Well, okay, enough of this nonsense then. It's not my job to convince anyone that digital is best, or best for them, or even any good. Obviously, we should all do what we are most comfortable with, and I hope that for some people, that will be film for many productive years to come.
After all, one of the most exciting trends of my youth was the "view camera revival" of the 1970s, when art photographers began to use old wooden Deardorffs again, and print in platinum and other alternative processes. Platinum had not been a current method since before the First World War. Nevetheless, I don't think that we can help but be excited by the prospect of the Pentax news that is (we think) now barely more than a month away. As the core of the Pentax faithful, it behooves us to at least know about this product and appreciate its significance, even if we choose not to use it ourselves. I think at the very least, we will be getting a Pentax-designed digital SLR with at least a 4-megapixel APS-sized CCD, that accepts SMCP-FA lenses. That's at a minimum. Maybe it will be 5 mp or more, maybe it will be closer to a full-frame sensor, maybe it will be a CMOS or even a Foveon sensor, maybe it will accept manual-focus A or M lenses as well as the FAs. Who knows? I don't. (For the record: I don't have access to any inside information about this. All my comments are just as speculative as anyone else's.) But here's my opinion: even if what we get is the minimum described above, it will be a very exciting product. It will enable us to print up to 8x12-inch digital inkjet prints with very high picture quality; it will enable us to use our collections of FA Pentax glass on both a digital SLR and our film SLRs, even if there's a magnification factor with 'em on the DSLR; and it will enable us to utilize standard Pentax accessories between "platforms." Not only that, but the announcement of one Pentax DSLR will strongly indicate the launching of a _line_ of new Pentax products, not just one. There will most likely be future generations of Pentax DSLRs. All that is very significant. It is something to be celebrated! Continued in my next message...
