Re: New Digital Camera technology (Foveon)

[Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net>]

"Stoecker,Michael,FRANKLIN PARK,NC&C" wrote:
> 
> If this is what I think it is, there was an article recently [last month or
> so] in the Wall Street Journal about it.  It is supposed to be as good as
> film.

That's PR hype, Michael.

Digital and film are really different. Each has pluses and minuses. 

Digital detectors have started to pass the optical resolution capability of
smaller (e.g., 16 and 35mm format) lenses, but the 8X10 view camera is still
a useful tool to many Pros. The 3MP Foveon chip isn't even near the limits,
but some 16MP chips are getting there.

90% of the 3MP up digital cameras use old 10X video-zoom-lens designs that
can't really resolve to even 1 MP. Customers still buy sales hype, though.

Smaller CCDs (1/3-1/2 inch) have more noise (snow?) than film at equivalent
ISO settings, so stronger light is often called for. The digital results can
be seen, immediately, and reshot as needed. The gamma of digital is
infinitely adjustable, but for film it is pretty rigid. Darkroom
manipulation of digital images is incredibly easier than doing film. Color
correction and special effects are trivial, by comparison.

"Film" for digital cameras is essentially free, as is developing. That's a
big plus for hackers like me, as I may take a lot of shots to get one
"keeper."

If you are doing a slide show, film has it all over digital. Likewise, for
quality publications (e.g., National Geographic, o/e) the systems are so
biased toward film that digital images just don't get used. There are good
reasons for that.

Digitals e-mail and go right into web pages, where film adds the
complication of scanning that may require a lot of touchy adjustment.

Bottom line? Decide what *kind* of photography you want to do, and then find
out if film or digital will do it best. *Then* learn what the various specs
really mean to your needs and you may find you can save gobs of money by
buying smart.

Wright

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