Digital Camera - What should i buy?

[jared_kipe]

The mamiya is gonna be ~$6000 cheaper than the hasselblad ($22,000 because nobody here knows how damn much these things cost). But I have yet to see ANY comparison that shows these 22MP cameras offer ANY better resolution than high end dSLRs from Canon or the Nikon D2x ( ). Every place that reviews them say they are so good and all, but never seen a side by side comparison. Not to mention from what I've heard high end 35mm lenses are sharper than medium format anyway. And when a hasselblad 80mm f/2.8 (50mm equivalent on 35mm film) costs $2000, give me a Canon 50mm f/1.0L for $1800 any day of the week. OR, if you're a little more realisitic, a Canon 50mm f/1.4 for like $400.

 

[jared_kipe]

I'm also in the same boat with buying a new digital cam. I'm upgrading from a 2.1 MP HP (about 3 years old) to a Sony Cybershot 7.2 MP . Anyone have any advice onto the Sony family or even the camera itself?

Thanks again,
`Vash

Ya, if I were you I wouldn't go anywhere near the sony digital cameras right now. Nobody has anything good to say about them.
If you have to have a sony go for something like the S90 http://dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_s90-review/index.shtml
or the W7 http://dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_w7-review/index.shtml

The P200, or even the P150 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscp150/page9.asp , are OK examples too. But simply outclassed by the offerings from my previous post. IMHO as almost no reviewer will review a lot of the Sonys, but if you like the P200/150, then go for it you could do far worse.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

The mamiya is gonna be ~$6000 cheaper than the hasselblad ($22,000 because nobody here knows how damn much these things cost).

Unless things have changed, maybe like $10k-$12K cheaper then. The target price mentioned at PMA was in the $10-12K (US) range for the ZD body. Only time will tell.

As to medium format verses small format, yes the lenses resolve lower - but that is out weighed by the large "film" area. The was a test in one of the magazines that showed the same scene shot with IIRC the Canon 1DsmkII and a MF body with a digital back (forgot the brands on the MF). The results did show much better detail from the MF digital than with the 1Ds. Would it make up for the added cost in switching - only the photographer that needed such a tool could answer that.

For someone that is shooting with the Mamiya AF 645, the ZD will allow them to continue using the lenses that they already have. And with somewhere in the range of 90% coverage of the 645 format, they will not have a big hurdle in regards to field of view.

 

[jared_kipe]

Unless things have changed, maybe like $10k-$12K cheaper then. The target price mentioned at PMA was in the $10-12K (US) range for the ZD body. Only time will tell.

As to medium format verses small format, yes the lenses resolve lower - but that is out weighed by the large "film" area. The was a test in one of the magazines that showed the same scene shot with IIRC the Canon 1DsmkII and a MF body with a digital back (forgot the brands on the MF). The results did show much better detail from the MF digital than with the 1Ds. Would it make up for the added cost in switching - only the photographer that needed such a tool could answer that.

For someone that is shooting with the Mamiya AF 645, the ZD will allow them to continue using the lenses that they already have. And with somewhere in the range of 90% coverage of the 645 format, they will not have a big hurdle in regards to field of view.

True, but I still think all we need is to have smaller and smaller pixel sizes. There will come a time when the pixel size is so small that the need for an antialiasing filter will be negligible. Then we can get better pictures from cheaper lenses. If nothing else the D2X proved that. Check out the pictures of the relative pixel sizes http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond2x/
EDIT: Oh and I read estimated price of $15500 for the mamiya body.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

True, but I still think all we need is to have smaller and smaller pixel sizes. There will come a time when the pixel size is so small that the need for an antialiasing filter will be negligible. Then we can get better pictures from cheaper lenses. If nothing else the D2X proved that. Check out the pictures of the relative pixel sizes http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond2x/
EDIT: Oh and I read estimated price of $15500 for the mamiya body.

As to the ZD price, we will have to wait till it ships.

On pixel size, the smaller the pixel - the higher the noise. The D2X does a great job controlling the noise with its filtering. But I still feel that more detail will be had with a MF digital than a small format digital.

The real question is, with the current state of digital printing, will we see those differences in everyday prints. I mean that an 11x14 from 2 1/4 has a smoothness that is missing from 35mm shot on the same film IMO.

 

[jared_kipe]

As to the ZD price, we will have to wait till it ships.

On pixel size, the smaller the pixel - the higher the noise. The D2X does a great job controlling the noise with its filtering. But I still feel that more detail will be had with a MF digital than a small format digital.

The real question is, with the current state of digital printing, will we see those differences in everyday prints. I mean that an 11x14 from 2 1/4 has a smoothness that is missing from 35mm shot on the same film IMO.

Better noise reduction needs to be taken into account. For one CMOS needs to replace CCD technology. The ONLY reason that noise increases when pixels get smaller is because a pixel will interfere with the pixel beside it. We need better methods of controlling this interference. Something like how SOI is better than traditional chips, and SSOI is even better. This kind of technology will trickle down and make it easier to isolate single pixels.

 

[StokeLee]

Canon IXUS 700

Hi guys,

Ive decided on the Canon IXUS 700.

Now Ive done some research into price etc, and realibilty of where to buy it from.

One of the cheapest places ive found is Pixmania, but they dont seem to offer good customer services for example, the accessories they supply, like power supply arent for the uk, etc etc and they are so slow in sorting it out, if they respond at all.

There's amazon, ive no dealings at all from them. They seem to be ok, can any one offer any feedback.

Curry.co.uk sold out,, and pretty cheap too

PcWorld.co.uk can order it, not sold out, but collect only which is no prob, but you get to the checkout and their website is down for @home collect, and if i went to buy instore with out goign thru the web, its like nearly £50 more..

Anyone else got any comments about the above, or can recommend where to buy it for appros £260/£270???

 

[StokeLee]

Sorry please read previous post, i didnt realise that if i didnt post a new one that it didnt show up top of the forum list, where as i just edited my last one.