Digital backs on Dpreview

[Henrik Franke]

Hi all

First of all i would like to say what a great place this is,- great interface, great reviews and lots of knowledge in the forums. So,- this is not a negative thread.....

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others. I can see that the talk in the Pro Digital Forum is dealing alot with DB's and the longing for tests and revies. There is also a great number of pro people who are planing to leave the DSLR and move to DB's, but who need the comparisson between these two types to be shure. And it would shurely be nice to have the profesionel review from this site to read befor buying.

I would love to see how a test of a 16 mp DB would compare to the D1X, or hov the review sould be on the 190 mb picture of the Imacon 4040. And I would love a Pro DB Forum to talk with other DB owners or soon to be owners.

So if I in any way could push this isue a little and maybe more people would call for this to happen, it would be very nice for me.

--
Henrik Franke
Webmanager s.i.

 

[will roberts]

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf
cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others.

Are there current DB's for my Nikon F2 that are low cost and not 16M pix. ?

I have been considering a Coolpix 5700 but my F2 is not being used and rather than selling it , I would consider a DB. It seems the a few of the ones you mentioned are for medium format. Maybe they are just out of my price range. Even the D100 is beyond my budget.

 

[Henrik Franke]

I dont know if there is a DB for the F2,- if there is, it could be from Kodak, but im not shure. There was a DB for the X90 some time ago, that could be removed,- it was someting like 2 mp. But im not shure if you can get this anymore. The DB's I am talking about is for MF cams. But I will not forget the DB's for slr (35mm) systems.

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

No, I'm sorry to say. No digital backs to fit a Nikon F2. All the digital backs are for medium format camera bodies, not 35mm ones.

Kodak were the only ones producing something like this, and the oldest camera they used was a Nikon F3. The F801 and F90 were also used, but this wasn't really a case of producing a digital back that you added onto an existing camera. It was a case of buying the whole thing as one unit.

They were designed such that it was easy to remove the camera body from the back, though, so it's easy to see how one might think of it as a digital back to retrofit onto a film camera.

The highest resolution version of this style was the Kodak DCS 460 (I have used one of these), which was a 6mp unit with a 1.3x FLM.

The later designs, using Canon 1V or Nikon F5 bodies are quite a bit more integrated designs than the earlier models. It's not trivial to remove the camera body off of the digital back with these later designs.

There was an oddball item that looked like a roll of film with a leader that was actually a digital imaging system. It was supposed to allow easy conversion of film cameras into digital ones. However, it never did make it past the vaporware stage and into the marketplace. It died a quiet death. I mention it only so you'll know that it really does not exist in the event you trip across any information about it.....

Stan

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf
cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others.

Are there current DB's for my Nikon F2 that are low cost and not
16M pix. ?
I have been considering a Coolpix 5700 but my F2 is not being used
and rather than selling it , I would consider a DB. It seems the a
few of the ones you mentioned are for medium format. Maybe they are
just out of my price range. Even the D100 is beyond my budget.

--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer

 

[whittonj]

The digital film people still have a website up. They never got beyond the 1.3 MP stage of development for SLR/digital conversion and I think only about 18 pictures fit on their device before you had to unload it.

Good idea but they're out of business now.

No, I'm sorry to say. No digital backs to fit a Nikon F2. All the
digital backs are for medium format camera bodies, not 35mm ones.

Kodak were the only ones producing something like this, and the
oldest camera they used was a Nikon F3. The F801 and F90 were also
used, but this wasn't really a case of producing a digital back
that you added onto an existing camera. It was a case of buying the
whole thing as one unit.

They were designed such that it was easy to remove the camera body
from the back, though, so it's easy to see how one might think of
it as a digital back to retrofit onto a film camera.

The highest resolution version of this style was the Kodak DCS 460
(I have used one of these), which was a 6mp unit with a 1.3x FLM.

The later designs, using Canon 1V or Nikon F5 bodies are quite a
bit more integrated designs than the earlier models. It's not
trivial to remove the camera body off of the digital back with
these later designs.

There was an oddball item that looked like a roll of film with a
leader that was actually a digital imaging system. It was supposed
to allow easy conversion of film cameras into digital ones.
However, it never did make it past the vaporware stage and into the
marketplace. It died a quiet death. I mention it only so you'll
know that it really does not exist in the event you trip across any
information about it.....

Stan

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf
cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others.

