The Incredible Things You Can Do With 144 Sony Mirrorless Cameras

Sony mirrorless cameras have become some of the most capable and popular cameras on the market. With tiny cameras such as the Sony a7C and high-resolution systems like the a7R IV, there are plenty of options available for almost all photography genres. This seems especially to be the case when you put 144 Sony cameras together into a synchronized rig. 

On the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, resides a company called Peris Digital. Founded in 2021, Peris Digital is a subsidiary of Peris Costumes, a company that has been designing costumes since 1856. The small digital arm of the costume company produces high-resolution digital scans using an impressive rig comprised of 144 Sony cameras. 

The cameras that Peris Digital uses for its rig are the Sony a7C and the Sony a7R IV. The Sony a7C is great because it's a relatively inexpensive full-frame camera, and it's one of the smallest in its category. The Sony a7R IV is a more conventionally sized mirrorless camera; however, it offers lots of resolution with its 61-megapixel full-frame sensor. 

The main lens used with these cameras is the Sony 85mm f/1.8 and the 50mm f/1.8. These two lenses are two of the least expensive full frame lenses currently available from Sony. However, they produce fantastic results. The only premium lens used in the rig is the Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM lens. This is one of the sharpest lenses currently available from Sony. 

Interestingly, the Sony 135mm GM lens is generally used as a portrait lens due to its focal length and wide aperture. However, it seems Peris Digital is making use of its resolving capabilities to produce the most detailed scans. 

Combining the two cameras and three lenses into the rig pictured above allows the company to produce incredibly detailed 3D scans. What's most interesting is the fact that Peris Digital has managed to synchronize all of the cameras to fire the shutters at exactly the same time. This, along with some post-production work, produces results that are arguably better than conventional CGI. 

This method of taking lots of images of a particular scene or object and then converting them into a 3D digital model is called "photogrammetry." The technique seems to be the preferred choice for many in the industry due to its speed and accuracy. Even triple-A game developers prefer this method over CGI in order to produce better results faster.  

For most of us, something like this may not be reasonably feasible. This is mostly due to the cost of having such a setup. Going by the current retail price, the Peris Digital rig would almost certainly cost more than $250,000, and this doesn't even include the lights and space required. Nonetheless, it's still fascinating to see how modern cameras are changing industries across the globe.