That 32MP monster would really mess me up. because I know Canon will have the quality if they actually did that...
I have a little trouble believing in 32MP unless they make the sensor bigger though. At 32MP I would suspect it would be limited to ISO 400 before the noise exceeds my threshold of routine tolerance.
At such photosite-sizes, yes, ISO400 is where the party would most likely end, assuming 36x24mm form-factor. Now, if we stick to 7.2micron-pitch (same as 1Ds MarkII), that would require something like 51mm*34mm to stay at 3:2 aspect ratio, or something like 40mmx40mm if we want to be innovative. However, if we stick to 8.2micron, things will get really big, overall.
I know what I need in any camera I buy, but had certain expectations that looked likely to meet and that 32MP beast would fairly significantly exceed one, while missing another.
In general terms, I am a firm believer of quality over quantity, and a special, performance&efficiency oriented system, promoted like a 10Mpixels x 10microns x 10 frames/sec with 14 or 16 bit Analog-to-Digital depth, and manufactured under today's standards and materials, will be a photographic dream (still assume Quantum Efficiency continues to stay around 25%-28%).
The actual dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio, and sharpness/acuity that you will get from such 10x10x10 sensor, will probably surpass today's 12Mpixels sensors from Canon, and will easily get into 14-16 Mpixels' territory with upsampling solutions such as SizeFixer XL/SLR + Super-Resolution iterative, self-optimizing algorithms. Yet, the files will be small (with more advanced lossless compression for .CR2 files), easy to "stretch", and this sensor will belong to a realm of performance that, in general terms, will be almost innaccessible to any other snesor out-there, putting spatial resolution aside. This will be a true jewel, which will exude-and-ooze engineering excellence, all over the place.
As for 1.255x form-factor, it is not clear what Canon will do. But the best that could happen for the 1D MarkII-N will be basically re-cycling the 1Ds MarkII's 16.7 Mpixels sensor, staying at 7.2 microns (a reasonable and proven compromise), may be with some materials and manufacturing improvements, yielding in slightly better sensitivity.
This, combined with a redesigned arquitecture for 8.5 (or higher) speeds, optimized placement of on-board electronics for better thermal dissipation (long exposures), and an on-the-fly, view-finder-assisted crop (for producing high-density 8.2 Mpixels files), will be basically the ultimate camera to have, the machine for all tasks, for all purposes, for any condition. In other words, the Ferrari F430, that will open up pretty much ANY photographic possibilities. As for the body, I do not care about the size, but if the weight can be reduced, well... even much better.
Besides the above, we will not see anything higher than 11-12 Mpixels on the 1.255x format, if it survives (just my opinion, though). That will mean going down to 6.4, and our current 1D MarkII-N 8.2 micron sensor clearly-and-visibly outperforms our Canon 30D's 6.4 micron sensor, in the dynamic-range, signal-to-noise ratio and DETAIL/microcontrast department.
We will soon see what exit will Canon propose to get out of this dead-end street, imposed by the actual sensors' sizes and form-factors, as well as the physical laws that operate the design and implementation of current technology...
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