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04-09-2012, 05:43 AM   #1
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What is the ultimate camera?

SUPPOSE: You are interested in imagery. Money is no object. I mean, maybe you're a government that can print money, so price is literally irrelevant, meaningless -- only results matter. What is the ultimate, the 'best', the most absofockinglutely glorious imaging system you could obtain now? How much better is it than anything for sale publicly? And how quickly would it become obsolete?

04-09-2012, 05:55 AM   #2
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I've already got one; a Hasselblad H4 with both film and digital backs.

But even the 40k+ Hasselblad isn't all that much different from the Pentax 645D. Both offer backs that can be switched over at about any time - which also leaves room for being upgraded in the future without the need for an entirely new camera body. Most medium format also offer a small selection of interchangeable lens; but they are entirely optically based without much consideration for aperature ranges. So it's not all that unusual to have a medium format camera weighing in at over five pounds with just a very basic lens.

The batteries also do not last long; and the memory cards fill up extraordinarily fast.

So we're talking about mostly a studio camera with limited ability in the field - ir the real world. It's a bit unlikely one would normally see most medium formats on a place such a football field.

BTW most all Hasselblad's (but not quite all) are available for sale publicly. Some start below 20k. Yet to really practically shoot with a Hasselblad H4 one should be willing to drop about 60k into a smaller outfit and quite an upgraded computer. Will it become obsolete; not likely - which is the best part about being able to switch out the image capturing end of the camera.

More of a practical yet somewhat collectable - a Leica. One of my everyday cameras a K-01
04-09-2012, 06:16 AM   #3
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40mp FF in a compact Pentax dslr body running on 4 AA's using top glass made by Nikon.
04-09-2012, 06:52 AM - 1 Like   #4
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Hubble?

04-09-2012, 07:07 AM   #5
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That is available on market now? Or an imaginary version based on real world components?

Or are we allowed to freely let our imaginations run wild right now?
04-09-2012, 07:13 AM   #6
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I would contact Pentax and get them to build me a K5 without an AA filter.

...Boy am I modest...
04-09-2012, 10:54 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by RioRico Quote
SUPPOSE: You are interested in imagery. Money is no object. I mean, maybe you're a government that can print money, so price is literally irrelevant, meaningless -- only results matter. What is the ultimate, the 'best', the most absofockinglutely glorious imaging system you could obtain now? How much better is it than anything for sale publicly? And how quickly would it become obsolete?
A k2 that does digital, but is the size of the K with those same sleek Brigitte Bardot lines and D700 specs.


Last edited by Blue; 04-09-2012 at 11:39 AM.
04-09-2012, 11:03 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Deimos Quote
Hubble?
I think you're on the right track.

QuoteOriginally posted by JinDesu Quote
That is available on market now? Or an imaginary version based on real world components?

Or are we allowed to freely let our imaginations run wild right now?
Let's start with something like current components, but not limited to consumer products we know of. But how much is classified, top-secret?

Any wild imagination should be limited by physical-optical reality -- no magickal elimination of diffraction, etc. Other than that, have at it!
04-10-2012, 05:48 AM   #9
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FF the size and looks of a LX or ME Super.
No AA filter for the sharpeest o/p possible.
No more than 24mp.
Price it low at about $2000
Full MF is fine so long as a proper large viewfinder and good focusing screen is there (No AF just like a $7k M9)
Else EVF the quality level of that on the NEX7/A77 with focus peaking.
I can live with the compromise of no SR. (as I did during film).

Sort of like the DSLR equivalent of what the M9 is to rangefinders.
This may play very well into the niche market that Ricoh wants to find for itself.

Come to think of it, maybe I'm describing a GXR FF K-mount module....
04-10-2012, 06:08 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Clavius Quote
I would contact Pentax and get them to build me a K5 without an AA filter.

...Boy am I modest...

What is an AA filter? I never moved up past a K-x.

