Digital BW, The Print

While I think the current RGB sensors may not be up to what I like to do,
there are some clear advantages to direct digital image capture.  I think a
true high-res B&W sensor could be terrific.  I'm just not sure the market is
large enough for the big companies to address (at reasonable cost).

So, here's a modest (and probably very naive) proposal: Perhaps someone with
an old digital camera that is now worthless could take a Q-tip and see if
the filters on the sensor will dissolve off with something like lacquer
thinner without ruining the sensor.  Then maybe some of our software gurus
can figure out how to take the raw file format data and get it into a
useable, high-res B&W form.

It sounds like a B&W version of the new Canon 11 MP camera could be an
amazing machine.  Maybe a letter-writing campaign to Canon is in order.

The latest Pop Photo has an article on the latest 16.6 MP Kodak ($12K) back
for the Hasselblad  The sensor size is really only 36.7 mm square.  So, the
full frame 35mm Canon 11 MP sensor is about the same resolution if the image
is cropped to that aspect ratio.  The magazine has a comparison of the CCD
back image with Porta 160, and the digital back appears to win by a fair
margin.

So, a Canon 11 MP true B&W sensor (with RGB filters eliminated) might be a
real winner.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com