Unfortunately, dynamic range gets measured in a variety of ways; from what I can tell, the 72dB of Kodak's "Blue Plus" CCD suggests about a 3.5 in the 0.0-4.0 scale. This is used in their DCS 760, which is about $6500. (Foveon only describes the dynamic range of their X3 as "9 f-stops.") Unless my readings are way off, that is approaching the dynamic range of 35mm film--certainly ISO 100 print film. I don't have figures on the $7K Contax N Digital but I suspect it's similar. Bit depth is part of the equation, but another part of it is using CCDs the same size as 35mm negatives, picking up much more light and reducing noise.
As for me personally, I don't do black and white photography much--and presuming I eventually get a digital camera, I'm not going to toss out the AE-1 anyway. It's a matter of deciding what compromises I want to make, unless I want to wait for Blue Plus-class cameras to get down to the under-$3K range... which I'm betting will be in the next 2-3 years.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2002-02-26 20:05 (UTC)As for me personally, I don't do black and white photography much--and presuming I eventually get a digital camera, I'm not going to toss out the AE-1 anyway. It's a matter of deciding what compromises I want to make, unless I want to wait for Blue Plus-class cameras to get down to the under-$3K range... which I'm betting will be in the next 2-3 years.