And let me modify my previous post. Pentax could build the lenses for dream cam and not Nikon. As long as the lenses were built along the lines of Pentax's legendary glass and not their low end consumer glass.
04-10-2012, 06:11 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by Medium FormatPro Quote
I've already got one; a Hasselblad H4 with both film and digital backs.

But even the 40k+ Hasselblad isn't all that much different from the Pentax 645D. Both offer backs that can be switched over at about any time - which also leaves room for being upgraded in the future without the need for an entirely new camera body. Most medium format also offer a small selection of interchangeable lens; but they are entirely optically based without much consideration for aperature ranges. So it's not all that unusual to have a medium format camera weighing in at over five pounds with just a very basic lens.

The batteries also do not last long; and the memory cards fill up extraordinarily fast.

So we're talking about mostly a studio camera with limited ability in the field - ir the real world. It's a bit unlikely one would normally see most medium formats on a place such a football field.

BTW most all Hasselblad's (but not quite all) are available for sale publicly. Some start below 20k. Yet to really practically shoot with a Hasselblad H4 one should be willing to drop about 60k into a smaller outfit and quite an upgraded computer. Will it become obsolete; not likely - which is the best part about being able to switch out the image capturing end of the camera.

More of a practical yet somewhat collectable - a Leica. One of my everyday cameras a K-01

Hassy's too big and bulky for street work Not my dream cam at all. Sure it is a great cam. I used to shoot 500C and SWC back in the 70's. But I'd much rather have a 645. Never shot with a 645, but looks nimble enuf for quick shots. Now, if I was doing studio and set up work, I'd most likely go Hassy.
04-10-2012, 06:30 AM   #12
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IQ of the 645 in a Q body with lightweight but high quality glass. Everyone seems to think bigger is better. Myself, everything I own, I carry... for miles. I know the FF guys scoff when I say I won't go for the extra 6 onces in a D800. But, after 10 miles, every once counts. To me, weight is the biggest current limiting factor in DSLR use. The guys saying "Nikon glass" over and over again, don't live in my world. They live in a world where you walk 50 meters from your car to a camera bay... and set up 50 pounds of equipment. That to me is like blasphemy. If a camera doesn't go where I want to go without causing me body pain... it's not desirable.

Last edited by normhead; 04-10-2012 at 06:37 AM.
04-10-2012, 06:33 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by normhead Quote
IQ of the 645 in a Q body with lightweight but high quality glass. Everyone seems to think bigger is better. Myself, everything I own, I carry... for miles.
I think that 645 sensor is bigger than the Q's lcd.
04-10-2012, 06:37 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by normhead Quote
IQ of the 645 in a Q body with lightweight but high quality glass. Everyone seems to think bigger is better. Myself, everything I own, I carry... for miles. I know the FF guys scoff when I say I won't go for the extra 6 onces in a D800. But, after 10 miles, every once counts. To me, weight is the biggest current limiting factor in DSLR use. The guys saying "Nikon glass" over and over again, don't live in my world. They live in a world where you walk 50 meters from your car to a camera bay... and set up 50 pounds of equipment. That to me is like blasphemy. If a camera doesn't go where I want to go without causing me body pain... it's not desirable.

Toughen up!

Good things take work!!

04-10-2012, 06:46 AM   #15
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When I was in photo arts at Ryerson, that could have been me. I used to cart my 8x10 camera and industrial weight tripod around Toronto looking like a baggage handler at an airport. So ya, I did it, but that doesn't mean I wanted to do it. And that was almost 50 years ago. I'm not going to say I'm completely feeble ( ok , maybe mentally) but when the Q came out, I watch the initial reports for it's IQ really close. I've carried a DA 18-135 and DA*60-250 for miles. That's about as heavy as I'm capable of these days. Every body complains it's only F4. I can live with F4, or even 4.5 if they'd take another pound off.

SO ya, they better be working on that high IQ Q because in a few years I won't be capable of carrying anything else. Right now I get grief because I say APS-c is good enough. Imagine what it will be like when I'm saying my Q is good enough.
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