[Leica] Oh ... It's COMING SOON! :-)

[Frank Dernie <Frank.Dernie@btinternet.com>]

The Olympus reasoning seems plausible enough. If 35mm quality will be 
available from digital with chips smaller than 35mm film - which my 
experience says it will, and a 35mm size chip can produce MF quality in 
the future then it is hardly a big deal getting excited about cameras 
with chips smaller than 35mm if 35mm is what is being supplanted.
The question is not whether a full sized chip is the thing but, if 
smaller chips are as good as 35mm film then how do we end up with 
cameras to exploit this fact. 35mm reflex flange to film plane 
distances and throat diameters are non optimum for such a solution.
Sadly marketing will decide in the end as usual, not engineering.
Frank

> bdcolen wrote
>
> I recently spoke with the head of the Olympus consumer division - what
> we plain folks call the camera division. He contends that when Olympus
> introduces it's 4/3 new pro SLR = supposedly in June - it will be the
> first digital SLR camera and lens system really designed from the 
> ground
> up. His contention is that because the lenses were specifically 
> designed
> for the chip, with the correct angling, etc., the image will be sharper
> edge to edge than anything now available, and the colors will be more
> accurate. True? We'll see. The initial body is pretty typical DSLR 
> size,
> but he says that future bodies will be smaller, in the Olympus
> tradition.
>
>
> - -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Marc
> Attinasi
> Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003 3:50 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Oh ... It's COMING SOON! :-)
>
>
> This is very interesting! Personally, I am very leery of investing that
> heavily in ANY digital SLR that is a transition from 35mm systems to
> DSLR systems. The technologies are so different. I think the idea of
> the four-thirds system is much more exciting: provide optics and
> cameras that are made FOR digital imaging rather than for adapting 35mm
> systems to digital imaging. The requirements, particularly on the
> optics, are so different. But so may people have invested so heavily in
> SLR lenses, I guess the transition systems are sensible - actual sales
> seem to support them anyway (judging from Canon and Nikon sales of DSLR
> bodies).
>
> So, I wonder if Leica will be announcing any 'digital only' R lenses
> now - a 12mm with smaller image circle? ugh, what a mess :-)

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