Sony is about to shake things up in the digital camera world with a new image sensor.  Those of you who think the Live View tech and articulating LCD panel are just gimmicks (see Sony A350 review) will enjoy this potentially revolutionary development.  In the sample image below, you can see the potential that this new sensor technology brings to the table.  A couple of the obvious benefits to photographers are low light shooting with lower noise levels, which results in better overall image quality.  Currently, the prototype sensor is only 5 megapixels (which is probably plenty for most of us in most applications); however, you can expect Sony to push this tech to its limits and produce some astounding cameras in the near future.

PRESS RELEASE

Tokyo, Japan – Sony Corporation today announced the development of a back-illuminated CMOS image sensor (pixel size: 1.75µm square pixels, five effective mega pixels, 60 frames/s) with significantly enhanced imaging characteristics, including nearly twofold sensitivity*1 and low noise. This improved performance has been achieved by illuminating the backside of the silicon substrate, in contrast to conventional CMOS image sensors based on front-illumination technology. [Read more…]