Mitchell Feinberg's Maxback Sensor
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Mitchell Feinberg
This 8x10-inch sensor--about 60 times the size of a full-frame DSLR sensor--is the creation of photographer Mitchell Feinberg, who was sick of spending thousands of dollars on expensive film previews of his work. The sensor (which, he says, cost as much as "a good-sized house--before the housing crash") replaces the Polaroid backs that many photographers use to test exposure. But since these professional-grade Polaroids are so expensive these days due to their huge size and scarcity, he created this sensor (named the Maxback), which lets him see exactly how his shots would look on film, but in only 30 seconds and with no added cost. It's not to be used for regular photography--the resolution is too low for a regular print spread--but to properly simulate how his shots would look on (gigantic) film, a DSLR just wouldn't cut it. You can read more about it at Popular Photography.
Fast Action Thanks in part to an upgraded image sensor, the E-P3's autofocus greatly outpaces an entry-level DSLR's.
IMAGE BY
Claire Benoist
Dual-core processors have been a computing mainstay for more than six years, allowing machines to handle two tasks at once without sacrificing speed in either. This year, dual-core chips have begun popping up in app-hungry phones. The next step: cameras. The Olympus PEN E-P3 is the first digital camera running on a dual-core chip, which lets it capture, retouch, and save shots nearly twice as fast as most competitors.