Folks, the day may comes we will not need to use any lens anymore :) Hitachi just announced the development of a lensless-camera Technology. And here is the press text to learn how this works:

Lensless-camera Technology
for Easily Adjusting Focus of Video Images after Image Capture

Enabling applications on mobile devices, vehicles, and robots,
by reducing thickness and weight and improving performances

TOKYO, November 15, 2016 – Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced the development of a camera technology that can capture video images without using a lens and adjust focus after image capture by using a film imprinted with a concentric-circle pattern instead of a lens. This camera technology makes it possible to make a camera lighter and thinner since a lens is unnecessary and allow the camera to be more freely mounted in devices such as mobile devices and robots at arbitrary positions without imposing design restraints. Moreover, since it acquires depth information in addition to planar information, it is possible to reproduce an image at an arbitrary point of focus even after the image has been captured. Focus can be adjusted anytime to objects requiring attention, so Hitachi is aiming to utilize this technology in a broad range of applications such as work support, automated driving, and human-behavior analysis with mobile devices, vehicles and robots.

As for cameras mounted in mobile devices represented by smartphones and robots, which require designability, making them thinner and lighter while providing higher performance?without imposing restrictions on where they can be mounted?is being demanded. As a camera technology to meet that demand, there is an increasing anticipation of applying a technology called “computational photography”*1 which is a scheme used in an optical system under the presupposition that image processing will be used after images are captured. As a camera utilizing this technology, a light-field camera, which records position and direction of light beams simultaneously and whose focus can be adjusted after images are captured, is well-known. However, a light-field camera is considerably thick since it needs a special lens. On the other hand, a lensless camera which is thin and light because it has no lens has been developed. Even so, processing of images captured by the camera incurs a heavy computational load.

Aiming to overcome the difficulties described above, Hitachi has developed a camera technology?based on the principle of Moiré fringes*2 (that are generated from superposition of concentric circles)?that combines a function for adjusting focus after images are captured in the same manner as a light-field camera and features of thinness and lightness of a lensless camera which computational load incurred by image processing is reduced to 1/300*3. The two main features of the developed camera technology are described as follows.

(1) Image processing technology using Moiré fringes

A film patterned with concentric circles (whose interval narrow toward the edge of the film) is positioned in front of an image sensor, and the image of a shadow formed by a light beam irradiated onto the film is captured by the image sensor. During the image processing, a similar concentric-circle pattern is superimposed on the shadow and Moiré fringes with spacing dependent on the incidence angle of a light beam are formed. By utilizing the Moiré fringes, it is possible to capture images by simple and commonly used image processing called “Fourier transform”*4 (Figure).

(2) Focus adjustment technology of captured images

The focal position can be changed by changing the size of the concentric-circle pattern superimposed on the shadow formed on the image sensor by a light beam irradiated onto the film. By superposing the concentric-circle pattern by image processing after image capturing, the focal position can be adjusted freely.

To measure the performance of the developed technology, an experiment with a 1-cm² image sensor and a film imprinted with a concentric-circle pattern positioned 1 mm from the sensor was conducted. The results of the experiment confirmed that video images could be captured at 30 frames per second*5 when a standard notebook PC was used for image processing.

To contribute to the “super-smart society”*6 based on IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, Hitachi is aiming to apply this newly developed lensless camera technology to all kinds of devices, starting with mobile devices, vehicles, and robots.

This camera technology will be presented at the International Workshop on Image Sensors and Imaging Systems (IWISS16) being held at the Tokyo Institute of Technology from November 17^th to 18^th, 2016.

*1

An imaging technology for creating functions?which have hitherto been impossible with cameras?by using an optical system based on the presupposition that recorded images are processed with a computer

*2

A pattern of coarse fringes expressed when orderly repeated patterns become overlapped in accord with the difference in the intervals between those repetitions

*3

Hitachi survey

*4

A mathematical operation by which a signal is transformed between a spatial frequency domain and a spatial domain

*5

Commonly used frame rate of video images in TV etc.

*6

A society in which (i) required products and services are provided to the only the people who need them at the required time, (ii) all the needs of society are meticulously satisfied so that all people can receive high-quality services, (iii) differences in ages, genders, regions, and languages are overcome, and (iv) everyone can live active and comfortable lives

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Thanks Barry and Andrea!

Leica announced the new Red painted Summicron 50mm lens. Looks cool!

More info at Leica-camera.com

This is just a pure speculation based on a simple fact: The interchangeable system camera market sales are dropping since 2012. And we can assume this trend will continue for the coming years.

