Looks like today is hacking new cameras day. After the unobtrusive $30 WiFi hack for the D4 comes a much braver hack for the 5D MKIII. Film maker James Miller was brave enough to break open his brand new 5D MKIII and removes the anti aliasing filter (or Low Pass Optical Filter – LPOF) from his camera.
The anti aliasing filter serves an important function in the camera’s digital workflow. It removes some of the “real world” data so it matches the resolution of the camera sensor. This artificial “downgrade” contributes towards a smoother image.
But anything comes with a cost, and the cost of using an Anti Aliasing filter is decrease in resolution.
So, here comes James Miller and surgically removes the anti aliasing filters from his 5D mkIII. On the plus side the modified Canon now produces drastically sharper movies. On the down side, he must have had a heart attack. On the down side, it seems that a piece of glass needed to replace the filter to prevent back-focusing.
The footage above shows some samples from the modified camera, EOSHD also shows stills comparison, and the image below show the OR while the patient was in.
EOSHD has a fair warning in place: please wait for this to all shake out. Don’t hastily modify your 5D Mark III without the necessary technical knowledge and research. Opening the camera voids the warranty and risks irreparable damage.
Interestingly enough, Nikon did announce the D800E with the anti aliasing filter removed.
If you wanna follow the story, you can follow James on his twitter and on his Vimeo account.
[James Miller removes optical low-pass filter from 5D Mark III for resolution increase / new footage via slrlounge]
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