Why not make a Pentax DSLR in the shape of old Spotmatics and 60s/70s film cameras?

eddie1960 · 02-15-2011, 01:58 PM

odd i had no problem looking at it. Wired is a pretty big site

the actual company working on it is InVisage

InVisage

Ira · 02-15-2011, 01:59 PM

Metal is high on the ESD danger list--Electrostatic Discharge--which can fry cards and firmware. And if a discharge doesn't immediately fry something, they definitely shorten product life.

Plastics are high on the list too, but not the ESD-safe types used in DSLRs.

Gashog · 02-15-2011, 02:04 PM

Originally posted by PentaxForums-User

One day the iPod Nano will have a Full-Frame sensor!

I'd settle for a glass lens....bigger then a pinhole!

My Droid has 8MP. My best DSLR body has 6MP. I know I sound like a broken record but.....

Jodokast96 · 02-15-2011, 03:42 PM

Originally posted by Abstract

That looks interesting, to bad I could not read the whole article because the site was so annoying, pop ups, page kept scrolling to the top by itself, I have never experienced such a bad site, my word. I do wonder if that tech can help dslr sensors....50 percent more light thing interested me.

Disabling JavaScript will do amazing things for a site like that.

Abstract · 02-15-2011, 03:58 PM

Originally posted by Jodokast96

Disabling JavaScript will do amazing things for a site like that.

Ahh I see, thank you.

noblepa · 02-15-2011, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by Gashog

I'd settle for a glass lens....bigger then a pinhole!

My Droid has 8MP. My best DSLR body has 6MP. I know I sound like a broken record but.....

The sensor on your Droid is about 2 x 3mm, while the Pentax is 18 x 24mm. That makes a huge difference, especially in low-light performance. Megapixels aren't everything.

Also, you're comparing a product that is brand-new (the Droid) to a Pentax product that is at least four or five years old. Your brand (less than a year) new Droid has 8MP. The newest Pentax cameras have 16MP.

eddie1960 · 02-15-2011, 04:22 PM

paul i think he's bitching about the lens quality on the droid, not the 6mp on the pentax

Gashog · 02-16-2011, 04:03 PM

Originally posted by eddie1960

paul i think he's bitching about the lens quality on the droid, not the 6mp on the pentax

Thank you Eddie

I do sometimes bitch.

séamuis · 02-16-2011, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Since many people want smaller and lighter, why can't companies make DSLRs in the shape of the old Spotmatics and 60s/70s film cameras?

strip away a lot of things like the LCD, the SR system (maybe) the built in flash, hand grip, etc. and you could. Pentax could easily make a Spotmatic style body with a digital sensor. the main things holding that back besides ergonomics, is im fairly certain, battery technology. those spotmatics had very little electronics compared to say a K-5, but with a lot less ‘stuff’ (such as the LCD) you would need less power, thus less batteries. that will equal a significantly smaller body. as the popularity of the 50th Anniversary ‘AP’ edition shows, as well as the new Fuji x100, that if Pentax were to create a ‘retro’ digital SLR that is as close as you could come to a 'digital spotmatic’ that people would snap them up in a heartbeat. (myself amongst the ‘snapper-uppers’) but it wouldn’t be something that a camera company fighting to get from the bottom back to the top can really afford to do.

Gashog · 02-16-2011, 04:43 PM

I guárontéé that there is enough real estate in the Spotties footprint for a 16MP sensor, processor and accoutrements. My FinePix S2 Pro began it's lives journey in Japan as a 35mm Nikon F80...nine years ago! It can be done.

séamuis · 02-16-2011, 05:11 PM

Originally posted by Gashog

I guárontéé that there is enough real estate in the Spotties footprint for a 16MP sensor, processor and accoutrements. My FinePix S2 Pro began it's lives journey in Japan as a 35mm Nikon F80...nine years ago! It can be done.

im pretty sure that F80 is bigger (and thicker) than a spotmatic. one also has to consider the AF module in that. that adds to its bulk im sure. unless we are talking a digital SLR designed for manual focus lenses? Leica is doing it… but they are leica. but yes, just transplanting just the sensor, processor and necessary electronics needed for those, they could indeed fit into a spotmatic body. I have no doubt about that.

Gashog · 02-16-2011, 06:17 PM

Originally posted by séamuis

im pretty sure that F80 is bigger (and thicker) than a spotmatic. one also has to consider the AF module in that. that adds to its bulk im sure. unless we are talking a digital SLR designed for manual focus lenses? Leica is doing it… but they are leica. but yes, just transplanting just the sensor, processor and necessary electronics needed for those, they could indeed fit into a spotmatic body. I have no doubt about that.

