Henry wrote: > Is digital back the only viable digital solution for 645? Pentax has always > been saying that 645 is designed as a superior FIELD camera.
I don't think a digital back as final 645 solution make much sense. Firstly, you can cut 25% off the 645 size be removing the film insert. Secondly, you can remove the expensive film transport. In fact, theres no need to keep the 645 box shape is this is dictated by the film path. The film to mount distance is only about a 1cm longer on 645 than on the K-mount. Provided further miniaturisation of the digital associtaed electronics, theres no reason why not a digital slr using 645 lenses, and a large sensor, should be much larger than a mid- to large size 35mm slr. In addition, such a camera could be codeveloped with smaller, 35mm based DSLR with all parts identical except for size of housing, mount and sensors. There must be huges aving to be had in this way. Digital back will only makes sense if you want to shoot both film and digital AND with the same camera. I believe few who go into high resolution digital will continue with film, at least not more so that they will rather stay with their old film camera. I doebt digital back will ever be a more cost effective solution than a dedicated digital camera. I also think that contrary to common belief, that a fixed camera platform with updated digital backs will be nothing but bottleneck preventing real progress. Pål
