[Leica] questions from digi-space

[bladman99 at yahoo.ca (Dan C)]

I think some people have gone pixel crazy.   I've just about convinced
myself that 6mp is all that I (or most people) will need.  And here's some
guy arguing for 158mp.

-dan c.

At 05:52 PM 24-09-04 -0500, George Lottermoser wrote:
>Thoughts from digital photo space - this from a chap who has been using the
>$25,000 medium format backs for nearly a decade.
>
>------------------------------------------
>So clear something up for me.  Are we *really * limited by available
technology,
>or are we more limited by...um...marketing or something else <G>???
>
>We were talking about the limitations of the amount of area available for
pixels
>on a full-format 35mm DSLR camera and we were being told by someone that the
>size of the sensors was going to limit our ability to put more on a chip. 
>
>Hmmm. 
>
>So I was poking around dpreview and noticed that some of the 1/1.8" sensors
>(this is an arcane measurement left over from '50's TV camera TUBE
technology),
>which are actually about 7.2 x 5.3 millimeters are sporting 7 megapixels and
>actually doing a pretty good job of it (I think the Canon G6 has one of
those,
>from Sony). 
>So that's 7million pixels in a 38 square millimeter area. 
>
>A 35mm full format is about 24 x 36mm or 864 square millimeters. If we 
>packed
>those little sensor suckers in at about the same rate, we'd be putting in
>183,438 sensors per square millimeter, or about 158 Million Pixels. Sensors.
>Whatever. In other words, we have the technology right this second to pack 
>an
>order of magnitude more pixels into the same area than what we're getting
from
>the likes of Canon and Kodak, at the 35mm full-format level.  And that's 
>just
>reflecting what's happening at the under-$1000 happy-snap end of the digital
>spectrum. Makes you wonder what's in a spy satellite, donut?
>
>One other observation. Those cameras are managing to do a credible job of
>imaging onto those teeny 7 MP sensors with focal lengths ranging from 5mm to
>20mm (real focal lengths, not "equivalents") or so, where a normal focal
length
>for the format would be about 9 mm. Makes one wonder what it would take to
image
>158 MP on a 24 x 36 mm chip?
>
>Just noticing, that's all. The random ramblings of a deranged mind. 
>
>Yr Fthfl Srvnt,
>
>david
>---------------------------------------------
>
>Fond regards,
>
>G e o r g e   L o t t e r m o s e r,    imagist?
>
><*>Peace<*>   <*>Harmony<*>  <*>Stewardship<*>
>
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