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Seitz launches 160MP camera
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 21st January 2008
The Seitz Phototechnik 6x17 160-megapixel camera: pocket-size it ain't.
I'll say that again: one hundred and sixty megapixels. Yes, that's insane. You'll need a fairly hefty PC, too though: each image in 48-bit uncompressed TIFF format comes out at a rather hefty 900MB. The resolution of each photo is 7,500x21,250: that's almost 77 times the resolution of a 1080p high-definition video.
Looking like some kind of steampunk prop, the camera has a pair of chromed hand grips at either side of the body. I'm not entirely certain why, if I'm honest: at a whopping 45cm width and weighing 4.5 kilogrammes you're unlikely to be taking snapshots with it when you're out-and-about.
It's not much cop for taking action shots of fast-moving subjects either; the camera manages to capture such a prodigious resolution through 'scanning back', which works in much the same way as a flatbed scanner, moving the sensor along a predetermined route to capture a series of smaller images which are automatically pieced together into a larger whole. Although the new camera has one of the fastest scanning backs around, capable of capturing a full-resolution 6x17 image in a single second, it's still too long to capture fast motion.
There's no compatibility with memory cards, either: instead, the camera comes equipped with a gigabit Ethernet port for zipping the photos off to a host PC. If you really need to be out and about – and you've been building your muscles – the company offers a tablet PC which can strap to the back to make it 'portable'. Hmm.
If you're needing the ultimate in high-res photography you probably won't let the drawbacks put you off. The cost of joining the ultra-high-def set? £21,817, lens extra - and that's just the base model. Better start saving up now, then.
Ever had the chance to play with really high-tech kit, or are you stuck with a QVGA cameraphone? Give us a shout over in the forums.
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making Pron From Great. To High Def Pron.
Anything better than That?.
I have a 7.1 mp casio exilim for taking snapshots and I only use 5mp of it. I know that there are semi professional photographers around here who need more res but I don't.
just my 2 cents
Just worked out, you would need about 40 30" Widescreen monitors to view a pic at full size, so at £1000 each roughly, thats roughly £61,000 for the screens and camera, not including the machine to power that amount of screens, heh
Sam
P.S: it was rough calculation, so my maths maybe out a little.
But the exposure time for this camera is 1 second, far too slow for use in planes.
if you're at altitude in a slower plane, this would still allow for VERY precise imagery.
I fly for the CAP on weekends, and do some aerial photography for them.
also this is good for large-scale geological research.
if you have it mounted on a helicopter or on foot you can take very high resolution images for later study, and even use multiple images to create 3 dimensional meshes.
Though you'd need some really good lenses to make the best use of all that resolution.
You can also crop out most of the picture and use only the area nearest to the lenses center axis - where you'll have the least distortion...
Sounds like a toy really...
Give me a Canon 5D anyday....
with 160MP, they are going above xHD. more like Microscopic Porn O_o
This camera is not designed for the casual photographer. As others have said, engineering, high-end product, and art photography are the realistic uses for this camera.
-monkey