First things first, this camera is HUGE! Slice it anyway you like, it ’s over 18 inches wide and uses a 160 megapixel sensor. This is the Seitz 6×17 Digital panoramic camera. You read that right, this camera uses a 160 million pixel sensor that gives you an image that is 7,500 x 21,250 pixels. The trick is that it’s a scan back, which means that instead of a static sensor that captures your image all at once, there is a scanner-like element that sweeps across the image plane capturing it bit-by-bit.
The image quality is likely to be nothing short of jaw-dropping. It sports a dynamic range of over 11 stops (contrast ratio of 1:2,600); compared to my Canon 5D’s dynamic range of only 8.4 stops (1:337), and color slide film at 6 stops (1:64). Other goodies include a phenomenonal lens that can be changed, 16-bit color depth, it can be controlled with a tablet PC (not included) and the scan back can be removed and used on other Seitz cameras.
I feel an extreme wave of camera envy coming to shore. I’m proud of my camera’s 13mp sensor, but let’s face it, 160mp isn’t even something I can really comprehend. I could make a print the size of Fort Collins with that thing.
Yes, I want one. The unfair and harsh reality sets in when you see the $40,348 pricetag (for the “compact” version) above the cute little orange “order now” button. Sigh.
PS: Can you imagine me walking around New Orleans with that?! People would probably be fighting each other for the chance to mug me.