More pixels are on the way!

I picked up an announcement from Kodak regarding a “new” 8.1 megapixel CCD sensor. (The KAI-08050 – datasheet opens as pdf.) With an array of 3296 x 2472 pixels, and a claimed speed of up to 16fps, it will fill the gap between widely available 5 Mp cameras and the hugely expensive 11 and 16 Mp units. The downside is that a pixel size of 5.5 microns makes this a pretty large slice of silicon: with an optical format of 4/3” I don’t expect to see it in too many ‘C-mount’ format camera bodies.

I anticipate that the first machine vision cameras with this sensor will appear before the end of 2009. They’ll use the CameraLink standard and will probably take an ‘F-mount’ lens. Expect pricing to be in the region of $9,000.

And yes, there is a color version.