Developed for Sinar by Kodak, the new Sinarback 54 M is a new pro-level camera back that captures with an impressive 22 megapixel sensor with 14-bit color depth. I didn’t realize high-end sensors generated a lot of heat during operation, but apparently the Sinarback dumps enough that it has an integrated Peltier cooler to enable it to be continuously used. No idea on price; let’s say ‘spendy’ for now. (Thanks, Lorenz!)
Read [IT-Enquirer]
Update: Reader Drew Wright does some ‘splaining after the jump about what makes Sinar so expensive — even when they aren’t nearly as unique as they once were.
PhaseOne and Imacon both carry the same chip on their systems, but Sinar has
a different cooling technique. The rule of thumb is, the larger the chip the more heat, and is why they don’t have 4×5″ (large format, with the hood over your head kind of camera) single-shot backs yet. However, with the advance in technology, the heat is minimal, and the artifacts produced by the other camera systems, are only discernible by the most savvy eyes. 99% would never see the difference. The cooling for Sinar is mostly a marketing strategy, as Sinar has always been the “high end” of pro photo equipment, and they are having trouble keeping that edge now with digital, since the lines are so blurred, with everyone utilizing the same chips. That is why their 54M is priced the same as PhaseOne and Imacon, which five years ago would never have been imagined (their systems used to be 30%+ more expensive than the average competitor). Any accessory of theirs is still priced way more than what you would expect from a simple sync cord, for example (can run up to $500, no joke).
Oh, and the price for that Sinar runs about $15k, without required accessories (which end up at about $20k total). The competitors run about the same, between $15-20k. That really isn’t much, if you consider that the first pro Kodak 35mm digitals in the mid 90’s ran about $25k, and only captured 3 mega pixels in 8bit color.
