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ghoti
owner for sale by house
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC
 
2006-07-07, 08:09

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray
Yes, there are tons of big SLRs out there. But where are the digital cameras to take the place of the Konica Hexar AF/RF, Contax G1/G2, Leica M6/M7/MP, etc.?
They exist. There's the Leica DigiLux 2/Panasonic DMC-LC1, which is about the size of an M6 and has excellent controls. The problem is that the LCD viewfinder simply sucks. Panasonic are also about to release a very compact SLR with similar controls (aperture ring on the lens, shutter speed dial), the DMC-L1. And Leica is expected to release their Digital M by September the latest - otherwise they're not going to survive this year, anyway. All those cameras are expensive ($2000), and they are much larger than the small ones discussed here by necessity: you can't cram a high-quality lens into such a small package. Also, the market for them is extremely small (think Leica!), so the prices won't come down anytime soon. People don't care about the quality as much as they care about size, portability, and styling.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorian Gray
- large-area 6 MP sensor or thereabouts, set on a module that can be replaced/upgraded
- tiny or non-existant LCD screen
I don't see the point of not including an LCD screen. You're being a bit too retro here - and if you want that, you can always choose not to use it. As for the replaceable sensor: forget it. It's too difficult to get the alignment right, and the "bus" for a new sensor will be different and may require different electrical specifications, etc. This would be much more expensive than just buying a new camera, and the market for it is so tiny as to be non-existant. Nobody will bother doing that.
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