Are there current DB's for my Nikon F2 that are low cost and not
16M pix. ?
I have been considering a Coolpix 5700 but my F2 is not being used
and rather than selling it , I would consider a DB. It seems the a
few of the ones you mentioned are for medium format. Maybe they are
just out of my price range. Even the D100 is beyond my budget.

--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer

 

[whittonj]

Oops-- sorry had some more info for you:

Check out http://www.digital-photography.org/ they discuss some of the MF cameras availible, but not good reviews as afar as I can tell. To be honest I've never shot MF and don't understand a thing they're talking about- I just stumbled accross your thread here by accident.

The SLR film is http://www.siliconfilm.com/ their website was updated in February, but to my knowledge they've never sold a single unit... and are currently owned by Quest, a manuafacturing and milling company.

 

[Greg Gebhardt]

Hi all
First of all i would like to say what a great place this is,- great
interface, great reviews and lots of knowledge in the forums. So,-
this is not a negative thread.....

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf
cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others. I
can see that the talk in the Pro Digital Forum is dealing alot with
DB's and the longing for tests and revies. There is also a great
number of pro people who are planing to leave the DSLR and move to
DB's, but who need the comparisson between these two types to be
shure. And it would shurely be nice to have the profesionel review
from this site to read befor buying.

I would love to see how a test of a 16 mp DB would compare to the
D1X, or hov the review sould be on the 190 mb picture of the Imacon
4040. And I would love a Pro DB Forum to talk with other DB owners
or soon to be owners.

So if I in any way could push this isue a little and maybe more
people would call for this to happen, it would be very nice for me.

--
Henrik Franke
Webmanager s.i.

--

I believe that there is a lack of interest on a MF digital back due to their cost being in the $10 to $20k price range. I have left both my "Hassy" cameras sitting on the closet shelf. Digital has done it for me.

Greg Gebhardt
Jacksonville, Florida

 

[will roberts]

--
I believe that there is a lack of interest on a MF digital back due
to their cost being in the $10 to $20k price range. I have left
both my "Hassy" cameras sitting on the closet shelf. Digital has
done it for me.

Thanks, all. I just thought I would ask here after spending some time with Greg and the others in the Nikon Talk discussing the CP5000 and CP5700.

I will more than likely sell my F2 and go with the above since the SLR is 2X the price, and I would rarely change a lens.

 

[Ranjan]

Hi all
First of all i would like to say what a great place this is,- great
interface, great reviews and lots of knowledge in the forums. So,-
this is not a negative thread.....

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf
cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others. I
can see that the talk in the Pro Digital Forum is dealing alot with
DB's and the longing for tests and revies. There is also a great
number of pro people who are planing to leave the DSLR and move to
DB's, but who need the comparisson between these two types to be
shure. And it would shurely be nice to have the profesionel review
from this site to read befor buying.

I would love to see how a test of a 16 mp DB would compare to the
D1X, or hov the review sould be on the 190 mb picture of the Imacon
4040. And I would love a Pro DB Forum to talk with other DB owners
or soon to be owners.

So if I in any way could push this isue a little and maybe more
people would call for this to happen, it would be very nice for me.

--
Henrik Franke
Webmanager s.i.

We are there with you , But I think that Phil does'nt gety MF back from the companies to test for some strange reasons. May be these companies think that DP is not going to generate sales for them as their target buyer is 10 K ++++.
We surely need MF digital back forum. Hope Phil is doing something towards this.
--
Ranjan
Professional photographer.
http://www.geocities.com/ranjan2001

 

[Ben Hoogendoorn97775]

....what is a digital back?

Hi all
First of all i would like to say what a great place this is,- great
interface, great reviews and lots of knowledge in the forums. So,-
this is not a negative thread.....

But I wunder why this site dont support digital backs (DB) for mf
cameras,- like the PhaseOne, Imacon, Kodak and Leaf or others. I
can see that the talk in the Pro Digital Forum is dealing alot with
DB's and the longing for tests and revies. There is also a great
number of pro people who are planing to leave the DSLR and move to
DB's, but who need the comparisson between these two types to be
shure. And it would shurely be nice to have the profesionel review
from this site to read befor buying.

I would love to see how a test of a 16 mp DB would compare to the
D1X, or hov the review sould be on the 190 mb picture of the Imacon
4040. And I would love a Pro DB Forum to talk with other DB owners
or soon to be owners.

So if I in any way could push this isue a little and maybe more
people would call for this to happen, it would be very nice for me.

--
Henrik Franke
Webmanager s.i.

