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Re: [OM] Om to Digital (try it again with attachment)

Subject: Re: [OM] Om to Digital (try it again with attachment)
From: Phillip Franklin <pfranklin@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 11:53:24 -0800
Mike,

Your analysis is correct.  I think that Olympus is just side stepping the issue 
of getting
some type of professional quality system on the market.  I'm sure they see more
profitability in their consumer products such as the 2500.  But if you are a pro
sports/action photographer those consumer digitals wont cut it.  I'm also into 
video and
have seen Canon use their EOS lenses on their prosumer and semipro video 
camcorders.  They
did this on a couple of very popular Hi8 systems several years ago and are now 
doing this on
their highly acclaimed XL-1 camera.  And everyone in the video industry has 
known for 15 or
more years that field of view is a much more difficult problem when using a ccd 
capture
device. It will be years before video can give the wide vistas of even 35mm 
film not to even
think about 70mm.  But video is different ... just as digital photography is 
different from
film photography.  Current digital photography is more of a bridge or 
compromise the same
way video is a compromise over movie film images.  However as newer high 
definition ccd and
cmos capture devices become available to the pro non broadcast industry, we 
will see
exciting changes that will offer fields of view equal to 35mm film cameras.  
Maybe the 2:3
ratios will fall to a to the wider format seen on high definition tubes and 
panels.  These
new chips will allow our traditional 35mm film lenses to capture images 
approximating the
field of view that they were designed for.  When one looks at all of the super 
expensive pro
video lenses which were take offs of modern film camera lenses, one knows that 
only very
cheap consumer grade lenses were designed exclusively for ccd chips.  I think 
Olympus is
missing the boat here.  They should at least go into 3rd party agreements to 
make some of
their Zuiko line available to the pro digital still imaging systems.  Because 
of Olympus's
lack of auto focus their designs will never work in video.   

Bottom line is Nikon, Canon, Fuji, and Minolta can't all be wrong about using 
traditional
35mm film lenses in a digital world.  And everyone in professional imaging 
knows that it is
the lens which is the most important ingredient of hardware.  I wish those at 
Olympus
understood the treasure they hold in these remarkable Zuiko lenses and not just 
be motivated
by the consumer point & shoot market.

Phillip Franklin
Motor Sport Visions Photography wrote:
> 
> Hello Phillip,
> 
> Thank you, this one indeed did work! Interesting description and I think
> it actually makes sense from what (limited I admit) knowledge I have of
> the way CCD Imagers work.
> 
> In all the side-by-side comparisons I have seen the Olympus (consumer)
> digital cameras _always_ create visably better images than the
> competition with the same pixel count. Perhaps I am biased and see the
> world through "Zuiko colored glasses"? Perhaps...
> 
> That said, at the professional end of things there are other racing
> photographers using Canon and Nikon digital bodies with film lenses and
> their results are stunning (pick up a "Racer" magazine and see what I
> mean). Because of this I still believe Olympus _could_ adapt OM lenses
> if they really wanted to for digital use. They have always been
> inovative and ahead of their time and I can only hope that is the case
> in this situation too. My fear (which I think is mirrored by all of us
> on the OM list is that they put all their R&D budget into consumer gear
> and are forsaking the professional marketplace. (A good example is the
> IS series...the IS-3000 is a stunning little all-in-one "wunderbrick"
> but is a bit delicate since it is all plastic...)
> 
> Thanks again Phillip!
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mike
> 
> Phillip Franklin wrote:
> >
> > Mike,
> >
> > I don't know if the first attachment worked.
> > Here it is again
> >
> > Phillip
> >
> >   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >                Name: lens.pps
> >    lens.pps    Type: PPVIEW32 File (application/pps)
> >            Encoding: base64

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