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Reader's concept prompts question: what would your ideal camera be?

Oct 19, 2012 at 23:22:01 GMT

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What does your dream camera look like? One of our more enterprising readers has sketched-out what his would look like - creating an interesting contemporary rangefinder concept. Bristling with Nikon F4-inspired manual controls, each dial and switch also has a 'neutral' position to allow the on-screen interface settings to take precedence. Easycass acknowledges the concept may not be entirely possible - an 'ultra-fast' 24-105mm lens would dictate a fairly small sensor, and autofocus rangefinders have never exactly been commonplace - but it raises questions the question: 'What would your perfect camera be?'

Click here to read about Easycass' Serious Rangefinder Compact Camera

With mirrorless and large-sensor compacts still going through a growth spurt, what would you like to see? What controls would you demand and what balance of size, price, sensor size and lens specs would you like to see. Let us know in the comments, below and try to be plausible (a realistic price is usually more than you want to pay for it).

If the comments section doesn't give you the space to express your ideas, consider doing what Easycass has done - create your own article.

Comments

Total comments: 713

Fully Programmable.

0 upvotes

My camera is a mirrorless full frame camera similar to a EM5.

It however has a fully electronic pixel mask-able shutter. This allows all sorts of DOF reconstructions and high dynamic range methods to be employed.

To take a simple example, if you place it in HDR mode at 1/250 it will take 3 photos one at 1/1000, one at 1/250 and one at 1/60 in just over 1/60 of a second. This extends the DR of the image by 4 stops without blurring artifacts. Because the shutter is electronic there is no delay to cause blur between the images that would cause alignment issues. The data is integrated into a 3 channel RAW file.

Or equally the camera could sample at the shutter speed many times to integrate to saturation. This would eliminate well depth as a DR limitation on the sensors and provide true tone mappable images even into the darkest shows and brightest skies.

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

3 upvotes

These are the kind of techniques that will be coming and will cause the top of the line cameras to become mirrorless. Integrating across time will open up a lot of new possibilities but mirror-flopping will be incompatible with the full range of them. Essentially at whatever instant you want to call "the photograph" there is a ton of useful image information in adjacent short blocks of time before and after. DR is just one use.

0 upvotes

To be clear I am still describing a stills camera however it is possible that the focus (no pun) on video will integrate these features. Video even very HD is low resolution compared to stills, and I care much more about stills. Synthetic aperture cameras have been used in academic research. Completely electronic shuttering has existed in CCDs for a long time.

I believe we have significant room for improvement in spectroscopic data as well. Mimicking the human eye is one thing but the human eye is quite limited. I want a superhuman camera, which can render a subset of the collected data in a human looking way rather than bad looking HDR and other effects.

The ideal camera would let a photographer focus purely on composition and the critical moment, leaving complete flexibility in the technical aspects and processing.

I doubt we will see such a camera. Look at how many people care about JPEGs, dpreview included. JPEGs like MP3s shouldn't exist anymore. "Good enough" for the lazy.

1 upvote

1) Start with a Canon 6D (assuming the 6D's sensor-related IQ is the same as the 5DmkIII, which we don't know yet)

2) add more cross focus points

3) remove the video so Canon isn't deluded into thinking I'm a video customer when I buy it

4) add powerful intervalometer (see magic lantern)

5) extend shutter times WAY beyond 30s

6) Put the joystick controller back!

7) add 50 user presets (like c1,c2.... but on-screen selectable for many more)

8) Make sure the wifi can serve as "upload images to computer"

9) cordless recharge (put camera on/near inductive mat to charge... then give me a camera bag that has an inductive charger in it)

10) A range of RAW image resolutions from max res down to very small, and make SURE the camera utilizes all the sensor space when doing so

11) lower noise

12) 32 bit dynamic range sensor (hey, I can dream, shut up)

13) focus stacking

Then, to go along with it, a new f/1.0 lens, as wide as possible, with zero CA or other artifacts.

1 upvote

Keeping feet on the ground, probably something like the XE1 (Once RAW support is ironed out) but with the OMD IBIS and AF and a full suite of compact, high performance lenses.

