Rangefinder Magazine
May 2005

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Digital SLRs Finally Able to Compete With 35mm Models by Ron Rich

Digital single-lens reflex cameras have finally advanced to the point that they can compete, and in some cases surpass the performance of film single-lens reflex cameras. It wasn’t all that long ago that digital SLRs were specialty items limited in applicability and too expensive, even for many professional photographers.

Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D	Nikon D70	Sigma SD10

A decade or so ago, their high price, low resolution and sluggish performance kept many professionals at bay. While prices have dropped and resolutions have climbed over the last decade, as little as two years ago they still could not compete effectively in price, performance or image quality with 35mm SLRs. Things have changed significantly since then. Prices have dropped to the point where just about any serious photographer can afford a digital SLR, even if it’s just an entry-level model, such as the Nikon D70 or one of Canon’s Digital Rebel models.

Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c	Canon EOS 1D Mark II	Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II

Even though they’re priced low, cameras like the D70 and Digital Rebel have serious imaging capabilities. The D70 can capture 6.1-megapixel images and accepts most of the Nikon system components, including lenses and strobes. Similarly, Canon’s 6.3-megapixel, entry-level Digital Rebel and the new 8.2-megapixel Digital Rebel XT are good ways of adding digital capabilities to a 35mm system or as a first step towards transitioning to a digital workflow.

For a long time, like many digital cameras, digital SLRs were just too slow for many applications. It’s now possible to buy a digital SLR body that performs as well, if not better, than a film camera. The dreaded shutter lag that frustrated so many photographers has been eliminated on many of the higher-end models. That’s not just the case with higher-end models from Canon and Nikon, even some affordably priced models, such as Konica Minolta’s Maxxum 7D, are very responsive. Increasingly, working with digital SLRs has the feel of working with 35mm cameras.

Epson R-D1	Kodak DCS Pro 14n	Fujifilm Finepix S3 Pro

Frame rates have been climbing rapidly over the last year. Canon’s 1D Mark II, which has an 8.2-megapixel sensor, is rated at 8 fps (frames per second). That’s competitive with just about any film camera on the market. Similarly, Nikon recently introduced the D2X, which can take up to 5 fps at its maximum 12.4-megapixel effective resolution and 8 fps at a reduced resolution.

Some of the biggest advances have been made in image quality. There are two components to that: resolution and image processing. Resolutions have climbed dramatically. Kodak was the first to come out with a very high resolution DSLR when it previewed the 14-megapixel 14n at Photokina in 2002, which takes Nikon lenses. The company followed that model with two more 14-megapixel models, the SLR/n, which also takes Nikon lenses, and the SLR/c, which accepts Canon lenses. They came out when most other DSLRs had 6- or 8-megapixel native resolutions, but other high-resolution models soon followed.

Olympus E-300 Evolt	Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n	Nikon D2H

Canon’s newest high-end model, the 1Ds Mark II, comes equipped with a 16.7-megapixel chip. It can capture images at a maximum of 4064x2704 pixels. That makes it the highest resolution digital SLR on the market, putting it in the resolution range of some medium- and large-format digital cameras and backs.

An important component for digital SLRs is the image processing circuitry. If an image isn’t handled correctly in-camera—if, for example, electronic noise is allowed to filter in while an image is being stepped off of the sensor—there can be image quality problems, even with the highest resolution cameras.

Leica R9	Nikon D2X	Olympus E-1

Nikon incorporated an all-new image-processing engine in its recently introduced high-speed D2H. Designed around the company’s advanced 4.1-megapixel, DX-format JFET image sensor LBCAST (Lateral Buried Charge Accumulator and Sensing Transistor array), the D2H sophisticated image processing engine produces final images with 12.4-megapixel effective resolution that have very fine gradients, low noise and smooth transitions.

Taken with: Konica Minolta 7D

Canon also puts a lot of emphasis on image processing. Its proprietary DIGIC II image processor, which has 8-channel data transfer, provides high-speed through-put and exceptional image quality. Canon designs and builds all the components of the Mark II, including the single-plate sensor and the image processor, providing unparalleled control over the entire engineering and production process.
The 6.1-megapixel Konica Minolta 7D has sophisticated CxProcess III image processing and an advanced LSI processing engine. With resolutions up to 3008x2000 pixels, it provides a good mix of image quality and response.

What makes the 7D different than other DSLRs is that it comes with body-integral CCD-shift Anti-Shake (camera-shake compensation) technology, which serves as an image stabilization system. The sensor is mounted on a computer-controlled platform that shifts very quickly in response to any camera shake or movement. By incorporating the anti-shake mechanism into the body, rather than into the individual lenses, it’s possible to use image stabilization with any attached lens. That makes it less expensive and more consistent.

	Taken with: Canon Digital Rebel

There are various other camera manufactures out there, including Leica, Fuji, Olympus, Pentax and Sigma, offering digital SLR cameras.

