« 11 Megapixel+ Professional Digital Cameras »

Introduction

This is the province of professional and serious photographers with poster sized printouts in mind and money to burn.

True full frame digital camera's need upwards of 11.1Mb and a full 35mm CMOS sensor. More than us mere mortals need, but one can dream. Besides, another 5 years and these will be a fraction the price given quality is doubling and price halving almost year on year.

My predictions for this year - late summer, early fall - are 13 Megapixel equivalents of Nikon's D100 / D1x and a similar offering form Fuji along the lines of the FinePix S2 Pro but as a S3 and using the new 4th generation of Fujifilm’s Super CCD sensor. Maybe a full 35mm sensor too. We shall see.
*Mutter* Got it wrong. Still, I bought one of the D70's Nikon released.
Maybe 2005 will see a 14 Megapixel Nikon

Personally I couldn't see it moving to medium format cameras until 2007 or later, reaching large format cameras around 2010 or later, but I was way off because they took to it like a duck to water. Obscenely expensive, but so are the processing costs associated with larger formats.

Kodak

If you like bleeding edge try Kodak's 14 megapixel DCS Pro 14n. Yep, I said 14 megapixel!

Essential details:

• 13.89 million total pixels with true 4500 x 3000 pixel resolution
• 3-, 6-, and 14-megapixel variable resolution
• Full-frame, 35 mm-size CMOS sensor; no lens magnification factor
• Compatible with Nikon lenses and accessories
• Kodak Professional Extended Range Imaging Technology (ERI) to safeguard images
• Ability to save images as DCR RAW files or ERI-JPEG files

Read a full and extensive review by Rob Galbraith over on his excellent website.

UK prices aren't giving much leeway with a sample of prices at £4,212, £4,224, £4,225. No surprise that it can be had for under $4,000 Stateside. Hmmm. £2,507, a mere £1,710 difference. Have I mentioned I'm sick and tired of living in England and getting ripped off...

Fuji

Similarly, Fuji have a professional option with the 12.1 megapixel FinePix S2 Pro digital SLR which is compatible with most Nikon lenses

The FinePix S2 Pro boasts 3rd Generation of Fujifilm’s Super CCD sensor, though I suspect they will shortly release a S3 Pro using the new 4th generation Super CCD.

Anyway, the sensor 6.17 million effective pixels and is capable of producing 12.1 million (4,256 x 2,848) recorded pixels for pictures with stunning colour and detail that are designed to please even the most demanding professional photographer. Certainly all the reviews seem to sing it's praises



Here's a bullet point list:

• 12.1 million recorded pixels (4,256 x 2,848)
• Compatible with all AF-D type, AF-G type and AF-S type Nikkor lenses
• High-speed shooting at up to 2 frames per second
• Dual FireWire and USB interfaces
• Dual media slot for SmartMedia and CompactFlash type II (IBM Microdrive compatible)
• Cross-ranged, five area Autofocus System
• 3D Matrix (with D-type lenses), Centre-Weighted and Spot Metering
• Wide range of sensitivity - from 100-1600 ISO
• Supports four exposure modes:
    multi-programmed AE
    shutter-priority AE
    aperture-priority AE
    and manual exposure control.
• Record images at four resolutions in 3 formats:
    4,256 x 2,848   -    3,024 x 2,016   -   2,304 x 1,536   and 1,440 x 960 pixels
    in TIFF-RGB, CCD-Raw or JPEG

A search in stores around America (April 2003) yielded prices between $1,649 (£1,035) and $2,550 (£1,600) with general agreement on $2,399, with UK prices being between £1,587 and £1,786

Read the brilliant and exhaustive review by Phil Askey over at Digital Photography Review.

Canon

Canon offer a similar high end camera with their EOS 1Ds which features a full frame 35mm CMOS sensor, with 11.1 million effective pixels. It also offers no focal length magnification, 45-point area auto focus, 21 zone metering and ISO speed 100 to 1250

I'd do a better review but it doesn't use Nikon lenses, so it's relegated to an honorary mention for now. Selfish I know but that's life. It does seem far better than the Nikon D100 thorough.

Out of interest, the few reviews I read had folk drooling. Given UK prices between £5,990 and £6,550 I'd have to bite a bullet first. Ow!

A full review can be found by Phil Askey, again at DP Review.

Nikon

Ummm... Nothing, still!

Medium and large format cameras

• Bronica
  Nothing digital themselves listed
  
  
• Contax
  Carl Zeiss lens as standard. Nice!
  
  
• Hassleblad
  While Hasselblad does not manufacture digital backs, there are more digital backs available for Hasselblad cameras than for any other manufacturer. In fact, over 70% of all digital backs are designed to fit Hasselblad cameras.
  
  
• Mamiya
  Yet again, nothing themselves, but...
  ...the Mamiya 645 AFD has been adapted to communicate with third party digital backs
  
  
• Phase One
  Digital medium format camera backs up to 22 Megapixels at present.
  Read this review at Luminous Landscape
  
  
• Pentax
  Nothing digital themselves listed
  
  
• Rollei
  Nothing digital themselves listed