M2aD Project, Silicon Porn!

Taken with a cheapy digital camera, yes I have the darn thing in my hands!

Which ADC you using (and clock rate). And 1 or 2?

Brad,

The LTC2884 dual 14 bit, two of them as this chip has four outputs. Using this ADC I can shift the DCs of the sensor and ADC and the range of the ADC to remove the need for extra amplifiers/DC offsetters. Working at 10Msamp/sec as recomended by the sensor datasheet. Other chips are an Altera EP1C6 144TQFP FPGA to do all the clever stuff, a Micron tech MT46V32M16 dram for 'burst' storage, and in the end being put on a MMC Flash card.

why does a compay make a 14MPIX monochrome sensor? what is the target audience for such a device?

I know little of this electronics stuff, but why MMC?

Also, when i read of this business with the rock in Russia, I thought of you.

Huw, do you really mean the LTC2284 (a typo)? That's a very nice device, designed mostly for cellular basestation digital radio use - but should work great in your app - the low power dissipation being a big bonus.

If you're only clocking at 10 MSPS, consider the LTC2295 - similar device, lower clock speed and much lower price. 120 mW at 10 MSPS.

Roger, no idea but I am pleased they do.

Benjamin, MMC has no license issues, unlike SD. The rock, like it!

Brad, the LTC2284 or somesuch I have got the 25Mss one whatever that is, I always like a bit of headroom and at 25 bucks a piece not bad.

The annoying thing is I had to get all the (special) parts from non UK suppliers (3 USA one Belgium) and hence added quite a few bucks in Fedex/DHL charges.

Looks like you'll beat the unveiling of the Digital M at PMA!!! Go Huw!

related product:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0511/05110701cypress9mp.asp

Brad & Huw, yall are way too s m r t.

Brad is also making a Digital M? Wow! Quite a few hacks here!

'what is the target audience for such a device?' - h e l l o . . .

huw is the audience. He is doing it with or without photo.net audience. some guys just like to tinker with stuff.

You should consider submitting an article to Make magazine on this project, Huw!

If you squint real hard at this, you can see a Fuji executive choking on sushi.

Is the sensor APS size or bigger?

Patrick,

Full 36x24 frame.

Wow, promising! If I get it right it should be possible to build this into - basically - any camera? As long as you can get to the film plane? When developed into something practical, that is...

Rob

<< ... had to get all the (special) parts from non UK suppliers (3 USA ... >>

Notice how Huw is also doing his part to prop up the US economy :)

Thanks, Huw, for the 'Mad Project' caption (which was my request). It'll make it easier to follow these adventures.

Kodak made a few of the B&W dSLRs for lots of $$$$$ and on special order. They might have sold a few dozen of them, I think.

Oh baby, oh baby...........

This may be the coolest thing -EVER- posted on the Leica forum.

Definitely a cool project. I wish I had the know-how to tackle a project like this. If only I had a degree in Electrical Engineering or something... oh wait, I do! Still wouldn't be able to tackle this though. I look forward to the updates...

j

Hey Jonas, we met at PhotoLA a couple days ago...

Hey "Brad -", it was nice to meet you the other day. Sounds like you could build one of these too..

Huw -- this is crazy! I am really looking forward to the results.

Brad and Jonas -- it looks like we had a number of forum people at PhotoLA. I ran into Russ Roca and his friend Chris down there on Saturday...did you guys meet or know of any others? Sorry I missed the both of you...

I was working Modernbook Gallery's booth, which is where I met Jonas. Also met Barry Fisher, another nice guy. Sorry I couln't make it to Russ' show - Barry said it was excellent. Also wasn't able to make it to the Colbert exhibit just a few blocks away - was non-stop busy.

And Beepy was there as well.

Oh man, I was there...I just did not know who you were. Hopefully I will get my act together and see who is going to be there next time.

Get any books at Nazraelii Press' booth? I got Imprint by Yuichi Hibi. Pretty cool if you're into Daido and Klein...

No...did not get any books this time. I did get a chance to go to the Eikoh Hosoe lecture in the morning though, which was a lot of fun. He was one of the first photographers I encountered once I truly became interested, so he was sort of a living legend for me. It was nice to hear him talk about the photos. It's always overwhelming when you are there, but I saw a lot of stuff that I enjoyed.

I can't stand things that beep, there will be no sounders of any sort in this baby, the only thing you will hear is the click of an M2 shutter.

Good for you Huw! Beeps be damned! Also, this thread is about a Digital hardware project by you, happening in the U.K. isn't it?

A long way from socialising in California..

Huw, all I can do is applaud. All your decisions so far (those that I can understand) seem admirable. Especially on beeps. Stick at it, mate.

Eikoh Hosoe! My goodness, one of my favorites. The "Ordeal by Roses" is an excellent piece of work, in my opinion. I would've given a kidney to be there.

Vivek,

Yes, the UK.

Huw, the ADC you chose gives you a whole bunch of SNR headroom with respect to processing gain - which can potentially translate to wider dynamic range.

Available as simply the difference in the sensor to ADC SNR, which can be exploited by cooling (via a Peltier device for example), or through integration, up to the hard limits imposed by the ADC's SFDR (actually the time-domain equivalent). Or both.

Any plans on exploiting that? Would be pretty cool...

This is soooo Star Trek! Anytime now someone's gonna suggest reversing the polarity of the sensor so they can travel back in time. Or maybe they already have.

Huw: May the Force be with you. Always.

Andy, maybe that can be Huw's next Mad Project, so that you'll never have to worry about missing the perfect moment.

Brad,

Yes, no ISO setting on the camera simply 'underexpose' and up the gain in the digital domain on the computer. Even easier than a camera with adjustable ISO, worried about shake? simply set the camera to what you think will do and shoot. Being no toe on the sensor response all that will happen is the noise goes up.

Huw, sounds good.

Another trick you can do (as an optional mode) is clock your sensor at the normal 10 MSPS and oversample the ADC by 2 to 20 MSPS. Will give your ADC a 3 dB (a half bit) SNR boost (after filtering). Becomes interesting if you cool the sensor to drive down its noise. Noise halves for every 7C (or so) reduction in temp.

wow. i'm amazed by my memory. I've just been racking my brain trying to figure out how the homemade digital leica was coming on since the last time i was here over 2 years ago. For some reason i remembered huw's name.

I see the camera was too much of an undertaking. Nevermind.