Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/12/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The size of the sensor has everything to do with the quality that comes out of it - just like film. Number of pixels is just one parameter of significance, it used to be the most important sales feature of a digital camera. It is still the salesman's mantra even now that it no longer is. Manufacturing cost of silicon chips goes up exponentially (or more) with size. There is a chip size above which manufacturing scrap rate is statistically 100%. Most chips have got cheaper with time by packing more onto a small chip. This is a limited option for image sensors. I agree that it is likely that LF quality may one day be available from a smaller camera. On Friday, December 5, 2003, at 02:39 pm, Eric Welch wrote: > You forget. I was shooting professionally with a $13,000 1.3 megapixel > camera in 1997. The same economies of scale will work with medium > format backs. Maybe not to the same extreme where we now have 5 > megapixel cameras under $500. But they will become less expensive > rather quickly. > > And the 36x36 vs. 55x55 is irrelevant. The size of the sensor has > nothing to do with it. It's the quality of the image that comes out of > it. Except the 36x36 allows for a smaller form factor in the camera. > Chances are, we can expect a whole new range of significantly smaller > cameras once the price of the sensors come down. I can imagine some > day owning a view camera that is the size of the current crop of > medium format view cameras with the image quality of 8x10. Now, maybe > I'll have to wait for retirement for that one. That's about the time > I'll be ready to start shooting those kinds of photos. > > On Dec 5, 2003, at 3:39 AM, Dante Stella wrote: > >> That's not a statement; that's a speculation. You don't have to >> believe it, but I don't have to believe that $8,000-12,000 for a >> 36x36mm back (to say nothing of the camera) is comparable to $400 for >> a 55x55mm frame for the purposes of someone who doesn't get to write >> equipment off. I think that it is a legitimate question whether the >> economy of scale for larger digital backs is such that they will ever >> be in a price range to compete economically with even expensive >> conventional MF equipment. This statement is not pointed at people >> who have unlimited budgets. > > Eric Welch > Carlsbad, CA > http://www.jphotog.com > > There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading. The few > who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric > fence. - Will Rogers. > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html