IQ180

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  • Phase One straps 80 megapixels to your camera, USB 3.0 for ginormous image transfers

    by 
    Sean Hollister
    Sean Hollister
    01.24.2011

    We're still trying to wrap our brains around the idea that a 80 megapixel camera sensor exists at all, but there's already a second light-devouring digital back on the way -- the Phase One IQ180, which technically hails from the very same company as the Leaf Aptus-II 12. That doesn't mean the company simply rebranded its subsidiary's giant CCD, as this unit's got an extra half-stop of dynamic range, captures a tenth of a second quicker at full resolution, and supplements the standard FireWire 800 connector with USB 3.0. There's also a 3.2-inch, 1.15 megapixel touchscreen with a pseudo-Live View for easy framing and 1GB of RAM to buffer the gigantic images you'll be pumping out. Improvements don't come cheap, though, as you'll drop $43,990 in April at launch. If you can settle for a slightly lower resolution, though, there's no need to sell your Lexus quite yet -- the summer months will bring lesser models with 60.5 megapixels and 40 megapixels respectively. [Thanks, Ryan D.]