Nine years ago!
It's 2011!! Gentlemen!! We have the technology!...Faster!!!Smaller!!!Lighter!!!

The Fuji guts snapped on the back of the camera. Yup....12MP digital back for a 35mm film camera! The battery box is on the bottom (4 AA NiMH). All of the Nikon hardware is still in the camera and powered by the original 2 123s'. The Fuji stuff just "bolted" on. It's actually pretty weird. The LED backlight for the Nikon part is green and the Fuji part is orange.

séamuis · 02-17-2011, 06:57 AM

Originally posted by Gashog

Nine years ago!
It's 2011!! Gentlemen!! We have the technology!...Faster!!!Smaller!!!Lighter!!!

The Fuji guts snapped on the back of the camera. Yup....12MP digital back for a 35mm film camera! The battery box is on the bottom (4 AA NiMH). All of the Nikon hardware is still in the camera and powered by the original 2 123s'. The Fuji stuff just "bolted" on. It's actually pretty weird. The LED backlight for the Nikon part is green and the Fuji part is orange.

but that S2 pro is still a huge honking camera. look at the s2 pro and the K5 to see just how far we have come in regards to shrinking down everything needed. the K5 isn’t really any bigger than the last generation of pentax film slrs which are of course all much smaller than canon and nikons film slrs, but its still big compared to a spotmatic. you aren’t really going to get any smaller than the current k7/k5 formfactor without stripping a lot of things that too many people deam very necessary.

Gashog · 02-17-2011, 07:27 AM

Originally posted by séamuis

you aren’t really going to get any smaller than the current k7/k5 formfactor without stripping a lot of things that too many people deam very necessary.

That a bet?

séamuis · 02-17-2011, 07:31 AM

Originally posted by Gashog

That a bet?

show me how then. show me how pentax can keep everything and still fit it all into a spotmatic body.

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02-15-2011, 01:58 PM	#16
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	odd i had no problem looking at it. Wired is a pretty big site the actual company working on it is InVisage InVisage

02-15-2011, 01:59 PM	#17
Ira Inactive Account Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Coral Springs, FL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 5,216	Metal is high on the ESD danger list--Electrostatic Discharge--which can fry cards and firmware. And if a discharge doesn't immediately fry something, they definitely shorten product life. Plastics are high on the list too, but not the ESD-safe types used in DSLRs.

02-15-2011, 02:04 PM	#18
Gashog Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: NY Photos: Albums Posts: 523	Originally posted by PentaxForums-User One day the iPod Nano will have a Full-Frame sensor! I'd settle for a glass lens....bigger then a pinhole! My Droid has 8MP. My best DSLR body has 6MP. I know I sound like a broken record but.....

02-15-2011, 03:42 PM	#19
Jodokast96 Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Erial, NJ USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,134	Originally posted by Abstract That looks interesting, to bad I could not read the whole article because the site was so annoying, pop ups, page kept scrolling to the top by itself, I have never experienced such a bad site, my word. I do wonder if that tech can help dslr sensors....50 percent more light thing interested me. Disabling JavaScript will do amazing things for a site like that.

02-15-2011, 03:58 PM	#20
Abstract Inactive Account Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: New York Photos: Gallery Posts: 388	Originally posted by Jodokast96 Disabling JavaScript will do amazing things for a site like that. Ahh I see, thank you.

02-15-2011, 03:59 PM	#21
noblepa Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bay Village, Ohio USA Posts: 1,142	Originally posted by Gashog I'd settle for a glass lens....bigger then a pinhole! My Droid has 8MP. My best DSLR body has 6MP. I know I sound like a broken record but..... The sensor on your Droid is about 2 x 3mm, while the Pentax is 18 x 24mm. That makes a huge difference, especially in low-light performance. Megapixels aren't everything. Also, you're comparing a product that is brand-new (the Droid) to a Pentax product that is at least four or five years old. Your brand (less than a year) new Droid has 8MP. The newest Pentax cameras have 16MP.

02-15-2011, 04:22 PM	#22
eddie1960 Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,666	paul i think he's bitching about the lens quality on the droid, not the 6mp on the pentax

02-16-2011, 04:03 PM	#23
Gashog Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: NY Photos: Albums Posts: 523	Originally posted by eddie1960 paul i think he's bitching about the lens quality on the droid, not the 6mp on the pentax Thank you Eddie I do sometimes bitch.

