Ask any professional photographer what they want from their camera of the future and you can guarantee that the answer will be a variation on the theme of higher resolution and bigger file sizes. In other words, more pixels on the camera’s sensor. It’s hardly a new request: ever since the Kodak Microelectronics Technology Division developed a 1.3MP charge-coupled device image sensor in 1986 and integrated it with a standard Canon F-1 film camera body, photographers have been clamouring for more from their digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. The equation has always been ‘bigger sensors plus more pixels equals better quality’.
And they got it. Today, at the professional high end of the spectrum, Hasselblad H system cameras (that will set you back tens of thousands of pounds) deliver 400MP file output. Meanwhile in the consumer space, horizon-scanners are already forecasting that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 14 Pro release will, thanks to a process...