Which camera do you want that isn`t currently made?

My preference is more for a category of cameras rather than a specific one. In the days of film many many very good cameras were made that were tiny and pocketable...and of course by definition full frame. I owned a Contax T2 (which was a comparatively larger but still objectively small camera with a superlative 38mm f2.8 Zeiss lens). The only camera equivalent I can think of today is the Sony RX1. Back then there were many others and most of them were by no means overly expensive.

So what I would like to see are more full frame digital pocket cameras. For years we were told this is not possible in the digital realm. (My question is why........ given that back in the film days there were very many full frame cameras of very small size). Never the less despite the denial that it is possible, more recently we have seen a few very, very expensive models come out like the Sony RX1 which demonstrate that whatever is holding back camera makers for selling such cameras the reasons are technical ones for this lack of such cameras in the market. Perhaps the problem is more that these days most people who would otherwise buy such a camera instead use a smart phone which has an inbuilt camera and for many of these people that's enough. But the Sony R1 is objectively a very expensive camera - in some senses its the 21st century equivalent of the first Leica to be made in the early 20th century............"Small camera big pictures". I think there is still a gap in the market - good quality full frame small and middle range in terms of cost. Sony seemed to be heading there with its NEX 7 (which however still had an APS sensor) but instead went down a different path with its larger A 7 series for its full frame offerings.

What I would like to see are more relatively inexpensive full frame small pocket digital cameras - let's say ones of about the size and price of the Panasonic GF1 when it first came out but preferably with in inbuilt EVF.
 
Full mechanical xpan in M mount with panoramic lens in M mount, so you can shoot panoramic images but you can also use fast M mount glasses to shoot regular 35mm frame
 
The original Plaubel Veriwide, with 47mm F8 Super Angulon.
Fresh and clean with beefed up innards. No corners cut; old school; no compromises.
 
basically a combination of cameras that I have been using:
Konica Minolta A2, Sony NEX5n, Ricoh GXR M, Sony A7:

a digital camera for interchangeable lenses similar light and small as my Sony NEX5n but with a higher body that not only integrates the articulating EVF but more importantly has more real estate on top of the camera, to the right and left of the EVF, to accommodate more buttons / wheels there ( on a camera where I mostly use EVF I find buttons on top of the camera and also to the side as seen on Konica Minolta A2 much more easily accessible than on the back of the camera where they might be better for a camera that has LCD only )

Could look similar than the Konica Minolta A2, specially similar button layout / access to setting (!), make it Sony E mount or similar short register distance mount so that it can both accommodate a helicoid adapter and an AF adapter for use of LTM and Leica M lenses ( and subsequently for pretty any other lens too )

Konica Minolta A2
by andreas, on Flickr



EVF: Minolta A2 to Sony NEX5N
by andreas, on Flickr

Make it "FF" with IBIS, focus peaking of my Ricoh GXR M from which it could take a few other more characteristics as e.g. menu layout, color rendition, sensor optimized for rangefinder lenses, incl. wide angels.
Emphasis is on combination of good handling / usability, modern technology and small form factor. If for that it rather looks like a computer than a classic camera I'd not mind even a bit.

Brand doesn't really matter, though I admit I'd prefer it said Ricoh or Minolta ( sigh ) or Pentax over Sony ;)
If this is asking too much, updated versions, faster, higher res. EVF asf. Ricoh GXR M or NEX5n with possibly a "FF" sensor would do too
 
With that lens I'd be OK with scale focus but if you wanted more... how about the Rollei 35 with focus indicator lights in the viewfinder like on a Nikon DSLR. Just arrows telling you which way to twist and a green focus confirm light. I realize that isn't feasible (without leaving shutter open during focusing) but this is all fantasy anyway.

Shawn

Sure, anything that would tell me I hit focus.
 
What I would like to see are more relatively inexpensive full frame small pocket digital cameras - let's say ones of about the size and price of the Panasonic GF1 when it first came out but preferably with in inbuilt EVF.

I think many of us are waiting for this, but there must be a reason we don’t see them. There aren’t too many APSC cañeras that fit this description either.
 
@peterm1, you’re not going to see a FF pocketable camera (comparable to a mu or a rollei 35) for a few reasons.
Firstly a FF sensor is physically bigger that a piece of film. It’s thicker and extends further in each direction.
Secondly, you need to power it. A coin battery won’t cut it, the battery takes up more room than the canister. The electronics take up the effective area of the take up spool.
Next, the electronics generate heat, so we need to get rid of that or we get noise. This takes space.
These three components alone take up more space than a film canister, take up spool, and the sheet of film in the gate.
The lens will be bigger. It could be smaller with specifically designed micro lenses on the sensor to avoid smearing, but it won’t be because apparently the market wants perfection.
So, your camera probably could exist, but won’t perform like it should for the money it’ll cost, and you’ll be lucky to get 36 shots from a charge.

But why does it have to be full frame? Even a m43 sensor has higher resolution and lower noise than 35mm film. I wonder why we don’t have fixed lens m43 compact cameras? That’d be a nice balance. A digital Olympus m43 mu would be possible. And not too expensive.
 
I was going to say that I don’t really want anything, just some few tweaks to existing cameras like getting rid of the 1/3 stops from the ISO dial on the X100F. Then I drank my own Kool aid and now I’m after a digital m43 mu.
 
