Curved camera sensors are coming... TOMORROW!

Here are my notes, sources, and attributions - sorry it's so disorganized!

Through the film era and into the digital era, we never figured out how to make curved sensors. So film, digital sensors, always flat, but not because it was ideal, but because we didn’t have the technology… until now.
Sony’s sensor:
2014: Sony launches a curved sensor camera… shaped like a perfume bottle
2016: Canon patents
2017
Sony patented the first curved medium format sensor in 2017
Nikon patented a 35mm f/2 lens for a full frame camera with a curved sensor
2020

So are the existing curves the ideal shape or we just can’t put a smaller radius on it?

“Fabricating an image sensor directly onto a curved substrate would require lithography tools for curved surfaces, a capability which is not yet commercially available [7]. The most investigated methods for creating curved sensors pattern electronics onto flat, flexible substrates that can subsequently be deformed into a curved shape [8-15]. While successful in concept, these approaches have low pixel density due to substrate stretching, incompatibility with sophisticated active pixel CMOS or CCD arrays, and the inability to scale to small pixel pitches (less than 10 μm ) due to processing limitations.”

Benefits
No need for extra lens elements to flatten the projected image from a lens, so simpler, cheaper lenses. Curve-One says “Save one third of the optics”
More compact lenses
Faster lenses with the same size. Curve-one says “down to f/1”
Corner-to-corner sharpness. Curve-one says “5X sharper on image edges”
Improved chromatism. Curve-one says 2.5X.
No vignetting

Drawbacks
Requires the sensor and lens to be designed for each other…
No current ILC systems are designed for curved sensors, but the existing lens mount COULD work. But you’d need both new lenses AND new bodies AND the existing collection of lenses would work weirdly.
The more telephoto, the less it does

How it works
Sony makes flast sensor and then puts them on a machine that bends them (like a carpenter bending wood?)
The ideal curve would be different for different focal lengths… so you’ll see the greatest benefit with fixed-lens, prime-lens wide-angle cameras… like the Sony RX1. Which are NOT AT ALL POPULAR.
But it could make a GREAT street photography camera.. But If we can’t make a broadly interesting camera, prices will be VERY high, which further reduces the number that will sell, which makes them even less viable. And honestly who cares about corner sharpness or vignetting with street photography.
An astrophotography camera with a fixed 14mm f/1.0 lens or 20mm f/1.0 lens, corner-to-corner sharpness, and a specialized astro sensor sensor, would be game-changing.
But rumor has it Sony is releasing one, and they do make a lot of nichey cameras.
BUT there is one category of fixed-lens, prime wide-angle camera: the smartphone. And compact size and low-light capabilities are of PARAMOUNT importance to buyers.

Variable curved sensors
Flexible sensors… we have flexible displays, but flexible semiconductors are a different animal.

[WineWorldTV]

Tony: Curved sensors are coming tomorrow!
SONY: Not today, Tony

[scrollop]

This hasn't aged well, unless there's another camera announcement today.

[rodrigodepierola]

I like that Tony always credits the sources of the rumors in the video.

[kasekuchenmitsahne]

No Tony, the curved sensor isn‘t announced today.

[SteveKurtzJr]

That focus pull when you snapped the cardboard 👌🏻

[gildardo]

Smart phone application has the most promise for this technology, since they are fixed focal length, mostly anyway.

[kylewolfe_]

A flat earth necessitates a flat sensor. Down with the curve!

[minibuns]

"The problem with quotations on the internet is that it is diffucult to verify their authenticity."

-Socrates

[joshzaring]

Holy crap Tony, this video looked so good I was having trouble listening. Awesome color, sweet bokeh, nice detail.

[MOMAT_]

TONY!! are you ok?
no KEH or square space! OMG
LOL

[megadjc]

depending on certain variables this can potentially simplify a lot of different lenses or it could make for higher quality lenses as they no longer need to do as much spherical correction

[CristiNeagu]

1:17 Nice focus pulling. If the camera did that by itself, awesome.

[JetBen]

Did you film that video with the A7Siii ? the footage looks crisp AF

[jmp]

Your videos are so much more advanced than others, very professional, Informative and Educational. Your education and work experience shines thru in all you broadcast. Thank you again Tony and Chelsea, well done always.

[SthamerAMVs]

Issue I have with this is that it’ll cost an arm and a leg. Cameras are already expensive. Now add a curved sensor into the mix and you’re going to be looking at £6, 000 for a base model. All for the convenience for less vignetting? Doesn’t seem worth it to me until they come waaaay down in price

[Rosyna]

Now that the Sony alpha 1 has been announced, everything here in this video is wrong.

[sosomelodies]

Curved sensor: Gathers more light and allows for smaller lens design.

Nikon Z-mount: Hangs itself.

[chadroberts]

I’m an optometrist. So I have a retinal camera that uses a curved mirror and a red and a green laser spinning something like 60, 000 rpm. As the laser is spinning it sends light through the pupil and gathers the image of the retina off the mirror and it recreates an extremely wide field but flat image of the retina. It can do this through a small undilated pupil. The mirror is not a sensor but reflects the laser and then the computer creates the image. I’ve always thought it cool that the mirror was curved like the retina. Interesting note is this was created in Scotland after the originator’s son lost an eye to a tumor and he wanted to find a better way to save eyes from disease. The company is called OPTOS and guess what! It was recently bought by Nikon. Canon and Zeiss each have multiple types of instruments in the optical world and now Nikon is trying to make their way in. I doubt without the curve in the mirror they would be able to produce such a wide image. So a curved sensor definitely makes sense and would give a sharper image throughout. I bet the lenses would cost less as I don’t think they would need to try to build as much asphericity in the lenses.

[YoungBlaze]

These sony rumors are starting to look like GTA 6 rumors lol

[Edward_Black_Rose]

My idea is just to move the sensor back and forth during shooting so that each pixel turns on at a certain position, those at the ends of the sensor turn on when the sensor is forward, and those pixels that are in the middle turn on when the sensor is at the rear. Another idea is to develop a 3D sensor, a sensor of multiple layers into which light penetrates, something like a cube of photosensitive elements. Metaphorically, it would look like a jet of sand is being poured and you are focusing light on the jet with a lens. If we imagine that the sand is photosensitive, we will have in-depth information, both from the foremost grains of sand that are closest to the lens and from the most distant ones that are farthest from the lens. Another idea, we don't have to bend the sensor itself, we just have to bend the surface that the light from the lens reaches. If we put a nano optical fiber in front of each pixel, we can place the other end of the fiber where we want. If someone reads this and gets inspired and invents something like that, and makes a lot of money, it would be nice if help me to have my own house.