Hasselblad’s new H6D-400c MS camera captures 400-megapixel images

Swedish high-end camera maker Hasselblad has unveiled an exceptional new model that can capture images in 400-megapixel resolution. The Hasselblad H6D-400c MS will be available from March 2018 for the princely sum of €47,999 or $47,995.

The Hasselblad H6D-400c MS is billed as offering the highest resolution, most color accurate medium format images currently available on the market. To achieve this, the camera uses multi-shot technology to capture and combine six exposures. The first four involve moving the sensor by a pixel at a time to achieve real color data. The sensor then returns to its starting position, before two further exposures are captured by shifting the sensor by half a pixel horizontally then half a pixel vertically.

These six images are then combined to create a single 23,200 x 17,400-pixel Tiff-format image, weighing in at a colossal 2.4 gigabytes. This technique is usually used in art reproduction and cultural industries for the documentation of paintings, sculptures and artworks. Here, it is made available to imaging professionals looking for extreme levels of detail and precision. The H6D-400c also films ultra-high definition video in the Hasselblad RAW format.

Note that the camera’s CMOS sensor has an ISO sensitivity range of 64-12,800. Moreover, since the device needs large amounts of storage, the Hasselblad H6D-400c MS has two memory card slots.

While the price of this camera is as jaw-dropping as its 400MP images, anyone interested in taking the Hasselblad H6D-400c MS out for a spin can rent one for a few hundred dollars a day.

source: technology.inquirer.net

New Polaroid digital camera with built-in printer ships October

Polaroid is a brand synonymous with instant-print photographs as well as the “retro feel” that goes with it. With the success of the Polaroid Snap, the company follows through with an updated version of its digital camera, which comes with a few nifty features.

The new camera is called Snap Touch and, like the original Snap, is equipped with an inkless printing system that lets users print out physical photos instantly like the Polaroid Instax camera. The main difference with this new model is its touchscreen panel and Bluetooth sensor, reports Engadget.

Snap Touch is more than just another digital version of Polaroid’s Instax camera. The Bluetooth connection allows the device to also act as a portable printer. Photos can be sent from a smartphone over a dedicated app through Bluetooth and have them printed on the Snap Touch.

Pre-orders are now available over at the Polaroid website and shipments will begin in October. Do keep in mind that Polaroid’s inkless printing system accepts only ZINK inkless paper, which costs about $10 a pack.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

WATCH: Google unveils ‘superpower’ camera designed to snap museum art

Good news for museum curators out there. A cutting-edge camera designed by Google Cultural Institute has innovated a camera with superpowers to snap century-old masterpieces in lucid detail, unlike a smartphone.

Art Camera, the institute’s infant camera prototype, is invented for museum curators to digitalize their paintings, artifacts, and documents in the collection. It can capture gigapixel images and reveal minuscule details not visible to the naked eye, according to tech news sites The Verge and Gizmag. Also, the time for snapping photos will be efficiently scaled down from several hours to only 30 minutes.

The camera also allows any user to play around and zoom the gigapixel images in its optimized and sharpest form.

Likewise, laser and sonar technologies guarantee that the Art Camera clearly targets on each painting’s brushstroke, scratch, and hidden signature.

However, the Art Camera can only be used for flat objects, such as paintings and documents. The prototype is unable to capture 3D objects or anything particularly large, and Google is developing a separate gadget for artifacts and 3D objects.

Thanks to the Art Camera, Google tripled its production of striking and ultra-high resolution images of artworks by acclaimed painters such as Signac, Van Gogh, and Monet. To encourage art institutions to digitize their collections, the company will lend twenty Art Camera portable units to various art institutions for free. Gianna Francesca Catolico

source: technology.inquirer.net

HTC’s new phone focuses on camera quality

NEW YORK — HTC is promising a better camera — along with refinements in audio and design — as it unveils its latest flagship phone, the HTC 10.

The camera has long a weak point in HTC devices. At first, HTC sacrificed image resolution and made the size of individual pixels larger to capture more light. But the resulting 4 megapixel images were often fuzzy, especially when cropped or enlarged. HTC went with smaller individual pixels in a 20-megapixel camera last year, but it still underperformed in extreme situations, such as indoors and close-ups.

The HTC 10 tries to strike a balance — larger individual pixels, but not as large as before. The camera is now 12 megapixels, the same as the latest iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones.

“What we tried to do … is to get the best of both worlds,” said Nigel Newby-House, HTC’s associate vice president for product planning in North America. In last year’s HTC One M9 phone, “the imaging performance was not up to the kind of spec of what we really like to see in a flagship.”

HTC’s flagship phones have drawn good reviews in the past, but it’s had trouble translating those into sales. The company doesn’t currently rank as one of the top five phone manufacturers worldwide, according to the market-research firm Gartner. In recent months, HTC has branched out to fitness and virtual-reality devices. But it isn’t giving up on phones.

Announced Tuesday, the HTC 10 phone is expected to be available in late April. The company didn’t immediately announce pricing.

Other notable features in the HTC 10 include a powerful battery — promised at two days — and the ability to customize the home screen so that app icons don’t all have to stay in a grid. There will be stickers of different sizes to move around and create a personalized design.

HTC is giving a slight boost to the selfie camera — to 5 megapixels, matching the Apple and Samsung phones. It also joins its rivals in letting the screen serve as a front-facing flash.

An already-good metal design will now have sharper edges. The rounder finish in the previous model made the phone feel more like a bar of soap, with all the slipperiness you’d expect, Newby-House said.

For audiophiles, the phone can now handle higher-quality sound files, and the two external speakers have been tweaked so that one focuses on high end notes, while the other emphasizes bass. TVJ

source: technology.inquirer.net