02-16-2011, 04:22 PM	#24
séamuis Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Savannah, U.S./Baguio City, P.H. Posts: 5,979	Quote: Since many people want smaller and lighter, why can't companies make DSLRs in the shape of the old Spotmatics and 60s/70s film cameras? strip away a lot of things like the LCD, the SR system (maybe) the built in flash, hand grip, etc. and you could. Pentax could easily make a Spotmatic style body with a digital sensor. the main things holding that back besides ergonomics, is im fairly certain, battery technology. those spotmatics had very little electronics compared to say a K-5, but with a lot less ‘stuff’ (such as the LCD) you would need less power, thus less batteries. that will equal a significantly smaller body. as the popularity of the 50th Anniversary ‘AP’ edition shows, as well as the new Fuji x100, that if Pentax were to create a ‘retro’ digital SLR that is as close as you could come to a 'digital spotmatic’ that people would snap them up in a heartbeat. (myself amongst the ‘snapper-uppers’) but it wouldn’t be something that a camera company fighting to get from the bottom back to the top can really afford to do.

02-16-2011, 04:43 PM	#25
Gashog Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: NY Photos: Albums Posts: 523	I guárontéé that there is enough real estate in the Spotties footprint for a 16MP sensor, processor and accoutrements. My FinePix S2 Pro began it's lives journey in Japan as a 35mm Nikon F80...nine years ago! It can be done.

02-16-2011, 05:11 PM	#26
séamuis Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Savannah, U.S./Baguio City, P.H. Posts: 5,979	Originally posted by Gashog I guárontéé that there is enough real estate in the Spotties footprint for a 16MP sensor, processor and accoutrements. My FinePix S2 Pro began it's lives journey in Japan as a 35mm Nikon F80...nine years ago! It can be done. im pretty sure that F80 is bigger (and thicker) than a spotmatic. one also has to consider the AF module in that. that adds to its bulk im sure. unless we are talking a digital SLR designed for manual focus lenses? Leica is doing it… but they are leica. but yes, just transplanting just the sensor, processor and necessary electronics needed for those, they could indeed fit into a spotmatic body. I have no doubt about that.

02-16-2011, 06:17 PM	#27
Gashog Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: NY Photos: Albums Posts: 523	Originally posted by séamuis im pretty sure that F80 is bigger (and thicker) than a spotmatic. one also has to consider the AF module in that. that adds to its bulk im sure. unless we are talking a digital SLR designed for manual focus lenses? Leica is doing it… but they are leica. but yes, just transplanting just the sensor, processor and necessary electronics needed for those, they could indeed fit into a spotmatic body. I have no doubt about that. Nine years ago! It's 2011!! Gentlemen!! We have the technology!...Faster!!!Smaller!!!Lighter!!! The Fuji guts snapped on the back of the camera. Yup....12MP digital back for a 35mm film camera! The battery box is on the bottom (4 AA NiMH). All of the Nikon hardware is still in the camera and powered by the original 2 123s'. The Fuji stuff just "bolted" on. It's actually pretty weird. The LED backlight for the Nikon part is green and the Fuji part is orange.

02-17-2011, 06:57 AM	#28
séamuis Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Savannah, U.S./Baguio City, P.H. Posts: 5,979	Originally posted by Gashog Nine years ago! It's 2011!! Gentlemen!! We have the technology!...Faster!!!Smaller!!!Lighter!!! The Fuji guts snapped on the back of the camera. Yup....12MP digital back for a 35mm film camera! The battery box is on the bottom (4 AA NiMH). All of the Nikon hardware is still in the camera and powered by the original 2 123s'. The Fuji stuff just "bolted" on. It's actually pretty weird. The LED backlight for the Nikon part is green and the Fuji part is orange. but that S2 pro is still a huge honking camera. look at the s2 pro and the K5 to see just how far we have come in regards to shrinking down everything needed. the K5 isn’t really any bigger than the last generation of pentax film slrs which are of course all much smaller than canon and nikons film slrs, but its still big compared to a spotmatic. you aren’t really going to get any smaller than the current k7/k5 formfactor without stripping a lot of things that too many people deam very necessary.

02-17-2011, 07:27 AM	#29
Gashog Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: NY Photos: Albums Posts: 523	Originally posted by séamuis you aren’t really going to get any smaller than the current k7/k5 formfactor without stripping a lot of things that too many people deam very necessary. That a bet?

02-17-2011, 07:31 AM	#30
séamuis Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Savannah, U.S./Baguio City, P.H. Posts: 5,979	Originally posted by Gashog That a bet? show me how then. show me how pentax can keep everything and still fit it all into a spotmatic body.