Or a slightly more compact, lightweight version of the new Leica M with D4 like ISO performance and IBIS.

In other words, the technology already exists, just need to combine it...

0 upvotes

MY dream camera is: small, pocketable, full frame with interchageable lens and low ligh High ISO , very low noise good details at ISO 6400

0 upvotes

Pocketable full frame with interchangeable lenses. lol. I want one, too, but I won't be holding my breath. Those pesky laws of physics.

0 upvotes

So Leica M then?

0 upvotes

kee808--

You have very big pockets, and the M9 is no good above ISO 1000. And the new M stops at ISO 6400, which suggests it won't be too good above ISO 2000.

0 upvotes

My best & ideal camera exists - and I am happy with it ... waited for more than 5 years for such a thing!

I forgot: name is NEX7 !

0 upvotes

Too bad about the the poor quality native lenses for the Nex cameras.

0 upvotes

I use 30 different lenses for my NEXes ... 8mm - 500mm :-)

0 upvotes

One camera will not suffice.

1 I want a fast rugged DSLR. Canon 5DIII is fine, but it needs Wifi, GPS, better DR, no banding issues, and true 1080P. Maybe an articulating screen, focus peaking, zebra stripes, movie AF, built-in rack-focus too.

2. portable APSC mirrorless camera with 24-70 f2.8 lens built in, articulating touch screen. All the video features. Lots of buttons and dials (like the g12 or G1X), to avoid menu diving.

3. An affordable APSC EF mount video camera, at indie prices. Similar features to the Sony AF700 including 240 fps at under $4000. 1080p is fine

0 upvotes

A NEX-6 with a built-in flash that can act as a wireless flash trigger. I don't understand why this is so hard for Sony to grasp.

0 upvotes

I want a digital Olympus OM4 with a FF sensor. No, the current OM-D E-M5 is not there yet. If you really have touched and used an OM, you know what I mean.

6 upvotes

Yes, I miss my OM-1 and OM-2. They handled wonderfully. I shoot mostly in aperture priority and would use manual focus primes with split ring focusing, if I could get that. I want the basics with a great metering, a great sensor and great lenses, so I'd be very happy with a FF digital OM-2.

1 upvote

My ultimate travel compact: a 1" to 4/3 sized sensor (preferably in 4/3 aspect ratio) and a fast, versatile single focal length lens (somewhere in the 30 - 40mm efl range), in a waterproof body that's about the size of the Canon G15.

A decent grip and two clickable dials; a vertical one, recessed in the top surface, and a horizontal one recessed in the rear surface. Both dials clickable to give aperture, shutter speed, iso and exposure compensation their own, directly accessible dial, and all of that can be adjusted with one hand and without moving your hand out of the shooting position.

Battery life of at least 500 shots. Oh, and USB charging and wifi file transfer, so you never have to open up the camera beyond the usb charging point.

In terms of firmware, sweep panorama and in-camera raw processing.

Price, provided it's waterproof: € 1000.

Oh, and a second camera: similar as the one above, but with a smaller sensor, and (much) longer zoom than the current waterproof cameras.

1 upvote

Not a million miles from what Fujfilm has done with the X100, then?

4 upvotes

A waterproof (or at least weatherproof) X100, combined with a water/weatherproof compact with decent zoom (say 200mm or more) would pretty much be my ultimate travel combination :) although I'd be willing to sacrifice some sensor area on the Fuji for a smaller overall camera (particularly a less deep one)

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

so like Olympus EM5, but rangefinder style?

0 upvotes

Yes, and preferably with a fixed lens (20/1.7 would be fine with me!) to make it a good bit less deep. If the GX2 turns out to be weatherproof I'd be tempted big time!

0 upvotes

God this is so simple, just give me 100M to produce it, and it will be the ONLY camera on the market forever more. All it needs is ... [oops, patents pending so can't talk now ... watch this space!]

SolCam1 ...

