The camera we've all been waiting for?
The first camera with nose tip AF
Big news today! The Japanese tech start-up Nason is presenting its new innovation at its own big event - the Nason ONE
The brand new Nason One is a professional camera that is intended to be a real competitor to Sony's Alpha 1, Canon's EOS R3 and Nikon's Z9. One feature in particular is highlighted: The Nason One has a fully AI-based autofocus, which is said to change the entire photo scene.
Packed with innovation
The topic of autofocus took up half the time at the keynote. The key feature here is that the camera focuses on the nose and tracks it. The focus is therefore always set on the nose and the bokeh is then directed towards the eye. Chief developer and CTO of Nason, Dee Na See, said in an interview after the launch: "Away from the mainstream and the boring eye autofocus, animal autofocus and so on. Anyone can do that! And then all the pictures look the same. Always those sharp eyes, while the really beautiful thing about people, their nose, is completely blurred when the aperture is open. We have more demands on creative photographers, who should have more of a challenge. "
The autofocus of the Nason One is so good that in group shots with up to 10 people, all noses are in focus and the rest of the image is blurred, regardless of where the individual person is standing. this breaks all the rules of physics and optics and redefines them. The camera recognizes every type of nose, from small snub noses to large tines.
Everything has been thought of!
During the presentation of the camera, one issue was also immediately resolved: the Nason One finds the focus perfectly thanks to several infrared sensors and the use of a so-called "heat map" (via a thermal imaging sensor) of the face, even when wearing a medical mask. A similar technical approach is known from facial recognition technologies in smartphones. The Nason One also projects a network of many millions of small infrared dots onto the face in order to obtain a three-dimensional model of the face. This ensures the right focal plane and therefore an optimum bokeh curve. According to Nason, this calculation takes place at a repetition rate of up to 120Hz. This means that the autofocus also works at the same speed and accuracy in video mode at up to 120 fps.
"How exactly the Nason One does this remains a company secret," says founder R? Sel. They don't want other manufacturers to copy this innovation. He assumes that this will become the new standard in photography and that venerable brands such as Canon, Nikon and Sony will soon disappear from the market. In the long term, there will only be Nason. And not a boring new model every now and then like other brands have done so far.
From the start of pre-sales on 01.06. we will see whether the developers had a good nose with their innovation...
With this in mind, we wish you a great first April 2022!
