Afraid of the dark? Let Canon help with their new sensor
Front cover image credit to @mygearphoto on Instagram.
Canon is set to release a highly advanced image sensor that captures high-quality color images in near-complete darkness. With rumors saying we can expect a debut in 2022, the sensor may revolutionize the digital imagining industry and pave the way for more advanced security system cameras, cameras for autonomous driving, and augmented reality.
If you know anything about cameras, you know that most digital cameras traditionally use a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, a device that acts as an electronic eye for the camera and allows it to capture pixel signals individually. CMOS sensors record the intensities of light as charges and then convert them into electrical signals. These sensors produce images based on the number of photons each pixel detects over some time. When more light is available, better photographs are produced.
In current times, night-time photography requires specific equipment and techniques, like setting a camera up on a tripod with the shutter open for longer to gather more light. While these techniques work for still photos, it is not the best for capturing video footage. At best, we aim to keep our ISO low so to avoid grainy or noisy final images. This allows the sensor not to be so sentive and not create artificial light.
Canon improved on existing technology called a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD), which allows the camera to capture high amounts of detail with only one-tenth of the brightness required by other image sensors. SPAD sensors work by amplifying a single photon that enters the sensor's pixels into large amounts of electrical energy pulses, which then allows the camera to see objects in areas with small amounts of light. Generating multiple electrons from a single photon gives greater sensitivity during image capture.
Aside from producing images in the dark, SPAD can determine distances between objects based on how long it takes for light to reach the object, reflect off it and then return. This data can then be used to calculate space between three-dimensional objects and generate models of the surrounding area, which may be useful for self-driving cars and navigation systems in the near future.
The cost of SPAD sensors is roughly the same as producing CMOS sensors and requires the same manufacturing technology to make. Other companies also ready to enter the market with their own SPAD sensor technology include Panasonic and Sony.
What cameras do you foresee using this new technology? Will the R series transition to SPAD sensors, maybe their line of cinema cameras? Let us know in the comments your thoughts.