Leica has taken an interesting digital approach with its Modul-R back for the R8 and R9. There are a number of companies that have both film and digital SLR bodies in their arsenals, but Leica is the first major manufacturer that truly integrates film and digital into one body. Developed jointly with Imacon and Kodak ISS, Kodak’s image sensor division, the Modul-R digital back can capture 10-megapixel images when coupled with Leica R8 and R9s. It offers all the creative controls that any photographer might need while incorporating all the sophisticated electronics required for digital photography.

Taken with: Sigma SD9

Fuji’s new Finepix S3 Pro, which takes Nikon lenses, has become very popular. It has a Super CCD SR II image sensor with a native resolution of 6.2 megapixels and, through sophisticated electronics, an effective resolution of 12.3 megapixels.

Olympus has designed its digital SLR system around what the company calls the four-thirds format. The idea was to make the format a standard for digital SLR camera manufacturers. The 5.x-megapixel E-1 was the first DSLR designed from the ground up as digital. Nothing was adapted from 35mm photography.

That does make a difference. For example, the system’s advanced lenses were engineered so the light strikes the sensor more perpendicularly than with film lenses, resulting in higher quality, richer images. More recently, Olympus brought out the E-300 Evolt, an 8.x-megapixel consumer digital SLR with a unique design that eliminates the bulky pentaprism that was part of previous SLRs. Both models include Olympus’ unique Ultrasonic Dust Reduction System, which significantly reduced image problems because of dust particles on the sensor.

	Taken with: Olympus E-1

Pentax just added the *ist DS (pronounced “ist-D-S”) body to its digital products line. The original *ist D was a small, lightweight camera. The new body, with a 6.1-megapixel sensor, is even smaller. It weighs less than 18 ounces, without a lens attached, making it ideal for travel and shooting situations where overweight, oversized, digital SLRs aren’t appropriate.

Increasingly, the RAW file format is becoming the high-end file format of choice for professional photographers. The newly released Adobe Photoshop CS2 more tightly integrates RAW format support. To be truly considered as a professional digital, a camera must be able to shoot RAW. Most can shoot RAW as well as the JPEG file format. Some can also capture images in the TIFF format, for uncompressed final images. There’s only one, however, that only shoots RAW.

That’s the Sigma SD10, which was designed around the Foveon X3 3.4-megapixel sensor. Because of the unique way the chip captures its images, with RGB values captured at different layers within each pixel position on the sensor, the camera generates 10.2-megapixel images. The final image quality of the RAW files is good, but, like all RAW files, the captured files have to be run through the software before they’re viewable or usable. Since there’s no other option than RAW files, that limits applicability somewhat. Images can’t just be shown, used or transferred immediately, as they can with other cameras.

Taken with: Canon 1Ds Mark II

Obviously, not having to buy film or pay for processing is a major advantage of digital SLRs. That could save thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars a year for a busy pro. But there are also technological advantages of going with digital SLRs. Digital SLRs are loaded with electronics. They have all the exposure and focusing capabilities of advanced film SLRs, and some capabilities that film cameras don’t.

One good example is white balancing. With digital, it’s possible to shoot in a variety of lighting situations, without having to worry about special types of film or filters. They can handle a wide range of light sources, automatically. If there’s a need to, white balance can be tweaked manually for greater precision or set for unusual creative results.

	Taken with: Canon 1D Mark II

Another emerging technology that is moving into digital SLRs is wireless. Nikon’s D2X, for example, supports the company’s WT-2A transmitter, which includes IEEE 802.11 b/g wireless transfer protocols for increased image transfer speeds. Additionally, there is the new wireless Capture Control that pushes the physical boundaries when synced with Nikon Capture 4.2 software. The result is completely wireless remote control photography.

Digitals integrate very effectively into camera systems, but there are some things to keep in mind. While there are some digital SLRs, such as the Canon 1Ds Mark II, that have sensors that are the same size as 35mm frames, the sensors in most DSLRs are smaller.

Taken with: Nikon D2H

That means that, when film lenses are used, a conversion factor has to be applied to the lens’ focal range to come up with the correct magnification range. A 35–135mm 35mm lens has an actual coverage of 56–230mm on a digital SLR with a conversion factor of 1.6. That reduces the wide angle capabilities of these lenses. For example, someone shooting with a 16mm lens intended to be used with a 35mm camera is actually only getting 26mm coverage.

While they are becoming a mature product category, digital SLRs will continue to evolve. When DSLRs were in the 4-megapixel resolution range a few years back, there was talk about resolutions peaking out at 6 or 8 megapixels. Now it seems feasible that they’ll climb beyond 16 megapixels. But just how high resolutions will eventually climb is still anybody’s guess.

Ron Rich is a contributing writer with Newswatch Feature Service.