ZI digital - any news

[telenous]

Sorry, that is incorrect. It is technically impossible at the moment to use a larger sensor than 27 mm when the lens-film distance is (like on a RF) less than 30 mm, at least, if one wants to use wideangle lenses. It might interest you to read THIS thread. Leica has stated in the last LFI that they will offer a 35 mm sensor as and when the technology becomes available. So will Zeiss, I presume.

That is what I 've read too. If a full frame technological advance for rangefinders could be seriously anticipated for the not-so-distant future, I expect the Leica people would have waited for it. Leica took a measured risk by opting for a sensor with a crop factor, effectively betting against the feasibility of a full frame one for rangefinders in the near future. If Zeiss were to prove them wrong, by bringing out a cheaper, full frame digital rangefinder it would be a blow for the marketability of the M8. But even in this distant and highly speculative scenario, both digital rangefinders could happily coexist :angel:

 

[jaap]

here's just one from our familie trips to amsterdam
contax g2 45mm planar

 

[kully]

Nachkebia, it depends on what type of C41 your scanning. For me and my Nikon V ED Konica stuff is baad. Superia 400 has lots of noise. But Superia 200 is better and 100 is better still.

Reala 100 I tried for the first time last week - outstanding.

EDIT: And Ilford XP2 - scans lovely too.

 

[Paul T.]

Is it really technical impossible to use anything larger than a 27mm sensor? I read that thread and saw there were lots of reasons why it's difficult, but didn't see any physics that demonstrated why it's impossible.

In any case, I would like Zeiss to introduce a digital ZI soon, with a 1.3 sensor if that gets them to market more quickly. I didn't see anything on their website where they talked specifically about full frame, would love to see the reference. I have noted them mention that at the moment digital sensors are not up to the quality of their glass... but I suspect that's BS.

I really, really hope they are working hard on this, but I have a nasty feeling they're not - we've already seen their talent for announcing products a full year before they're ready to shop. Still, part of me hopes they're planning a sploiler announcement and will display a mockup DZI just as Leica reveal the M8 at Photokina. The digital ZI could well be superior to an equivalent spec M8, because of its longer rangefinder base. But I suspect one problem will simply be who will build the camera.

 

[Nachkebia]

jaap : and? have you tried to print that image at A3?
kully : I scan with Nikon Coolscan 5000 and even if I scan velvia 50, technical quality is not up to even 6 megapixel digital camera (god forbid I am not saying digital is better)

 

[jaap]

no this scan isn't made to print a3 only for showing on a monitor. It's to much compressed and the resolution is to low to print it a3 I think this one can be printed on a5 size maximum

 

[ghost]

color correcting color negs makes jesus cry! omg.

 

[jaapv]

jaap : Can I see your best scan? (100% crop) I can show you digital files from Fuji F30, Nikon D70s, D200 and we can compare... (btw I hate digital)
Though slides scan very nicely, color and BW negatives are not up there, maybe drumscaner would be nice 🙂

Sorry, I don't do full crop, as that would be equivalent to a 3 m wide enlargement, which would be silly, chemically or digitally, imho, but here are some scans:

I tried to match the Canon digital look for this one:

I had those printed by Kodak at 60x45, and to be fair, they were about as good as it could get.

 

[Nachkebia]

Oh common! tonality! colors! and life in the film will never die! we are not talking about it! we are talking about technical resolution and nothing more 🙂
check this out, I bought Fuji F30 yesterday and was fooling around 🙂
original file
http://www.nachkebia.com/~lj/2006_08070025.jpg

 

[jaapv]

You know what I like most in the first one? No posterisation around the sun, which any digital image would have had!

 

[ghost]

your dead pixels are showing. 😀

 

[Nachkebia]

What??? where did you see that? 😀
aaah thats because of upload, just checked original it cristal clear 🙂

 

[jaapv]

http://www.nachkebia.com/~lj/2006_08070025.jpg

Quite a bit of chromatic aberration? I like your website btw, no nonsense blah-blah, just photographs!

 

[Nachkebia]

jaapv : Yap, and alot more, distortion and so on, but still better technical quality then any 35mm negative scaned withouth a drumscanner 🙂

 

[PetarDima]

If someone have some M3,M4,M5,M6 Leica body , and don't know what to do with it - I will help him ... just send that expensive, bad, old , film camera body to me..


Rff friends, you just have enuff money( with respect - I don't think anything bad).
I think that Epson RD1s( I hope that price will go down) + Zeiss lenses is the best
combo at this moment.

 

[taffer]

I guess I could still sell my car and get enough for a RD1s (with not enough spare for a SD card though, lol) but with everyday spending more and more hours in front of the screen, I find sort of relaxing the time I spend developing film, and in fact I'm also impatient to be able to give wet printing a try.

If I ever fall in the paws of paid-for photography, I think that nowadays digital would become a must though. As it is now, for personal projects, digital would just mean riding faster on a road that leads nowhere.

Even though that can also be fun, at times 🙂

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Jaapv,

those are beautiful photos, may I ask where you took them? particularly the second mountain scene.

cheers

 

[jaapv]

The first one is the end of the street where I live, a nature reserve called "Quackgors". It is one of the main feeding grounds for migrating geese.
The second one is Corvara in the Dolomites (Italian Alps), taken from Col Alto in the direction of Pralongia (for those that know the area). The most beautiful mountains I know of and the best skiing in the world, btw. (1400 km of runs, over 460 lifts on one pass....)

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

If I ever fall in the paws of paid-for photography, I think that nowadays digital would become a must though. As it is now, for personal projects, digital would just mean riding faster on a road that leads nowhere.

I got my full-frame digital Leica: a Nikon Coolscan 9000. But I'm going to "upgrade" to the 5000; I found the incredibly hard-to-get roll film adapter, and am going to exchange the 9000 for the 5000. It'll be drop-and-go.

Full-frame baby, with the benefits of film. Oh yeah.

 

[phototone]

Scanning is a "skill" leaned by doing. The scanner is only a tool, just like a camera is. You didn't start out with your first camera taking award winning photos did you? If you spend the same amount of time and energy learning to set your scanning parameters, as you did learning to use your camera, then you can get spectatular scans from good negs or transparencies, b/w or color. I am very happy with my scans, but to get top quality scans, it is not an automatic process, rather each scan has to be tweaked before final full resolution scan is comitted to the computer hard drive.

Gene McCluney
McCluney Commercial Photography