What are digital backs?


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I heard some people talking about digital backs that can be put on old slrs that can take digitally, and the quality and colour is better or someting, just interested. Thanks!
 

As far as i know they can be attached to the medium format and view cameras.
Their prices are really pretty exorbitantly priced as well. They have higher dynamic range than our typical dslrs.

Ryan
 

I heard some people talking about digital backs that can be put on old slrs that can take digitally, and the quality and colour is better or someting, just interested. Thanks!

not sure but they seem to be something of a 5 digit value. look at hasselblad for examples.
 

not sure but they seem to be something of a 5 digit value. look at hasselblad for examples.

:D take a look at this http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04090701creoleafaptus.asp

i think there was a promo somewhere for digital backs for a MF Mamiya cam, and u buy the back for $28000 and get the actual cam (and maybe lens) free

i think most MF photographers still use film
 

:sweat: wow 5 digit, doesn't look like its meant to be carried around, is it meant for studio only? I think i saw someone using a digital back once outside a fast food store, he was taking the food for the company, i guess for the menu!
 

:sweat: wow 5 digit, doesn't look like its meant to be carried around, is it meant for studio only? I think i saw someone using a digital back once outside a fast food store, he was taking the food for the company, i guess for the menu!
its not a common sight in sg... but in places like USA, there are penty of photography using MF/LF/digitalback... etc for landscape or even outdoor portrait... etc
 

they are for cam like hassel ...
 

I heard some people talking about digital backs that can be put on old slrs that can take digitally, and the quality and colour is better or someting, just interested. Thanks!

medium format, not dslr

unless you are professional you probably would not buy it

but then again there are a lot of people who like to buy for the sake of buying, so i guess it is not exactly wrong or anything.. just not maximizing utility, of course
 

medium format, not dslr

unless you are professional you probably would not buy it

but then again there are a lot of people who like to buy for the sake of buying, so i guess it is not exactly wrong or anything.. just not maximizing utility, of course

if rich, got passion... then can own every single brand of lenses and body... and well, everyday see and feel shiok only, but dilemma which to bring. :bsmilie:
 

I think i heard my friend say something about a digital back here for only $400? I dunno i think seagull... anyone seen such a deal?
 

I think i heard my friend say something about a digital back here for only $400? I dunno i think seagull... anyone seen such a deal?

so what if you can get the digital back for $400.. you got check out how much medium format costs most of the time or not
 

LOL .. yeah .. its enough for u to buy D3 and the are lots of spare schanges ..
 

Contrary to what some people think. Medium and large format can be picked up at relatively affordable prices. A $400 digital back is hard to believe though.
 

i wonder why digital backs are so expensive. a truely technical issue? or maybe due to the lack of market needs?
 

i wonder why digital backs are so expensive. a truely technical issue? or maybe due to the lack of market needs?

possibly a combination of both

because demand isn't really there, and manufacturing costs are too high to lower the cost significantly, they could simply lump a premium to ensure that they get enough based on current trends to be profitable

nothing wrong with that
 

But seriously I remembered my friend saying something about a seagull old format camera with a digital back around less than 1K. Anyone heard of it? Plus a digital back would be a pain to carry around plus it doesn't have our fav lenes. Even if it was cheap i doubt alot of people would pick it up as the lens limitation and sharpness are nothing compared to the ones current slrs are having.
 

But seriously I remembered my friend saying something about a seagull old format camera with a digital back around less than 1K. Anyone heard of it? Plus a digital back would be a pain to carry around plus it doesn't have our fav lenes. Even if it was cheap i doubt alot of people would pick it up as the lens limitation and sharpness are nothing compared to the ones current slrs are having.

A medium format camera with a digital back wouldn't be any bulkier or heavier than a mid range DSLR with a 70-200 f2.8. Not all people buy cameras or lenses for their "sharpness" alone. Lens limitation is only a limitation if you think it is a limitation.
 

From manufacturer's point of view, making MF sensor is a challenge. No stepper at the moment is able to expose such a large sensor unit on wafer in one shot (currently Canon's own machines can only produce 1.3x sensor in one exposure), given the required resolution. Also, a chip of large area is more likely to fail because of defects. Low density defects is generally okay as they only affect one pixel each and these few pixels can be mapped out; but if a few neighboring pixels goes bad because of impurity or other defect, the entire chip is wasted. In contrast, if the same wafer were used to make 4 1.5x sensors, only 1 out of 4 will fail.

As for large-format, many of them use scanning backs, which in a way resembles a flatbed scanner, just that the sensor has larger cells and more units.
 

i tried out my frens medium format cam today and was pretty impressed!
Its kinda heavy but the view finder is dam shiok:bigeyes:
However his is manual focus and it takes a while to focus properly
if i had the cash i'll probably get 1 to shoot too coz i find it very interesting:D
 

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