[marty-0750]

While there are digital backs available to attach to legacy SLRs they require attaching a bulky back assembly so that they operate much like today's DSLRs


Now there is (will be) an option to insert a "film cartridge" (e-cartridge?) without any modifications to the camera. Unlike the digital backs, the cartridge pops into the regular 35mm film well in the camera and contains all electronics, memory and ports with the sensor a full-frame strip that lays over the focal plane. There is no electronic viewing screen and you need to take the cartridge out of the camera an upload the images to a computer before you can view them . This is rather like shooting real film bringing with the art of mindfulness.


Comments and opinions?

[RobA_Oz]

You did read the Disclaimer, I take it:

[BigMackCam]

It was an April Fool's joke:

https://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/photography-news/re-35-converts-your-film-...o-digital-8836

This idea has actually been around for some time, but there are numerous technical challenges that no-one has been able to overcome thus far...

EDIT: @RobA_Oz beat me to it

[RobA_Oz]

It was an April Fool's joke:

https://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/photography-news/re-35-converts-your-film-...o-digital-8836

This idea has actually been around for some time, but there are numerous technical challenges that no-one has been able to overcome thus far...

EDIT: @RobA_Oz beat me to it

I’d love it to be realised some day, but I’m not expecting it.

A sad story, related to this: we used to have a great camera store here, from which I and my family purchased many items over a long time, from the 1960s through to the 1990s. The staff were all helpful, longtime employees who really knew their stuff, and it was a family-run business over a couple of generations. Sadly, the last owner dismissed the start of the digital revolution, but thought that a product he saw at Fotokina would make digital bodies redundant. That product was quite like re35 – in all respects, but mostly as vapourware. Needless to say, the business was gone within a couple of years. Twenty years on, we’re still waiting.

But, it’s a nice idea.

[BigMackCam]

I’d love it to be realised some day, but I’m not expecting it.

A sad story, related to this: we used to have a great camera store here, from which I and my family purchased many items over a long time, from the 1960s through to the 1990s. The staff were all helpful, longtime employees who really knew their stuff, and it was a family-run business over a couple of generations. Sadly, the last owner dismissed the start of the digital revolution, but thought that a product he saw at Fotokina would make digital bodies redundant. That product was quite like re35 – in all respects, but mostly as vapourware. Needless to say, the business was gone within a couple of years. Twenty years on, we’re still waiting.

But, it’s a nice idea.

It's a shame when family businesses like that one close. We've a few non-photographic family-run shops and services still operating in my town, but they're having an increasingly-difficult time making them pay... and the current economic situation - post pandemic and now the energy crisis - won't help. Just the other day, I noticed that an auto parts shop about a mile from me had finally closed. It had been there since well before I was even born. It was open 7 days a week, and stocked just about every generic auto part you could need, many common brand- and model-specific parts, tools, consumables, paint, etc. Anything he didn't have in stock, he'd get in within a week - and his prices were always very fair. I kept my first two cars running with nothing more than a Haynes manual and parts / tools from that shop. Sad to see it's gone

Re the "digital film cartridge" idea, it seems there are two key problems - (1) thickness of the sensor and whatever it's mounted to, and (2) integration of with the camera's shutter release and shutter and mechanism to control start and end of exposure. Even if the sensor thickness issue were surmountable, I'm not sure it would be possible to come up with a one-size-fits-all approach to shutter integration... I'd like to think someone, somewhere is working on it, though

[Joetitch]

Another obstacle would be powering the digital side of things.

[BigMackCam]

Another obstacle would be powering the digital side of things.

I think it's do-able. The computer / controller aspect could be tiny (SoC tech has really leveraged miniaturisation these days), and you could feasibly fit that and a 3v lithium battery in a 135 film cannister. The battery wouldn't have a great deal of capacity - but it only needs enough to take 36 shots to replicate the experience of film... plus, there's no power-sucking display. The requirements are pretty modest... theoretically, at least.

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Last edited by BigMackCam; 05-06-2022 at 02:38 AM.

[RobA_Oz]

Re the "digital film cartridge" idea, it seems there are two key problems - (1) thickness of the sensor and whatever it's mounted to, and (2) integration of with the camera's shutter release and shutter and mechanism to control start and end of exposure. Even if the sensor thickness issue were surmountable, I'm not sure it would be possible to come up with a one-size-fits-all approach to shutter integration... I'd like to think someone, somewhere is working on it, though

The matter of sensor (stack) thickness is possibly the more difficult, as the microlens and Bayer (or whatever) filter can’t protrude beyond the thickness of the masking frame, or it will foul the shutter curtains. That will shift the plane of focus rearward, which could only be permanently addressed by moving the lens mount back by the same distance, otherwise infinity focus would be lost. In addition, the old film pressure plate would have to be made thinner. That imposes another limitation on the thickness of the sensor stack, without a modified back being necessary, if there isn’t enough room with the original. It’s all doable, but not simple, and obviously varies a bit from one body to another. Leica bodies may be the most constrained, given they don’t have a separate or hinged back.

I can imagine a solution to the shutter release issue wouldn’t be that difficult, as the existing cocking and film wind action could be directly coupled to a trigger circuit to enable the sensor. I suspect coupling the sensor ISO setting to in-body metering would be a bigger challenge.

[ChrisPlatt]

There are major technical and practical hurdles but this is definitely possible.

Some here will remember the Silicon Film debacle.

To be successful a product like this needed to be marketed by the early 2000's,
before most consumers got in the habit of buying a series of digital cameras.

Fortunately some younger folks are rediscovering film...

Chris

[marty-0750]

You did read the Disclaimer, I take it:

Oh dear. I did attempt to click on the disclaimer but it failed to open.

[Bob 256]

Don't forget, it will include high speed WiFi and tethering

[Sigma2021]

The biggest issue imo, is fitting it to different bodies. The sensor assembly could have a sensor that monitors when the shutter has opened. Batteries and electronics could fit into the film cassette side holders.

[boriscleto]

I’d love it to be realised some day, but I’m not expecting it.

A sad story, related to this: we used to have a great camera store here, from which I and my family purchased many items over a long time, from the 1960s through to the 1990s. The staff were all helpful, longtime employees who really knew their stuff, and it was a family-run business over a couple of generations. Sadly, the last owner dismissed the start of the digital revolution, but thought that a product he saw at Fotokina would make digital bodies redundant. That product was quite like re35 – in all respects, but mostly as vapourware. Needless to say, the business was gone within a couple of years. Twenty years on, we’re still waiting.

But, it’s a nice idea.

Silicon Film - Dead Media Archive.

June 1998 - The first model of what would become Silicon Film appeared as ImageK, a subsidiary of Irvine Sensors, a company in Irvine California. The prototype of this model was an insert that they said had a 1.3 mega-pixel sensor and a 2.58x crop factor.

September 1999 - Irvine Sensors renames the product "Silicon Film"

February 2001 - The first public demo of Silicon FIlm takes place. According to those in attendance, the pictures shown in the demonstration were different from the models, causing speculation that the prototype was entirely nonfunctional and the images had been created prior to the demo.

September 2001 - Irvine Sensors announces the suspension of Silicon Film operations. The reasons cited include a supposed failure to pass European product safety (EMC) tests. The company claims however to have passed the USS (FCC) tests, but the FCC denied this claim

[Sam_I_am]

Oh dear. I did attempt to click on the disclaimer but it failed to open.

Don't worry about it. I did the same thing....twice. I probably will do it again...and again.

[RobA_Oz]

Silicon Film - Dead Media Archive.

Could have been it. The time was about right.