As digital continues to improve - Canon D60, Kodak 760, Nikon D100, how long until digital quality eclipses 6x7?

It seems that the future of digital is based around 35mm bodies.

Ideas, comments, general musings?

-- Rolf Strasheim (rolfs@thelunatech.com), March 03, 2002

Answers

You may want to check out April's Shutterbug. To switch or not to switch? Considering the technology of digital advances significantly every 12-18 months, your guess is as good as any. A quality, 6x7cm format film image, enlarges very well and offers murals at excellent quality. To my knowledge, digital does not offer this quality without a lot of help and additional processes. I think I'll wait a while.

-- cinnamon (jdrew@ngcresearch.com), March 04, 2002.

However good digi images become based on a 35mm body, it could always be better if based on a P67II body (all other things being equal). Shame Pentax don't seem to be offering this - perhaps as an alternative back like the Polaroid back. I'd look into it if it came along...

-- Ed Hurst (bullmoo@hotmail.com), March 04, 2002.

I agree with Ed that a Pentax 6x7 digital solution would be the best of both worlds, but given the fact that they pulled the plug on their 6MP camera, I think it's a pipe dream.

Regarding mural sized prints from digital, Kodak can already achieve this with their DCS ProBack which you can slap on the back of a Hasselblad.

-- Rolf Strasheim (rolfs@thelunatech.com), March 04, 2002.

As I understand it, even the digital backs for medium format cameras only use a chip the size of a 35mm frame, so for now, unless you're doing very high-end studio work and need a 4x5 and multi-pass digital back it seems like 35mm digital is the way to go. I've read about a new chip that was recently announced and will first appear on a Sigma (!?!) camera soon. A NYTimes article was touting this as being a big revolution in digital chips, giving twice the resolution/info for a given megapixel size. The maker of the chip is a pretty small company, and is up against a big Japanese maker and European maker, so whether any other digital camera makers pick up on it remains to be seen.

Now a 6x7 sized chip like that in a Pentax 67 II.... ah, that would be nice. And no fiddly film spooling!

-- Tom Gorman (honeychrom@aol.com), March 06, 2002.