CMOS or CCD

After doing extensive research on these two chip technologies, I find that the CCD chipset has superior image quality. The Fuji s3 will have the CCD chipset, while the canon 20d and Kodak products both have CMOS. Camera shop guy tried to sell me on the Canon, and I was almost ready to buy before I did the research. Should I wait for the Fuji s3? He claimed that Fuji's reluctance in releasing this, is that they are not able to keep up with "the big boys". Which one do any you recommend? Also interested in the Olympus e-1, does that camera stand up to the Canon 20D and Fuji s3?

I don't really agree. Both technologies produce great sensors. The two dominant cameras in the pro market are probably the Canon 1D MK II and the Canon 1Ds MK II. Nikon is coming out with the D2X soon to compete with these cameas. All of these cameras use CMOS sensors. Rather than assume that one technology is better than another, it is best to look at samples of images from cameras you might purchase and choose the one you prefer. Generalizations over such broad categories like CCD and CMOS tend to fail when you look at particular cameras.

shawnstar said:

After doing extensive research on these two chip technologies, I
find that the CCD chipset has superior image quality. The Fuji s3
will have the CCD chipset, while the canon 20d and Kodak products
both have CMOS. Camera shop guy tried to sell me on the Canon, and
I was almost ready to buy before I did the research. Should I wait
for the Fuji s3? He claimed that Fuji's reluctance in releasing
this, is that they are not able to keep up with "the big boys".
Which one do any you recommend? Also interested in the Olympus
e-1, does that camera stand up to the Canon 20D and Fuji s3?

Click to expand...

--
Leon
http://homepage.mac.com/leonwittwer/landscapes.htm

How on earth are you testing this? Unless you have some special test rig and access to the component sensors your tets proves nothing (and is a silly and pointless arguement anyway at this level)

A camera is the sum of a number of components, each of which serve a purpose to produce a final image.

Any camera could have the most wonderful sensor, but be let down by processing logic, filters, colour translation and a thousand other things.

My advise? Stop worrying about it.

...and just look at the pictures!

shawnstar said:

shawnstar wrote:
After doing extensive research on these two chip technologies, I
find that the CCD chipset has superior image quality.

Click to expand...

If you like the pictures from a CCD camera, go with CCD...

If you like what the CMOS cameras produce, then go in that direction.

It depends on what YOU like, not what WE think...

In-camera JPEG processing might have a lot to do with what you're seeing with the Fuji cameras. Comparing processed RAW files is the true comparison of image quality. I'm fairly confident that my CMOS 1Ds will compare favorably against anything of the CCD variety...

DAJr.

Would not agree. Those are just technologies used in camera production.

I have owned both types and its the final image that matters. I could never tell which tech. produced which print with the exception of long duration shots.

shawnstar said:

After doing extensive research on these two chip technologies, I
find that the CCD chipset has superior image quality. The Fuji s3
will have the CCD chipset, while the canon 20d and Kodak products
both have CMOS. Camera shop guy tried to sell me on the Canon, and
I was almost ready to buy before I did the research. Should I wait
for the Fuji s3? He claimed that Fuji's reluctance in releasing
this, is that they are not able to keep up with "the big boys".
Which one do any you recommend? Also interested in the Olympus
e-1, does that camera stand up to the Canon 20D and Fuji s3?

Click to expand...

--
---------------
http://www.olegkikin.com

The fabrication technology is really irrelivant to the buyer of the camera - it is simply the tool that the manufacturer has selected to use in order to get to a finished product.

The theoretical advantage that CCDs have is that they are simpler devices and typically have a higher fill-rate (ie percentage of the pixel area that actually recieves light). The problem, however, is that manufacturers are very limited in what they can do with these chips - they work in a specific way and there isn't much you can do to counteract that.

CMOS and JFET sensors, on the other hand, provide engineers with a wide range of options in designing the sensors. While their fill rates are typically smaller, they can implement noise reduction and amplification at the pixel level to result in a signal that is just as clean as a CCD. Canon has become quite adept at this, and has made CMOS sensors that can easilly go head to head with the best CCD implementations.

The visible noise level in an image is the result of two factors - the strength of the image signal (good) and the strength of the noise signal (bad). The ratio of these two values, called the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is what is important to the end result. This ballance depends on a lot of variables and the difference between two different CCD implementations is often much larger than the difference between one of those CCDs and a CMOS chip. While CCDs almost always have stronger image signals, CMOS sensors are often more immune to the introduction of noise in the readout phase - as such it isn't a simple matter to discuss.

In short - ignore the sensor type line on the spec sheet as that really doesn't mean anything to end users. Look at the images comming out of each of the cameras you are considering, its feature set, available lenses/accessories, handling, etc. and make a decission based on those factors. Any advantages or disadvantages in a sensor technology will effect the quality of the resultant images, so looking at them will reveal any problems the camera may or may not have. There is no point in making theoretical judgements when you can easilly perform real-world analysis for yourself!