UKC

Ive been playing around with the Olympus Trip 35 Film camera. Designed late 60's it is of excellent design and thoughtfully worked out. Taking it out for a spin left me feeling liberated compared with using a digital camera. This got me thinking, is there a market for a digital classic waiting for someone to design.

The mobile phone kinda hits the mark from another angle in that its always with you and charged with easy editing and upload to the web. Hard to beat and this really is the answer.

So for a Fantasy Camera how would it be designed? What existing ingredients would you choose to go into the mix for the perfect camera.

Taken from the Olympus Trip 35 here's a start of some design criteria.
In order of importance.

Never left in a drawer portability
Composure via viewfinder
Direct access to minimum of controls
No battery to charge or go flat
Prime lens for simplicity image quality and size.

Discuss

In reply to mikehike:
Nice question and I know your starting point for criteria is based around the Trip.

But....you will always need a battery for a digital camera unless you make it clockwork (bulky). Can't make it solar powered (ever tried charging the battery on a digital camera using a little PowerMonkey thing on an average UK day??) and I doubt that it could work like a Seiko Kinetic watch.

I bet the final answer will be something that Olympus have come very close to. Their Mju-II only needed about three tweaks to make it perfect.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Seems that battery for digital is the crux.
By stripping down a digitals power requirement to sensor uproc and file writing, ie no screen & a manual operation of shutter, aperture and focussing.
Would it not be possible to have a selenium cell or solar cell type light receiver that can charge a capacitor or lithium energy reservoir?
I think that is doable?

In reply to mikehike:

You have thought about this more than I have! I don't know what's needed to drive a sensor alone. But that sensor would rely on ALWAYS having some power available. Now, consider the Trip 35. Selenium light meter but essentially a clockwork shutter insofar as the energy to fire the shutter is stored from the last time you wound the film on. That energy is not solar dependent and is always there. And, well, film is film.

You no longer seem to be designing the perfect camera, but the "energy-free" one, whic is a different thing with a very niche market. People like autofocus. People like screens. (ok, people like Coldplay and Nazis too.....)

In reply to mikehike:
Methanol fuel cell or small nuclear reactor will sort the energy needs.

In reply to hang_about:

You might get particle tracks messing up your pictures if you go nuclear.

How about a fuel cell that can extract energy from nutrient rich organic matter? You could plug it in using a vampire connector

In reply to mikehike:

what about a wind up camera?

In reply to Blue Straggler:

>You no longer seem to be designing the perfect camera, but the "energy-free" >one, which is a different thing with a very niche market.

"What camera should I get for Mountain Photography?" results in long thread of options and compromises.
We all know their's a big list of compromises with cameras. Im not trying to niche an electric free unit but more aiming to design the VW Beetle of cameras. The goto unit, no need to think which camera as this one ticks more boxes than the rest.

>People like autofocus. People like screens.
But this is the norm and a big turn off (to me anyway, going back to the liberation of trip 35)

In reply to Toerag:
>what about a wind up camera?
A low tech solution but costly, bulky and heavy.

In reply to mikehike:

I'd settle for a Leica M9 or an M6 or 7. As they used to say 'Once you hold it, you want to keep it'

In reply to mikehike:
A camera where I choose what's in focus later. (Every part of every shot is always in focus and not in focus.)
A camera that has infinite zoom
A camera miniaturised with a clip in body for holding. So I can mount on bike or helmet a balloon a ring on my finger or just hold in hand.
Shutter speed from bulb to 1:10,000,000 of a second to capture high speed events
Dynamic range that captures a light range across and beyond human vision
One that doesn't need flash
Time lapse capability from 1:10,000,000th of a second to days, weeks, months
Waterproof
Shock proof

In reply to dek:

A lovely BBC Video Article on the Leica
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27516384

I they were available too the masses then yes but then they wouldnt be Leica's

In reply to Orgsm:

Isn't this under development, ive certainly heard of the 'choosing focus' bit?
However im meaning fantasy as in pick the good bits of whats out there already.

In reply to mikehike:

Yep first bit is in labs right now.

In reply to mikehike:




Ta for that! Watched it when first posted a while ago!
The Hasselblad X PAN is also a gorgeous, compact bit of kit.almost leica sized, but gives you panoramic trannies/negs on 35 mm film, as a 6x7 sliced in two.

In reply to mikehike:

If I could put a top end digital back on my old Nikon F3 that'd do me.

In reply to Tom Last:
>If I could put a top end digital back on my old Nikon F3 that'd do me.
Thank you Tom
As this hits the point home.

A camera where its always on ready to shoot
You can pre-set your focus and exposure as you walk around
Its ready to take the shot.

No boot up time or hunting of focus.
I personally would opt for a large compact or small rangefinder over a SLR but the principle of a digital back on a film body is spot on.

In reply to mikehike:

Sharp and fast 40~50mm lens, no screen (viewfinder only), fully metal, shockproof, waterproof and with two dials for aperture and shutter speed. A large (infinite?) dynamic range would be nice as well.

Doesn't sound like a fantasy camera, my Olympus Pen E-PL5 with Lumix 20mm F/1.7 lens just works quite perfect, though the controls are more for "point and shoot" user. I needed viewfinder so badly before buying the camera which didn't have one, but in the end, it's quite nice. I think not being able to see the result brings me memories of using film camera which I used up to this year. I just loved the fact you have to wait to see what you've captured.

IMHO, an infinite battery life is a bad thing. Currently, people take too many photos and they just chose the best ones. With film photography, you just delete (aka forget) the bad ones. That's a huge difference in photography.

In reply to PPP:

I wish! Usually they just spunk the whole memory card onto Facebook

In reply to mikehike:




Ok I am more in tune with what you are getting at now. No screen but an EVF...or do you want to dump the EVF and just have a "hole" viewfinder given that it is fixed focal length and no AF?

Some of the very early digital compacts actually had this. But this was back in the days where unless it was shackled to a DC mains adaptor and a computer, you got about 4 shots before the battery ran out (Ni-MH was barely around, let alone Li-ion)

I think you want a digital Oly Trip 35.

Dual mode
Simple economy mode with energy efficiency in mind. Plus advanced mode where it uses an EVF.
The base model comes with the firmware and accessory port to take an EVF.
The simple viewfinder would be in body glass lens afair with tricolour led to indicate over under exposure.

This of course mean a battery will be required, however it could be made large enough to provide 2 weeks of daily operation in economy mode. USB recharge.

EVF would provide image review and some other essential feature I aint thought about yet.

In reply to PPP:


I like the idea of full frame sensor and around a 40mm lens for minimum image distortion. But the trade off of loosing the field of view from a 28mm lens makes a very tough choice. 2 Shots of 40mm detail stitched or 1 shot of 28mm?


I must say the EVF on my LX7 is very good and nice to have, simplifies many situations.


Ok battery design sorted. see other post.