Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]For a long time to come, film will capture and store more information than can be captured on an affordable digital sensor. Your Leica, Hasselblad, Rollei, Linhof, etc. still is the standard by which everything else is judged. Digital photography currently is doing very well in commercial studios. Niche markets. They are a godsend. The Leica S1 is a stellar performer. News gathering (basically low res) is utilizing portable digital photography to an advantage. Computers both typeset text and compose the digital photograph. Makes a lot of sense. Digital to Photoshop to Dye Sub printing can produce spectacular results. There is no "grain" in digital and the "continuous tone" dye sub is outstanding. Digital cameras that can compete, "in the field", with Leica, MF, and LF, are a long way off. It's not only the digital sensor technology that has to have a breakthrough, it's the storage, data transfer rate, and other logistical nightmares that need a quantum leap in technology. Photo Access is producing the electronics for a consumer digital camera that will not require the camera owner to also own a computer. The computer and OS are built-in. The camera is "Internet ready". But it still is a 1, 2, 4, or 6 megapixel camera that cannot record as much, or as fine, detail that a Leica can. Whether digital will work for you is totally dependent upon what you require as a result. Film is still the information king. And will be for a very long time. Jim