Next generation of photography and videography

Imaging and videography is on the brink of getting into their next generation with the introduction of the world’s smallest gigapixel camera which is at present the size of a small cabinet weighing around 45kg.This monster of cameras can capture an image with 1000times more detail than a Nikon D800 which has 40megapixel.

The camera was developed by a team led by engineer David Brady and Michael J. Fitzpatrick, professor of Electric Engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, along with scientists from the University of Arizona, and the University of California.

They received funding from DARPA - the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. 
This prototype can record a gigapixel or 1,000 megapixels image  in 1/10^th of a second. Now that’s an image! 

These electrical engineers(proud to be one) have integrated 98 micro cameras each of 14Megapixels which can focus on selected points of the image. The engine stitches the images after the capture giving it a stupendous clarity on the subject. The cost of one such machine so called camera is $100,000 to $250,000(Rs.50,00,000 to Rs.1,25,00,000).

Practically what they want to say is ‘You can capture priceless images’ – Navincz

But as the electronics improve, the price should become affordable for professional and serious amateur photographers within about five years, followed soon thereafter by hand-held gigapixel cameras entering into widespread use.

The technology could be used, for example, to stream sporting events over the Internet -- enabling viewers to zoom in and watch the game from whatever perspective and resolution they choose.

Similarly, cameras mounted in game parks or at scenic lookouts would allow online tourists to examine a scene in much more detail than if they were actually there.

Gigapixel cameras may transform the challenge in photography into mining out images. Basically images are few moments intertwined in a picture which gets better and better as the moments reduce as noise reduces in the image. 

This camera shooting a Gigapixel image in 1/10^th of a second would deliver so much data that photographers would cherish every inch of picture like a cake in digital form.

Image source :cam