Here comes digital.
Go over to www.luminous-landscape.com and read the EOS D1s review. The
author, a very respected photographer, is sold on the camera vs. MF.
The Kodak is a fine machine too, and perfectly suitable for outdoor work,
but doesn't have the raw speed of the Canon. It's got very nice firmware
for the professional though.
The durability and reliability of the Sigma will determine much of its
success. It's had some problems in its early configurations. I'm not sure
if the lens mount will hurt it though.
For the pro, I can't see any reason not to change whole-hog to digital, as
the workflow is so superior and the lack of film/processing costs will pay
for itself in 12-15 months.
For the amatuer, it's still a very expensive luxury to get a digital SLR
body, IMO. You've got to shoot a lot of film to justify it. And I wonder
about the long-term reliability of a $2-3000 body.
Personally, I don't want to re-buy that DSLR puppy ever few years. So I've
stayed with a pro-sumer camera (Canon G2), which is perfect for me. I use
my Leicas for much of my family stuff, which are superior for available
light, quick action photography to any SLR or digital camera. The OM's do
duty for most everything else and a Contax T2 or the Canon G2 handles the
take-everywhere P&S duties.
Skip
Original Message:
-----------------
Wrom: ZFSQHYUCDDJBLVLMHAALPTCXLYRW
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 14:43:18 -0500
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] The coming generation of 35mm CCD digital cameras
I just read the February 2003 issue of Outdoor Photographer.
On page 23 is a full-page ad for the new Sigma SD9 camera, the one based
on the Foveon chip. The ad claims "over 10.2 million photodetectors, to
sense red, green, and blue light at each pixel, unlike image sensors that
process only one color per pixel". From the careful distinction drawn
between "photdetectors" and "pixels", I would guess that 10.2 is the
marketing pixel count, and that there are 10.2/3= 3.4 million tricolor
pixels per image, with a 1:1:1 ratio. The camera weighs 805 grams (28.4
oz, 1.76 pounds). No price is stated in the ad. Camera also reviewed in
DP Review: <http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sigmasd9/>, where the price is
reported as US $2,000 for the body only. From an earlier DP Review: "This
new camera has a 3.43 megapixel (effective) X3 sensor which outputs 2268 x
1512 x 3 pixels. Each pixel is 9 microns [square] which makes the sensor
20.7 x 13.8 mm (a 1.7x focal length multiplier)." So, there are 3,429,216
tricolor pixels, and the same number (3!
.43 million) of green pixels.
On page 72 starts a 1.5-page review for the coming Kod*k DCS Pro 14n
camera, which takes Nik*on lenses, and sports a 13.89-megapixel (marketing)
sensor yielding a 41 MByte file per image. The sensor is 4536x3024 CMOS
(not CCD), is used as effective ISO speeds ranging from 80 to 800, the
camera weighs 2 pounds (910 grams), and costs about US $4,000 (estimated)
for the body only. This is apparently intended as a studio camera. The
Pro14n has 13.89/2= 6.95 million green pixels. The ratio is 1:2:1.
<www.kodak.com/go/professional>
On page 73 starts a 1.5-page review of the Can*on EOS-1Ds, which claims a
11.4 megapixel (marketing) CMOS image sensor, being 4064x2704 pixels, ISO
sensitivities of 50 or 100-1250, weighs 2.76 pounds (44.1 ounces, 1.25 kg),
and costs $9,000 (estimated) for the body only. Another studio camera.
The EOS-1Ds has 11.4/2= 5.7 million green pixels. The ratio is 1:2:1.
<www.usa.canon.com>
I can see these two studio cameras being very useful to commercial
photographers who already own Nik*on or Can*n lens collections, and these
prices will not deflect such photographers. The Sigma has one half the
spatial resolution, and Sigma cameras are not widely used by pros. One
would expect the Kod*k camera to cause downward price pressure on the
Can*n. Ordinarily, the high price of the Can*n would cause the Kod*k's
price to rise as well, but Kod*k is trying to quickly build a business in
digital photography, in time to replace the film business.
It's interesting that CMOS sensors are used, not CCDs. CMOS and CCD are
different kinds of integrated chip designs. Semiconductor memory chips are
CMOS, and CMOS optical sensors are based on memory chips. The difference
is that while CMOS sensors are easier to make in large physical chip and
pixel-count sizes, their optical performance (especially noise)
traditionally isn't nearly as good as CCDs. Apparently, the art of making
CMOS sensors has progressed to the point of practicality in photography,
although CCDs still reign in scientific applications.
Applying Moore's Law to the EOS-1Ds body, this will drop from $9K to $1K in
18*log2(9/1)= 57 months, or 4.76 years. The Pro14n body will drop to $1K
in 18*log2(4/1)= 36 months, or 3 years. The SD9 will take 18 months.
Joe Gwinn
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