> From: "J. C. O'Connell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > DSLRS/Digicams may be matching or beating 35mm film in some or all ways > but they cannot compete with "analog" LF film for quality, now or in > the near future..........
In general I'd agree with you, but the rate of improvement of digital is pretty staggering compared to the very low rate of improvement in film. Film technology is pretty mature, which means to get much better quality you pretty much HAVE to go to a bigger negative. Consider that in the late 1990s the Nikon D1 came out at about $5000 with just under 3MP. This year, the Canon EOS1Dmk2 came out at about $4500 with just over 8MP and better everything else as well. With the current pace of improvement, digital will get competitive pretty fast. It's really only one jump now to the highest "equals 35mm film" numbers I've seen, and there is no particular reason to stop there. Sure, there are supposed to be physical limits of the technology, but they said that about computers, too, and they just keep getting faster. I'm not sure 35mm-sized digital will ever rival LF film, but I do think it will begin to worry MF pretty soon. Of course some insane company could produce a LF digital sensor, but it would be cumbersome to use in a traditional LF way and cost more than any individual could afford. DJE
