Aug 24^th was the press release for Canon's newly developed CMOS sensor with approximately 120 megapixels. 120 megapixels! Some top pro digital cameras have 21 megapixels. This is just nuts. In a good way.

http://www.canon.com/news/2010/aug31e.html

What is the benefit? Examining a fashion model’s skin pores? Actually there are many. For example it enables cropping images and videos with relatively no loss of resolution.

The press release states, “Canon's newly developed CMOS sensor also incorporates a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) video output capability. The sensor can output Full HD video from any approximately one-sixtieth-sized section of its total surface area.”

Imagine a wide view video of a soccer match with the ability to zoom in on any one player and still maintain HD.

The August 31st press release is also notable - an 8 inch x 8 inch CMOS sensor with ultra high light sensitivity.

http://www.canon.com/news/2010/aug31e.html

Translated for us laymen:

- Full Daylight is about 10,000 LUX
- Cloudy day is about 1,000 LUX
- A lighted parking lot at night is about 10 LUX (average)
- A full moon is about 1 LUX

This sensor can record shooting with a mere 0.3 lux or half the light of the moon!

“The sensor makes possible the image capture in one one-hundredth the amount of light required by a 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor, facilitating the shooting of 60 frame-per-second video with a mere 0.3 lux of illumination.”

Have you ever seen a beautiful moonlit mountain range or valley? Imagine low light underwater photography in lifelike detail and clarity. These beautiful scenes can now be captured in a large, large format. Think “Ansel Adams already has one on order”.

But on another note, this mad rush to capture images that are “lifelike” has what motive? Because we can? Or because the beauty of this world will soon be gone?