[stevebrot]

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The desire to turn resolution into a film vs digital pissing contest is silly and invidious -- and film has already lost anyway.

I agree about the silly part, but 800 lp/mm is hardly what I call losing and FWIW, the apparent full resolution clarity on a digital capture is interpolated. The camera shows you what it thinks you want to see.

BTW, for the benefit of those in the forum with inferior vocabulary:

adjective: invidious

(of an action or situation) likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others.

Sort like trolling...sort of rare on this section of the site, but a fact of online life, none-the-less.


Steve

[dsmithhfx]

adjective: invidious

(of an action or situation) likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others.

I was actually going by the other definition.

Gwan, look it up -- you're halfway there.

[Eyewanders]

I really like cameras.

[dsmithhfx]

Yep. Or preferably something that I put inside which captured the image and put it on a micro SD card for removal and later viewing on a computer. I would go for that in a heartbeat.

Back in the day, somebody allegedly started working on a digital capture thing that would be the size of a 35mm cassette (and would fit into certain model SLRs), but abandoned the project when digicams got too good, too cheap, too fast. Or maybe it was never more than a trial balloon for VCs.

Ah, apparently the notion's been revived:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/08/20/history-doomed-to-repeat-pro...-for-film-slrs

[Xmas]

The good news

Leica's DMR replaced the film back/pressure plate of a normal Leica film SLR. And it did nice images.

The bad

They only sold a limited number...

Try a lead balloon...

[pathdoc]

Seems to me that Imaging resource-com misses the point. The aim was never to turn a film camera into a fully functional DSLR with video capability, which is what they seem to want; the aim was to produce an electronic substitute for film which would be handled in approximately the same manner (put it in, take your pictures, take it out, "develop" the "film"). It doesn't matter if ISO has to be set before you put the e-film in; its enough that you can do it in software and set your camera accordingly.

The big problem is that if you aren't a really major concern, you don't have the technology to produce acceptable results in a package of this size. You really need full-frame coverage; the issue is whether you need as sophisticated and high-resolution a sensor as modern full-frame DSLRs. Certainly you can take out the anti-aliasing filter, and there's probably scope to take out a whole lot more in order to keep the thickness and complexity down yet still render a half-decent image. The sensors in modern smartphones must be ludicrously thin; surely there is a way to build them appropriately large.

[JuanEstrada]

I really don't know why someone on his right state of mind would make a film camera "digital" I mean... there are millions of used digital point and shoots you can get your hands on for like 20 bucks, and even dslrs, like the nikon d90, or pentax k10m k30 and so on...

[Eyewanders]

I really don't know why someone on his right state of mind would make a film camera "digital" I mean... there are millions of used digital point and shoots you can get your hands on for like 20 bucks, and even dslrs, like the nikon d90, or pentax k10m k30 and so on...

That's a fair point. The only reason I can think of is that, well it'd be kind of cool.

[pathdoc]

The only reason I can think of is that, well it'd be kind of cool.

Sometimes that's all the reason you need.

I want it because I like the feeling of handling the old mechanical cameras. For myself, I'm not unhappy to go on buying and using film, because if I don't do this then my local pharmacy that sells it to me and sends them off to be processed might pull up stumps and cease the service entirely (as my local Walmart did earlier this year). People in line next to me as I've bought film and put films in and collected pictures go "Wow, I didn't know you could do that any more." I tell them yes, they can, and they can have their needs met right here (in the particular store) if they want to try. I sometimes go in with a Pentax film SLR around my neck to make the point (not necessarily about Pentax per se, but about the fact that film is still alive and kicking).

But I would still buy a digital "film" insert if they put one out, because the digitisation service I get is not the best, so much so that I'm very close to buying some sort of scanning/processing module that makes a digital image of useful size out of a negative. Or just scanning the prints.

[dsmithhfx]

Sometimes that's all the reason you need.

I want it because I like the feeling of handling the old mechanical cameras. For myself, I'm not unhappy to go on buying and using film, because if I don't do this then my local pharmacy that sells it to me and sends them off to be processed might pull up stumps and cease the service entirely (as my local Walmart did earlier this year).

Hey, I'm in the same boat! Wanna go halves on one of these?

Fuji FP563SCAL Minilab Film Processor Machine Mini Lab Noritsu | eBay

[stevebrot]

Back in the day, somebody allegedly started working on a digital capture thing that would be the size of a 35mm cassette (and would fit into certain model SLRs), but abandoned the project

So-called digifilm has been proposed multiple times as a possible drop-in retrofit to film cameras requiring no or minimal modification. The effort was abandoned each time and the reason had nothing to do with the cost of anything. A short mind stroll through the digital capture sequence provides the answer.

Hint: It has to do with signaling.

The issue is not completely insurmountable, but any units would be far from universal.


Steve

[stevebrot]

I really don't know why someone on his right state of mind would make a film camera "digital"

I saw a project a few years ago that was sort of cool. My memory is a little foggy, but IIRC, this guy took an old Exakta VX and grafted the guts out of a sony NEX onto the back. The focus path and shutter out of the VX was left intact and the whole thing worked pretty well except that the digital part needed to be reset for each exposure cycle. Capture was done with the sensor "hot".


Steve

[stevebrot]

this guy took an old Exakta VX

Now, I've done it. It is not a good thing to plant the Exakta seed in anyone's mind.


Steve

[stevebrot]

The issue is not completely insurmountable

I was thinking a little more about this and believe that a workable (almost) universal drop-in sensor may be possible with current tech...my next million...


Steve

[Xmas]

Don't look

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - Leica DMR dSLR digital back sample photos and test