Mike West wrote:
>The problem with converting film-cameras to digital (and thus
>retaining one's investment in lenses), is that it's only a matter of
>time before digital zooming replaces good old glass. If they can
>give us a whole bunch of pixels and a good 20mm (or wider) lens,
>we'll have all the focal lengths we need by means of digital zoom.
Unfortunately it isn't that easy. Digital zoom means the camera zooms in on
the result of what it gets through its lens, not the subject itself.
Example: if your digital cam's CCD's got VGA resolution (640*480 pixels) and
you want to zoom in on an area that would be half of this, you'll end up
with a 320*240 pixel enlargement of your original picture, taken with a
low-end lens in most of the cases. Not too impressive, right? I think I'll
stick to my big glass for a wee while...
While I'm discussing digital stuff anyway, I think I can add a bit to Alex
Hurst's posting:
I'm not sure if Imagek is THE option to look for. To start with there's two
technical issues: the rather embarassing resolution ($800 for less than 1.5
Megapixels is just too much, can get a used F4 for that amount) and the fact
you need to 'unload' the cartridge after it's full isn't that handy when
you're shooting outdoors.
The other thing is Imagek itself: They've been announcing the introduction
of the EFS-1 on their website for how long? Half a year? A year?
I tried contacting them for a couple of times, because I'd still like to
have one of these thingies, if they either drop prices or increase
resolution. Untill now not even a prototype has been available, as far as I
know there hasn't been any test reports, either in magazines or on the Web.
I volunteered to be one of the beta-testers for it ages ago and never even
got a reaction.
You start wondering if this isn't a hoax after all.. Their product photos
don't show any details as well....
So, if there's somebody out there with RELIABLE information on Imagek,
please let us know...
Pim Stouten
Amsterdam, Netherlands
