Digital BW, The Print

Paul, you wrote:

>
>I'm currently of the opinion that this relatively cheap little Canon Digital
>Rebel XT (aka 350D), even with its 18 - 55 mm II zoom, has just knocked off
>most of my medium format film-camera combos for most situations.  
>
>The low noise of the Canon sensor is a huge part of the formula.  (I'm not
>sure how good the other sensors are.  I suspect this may be where Canon
>kills Kodak.  I think Kodak poured money into CCD technology, which was once
>thought to be the low-noise leader, but which suffered other disadvantages.
>Among other things, CCD technology has, apparently, not as directly
>benefited from the CMOS microprocessor and memory R&D and advances.)  
>
>Combining the Canon's inherently low noise I've seen so far with the ease
>with which I can multi-sample on a tripod, and the limiting factor of the
>grain in 100 ISO film virtually kills the currently existing film market for
>me.  My freezer full of TP may be the end of film for me.  
>
>Of course, the real world use of this camera may change my opinions.
>  
>
You are right about this. The fact that the 350D is affordable and 
delivers the 20D quality makes it so good. The low noise of the Canon 
CMOS sets new standards. Other manufacturers will get there too, the 
small 6.1/12 MP Fuji sensors (E550/F810) have that superior lower noise 
if compared to the other 6 MP sensors, the small 7 MP (Canon G6) are 
better on signal/noise than the 8 MP that appeared just before them. 
There's a steady progress for all sensor sizes and types in signal/noise 
and dynamic range and the price of resolution is going down too.

Kodak's 4/3 like used in the Olympus SLRs has far too much noise. 
There's nothing wrong with the Olympus optics as the C8080 shows. The 
size of the 4/3 sensor is half of the APS sensor size but much more 
quality should be possible even within that size. What surprised me was 
that the Olympus SLRs are bigger cameras than the APS sensor size SLRs. 
Olympus should revive their Pen Ft models with APS sensors.

I'm still expecting a Konica-Minolta that will shift its sensor half a 
pixel in 4 takes. Its anti-shake technology asks for an extension like 
that. Others will follow. What will be a nice 10 MP for action is then 
also a nice 40 MP landscape camera on the tripod.

That's what keeps me from buying the Canon 350D right now. The next 
generation will still follow Moore's law and come with twice what this 
generation offers. Given the few pictures I make I can be patient. I can 
live with the fact that others have better and faster cameras than I 
have. My customers always had better cameras. But next year I may join 
you and abandon the MF folders. An 18-55 mm zoom will be enough for me 
too. Maybe a zoom that's a bit shorter + a macro prime of 60 mm if I can 
afford it. Nothing longer.

Ernst