I just saw the pictures and specs of the new Nikon digital SLR body,
which is supposed to be "affordably" priced for advanced amateurs.
To quote Archie Bunker -- "Well, whoop-de-do."
I don't see the point of such a product. Sure, it lets Nikon owners use
their existing lenses. So what?
The imaging chip is probably no more than 1/2" diagonal. (The size isn't
given in the spec sheets.) That's less than _one-third_ the diagonal of
a 35mm frame. So your existing lenses' focal lengths are effectively
multiplied by more than 3, and your ultra-expensive 14mm ultra-wide
angle becomes 45mm! Wow, that's a really useful wide-angle lens. (The
specs say nothing about the use of a fiber-optic bundle to "compress"
the image.)
In fairness, a digital SLR body _would_ be of real advantage to someone
doing a lot of close-up work that needs to be in digital format. But
unless Nikon introduces a reasonably fast zoom lens of (say) 8 to 32mm,
you might just as well buy a non-interchangeable lens digital camera --
and THROW IT AWAY when it becomes obsolete.
And it _will_ become obsolete. When 4 Mpel and 8Mpel chips become
available, will Nikon offer an upgrade to the SLR? (Nikon will hopefully
have the sense to design the camera so that imaging chips can be
interchanged simply by changing the back.) If they don't, you'll have to
sell it at a big loss.
A digital SLR that takes _existing_ interchangeable lenses will only
"make sense" when the imaging chip is (at the very least) 1/2 the size
of 35mm film (12mmx18mm) -- and preferably larger. And the chip should
have enough pixels to give film-like resolution for an 8x12 enlargement.
Before you flame -- remember what Lex Luthor said -- "Think, people,
think!"
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