 

[Doug Mac65597]

Ben,

A digital back is a device designed to be mounted on a traditional film camera, such as a medium format (Hasselblad, Mamiya, Bronica) or view camera. There are several different designs. Some are tethered, they have to be hooked up to a computer to capture images and some are freestanding. Some are one shot, like we're used to and some are three shot - three separate exposures are taken consecutively. The three shots are used for product photography and can produce larger and cleaner images, although the new one shots are catching up to them.

Digital backs have larger sensors than DSLR's and create much larger files. They are also much more expensive - $12,000 to $25,000. Here's one example:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/cameras/dcsProBack645/proBack645Index.jhtml

Hope this helps,
Doug

....what is a digital back?

 

[Ben Hoogendoorn97775]

Thanks! I've never seen such a thing before. I love learning!

A digital back is a device designed to be mounted on a traditional
film camera, such as a medium format (Hasselblad, Mamiya, Bronica)
or view camera. There are several different designs. Some are
tethered, they have to be hooked up to a computer to capture images
and some are freestanding. Some are one shot, like we're used to
and some are three shot - three separate exposures are taken
consecutively. The three shots are used for product photography
and can produce larger and cleaner images, although the new one
shots are catching up to them.

Digital backs have larger sensors than DSLR's and create much
larger files. They are also much more expensive - $12,000 to
$25,000. Here's one example:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/products/cameras/dcsProBack645/proBack645Index.jhtml

Hope this helps,
Doug

....what is a digital back?

 

[Bob the Printer88467]

First of all, as a 'webmanager' you really should do some work on your spelling!

Second of all, I believe that this website is aimed at 'the masses'. As such, the digital backs are NOT items that 'the masses' can either afford, or are interested in that much.

And third of all, do you really think that Phil can afford to buy the equipment necessary to do reviews on those digital backs??

--
Sincerely, Bob the Printer

 

[Ben Hoogendoorn97775]

Hi Bob,

The original poster is from Denmark, where the national language is Danish I believe. There isn't a requirement that english be your mother tongue to post here, and neither is the ability to spell. If he knew the answers to all of his questions, he wouldn't have asked, would he?

He is new here and maybe he doesn't know what Phil is or is not capable of? That's why he's asking.

People should be able to post here without being ridiculed for spelling and asking perfectly valid questions.

Cheers!

First of all, as a 'webmanager' you really should do some work on
your spelling!

Second of all, I believe that this website is aimed at 'the
masses'. As such, the digital backs are NOT items that 'the masses'
can either afford, or are interested in that much.

And third of all, do you really think that Phil can afford to buy
the equipment necessary to do reviews on those digital backs??

--
Sincerely, Bob the Printer

 

[Seth Mayer]

I would love to see how a test of a 16 mp DB would compare to the
D1X,

Check out this link. But be prepared to feel the need for a MF after viewing the results

http://www.ashleymorrison.com/Indexamp.html

--
Seth M.

 

[Nick Lehmann]

do u speak any other language than english?

Thinking spelling is important in international forums, is just sad.

First of all, as a 'webmanager' you really should do some work on
your spelling!

Second of all, I believe that this website is aimed at 'the
masses'. As such, the digital backs are NOT items that 'the masses'
can either afford, or are interested in that much.

And third of all, do you really think that Phil can afford to buy
the equipment necessary to do reviews on those digital backs??

--
Sincerely, Bob the Printer

--
Sometimes Slicknick, sometimes not so Slicknick

 

[Nick Lehmann]

Bob Dolson,
do u speak any other language than english?

Thinking spelling is important in international forums, is just sad.

First of all, as a 'webmanager' you really should do some work on
your spelling!

Second of all, I believe that this website is aimed at 'the
masses'. As such, the digital backs are NOT items that 'the masses'
can either afford, or are interested in that much.

And third of all, do you really think that Phil can afford to buy
the equipment necessary to do reviews on those digital backs??

--
Sincerely, Bob the Printer

--
Sometimes Slicknick, sometimes not so Slicknick

 

[Al Breingan]

This is a two part question,

Why are all the digital backs for medium format cameras, rather than the making them for the better 35mms

Is there any chance of a back for the Nikon F5 which would (in my opinion give me the best of both worlds)

Al

I would love to see how a test of a 16 mp DB would compare to the
D1X,

Check out this link. But be prepared to feel the need for a MF
after viewing the results

http://www.ashleymorrison.com/Indexamp.html

--
Seth M.