I for one liked the idea of 'digital film' and while the the idea recently proposed was flawed (I forget the company's name and the web address) I can't see why such an idea couldn't be made to work if the camera was designed to support digital film from the start. How happy would current MZ-S owners be if they knew that digital accessories were in the pipeline for their camera. A different back (similar to a databack) and a few electrical contacts to tell the camera to disable the film transport system would be all it would take. Furthermore, such accessories when they became obsolete could be upgraded and the camera could remain a useful piece of equipment instead of a becoming an expensive paperweight (like most superceded electronic products).
Even die hard film users (like Shel) might one day be tempted to try digital if they didn't have to throw away their old cameras but simply had to buy a digital back (assuming Shel updated to a hypothetical MZ-S/D). By the way: I might be wrong but don't other manufacturer's pro digital cameras still retain focal-plane electromechanical shutters? I take your point though: the MZ-S and the MZ-D (or whatever it gets called) *are* [the next best thing to] interchangeable film and digital backs for use with the family of Pentax K-mount lenses. Nenad John Francis wrote: > > I don't know why people keep resurrecting this tired old concept. > It just wouldn't be practical. The marketplace isn't exactly overrun > with 35mm bodies with removable backs, for a very good reason. > And by the time you get around to modifying all the parts that > would be different for a digital body (no need for film transport, > obviously. Nor a focal-plane shutter, come to that), and take > advantage of the extra capabilities digital can provide, it's > simpler, and cheaper, to make two completely different bodies. > > Let's face it - the MZ-S and the MZ-D (or whatever it gets called) > *are* interchangeable film and digital backs for use with the family > of Pentax K-mount lenses. > > > It's a shame that the MZ-S wasn't designed with interchangeable backs so > it > > could be used either as a digital or film camera - then it truly would be > > able to "exist in a digital dominated future". - 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 .
