I think many people don't understand some of the technical considerations for a
quality
digital back. Number one is the quality of the ccd array system used. Any near
professional quality system is going to require a high speed 3 chip system.
These are costly
at this time. Second is that the capture must be able access needed storage
and do it
rather quickly. And then there is the nature of the storage method used. Right
now the IBM
Micro Drive is an excellent solution for high speed storage. However we are
now seeing ATA
Flash (PC Card) memory getting close to 500mb. And Compact Flash is up to
160mb. So memory
solutions which can operate on low power requirements are a present day reality
with a
bright future of higher qualities and quanities at lower and lower costs. Also
to remember
is that tiny hand held computers are becoming more powerful than those desktops
of just a
few years ago. OS's such as Windows CE and the like are making it easier for
developers to
churn out highly intelligent devices. So the back end technical requirements
of this back
are definitely going to make it affordable and powerful.
Now enter the lenses and photographic special needs. As to autofocus .... well
how many
high end studio camera systems do you know that rely on this feature? Do you
need autofocus
in landscape photography or even fashion, product, or many other forms of
professional
photography? So forget for one moment that everyone needs or uses autofocus
and you will
see the meat and potatoes world of commercial photography. Forget analogue
film formats.
Just think of glass and a system needed to capture an image produced by that
glass. Now you
see the real world of digital photography. Does it matter if your 100mm is now
producing a
FOV of a 135mm lens? No ... not if you have a 70mm lens to give you that FOV
needed. Sure
superwide shots are going to create a problem doing the shoot the traditional
way. But what
about shooting two highspeed stills by moving the camera on fixed axis and
seaming these
stills together for a panoramic or wider shot? That technology is certainly
here .... I use
it all of the time in film based photography. One of the other by product
features here is
that super wide lenses with soft edges will not be a problem.
So my point is that good quality glass is a requirement in all types of
photography. And
why shouldn't we be able to keep or beloved and superior Zuiko glass? Well one
of the
problems is that Olympus has it's head up their ass when it comes to
understanding the
bridge from high quality film photography to high quality digital photography.
That is
entirely our (Zuikiolics) problem. Yes the solution would be to see third
parties offer OM
mounts on their backs. But maybe they're afraid that if they do, Olympus will
stop
producing and distributing these lenses. So I guess it is our job as Zuikolics
to secure
our future by continually letting it be known that we exist along with a huge
supply of the
best damn glass ever made.
Phillip Franklin
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