There is now a 39-megapixel digital camera on the market. You read that right; 39 megapixels, which would be about 7,212 by 5,408 pixels. The Phase One P45 can also boast a maximum frame rate of 35 frames per second; whether you'd end up using it is another matter, as its image files, weighing in at 117Mb, would pretty quickly fill up even the largest CompactFlash card. Though the existence of cameras of such a high resolution should bring light field photography somewhat closer to practicality.

I wonder what its dynamic range, thermal noise resistance and low-light performance are like, though; the smaller the pixels are on a CCD, the less sensitive to light they would theoretically tend to be.

Posted by: toby | http:// | Wed Dec 14 23:07:29 2005

The light field camera was already using a 14MP CCD. There's no mention of the physical size of the CCD in that article, and I think it's safe to assume, given it looks like a medium format camera back that it's not the standard DSLR ~23mm x 16mm size. Being able to interchange it for a film back would be very nice, but who's got the money for this kind of gear?

Just looked it up, and it's 49.1 x 36.8 mm. So there's most of your resolution increase right there.

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