P�l wrote: > This is one of the main points; is there any reason to stick to the 35mm > format for digital? Is the 35mm system and its lenses the best or even a good > platform for digital? I'm not at all convinced. I'm not either...to me, the smaller CCD size is one of the principle advantages of digicams. It allows for much smaller, much faster lenses that are still of high quality. Especially in terms of telephoto users, it's a serious advantage. > The strength of the 35mm system is its small size and portability but this is > only relative. If you can get high resolution into a smaller chip, why not > take advantage of it? I do believe it should be possible to achieve better > quality than 35mm film on a chip considerably smaller than 24X36mm. This would > make a far smaller system. Imagine the equivalent of a 600/4 at the size and > price of a 400/5.6. Better than that, even. Consider that the Olympus UZI has the equivalent of a 380mm f/3.5 lens, and it's maybe 3 and a half inches long and weighs maybe 9 ounces (can't really tell, as it's attached to the camera, but the whole camera only weighs 19 ounces). And it's no dog of a lens, either--it's actually very nice. If they put a bigger CCD behind it they'd have a really handy camera for nature and "critter" shooters. Unfortunately Olympus won't be building an updated UZI, as I understand its license of Canon's IS technology has expired and won't be renewed. As you well know, the imminent Pentax MZ-Digi (whatever) has a full 35mm-sized sensor, so lenses work 1:1 compared to 35mm. From what I gather, larger CCD sizes actually may be less problematic for larger pixel counts like the MZ-Digi's 6 million pixels. Cramming lots of pixels on a small CCD results in a lot of dead and hot pixels that have to be mapped out, or so I've been told. Evidently the Canon D-30's 3 million pixels result in higher image quality than smaller 3-mp cameras largely because of its larger CCD (the D30's is 22.7mm x 15.1mm). The more I think about it, the more I think the Pentax Digital SLR could be something really special. Imagine a fully compatible K-mount on a 6 megapixel digicam! That will make VERY high quality prints up to 11x14�at least�with all the qualities we love in our Pentax lenses. > Olympus have announced that they will release a digital > slr with interchangeable lenses in about one years time. Will they choose the > OM-system as platform or choose something smaller? According to the scuttlebutt on the digiforums it's due out this coming February (2002) and is a joint project between Kodak and Olympus. I'm _assuming_ it will have a smaller-than-35mm CCD size but I'm not certain of that--it stands to reason, though, because how else could it be special? Nikon and Canon (and Kodak) already have converted 35mm cameras. I'm 95% sure it won't be made on an existing OM body, just because of what I know about current OM production. But I really don't know if it will be smaller than that or not. > Then again, how about medium format? Are there going to be digital solution > fitting the Pentax medium format lenses? Or are these product lines doomed > into obscurity only fit for die-hard MF film shooters? > Sales of MF cameras and high-end 35mm slr's are falling world wide. The reason > is digital. Some of the losses are due to customers switching to digital but > my guess is that many are sitting on the fence waiting to buy digital when > they feel the time is right. Hence, they are less likely to spend money into > expensive film based slr's. Well, if you happen to have a spare US$21,000 lying around, you can get the super-duper new Kodak Pro Back Plus that fits Hasselblads and Bronicas and a variety of LF cameras. Talk about image quality--it's a whopping SIXTEEN megapixels. That'll make a niiiice, biiiig print! And you darn well better have a great big computer. <s> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0109/01091102kodakprobackplus.asp --Mike - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
