Covert naked photography made easy!

Throughout the history of the still camera there has been a constant push towards improvement. Improvement was achieved in many different ways. Which started with a gradual reduction in physical size and portability. Then there were improvement in optical properties and lens quality. At the same time there were significant improvements taking place in mechanical shutter mechanisms. Coupled range finders improved focusing. Eventually, simple electronics, utilising built in light metering started a new trend. Then it was the turn of the SLR (single lens reflex) which replaced the optical range finder.  Fixed focal length lenses were replaced by the zoom lens, giving more control over composition. There has been a steady ongoing change in technology and techniques. But essentially, the image continued to be made by film being exposed to light. Technology then changed film material from monochrome to colour.  Not only that but film could also be made sensitive to different parts of the light spectrum such as infra red. 

Angenieux is a French lens maker, famous for their 'Retrofocus' brand lens. This is a reversed telephoto design whose effective focal length was less than its back focus (the distance between the rear lens element and the image plane) Angenieux eventually specialised in the lens business. However the name has always been associated with quality and is now being used for a whole new concept in photographic technology. One that turns the whole science of photography on its head.

A history of Angenieux is available here.

There has been some speculation recently in the popular camera press that the new Angenieux camera technology could be misused by the paparazzi. Used for taking photographs of celebrities which could then be used to generate an image of the individual apparently completely naked. Alternatively the image could be misused to identify celebrities who were pregnant or had been fitted with a gastric band. Other issues that have drawn the governments attention include medical self diagnosis being performed by individuals without having sufficient medical experience.  There are religious concerns being raised concerning the taking photographs of women wearing the veil to produce an image that revealed their face, which would violate their religious rights. Angenieux have said that their camera technology is not intended to be misused in this way. Any such images would be easy to detect during the image creation stage of the software and the images automatically deleted from the camera.

So just what technology is it that Angenieux has created?

The digital revolution essentially continues in a different direction under the Angenieux name.However, since the end of the war Japan, Germany and the USA have long been where new and technological innovation in photographic technology was developed. The revamped Angenieux camera technology is bringing more and more technical innovations together in one unit. One of the latest photographic systems to be adapted with dual technology is the new Angenieux X-l'image digital camera. Angenieux have kick started once more, the digital revolution in camera technology.

Original innovation had been achieved by replacing the film with either a CCD (Charged Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor.  The digital image is then saved to internal memory for instant display on a small screen. The resolution of a digital camera is only limited by the image sensor size. Most digital camera now contain sophisticated software which is needed to process the huge amounts of data. And to give an improved dynamic colour range and improved sensitivity and image detail.

The latest Angenieux camera technology will revolutionise the digital camera market. This very original concept had been developed to be used in medical imagery.  It consists of a new passive lens material combined with a whole new type of sensor. Essentially the glass optics have been exchanged for specialist filter materials and a new technological design in image sensors.

The prototype Angenieux lens consist of a normal lens body minus the optical glass. The lens is essentially of a fixed focal length. The lens body uses an advanced solar filter type material. Created of a type used by astronomers to directly view the sun. The filter will block most of the radiation in the suns output to avoid any damage to the sensitive image sensors. The solar filter comes in different frequency ranges but typically transmits 1/1000,000th of the normal radiation to the sensor. The development in filter material technology typically used for solar observing is the hydrogen-alpha solar filter. However, the Angenieux filter pair only transmits (without any attenuation) the ultra narrow H-alpha spectral line. These filters can be used to view the solar flares and prominences that are not visible using the normal solar filters.

The Earth is surrounded by low level natural x-ray emissions that come from outer space. X-ray sensors and filters are also used by scientists in x-ray crystallography. The filters allow only a single x-ray wavelength to penetrate. The early H-alpha spectral sensors were developed to be used to provide x-ray images by using minuscule amounts of x-rays. Typically less than a 1/10,000 of the exposure needed for the aluminium plate, negative film type of x-ray emulsion.  New developments which have been incorporated into the sensor which allowed changes to the image. The early Angenieux sensors were only intended to provide images in shades of grey. The new filter development allows false colours to represent changes in tissue density and organ temperature.

The filters are rotated through 360 degrees in opposite directions when exposing an image. Like a pair of polarising filters the natural x-rays falling on the sensor are modulated to create three hundred and sixty separate images, one for each degree of rotation. The camera software combines the images to recreate a single image with additional 3D (three dimensional) properties. The 3D properties provide an image with a selective depth mechanism. The new K-Alpha and K-Beta sensor pair allows the natural x-ray emissions to provide the K-spectrum radiation to provide the medium for creating images. 

Angenieux X-l'image images are at the cutting edge of technology.  The specialist software can also be used to enhance the images. Images can for instance be taken through non metallic x-ray permeable materials. The camera could provide real-time optical technology for checking vehicles in ports of entry for stowaways. Passengers in airports can be covertly searched for internal contraband or hidden weapons. Fire services would be able to check smoke filled buildings for casualties without the need to enter the building. Hospitals would be able to do instant imaging of patients at the bedside to check for key internal injuries.  When the camera is combined with a computer system for additional image processing it will be possible to do extreme magnification up to 10,000 times the base image size, (400 megapixel) without significant degradation of the image.  Giving the image the appearance of an almost infinite zoom capability.

Early Angenieux X-l'image Prototype

The prototype Angenieux X-l'image devices are currently about twice the size of a professional digital camera. For different focal lengths the camera uses a rotatable lens barrel with four discrete filter attachments.  Professional versions of the camera will give a much easier to manipulate form of three dimensional image generated from any x-ray permeable objects.

Versions of the technology for the amateur photographic market are still in the development stage.  The current development projects are aimed at reverse engineering modern digital camera bodies to utilise the K-Alpha and K-Beta sensors and H-alpha filters. Nikon and Canon digital bodies could be early adopters of the technology. 


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