Digital vs Film Shootout (1 Viewer)

[Scott L]

Digital vs Film Shootout by Michael Reichmann.

I always thought film was king in the 35mm realm but it seems digital has caught up (and maybe surpassed) in the consumer market. He uses an 11 Megapixel full-frame digital SLR, hope he used gotapex and found a coupon.

Interesting imo. :b

 

[Jay Taylor]

This is very good news. The sensor is finally the same size as 35mm film! He's comparing the image quality favorably with 6x7cm medium format film cameras.

It will be great when digital cameras with sensors this size filter down to a more affordable camera.

Unfortunately the Canon EOS 1Ds currently costs about $8,000.00 without a lens.

Jay Taylor

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

Very interesting indeed. For some reason I was under the impression that 35mm film had a resolution of about 12 megapixels. Looks like not if this Canon camera bests it with 11MP. Thanks for the link.

Andrej

 

[Tom Meyer]

There have been other full-frame ccd/cmos sensors as well --the Contax N Digital, Kodak DCS Pro14n,

For some reason I was under the impression that 35mm film had a resolution of about 12 megapixels. Looks like not if this Canon camera bests it with 11MP.

You can't use "megapixel" terminology with film. It's like trying to compare DLP projection w/ 70mm film. It's apples & oranges.

Either way, all ccd/cmos cameras are going to be obsolete with 2 or e years once the Foveon sensor becomes the standard. It does true 3-layer RGB color rendering and is said to produce much better color than current 1 layer sensors that do mosaic interpolation. Sigma has a camera out already that uses it (even though its sensor is a little smaller than even the normal SLR sensors). And, it's only $1500.

Check out:

http://www.foveon.com/

 

[Cam S]

The Sigma SD9 still has a few problems to be worked out, but the new Foveon Sensor proves to have INCREDIBLE detail. I highly recommend reading the review of the Sigma SD9 over at www.dpreview.com as it is very interesting.

 

[Thomas Newton]

I have seen claims that 35mm film has roughly 24 to 30 mpixels worth of resolution.

I saw a review of a $9,000 digital SLR (the same one?), where they said it had better color accuracy than just about all film. Between that and the lack of film grain (enlargement from the SAME lens, film body vs. digital body, showed that fine print was easier to read on the digital photo), you can see how it might be appealing even if it didn't have an absolute mpixel edge.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

I have seen claims that 35mm film has roughly 24 to 30 mpixels worth of resolution.

i'd like to see a serious comparison on that. if you blow up a 35 mm frame to an 8x10, it will look decent, depending on which camera you use. using my 4mp digicam, it looks great. i cant imagine a 20 mp camera being any less detailed than the best 35mm slr out there. just my opinion, but i'd like to see a quality comparison to back up either argument.

CJ

 

[Michael St. Clair]

A $9000 digital camera beats a $500 film camera.

Damn do I feel stupid for still using film (in addition to my Nikon digital) for the last couple of years.

PS how the hell can I currently afford memory cards and a better PC to hold/process these images?

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

8x10 enlargements of 35mm prints can have some pretty amazing detail. I have an enlargement hanging on my wall of a japanese courtyard. Pic was taken on a rainy day. When I first got the enlargement I thought they messed up as there was diagonal streaks on it. Then I realized that those streaks were actually individual raindrops.

Andrej

 

[brentl]

"A $9000 digital camera beats a $500 film camera. "

Exactly, when the cost drops to the $1000 range MAYBE the average consumer will begin to take notice.

I guess the only problem with the average consumer is that most are quite satisfied with the current 3-4 megapixel cameras.

B

 

[Christ Reynolds]

A $9000 digital camera beats a $500 film camera.

maybe this is true, but do you have anything to back it up? or is it just an opinion? for example, where did you get the figures?

CJ