Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/03/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]hmmm, there's an idea that makes me want to hit the snooze button on the alarm and roll over! A BW only digital camera! Seems an absolutly dumb idea to pay for features you don't get. There was a time when I could only afford Black and white photography. I lived in Germany, and maybe three times a year, I would invest in a roll of Kodachrome, usually when we were going off to Switzerland. What a luxury! Color! B. D. Colen wrote on 3/28/2004, 5:46 AM: > And notice how quickly the Kodak camera disappeared - in fact, did it > ever actually make it to market? It was to have an 18 megp grayscale > image...the idea was really exciting...but... > > -----Original Message----- > From: lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org > [mailto:lug-bounces+bdcolen=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of > Henning Wulff > Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2004 4:51 PM > To: Leica Users Group > Subject: RE: [Leica] More RD-1 news > > > At 12:46 PM -0800 3/27/04, Adam Bridge wrote: > >On Saturday, March 27, 2004 B. D. Colen thoughtfully wrote: > > > >>First off, one of the glories of digital is that every single shot is > >>both color and monochrome. ;-) Second off, it should be possible to > >>have the monochrome option in the firmware. If they develop the write > >>algorithms, having the b&w, bw-green, bw-red, bw-yellow built into > >>the camera could be wonderful. Carry around a pile of filters? Why? > > > >Aaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhh! > > > >NO, B. D., it's NOT the same. Because IF you're not shooting onto a > >color sensor > >you can either have MORE sensors for a higher pixel density OR you can > larger > >sensors for a better signal:noise ratio. Otherwise you're letting the > firmware > >of the camera play Hobb by attempting to make a monochrome image from > various > >parts of red and green and blue. > > When Kodak did their B&W digital camera, the advantages weren't all > that great over colour cameras. What has changed since then? > > >It's not the same thing at all. Why shoot with black and white film > >at all then? > >Why not just shoot color? But we DO shoot black and white. But even > this isn't > >as great a difference as between a digital color and a digital > monochrome > >sensor. > > > >When the color sensors are of sufficient density and the SNR is up to > >par then I'll relax this. But it's damn clear that Leica ain't likely > >to have access to anything that's remotely close. > > > >So why shouldn't I ask for something that makes a lot of sense? > >Using an M to me > >means shooting in available light without flash. And all those > fabulously > >expensive pieces of glass that Leica makes are there to make it even > more > >possible. > > > >So why shouldn't Leica make a camera that exploits these features > >like no other > >camera can - that uses all the system's capabilities so that, by > >golly, you can > >shoot at ASA 3200 or even higher and have a SNR like that of the best > current > >cameras at, say 1600 (thinking of 1Ds and its CMOS sensor). > > > >Leica is a niche market. If they can figure out how to deal with the > >process in > >order to make it happen then there will be a reason to consider > investing in > >Leica. > > > >We're seeing an increase in interest in black and white portraiture. > >Why not a camera that does it superbly? > > > >Adam Bridge > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Leica Users Group. > >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > -- > * Henning J. Wulff > /|\ Wulff Photography & Design > /###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com > |[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >