Nikon Digital Back for SLR

Wayupthere

On the rumors site they note the Nikon patent that just got published.
I don't know about you but if this is something that works, it would be pretty cool.
I love the look and feel of the old cameras :lust..*cough*drawer full*cough*..:wink
Gary

T. Bombadil

Wayupthere wrote: »

On the rumors site they note the Nikon patent that just got published.
I don't know about you but if this is something that works, it would be pretty cool.
I love the look and feel of the old cameras ..*cough*drawer full*cough*..
Gary

It _would_ be nice. And it is interesting that Nikon have a patent related to this.

But I see a few barriers to success. For one, doesn't it seem the moment has passed? The market for such a device must be smaller now than 5 or more years ago.

The big problem is alignment. How will the sensor be put/kept in precisely the correct location to ensure focus accuracy. With mirror-less cameras disrupting DSLRs (and providing superior focusing capability), it is a little too late.

The cynic in me wonders if this patent is just to ensure that Nikon will get some revenue if any third party attempts to build these. Or (less cynically), it may be a step toward modular cameras (though i'm skeptical).

Wayupthere

Moment has passed for who? I passed on the 800 and for sure the 600, such disappointments to me personally. But a product that would revive these great old cameras..that sounds pretty cool to me.
Will they give the D4 a run for its money spec wise..no but that's not the point of such a product.
Here's hoping that something makes it to market.
Gary

T. Bombadil

Wayupthere wrote: »

Moment has passed for who? I passed on the 800 and for sure the 600, such disappointments to me personally. But a product that would revive these great old cameras..that sounds pretty cool to me.
Will they give the D4 a run for its money spec wise..no but that's not the point of such a product.
Here's hoping that something makes it to market.
Gary

Moment has passed for the market. Not saying nobody wants one, just that the audience is much smaller now.

I hope I'm wrong - I would like to see it - I just don't think it will actually happen.

It would not be inexpensive (sensor, supporting electronics - some of which is unique to this product). That will enter the purchase decision.

ziggy53

I used a converted Nikon film-to-digital body for many years. The conversion was handled by Kodak and the camera was marketed as the Kodak DCS-460, that cost a very real $16,000 in 1995. We showed a 2-year payback over the 4x5" film camera process used previously (just to show the sort of volume we were doing back then). By the time the camera was retired it was pretty much junk.

The challenges facing converting a film body to digital have a lot to do with the electronic interface as well as the mechanical interface.

Since a film SLR is designed to focus properly at the film plane, how do you properly place a digital imager? Since you have to account for, at the very least, the imager frame and support, plus an IR cutout filter, and the natural recession of the sensitive layer, you're left with a "crop" imager option.

The electrical/electronic challenges are actually much easier to accommodate now than even just a few years ago, since it's possible to tap the S1 (half-depress shutter button) position, pre-flash and flash signals from outside many SLRs, plus the power requirements are pretty reasonable with modern electronics.

Still, you're left with only the high-end, recent manufacture, film SLR bodies to "hybrid". After all, who wants to try to convert anything less or anything older? (I say this looking at my Pentax Spotmatic, with manual focus, ancient metering, cloth focal-plane shutter and 1/60th flash sync.)

More than likely, Nikon is filing this patent now as a preventative measure against anyone who might want to produce such a system, as opposed to any serious attempt by Nikon.