KAF-1300 image sensor, the world's first digital SLR camera

At the beginning of this summer, our KAF-1300 image sensor was listed in the flagship magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the first chip of the IEEE Spectrum Hall of Fame. The Chip Hall of Fame aims to tell the story of the best and most influential microchips in history (and the people who created them). In 1991, the image sensor made the world's first digital digital SLR (DSLR) camera, and the KAF-1300 was of course selected.

Although cameras with millions of pixels are common today, in the early 1990s, 1 million pixels was an "unbelievable number" that made digital cameras the world of film at the time. The KAF1300 – developed and produced by the Kodak Image Sensors Division (now part of ON Semiconductor) – breaks the 1.3 megapixel target enough for clear 5” x 7” printing. When used in the DCS-100 camera system, the sensor is integrated into the back of the Nikon F3 film and then attached to the "portable" 5 kg storage unit on the shoulder. Despite the size of the system, the DCS-100 camera introduces some of the features we take for today's digital photography, including a display screen for image preview, histogram analysis of captured images, a removable battery for remote work, and An available phone modem allows images to be "sent" from the scene. All of this is "only" $20,000.

The KAF-1300 is the foundation of the future CCD image sensor, helping to innovate digital photography and bring high-quality images to seemingly numerous applications around the world. Although the KAF-1300 has been discontinued, the chip's chief designer, Eric Stevens, continues to be a senior technician in the Image Sensors division, working on the next generation of pixel design for our upcoming products.