IQ260 Story

Whom is This Article For?
The recently announced Phase One IQ260 represents a major achievement: it uses a Dalsa sensor which is capable of long exposures. In fact, it can do a one-hour exposure at ISO 140. For most photographers this specification will be enough – the details of how it was accomplished, unimportant. But some will be interested in the details, the story behind the massive R+D project and the history behind the development of the Phase One IQ260’s long exposure. Just how did they do it?

 
Wait, What? Dalsa Long Exposure?
When I first heard that long exposure was returning to the Phase One IQ series I was very surprised. As a technical expert at Phase One’s largest dealer I was very curious how this was accomplished. I had learned, for so long, that the underlying design of a Dalsa sensor did not allow for long exposures – that it seemed like the natural order of things had been upturned. In fact, it had: “Get ready to see us pull a rabbit out of a hat: long expos...