[Leica] Re: Leica Users digest V20 #175

[Adam Bridge <abridge@mac.com>]

on 7/22/01 9:58 AM, Leica Users digest at
owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us thoughtfully wrote:

> Note: the D30 is NOT a high resolution camera. Not good enough, personally,
> for me because of the enlargement problem and the small CCD.
> 
> But it is *so* close.
> 
> Can the bumblebee fly? Do you ask an engineer, or watch the bee?

Can't fault you - the D30 is good for photos up to about 8 x 10. Within that
limit it works very well. It is, after all, a 3.1 Mpixel CMOS camera.

I have to think that a Leica digital would have to be bigger than the M6.
There are just form-factor problems. You'll want to store 8Mpixel images.
Which implies using a micro-drive of 1 GB or more. Which needs power. It
won't just fit where the film cassette used to live. Maybe they could find a
lithium ion cell with the right dimensions. Still, we'd want to store 25 MB
images. That takes power and association with a vertically integrated
company that can make many of the components for the camera.

Now I love digital. It's a fabulous way to learn about composition,
lighting, the mechanics of photography because mistakes are cheap and they
are immediately available.

Inside the computer you have a wealth of power to exploit the information
captured in the image. Ansel Adams would have a field-day today with
Photoshop and he'd be pushing the printer manufacturer's very hard to make
the product that he needed to render his prints.

Now I wonder - suppose the sensor system for some future M were gray-scale
only? What affect would that have on your decision.

The studios are, of course, going through this whole mess too. We'll see
what sort of look Lucas gets for Star Wars II. Panavision is coupling its
prime lenses to 24p HDTV cameras. (Nothing like having to capture at 100
MB/sec). But already DPs know that digital is currently harder to work with
than film because it is MUCH more finicky about lighting least you lose
shadows into the mud.

These are the guys who are going to push digital technology. Until they can
get sensors as good as film they're going to be leery. On the other hand the
economic benefits to shooting digital instead of film are IMMENSE. For the
same reason it's wonderful to learn with a digital camera in manual: you
didn't waste anything tangible.

I figure it'll be at least 5 years before we're shooting digital monochrome
as good as excellent film. (at extreme prices for that.)

Adam