570-Megapixel Digital Camera Is the Mother and the Father of All Cameras

Dark energy Peeping Toms rejoice, because Fermilab has created the gadget to catch it: A $35 million, car-sized digital camera, with 74 CCD sensors in it. It will take 570-megapixel photos of the Universe.

The resulting sensor is one meter in diameter, covering a 2.2-degree field of view. The images are so big that, even with an ultra-fast data recording system, each photo will take 17 seconds to acquire.

The camera won't photograph the dark energy itself, however. It will just provide with ultra-detailed shots of the cosmos—tracking 300 million galaxies over the course of five years—which may bring evidence about the existence of this veiled intergalactic power.

(Info provided by Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo)

Noelle Grace

Noelle Grace Murphy Born January 5, 7:10pm 8lb 11 oz 20.9 inches.

Samsung NX10 Gets Real, New NX Series Camera Format and All

The compact Samsung NX10 is official this evening, with many if not all of the features we saw leaked in December making the final cut in time for some hands-on time at CES.

If you missed the fanfare in December, here's a recap:

Samsung's goal with the NX series was to introduce a DSLR-sized sensor, in this case APS-C, that's actually a bit larger than the one found in Micro Four Thirds. Then they went and put that sensor in a mirror-less, interchangeable lens body that's smaller than a traditional DSLR, and... If this is giving anyone déjà vu, it's probably because this is the same idea behind the aforementioned Micro Four Thirds camera format.

Also making it into the final body are 720p HD video functionality (H.264 codec) and a 3.0-inch AMOLED viewscreen in the rear:

Samsung, by way of a press release sent to Gizmodo, claimed the AMOLED screen has a response rate that's 10,000 times faster than a conventional LCD. All this with a promised lower power consumption and higher contrast ratio at 10,000:1.

A few more of the specs, provided by Samsung:

View Finder - Electronic viewfinder
Movie - 720p HD (MP4. H.264)
Size & Weight - 4.8" x 3.4" x 1.6" (excluding the projecting parts of the camera) .78 lbs (without battery and card)
ISO - 100 - 3200
Flash - Built-in Pop-up Flash
OIS - Lens Shift
Dust reduction - Supersonic Type
Special Features - APS-C sized image sensor, 3.0" AMOLED, Smart Range, HDMI (Anynet +), Fast &, Decisive Contrast AF, New DRIMe II Pro engine and advanced AF algorithm
Availability - Spring 2010

(Info provided by  Jack Loftus of Gizmodo)

TeCh - Liquid Image outs Summit Series Snow Camera goggles ahead of CES

Liquid Image has just announced new camera-equipped ski masks, swimming goggles and scuba masks, just in time for them to be unveiled at CES 2010. The Summit Series Snow Camera Goggle 335 boasts a 5MP still camera capable of shooting D1 720 x 480 resolution video at 30 frames per second with audio. It's got 16MB of built-in flash memory, expandable to 16GB via its microSD / SDHC slot. Other features include large buttons on the side of the goggles which are easy to press while wearing gloves and and a light inside the goggles which indicates when recording. The goggles are estimated to get about 2,200 still images or over 2 hours of video per charge on their lithium ion battery. Liquid Image expects to ship the Summit Series goggles in the summer of 2010, with a price of $149. Full press release is after the break.


(Info provided by Laura June of Engadget)