The KAF-10500 is a CCD imaging sensor designed by US photographic company

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

. In September 2006 it was announced that the sensor was to be used in the

Leica M8 The Leica M8 is the first digital camera in the rangefinder M series introduced by Leica Camera AG on 14 September 2006. It uses an APS-H 10.3-megapixel Kodak KAF-10500 CCD image sensor. As of 15 November 2014, the most recent firmware version is ...

digital

rangefinder camera A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most var ...

, having been specifically designed for this application. Its size is 18x27 mm (APS-H) and it has 10.3 million pixels of size 6.8 μm. Compared to

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

, it has a 1.33

crop factor In digital photography, the crop factor, format factor, or focal length multiplier of an image sensor format is the ratio of the dimensions of a camera's imaging area compared to a reference format; most often, this term is applied to digital ca ...

. It is calibrated for an

ISO sensitivity Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to describe the relations ...

range of 160–2500. The sensor includes

indium tin oxide Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a ternary composition of indium, tin and oxygen in varying proportions. Depending on the oxygen content, it can be described as either a ceramic or an alloy. Indium tin oxide is typically encountered as an oxygen-saturated ...

as a constituent material, which

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

claims leads to low noise, high sensitivity, and wide

dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base-1 ...

. It is designed for use with lenses with short back focal lengths – such as those common to rangefinder cameras – by including a microlens array to reduce fall off in intensity from the center to corners of the image. Further details and aspects of the sensor were unveiled during the course of

photokina 2006 Photokina (rendered in the promoters' branding as "photokina") is a trade fair held in Europe for the photographic and imaging industries. It is the world's largest such trade fair. The first Photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, an ...

.Kodak Sensor for Leica M8
LetsGoDigital Photokina coverage

References

Image sensors Kodak {{sensor-stub