Digital BW, The Print

Hi Jerry,

> Austin the reviews on this chip say things like "Revolutionary,"
> "Groundbreaking," "New Technology," and "Incredible qulaity" for
> the price.

Well, of course they do (and note the caveat..."for the price")!  For some
reason, unbeknownst to me, people WANT this thing to be some godsend...even
without testing the real thing...or comparing the results to either film or
a REAL digital camera...they just like the IDEA of it, and want to somehow
toot some horn...any horn and claim to be part of the "revolution"!  It
really is simply amazing (and inordinately humorous) to watch!

Even Foveon is SO confident in their new "invention", the test images they
show on their web site are entirely BOGUS.  The problems they bring up are
10 years old, and have been long solved, and do NOT exist in current
cameras.  They also, even though I asked, refuse to provide any information
on what camera those images came from that they use for comparison!  And you
expect me to take them seriously when they provide bogus information like
this?  Serious (and honest) scientists ALWAYS provide full disclosure of
their test methodology, equipment and results.

> This sounds like a lot more than "just a 20 or 30 percent
> improvement, which wouldn't even be worthy of anything more than
> a footnote in a
> review.

Yes, "sounds" is ALWAYS a good place to start when judging image quality.
Something about a blind man describing an elephant comes to mind ;-)

See what I mean?  Even YOU want to believe these completely unsubstantiated
claims!  Now don't get me wrong, this sensor MAY be decent...but we do NOT
know!  It has NEVER been subjected to scientific testing of results and
procedure with current cameras or film, period!  NO valid conclusion can be
drawn until...and until, it's purely wishful thinking!

> These reviews make it quite clear that this is a real
> revolution in technology.

And these people know because....  I've been IN the digital imaging industry
for over 25 years...  It's a STEP, but NOT a revolution.  Foveon did not
invent the idea of 3d sensors, or using three sensors per pixel.  That is a
standard issue concept that has been around for as long as I've been
designing this stuff.

> If they are lying, I wouldn't want to be one of
> their stockholders.

If who is lying?  Foveon isn't lying, as far as I can tell, but they are, in
my opinion, misleading (as I stated above) AND they are, as any thing of
this nature does, exaggerating and hyping.  Do you really expect any less?
Every time someone farts in this industry, it's a "revolution".  Cripes,
where were you during the .snot "revolution"?  Still licking your wounds?
;-)

> We'll just have to wait for the test reports...

Exactly what I've been saying!  But the tests HAVE to be scientific AND
honest.

Regards,

Austin