Introduction
In the previous part of this series, we looked at the behavior of the image sensor itself, at sensor technology and size and their effects on resolution and dynamic range. We will start this section directly above the image sensor, in the stack of optical materials that are sometimes colloquially called sensor “toppings”. These are manufactured separately from the sensor, and it is quite possible to have the same base sensor with different toppings creating significantly different images. In a few cases, especially in Phase One and Leica cameras (but also astrophotography-oriented variants of several Canon and Nikon models), it is possible to order the same sensor with different toppings, with significant effects on not just image quality, but the type of image the sensor produces. There are also cases where third-party companies remove elements of the sensor toppings, producing a camera with different capabilities than the manufacturer originally intended. Infrared and mo...
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Dan Wells, "Shuttterbug" on the trail, is a landscape photographer, long-distance hiker and student in the Master of Divinity program at Harvard Divinity School. He lives in Cambridge, MA when not in wild places photographing and contemplating our connection to the natural world. Dan's images try to capture the spirit he finds in places where, in the worlds of the Wilderness Act of 1964, "Man himself is but a visitor". He has hiked 230 miles of Vermont's Long Trail and 450 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail with his cameras, as well as photographing in numerous National Parks, Seashores and Forests over the years - often in the offseason when few people think to be there. In the summer of 2020, Dan plans to hike a stretch of hundreds of miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, focusing on his own and others' spiritual connection to these special places, and making images that document these connections.
Over years of personal work and teaching photography, Dan has used a variety of equipment (presently Nikon Z7 and Fujifilm APS-C). He is looking for the perfect combination of light weight, ruggedness and superb image quality.
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