I was wondering how that fact would influence the roadmap of companies like Canon and Nikon. I am no marketing expert but my guess would be that Canon and Nikon would do that:

1. Reduce investments and costs in the current traditional camera market
2. Focus investments on new areas with potential growth (small cameras for the car industry, optics for the medical business and so on)

The question is: Would a heavy investment in a new FF mirrorles system pay off? The answer seems to be no. Because the mirrorless system market isn’t doing well neither, nor is there any forecast predicting any kind of growth. So to me it sounds logical that whatever Canon and Nikon’s plan was to enter the FF mirrorless system market…they might as well kill it now.

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UPDATE: I aligned the graph to show how much system camera sales (in red) declined between 2012 and 2015:

The Japanese site Nikkei reports about a plan from Nikon to cut 1,000 jobs in Japan (10% of the entire workforce in Japan). At first Nikon officially debunked the information and wrote:

Although Nikon is constantly studying various management options including headcount rationalization for strengthening company’s profitability mainly of Semiconductor Lithography and Imaging Products Businesses, nothing has been decided at this time.

But hours later Nikon released a new note (PDF file here):

Based on the above initiatives to rationalize headcount, Nikon will be announcing a voluntary retirement program of approximately 1,000 employees. Eligible applicants and detailed conditions will be announced once officially finalized.

That really sounds like a huge mess!

For fact we know that Nikon had a 41% operating profit drop in Q2 and had to cut the DSLR years sales forecast from 6.55 million to 6.20 million. Also the other Nikon businesses  like lithography machines and precision instruments are doing worse than expected.

While all companies are reporting sales drop Nikon company Nikon as a whole is way more “photo-industry” dependent than other companies.

Leica announced the new TL camera. Qucik specs:
16,5 Megapixel APS-C sensor
3.7″ LCD touchscreen
built-in 32 GB memory
integrated WiFi

Full details and images at leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-TL/Leica-TL

Sounds like Sony’s 42MP FF sensor will get a serious competitor! Cmosis who currently supplies Leica just announced their 48 Megapixel Full Frame and 4k Global Shutter sensor!

This is the press text:

Industry’s first global shutter 48Mpixel CMOS image sensor from CMOSIS supports 8k image resolution at 30 frames/s

CMV50000 features low noise, high frame rate, and high dynamic range; easy-to-design-with sensor excels in automated optical inspection systems, machine vision uses and prosumer video applications

CMOSIS a member of the ams AG (AMS.SW) group, a leading provider of high performance sensors and analog ICs, today launched the CMV50000, an industry first global shutter CMOS image sensor offering high resolution of 48Mpixels, more than twice the resolution of its previous generation CMOSIS global shutter CMOS image sensors.

The CMV50000 is a medium format 48Mpixels sensor with 7920 x 6002 4.6-µm sized pixels using the patented 8-transistor pixel architecture to offer low noise and excellent electronic shutter efficiency. Global shutter operation means, that images of fast-moving objects can be captured without distortion.

Its pixel offers 64dB optical dynamic range at full resolution and up to 68dB in subsampled 4k mode, and the imagers benefits from the implementation of sophisticated new, on-chip noise-reduction circuitry such as black level clamping to enable it to capture high quality images under low-light conditions.

Operating at a fast 30 frames/s with 12 bit pixel depth at full resolution or a binned 4k mode, and at up to 60 frames/s with pixel subsampling to 4k resolution, the sensor is suitable for use in high-speed machine-vision systems, as well as in TV broadcasting and video cameras.

The CMV50000 provides detailed views of a large surface area required in factory automation applications such as automated optical inspection (AOI) systems and systems for the inspection of displays of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and TVs. The combination of high frame rate and high re-solution allows further increase of the already high throughput rates at consumer product assembly plants.

A High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode is supported by an odd/even row dual-exposure operation.

The CMV50000 is expected to replace high pixel-count charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors used in machine-vision cameras and high-end security cameras. Compared to the older CCD sensor technology, CMOS image sensors are easier to integrate in camera designs, use less power, and can operate at much higher frame rates.

“The introduction of the 48Mpixel CMV50000 gives camera manufacturers the opportunity to enjoy the design and operating advantages of a CMOS image sensor while gaining the ultra-high resolution, which has previously only been available through the use of CCD sensors”, said Wim Wuyts, Marketing Manager for image sensors at ams.

“The CMV50000’s advanced noise-reduction features such as black level clamping combined with its high optical dynamic range, results in high picture quality at full operation speed without the need for complex analog output matching required for multi-tap CCD image sensors and therefore also decreases the camera development time significantly.”

The monochrome version of the CMV50000 is sampling now. The color version will be available for sampling by the end of 2016. Unit pricing is €3,450.

For sample requests or more technical information, go to http://www.cmosis.com/products/product_detail/cmv50000.

The CMV50000 is on display at the CMOSIS stand, Hall 1.H46, at the Vision exhibition (Stuttgart, 8-10 November).

Download press picture and block diagram at http://www.ams.com/eng/Press/Press-Releases/