But why does it have to be full frame? Even a m43 sensor has higher resolution and lower noise than 35mm film. I wonder why we don’t have fixed lens m43 compact cameras? That’d be a nice balance. A digital Olympus m43 mu would be possible. And not too expensive.

I think we will see one one day from Olympus. They will have to make cameras like this to survive I would think. The only thing that comes close is the Panasonic LX100 II, but it’s big because of the zoom etc.
 
@peterm1, you’re not going to see a FF pocketable camera (comparable to a mu or a rollei 35) for a few reasons..........
.........
But why does it have to be full frame? Even a m43 sensor has higher resolution and lower noise than 35mm film. I wonder why we don’t have fixed lens m43 compact cameras? That’d be a nice balance. A digital Olympus m43 mu would be possible. And not too expensive.

as much as I understand it could however be as tiny as e.g. my Sony NEX5n, then even for interchangeable, small rangefinder lenses. It has the exact same Sony E mount as the A7 series that accommodate "FF" sensors and uses the exact same battery.
If fixed lens and tiny I agree that a smaller sensor should do, sure helps to keep it small
 
@peterm1, you’re not going to see a FF pocketable camera (comparable to a mu or a rollei 35) for a few reasons.
Firstly a FF sensor is physically bigger that a piece of film. It’s thicker and extends further in each direction.
Secondly, you need to power it. A coin battery won’t cut it, the battery takes up more room than the canister. The electronics take up the effective area of the take up spool.
Next, the electronics generate heat, so we need to get rid of that or we get noise. This takes space.
These three components alone take up more space than a film canister, take up spool, and the sheet of film in the gate.
The lens will be bigger. It could be smaller with specifically designed micro lenses on the sensor to avoid smearing, but it won’t be because apparently the market wants perfection.
So, your camera probably could exist, but won’t perform like it should for the money it’ll cost, and you’ll be lucky to get 36 shots from a charge.

But why does it have to be full frame? Even a m43 sensor has higher resolution and lower noise than 35mm film. I wonder why we don’t have fixed lens m43 compact cameras? That’d be a nice balance. A digital Olympus m43 mu would be possible. And not too expensive.

M,

Your point about the battery is well taken.

The new Q2 uses the same battery that is used in the SL. BTW I own a SL and pretty much get away with just having the one OEM battery that cam with the camera.

Also my SL in the winter is a hand warmer. The body physically gets warm/hot. The aluminum body is a radiator and heat sink.

My GoPro Hero 7 black in video mode overheats indoors when doing extended video. Small size imposes limits and limitations.

Cal
 
My small camera compromise is the Fujifilm X-E3 with 27mm. But, it’s not pocketable in a way works for me. Its closer to the X100f in size but with less weight. It’s great though for its size and I’m not compromising any quality for using it.
 
as much as I understand it could however be as tiny as e.g. my Sony NEX5n, then even for interchangeable, small rangefinder lenses. It has the exact same Sony E mount as the A7 series that accommodate "FF" sensors and uses the exact same battery.
If fixed lens and tiny I agree that a smaller sensor should do, sure helps to keep it small

It could only be that tiny if you kept the crop sensor. The sensor in the NEX less than half the size of the full frame sensor, with less than half the power and heat dissipation and processing requirements. Replace the crop sensor with a full frame sensor and it balloons.
There’s just no getting around it. Sensors don’t get smaller from Moore’s Law, they just get hotter with bigger power and processing required.
 
One solution would be to make something like the Sony RX1 with a slower lens. An F2.8 could make the lens a little more practical in size.
 
It could only be that tiny if you kept the crop sensor. The sensor in the NEX less than half the size of the full frame sensor, with less than half the power and heat dissipation and processing requirements. Replace the crop sensor with a full frame sensor and it balloons.
There’s just no getting around it. Sensors don’t get smaller from Moore’s Law, they just get hotter with bigger power and processing required.


you well may be right here, I have too little knowledge about this to know. But to tell you the truth, for not ever having noticed much heating up of my NEX, sure with a sensor half the size of "35mm", I still "believe" that it could be ok with a 35mm sensor for "normal" photo taking, that only fast continuous shooting or longer videos could / would be problematic. Ok, of course, this is mere speculation ;)

( and they should make that body in reflective silver! Some 10+ years ago I was filming, still on tape that time, with a gorgeous Panasonic, black body digital video camera which aficionados had nicknamed "black Mamba", a religious ceremony here in Bali during noon of a very hot day on a black sand beach. It heated up immensely, it had become difficult to even hold it, until is stopped working. Some internal electronic parts had fried. I was lucky that it still had been under warranty and only a few months later got it repaired, for free, at their main factory in Japan. )
 
A Nikon Z-mount with an optical rangefinder. I've never been happy with EVFs. There would be limitations with longer lenses, though. But I could live with that.
 
The original Plaubel Veriwide, with 47mm F8 Super Angulon.
Fresh and clean with beefed up innards. No corners cut; old school; no compromises.

Just put 10 rolls of E6 thru mine yesterday on a project I’m working on.
Such a lovely kamera.
 
Epson R-D2. 24+ mp, APS or FF it doesn't matter though I would like FF for my wides. Stay with the Nikon sensor for the wonderful color. Then don't change another thing.
 
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