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RE: [OM] Film vs. Digital in terms of $$$ (long)

Subject: RE: [OM] Film vs. Digital in terms of $$$ (long)
From: "IanG" <I@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 08:22:10 -0000
A logical and pragmatic assessment of needs... or as Bill G*tes once pointed
out 640K is more memory than anybody can ever possibly need.

Market forces will continue to push memory sizes higher and prices lower
regardless of perceived need and that push will also be for smaller lighter
faster.... after all how else are they going to convince you to dump last
months model for this months new, all singing all dancing profit making
wunder machine.

We as a group must be a nightmare for Olympus - when was the last time any
of use bought anything new and added to the profitability of the Olympus
group.

Give it a few year - maybe five - and we'll all have gone digital.
Performance in all areas will have substantially improved, entry level
performances will be way up there, interfaces standardised and Windows will
still crash. Either that or the whole camera manufacturing market will have
collapsed with no buyers of new kit.

And me, I'll love to be able to get 4x5 quality straight from a digital
camera onto my PC based 'darkroom' to manipulate and finish the images in
daylight. I'm pushing the limits of home 35mm to digital processing at the
moment. I want 500mb files to play with... I can then crop without losing
quality. Even now the work I'm producing can't be farmed out with the 35mm
negative for processing, stuff I'm doing easily and quickly with Photoshop
can't be done to commercial times scales..... 1gb image files, I can't wait.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of M. Lloyd
Sent: 18 December 2002 07:57
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OM] Film vs. Digital in terms of $$$ (long)


The problem with thinking digital will stablize is
that except for the pro SLR digitals the cameras
pretty much have stabilized. I don't think we are
going to see consumer or even prosumer cameras leap
from 4-6MP to 9-10 or higher because for MOST of the
picture taking population 4-6 MP is enough. I think
camera and electronics manufacturers will for the most
part just relase a new model with a few new gimmicks
every year to keep the price up. The only cameras that
will see resolution improvement will be the pro
bodies, maybe the prosumer will get up to 7-10MP but
I'm not so sure since lenses won't be able to resolve
that fine of detail and it will basically be
diminishing returns.

The lens thing will be he biggest issue I believe. I
mean why would a camera company spend $200-400 to
grind a lens for a 10MP camera that's only gonna cost
$800 when the competition is using a $50 lens for a
6MP camera that maybe costs only $600 for the vast
majority of users will look just as good on screen or
printed 8x10 off an inkjet? Sure you would do it for
pros who will pay for the markup but not for a camera
targeted at consumers.

I think that is what OLympus is trying to do with the
4/3 system if it ever gets off the ground. Provide a
light, compact and economical choice for consumers and
advanced ametures to use a digital interchangeable
lens SLR that while it might not be 8 billion MP it
would have other advantages. I'm afraid the pro
digital market is lost to C*non and N*kon.

It's kinda like film in that way. I've been looking at
4x5 and 8x10 transparencies and stuff over at the
George Eastman house (it was there that I really got
my desire to get a LF camera and play around). I'll
tell you even with 140 year old brass barrel lenses
that had massive astigmatism and every type of flaw
one might imagine the images were still beutiful and
amazingly some had even been enlarged and still looked
incredible. If you used those 140 year old lenses for
35mm well forget about it!

Mark Lloyd

--- John Cwiklinski <plinkochips@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Albert wrote:
>
> >>
> That's one thing to consider...  I'm waiting for
> digital to stablize in
> price before jumping in.
> <<
>
> >>
> C. H. Ling wrote:
>
> Stablize? I think it will just like computer
> price/performance, it
> never happen.
> <<
>
> Albert, I'm afraid you are going to wait a very long
> time. I agree with CH.
>
> John Cwiklinski


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