LAS VEGAS—It's been a slow CES on the digital camera side of things, but there's at least one product here that's a truly original concept. The Panono is a sphere with 36 3-megapixel image sensors placed around it. Throw it up in the air and it captures a single image, stitched together from all of those sensors. A quick bit of multiplication tells you that the final product is a whopping 108 megapixels.
There's a lot more to a camera than sheer pixel count, but the resolution does get you a spherical image that you can spin around (via your Web browser or a special app on your tablet or phone) and zoom into to see more detail. The image quality isn't top-end; the test shots I've seen show a lack of dynamic range and some softness exhibited by the fixed-focus lenses that the device uses. But the cool factor of capturing a scene in a new way is there. You can judge for yourself if the image quality makes you happy by checking this sample image that the inventor of the device, Jonas Pfeil, captured today outside the Las Vegas Convention Center where CES is being held.
The current working version of the camera is a prototype that Pfeil designed and built as part of his Master's thesis at the Technical University of Berlin. It's a large green ball that looks like it could be used for soccer in a pinch. The inventor stated that he wanted to capture images in a unique way that encompasses the entire scene, including the photographer, without having to sacrifice candid moments to take a group photo.
The production model (pictured above) is going to be smaller, and can be had in an all-black design or a black and green color scheme. The company is raising funding via Indiegogo, and has already achieved its $900,000 goal. You can still pre-order a Panono ball through this Saturday for $499. When it hits retail it will sell for $599. The target release date is this September.