Brian

1 upvote

Hi! This is a no-brainer for me. I already made a forum post quite some time ago, and my wishlist didn't change much. Remarkably there is NO camera out there which lives up to it, although it wouldn't be that hard to implement.
- a good durable body and decent ergonomics should be a no-brainer anyway
- Full manual control of ALL parameters including focus. Numeric values of all parameters can be made visible, so I can precisely recreate any setting. This also includes white balance, flash guide number, focus distance and focal length.
- Decent support for manual metering. Display Ev Value for adjustable spot size, triple live histogram for metered area with Ev scale.
- Yes, I know, AA batteries don't have as much power as a lith-ion pack, but even a DSLR can be powered with AA cells... I am using AA eneloops for almost everything so I never run out of juice.
- A Viewfinder
- Iso hotshoe
- Tripod thread
- Filter thread
- cabel release thread
- removable lens hood
Just do it. thanks :-)

1 upvote

a Sony RX-1 with interchaneable lenses.

9 upvotes

A Sony RX-1 with interchangeable lenses ... plus pop-up flash, EVF, and a Fuji x-trans sensor. All for under $1700.

5 upvotes

Beind realistic:

The body should have Image stabilization (sony) and the Af motor (Nikon). The menus and software shoud be like Canon, with the CHDK possibility and the design should be like Nikon. The LCD should be like Sony.

The lens should be only... the LENS, like Leica. The camera reads the exif with physical marks on the lens body.

That way you will change the body like crazy (just like tecnology) bud will keep the lenses forever!

Being Dreamy: iPhone with lens as good as a Leica, Video like the Alexa, Low noise like the D4 and equipped with a compact pancake 5-1000mm f/1.0 without CA and distortion.

0 upvotes

A RX-1 with a 24-120 (f Max 2) fixed zoom lens.

0 upvotes

All I want is an X100 successor with a 50mm equivalent lens (instead of 35mm), f/2 or faster, and autofocus system that's at least as fast as the OM-D E-M5, for about the same price as the current X100.

Oh, and NO COUPLED MANUAL FOCUSING. I don't care if it adds an extra inch or so to the lens size.

3 upvotes

Nikon body, Canon lens, Sony sensor, point and shoot price.

8 upvotes

You are dreaming, but I have the same dream too.

3 upvotes

Nice dream, but I love it!

0 upvotes

Besides the Canon lens thing, the general trend for everything else seems to be going in that direction. [grin]

0 upvotes

A full frame sensor Nex camera that can handle UWA RF lenses properly ...

3 upvotes

NEX-VG900

0 upvotes

Sony A99 - SLT mirror + E mount (+ A adapter that might have an SLT) + 30MP higher res

Sony is so close with the NEX-7, A99, VG900, RX-1, etc., but mostly it's really an A99 that can take ANY lens and still deliver 24MP for an APS-C crop of its 54MP FF sensor. It can loose the mechanical shutter and aim more toward a NEX form factor, but the body SSS and pivoting rear display should stay.

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

The VG900 could take any FF or APS-C lens and the A99 can't.

0 upvotes

Agreed, the VG900 is currently the closest to what I want in that sense, but the form factor is all wrong. It also doesn't have sensor-shift SSS and the 24MP FF sensor isn't high-enough resolution for stills when cropped to APS-C (not a problem for video... which may explain why the VG900 is there and a FF still NEX isn't). Lots of lenses have problems off axis, so even lenses designed for FF may do better cropped to 24MP APS-C than they would as 24MP FF....

0 upvotes

It's great when our voice is heard vs offerings from above. The Fuji x100 is almost perfect but have the ability to change lenses. M4/3 lenses! Square sensor!

1 upvote

I want a big wide, long lens, yet it should still be portable.
SO the camera should be built around the lens with very little "camera body". Similar to some early digital cameras that put the lens sideways in the body with the lens is ready to go. Unlike todays compacts where the lens has to grind it's way out to wide-angle each time before you can use it. The manual zoom ring stays where you put it.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

I'd like to see the features of the 1DX but with a crop sensor and 5D III body. Let those that need it purchase the battery grip separately.

0 upvotes

Total comments: 713


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