[Rykoh]

First off, while I know this would be an extremely niche product, what are the obstacles/challenges to producing a pure black and white sensor? I do believe Kodak might have produced one way back when, that didn't sell, but I'm not too sure on that fact.
At any rate, wouldn't having a b/w sensor make for a very high-resolution, high-DR image? As far as I can figure, the results would have the sharpness of a Foveon sensor, since you wouldn't need to combine the different color pixels (a la Bayer), and you probably wouldn't need an AA filter. Am I wrong in thinking that not having to worry about color information would produce a superior picture than converting a color picture to B-W in post-process?
Again, this is probably all dreaming, since I doubt there are too many people interested in such a camera, but I personally would love a small, b/w-only camera, maybe with RAW-only output to save on cost and complexity (since I doubt many amateurs would be interested), and preferably with a Pentax-compatible mount. I wouldn't even need AF, or maybe just the SDM mounts to provide AF... I know it will probably never happen, and probably wouldn't sell much if it did (though done well, and cheap enough, who knows?), but a guy can dream, no?

[ftpaddict]

I'd buy one the second it came out, if Pentax ever made such a camera or offered such a sensor as an option.
Heck, I'd even consider changing systems. Most of my photography is Black and White anyway.

Now if they managed to make an orthochromatic sensor.. that'd be really neat.

[little laker]

Personally I wouldn't buy a B&W only camera.

I rarely know ahead of time if an image will look better in B&W or colour, so why would I want to risk loosing a shot because I shot the wrong format

Oh, I also shoot with a Sigma SD14. And I really can't say that the Foveon sensor is any sharper than the Bayer sensor.
Most people shooting Sigma shoot in raw, and sharpen the image before you see it.

[ftpaddict]

Oh, I also shoot with a Sigma SD14. And I really can't say that the Foveon sensor is any sharper than the Bayer sensor.
Most people shooting Sigma shoot in raw, and sharpen the image before you see it.

Then what's all the fuss about the Foveon sensor?

[little laker]

better colours, and the photographs almost look like you were shooting with film.

[Rykoh]

From DPreview's Sigma DP1 review, the pictures looked much sharper to me. And I've heard Foveon actually has problems with their colors, since the light has to pass through all three layers to reach the red.

[monochrome]

I rarely know ahead of time if an image will look better in B&W or colour, so why would I want to risk loosing a shot because I shot the wrong format

I was going to carry a B&W film body and the K10D today for just that reason - but it's raining buckets.

As long as chemicals, paper and film are available (someday they won't be). . .

[Rykoh]

I rarely know ahead of time if an image will look better in B&W or colour, so why would I want to risk loosing a shot because I shot the wrong format

You obviously don't subscribe to the "If a picture is good (well-composed, etc.), it will work just as well in black and white as in color" school of thinking then. There was a big discussion about this recently on TheOnlinePhotographer, for what its worth. Back in the film days most people only carried their camera loaded with one type of film, and shot accordingly. Like I said, this would be a niche product, but if I am thinking in "Black/white" mode, I almost find it easier to not have the option of color.

On another note, I found a link to a review of that old Kodak camera.

Kodak 760m Review

Looks like it was not well-executed, which is too bad: it could have been a great product if it had been. Maybe now, with another four years of sensor and other development behind us, somebody could produce a winner of a B/W camera.

[little laker]

From DPreview's Sigma DP1 review, the pictures looked much sharper to me. And I've heard Foveon actually has problems with their colors, since the light has to pass through all three layers to reach the red.

You decide if the Foveon has problems with their colours.

I took this pic on Saturday, and just downloaded it from my camera a few minutes ago.
I then used a special freeware program which extracted the largest JPG from the raw file (they have 3 contained inside) and re-sized it using ACDSee Pro #1

There is no additional processing.

In my opinion other than the sky being just a touch over exposed there's nothing wrong with the colours.

Here's what I did while working with the RAW file.

Just that little tweak sharpened it up nicely, and in my opinion the colours are even nicer.
Just so you know I'd usually discard this photo, but I think that it'll work for this comparison.
I took nicer ones of the same truck