera (because they're primes). At this point, it looks likely to be irrelevant to the ILC market, unless you go with a Ricoh GXR type idea, where the sensor is exchanged along with the lens.

[DWS1]

This might become viable in phones, but I don't see camera companies adopting it any time soon.

[Not a Number]

IBIS on a curved sensor would be quite interesting. Body sizes might increase.