[Leica] Re: M6 type digital camera ! ?

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

Well... this is pretty far fetched. It will take a hellova lot more than
10MP to even approach a good B&W film. And the electronics involved inside
the camera and the in camera storage requirements (this is what I do for a
living) would turn an M6 into a MEGA M6. It is illogical to attempt to
equate a film camera with a digital camera. They live in completely
different worlds, take different pictures, and require completely different
backend support. This is why the IMAGEK (I'm a Geek) film insert is still
"vaporware". The Nikon D1, Canon and Kodak/Canon/Nikon real digital cameras
are B-I-G and are very E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E. And have been completely
converted (gutted) into a digital camera.

Don't hold your breath for an "M6" digital camera. Perhaps a representation
of an M6, using M lenses, but a B&W sensor??? The only folks who would
actually want one are those who currently use B&W in their M6, scan the
negs, and produce inkjet prints. What percentage of M6 users do this?
Godfrey DiGiorgi is one, but that the only person I know. You can drum scan
a B&W negative and make a LightJet mural (48"x60"). You will be hard
pressed to make anything larger than a 11x14 print from a 10MP sensor.

Bottom line... it sounds far fetched to me and I don't know why Leica would
waste resources for what has to be considered a minuscule market with a
very specialized camera.

But who can tell...???

Jim


At 06:58 AM 4/8/00 -0700, Ted Grant wrote:
>The following arrived this morning on the screen!  True? False?
>Whatever? Just thought the more astute of you involved in digital
>cameras and electronics might be interested.  
>
>This isn't a creation of my imagination, as I'm sure there will be
>several others on the LUG who received the same message.
>
>ted
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Subject: New: Leica digital M6 camera !!
> 
> News from a friend at Leica Germany.
> 
> They will announce in 3 weeks that they will produce a little bomb that
>will be a revolution in the Leica *M* world...
> 
> The Leica M6D, with a 10Mpixel CCD (Super CCD from Fuji like ?).
>They could produce such a high res CCD because they discard
>color information... It's a B&W only CCD !
> 
> Leica realized that 95% of the M owners were loading their
>camera with B&W films.
>============================================
>
>Your call folks!
>
>ted
>