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

Hi Paul,

> 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).

All the image sensors used, except the Foveon, in "one shot" digital cameras
are monochrome sensors.  They are made into a color sensor by the addition
of an RGBG filter over the sensor...  Point is, it's not the sensor that is
the issue, the filter can be removed...the cameras firmware has to
accommodate the use of the sensor as B&W...so it's simply a matter of
reprogramming the camera firmware, and re-doing some of the interface
software.

> 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.

This probably won't work.  The sensor data runs through a PRNU
(Photo-Response-Non-Uniformity) "filter" (...so as I said above, firmware
has to be re-written) more than likely even in raw mode...

> 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.

That might be the better alternative ;-)

Regards,

Austin

Paul,

There was a long thread awhile ago in the  dpreview Canon dslr forum   
that has some discussion of a similar modification that was performed  
on a D60.  In this case the mod involved removing the anti-aliasing/IR  
cut filter and the bayer filter over the cmos chip.  He also installed  
an IR pass filter over the sensor so he could use the camera  
specifically for IR imaging.  He doesn't mention how the bayer filter  
was removed from the sensor.  Seemed to work OK, but he now has a  
dedicated IR D60.

Carl

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=5259546

On Monday, September 29, 2003, at 02:24  AM, Paul Roark wrote:

> 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
>
>
>
>
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