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Re: [OM] Digital Camera that takes OM lenses (READ!)

Subject: Re: [OM] Digital Camera that takes OM lenses (READ!)
From: Joel Ingulsrud <joel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 22:19:52 -0800
Daniel J. Mitchell wrote:

> This comes back to 'why do you want a digital camera'? Personally, I want
> one so I can take quick snapshots of things and put them on a web page with
> minimal hassle and development time, not so I can take high-quality photos.

For the existing snapshot digicams, sure. My expectations for the next
generation of digital SLRs that Olympus appears to be working on with Kodak
for next year or that Foveon and others at the high end are already
delivering is that I will be able to take much higher quality photos than
with film. The dynamic range advantage that people like Stephen Johnson have
been enjoying for years is very, very compelling--how much would _you_ pay
to have 18 stops of dynamic range in a single image? The real revolution is
about dynamic range, not resolution.
 
> The 'but think of the money you'd save in processing' argument doesn't
> really apply here -- the times I take a lot of photos and discard most of
> them is when I'm playing around with techniques, which implies real lenses,
> which implies a very expensive body -- so I'd need to take a _heck_ of a lot
> of test shots to pay back the cost of processing. (CDN$2.99/24 pictures =>
> ~64,000 pictures before I'm ahead of the game for the Nikon there. Oh, and
> that assumes I never want any prints of my images).

Yup, I bet ink and paper costs will easily end up erasing the savings in
film costs, but the creative freedom will make it worthwhile. I also assume
that the new Olympus SLR coming next year will cost significantly less than
the current offerings from Nikon and Canon. For sentimental reasons I hope
Olympus at least resurrects the Zuiko reputation, if not the brand, with a
new series of world-beating optics--otherwise I see no reason to choose
their offering over anything else with equivalent usability.

My reasons for wanting to keep the OM-1 forever have everything to do with
the ability to take a picture at twenty below on the second week of a winter
trek, days away from the nearest power outlet or battery kiosk, and very
little to do with the state of the art in imaging technology. For more
civilized photography I can hardly wait for all that over-saturated, reality
distorting film to be banished to the dustbin of history.

Joel Ingulsrud


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