The Digital Rangefinder in My Head

Take an MP. Add a FF sensor; B&W only would be just fine, thank you. Use the existing cloth shutter. Done.

Huw's apparently stillborn M2(D) would have been close enough for me!
 
Forget about compatibility - start from scratch. What's wrong with the current compact digital P&S ? Right - bad viewfinder, low speed lenses, superzooms and ergonomics.

A digital "frankenstein" taking today's technology could be:

Take the viewfinder of a current ZI. Place a Canon G7 electronics underneath. Replace menu controls with Epson R1-Ds dials. Put that all in a Rollei 35S box. Equip that beast with old Pentax 110 SLR lenses. You're done.
 
The perfect digital RF is the Hexar RF with a sensor instead of a pressure plate, a slot for a SD card, two buttons (one for WB adjustment, one to choose from preconfigured and saved ISO/color settings), and USB port.

It would sell like hotcakes and the M8 would be wiping tears from its eyes as the collective masses ignored it in droves.

C'mon Sony -- wake up and smell the coffee...
 
For me, something the size and build of an Olympus XA, maybe with a more direct manual control for focussing, would be a great model for a compact digital camera.

Having said that, being able to reuse old lenses would be tremendously useful? The glass in a lot of old lenses is still superb and competes extremely well with modern lenses.

Control-wise I prefer having manual controls that are accessible on the body and not menu-driven things. Camera design evolved over decades resulting in machines like the 1970's Japanese rangefinders which were easy to operate once you knew what each bit did. I suspect that the radical change in compact digicam design has less to do with ergonomics than with marketing or engineering decisions - perceived convenience over function.

Optical viewfinder? Yes please! When I take a picture, I press the viewfinder so close that the camera rests against my head which makes it much more stable than being held just by two hands.
 
Back
Top Bottom