[LRflex] More speculation on the direction of the R10.
- From: David Young <telyt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 06 May 2007 07:51:06 -0700
Neil said:
>I think we're still in the early part of the curve for digital cameras.
>Not too long ago, the common wisdom was that the only path to quality was
>with larger sensors. Of course, that was due to limitations of the earlier
>technology, just as is the case for every other area of electronics.
>Unfortunately, advances such as these only raise the bar for an R10.
Good Mornin' Neil!
You are right, newer technology makes it possible to pack more pixels
onto very small sensors, while the noise characteristics of these
small sensors continue to improve.
So, consider this ... (Note: Speculation - not based on anything!)
No digital photo I've ever seen matches the scans from my Nikon V-ED
film scanner. At 4000 dpi a 35mm neg becomes a 24mb image when scanned!.
Common wisdom says that Kodachrome 25 was equivalent to a 30mb
sensor. Most medium to low ISO films are equivalent to a 24mb sensor.
So... if we assume [a] that Leica really does want to lead the
pack, once more, and [b] they can develop a dSLR that is viable in
most other ways, why would they not use this emerging technology to
produce a 30mb camera in either an APS-C, APS-H or even a 35mm frame
sized sensor? With the lossless compression techniques used in the
M8, the resulting file would be smaller than the 19.5mb files
currently generated by the DMR, thus taking.
With an 18 month lead time, and Canon just now talking of a new 1Ds
Mk III with a 20mpixel (useable) sensor, a 30mp might give them the
leg-up they need to jump ahead of the competition.
Adding auto-focus would give customers a good reason to buy new glass
(what Leica really want!). Of course, it would have to be able to use
my existing glass (via an adapter, or not) and offer focus
confirmation with such glass. (AF with new lenses would be nice, but
I'm more interested in preserving my current investment.)
Adding mirror-up Live View, as done with the Canon ID Mk III and the
coming 40D, would simply be a firmware proposition, as even in the R8
& R9, the mirror and shutter are computer controlled.
I have to admit, if they could produce such a camera, at the cost of
an M8 (or very little more) that had the noise levels of the DMR
(does not need to be any better), in an R8 (or smaller) body, while
maintaining at least an R8 level viewfinder, I might forgive them
their sins with my DMR!
Cheers!
---
David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA
Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
Stock Photography at: http://tinyurl.com/2amll4
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