Farewell Bronica

quoting QGdeB:
But in all fairness: noone needs to use another man's camera as benchmark.
The pinciples are all so simple and clearly understood that noone is
copying anything. And finally it comes down to who does the conversion
from principle to finished product best.
end-quote:

I see Victor Hasselblad's system camera design to be a major innovation in
camera flexibility and functionality. You might be able to find examples
of some features in past cameras, but the combination was "just right",
including the Kodak optics, to create a new synergy for the new designs.

Certainly, his choice of Kodak lenses (related to his kodak film
distributorship, I'm sure) did provide some benchmark optics which can
still rival some of the best MF lenses available six decades later? ;-)

One can argue that most of the later Bronica classic cameras and other
SLRs with interchangeable backs and prisms etc. derive from this classic
system camera concept pioneered by VHB. Certainly the ads for early
bronica cameras harkened back to hasselblad as the benchmark, and Kowa 6
cameras and lenses were called "the poor man's hasselblad" for a reason
too ;-)

I have yet to see a similar synergy for current digital/film cameras. They
are either film MF SLR cameras with a digital back grafted clumsily
thereon, or super-pricey (vs. 35mm DSLRs of similar MP) dedicated digital
cameras which are oversize for the current sensor generations, yes? ;-)

grins bobm
--
************************************************** *********************
* Robert Monaghan POB 752182 Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas Tx 75275 *
********************Standard Disclaimers Apply*************************

Bob Monaghan wrote:

quoting QGdeB:
But in all fairness: noone needs to use another man's camera as benchmark.
The pinciples are all so simple and clearly understood that noone is
copying anything. And finally it comes down to who does the conversion
from principle to finished product best.
end-quote:

I see Victor Hasselblad's system camera design to be a major innovation in
camera flexibility and functionality. [...]

Yes. Undoubtedly true.
But he laid down the "principles" in the 1940s. By now, they must be
"clearly understood", second nature, and all that. Right?
That's why the word "classic" pops up.
;-)

I have yet to see a similar synergy for current digital/film cameras. They
are either film MF SLR cameras with a digital back grafted clumsily
thereon, or super-pricey (vs. 35mm DSLRs of similar MP) dedicated digital
cameras which are oversize for the current sensor generations, yes? ;-)

That will be because nobody is interested in a similar synergy anymore.
The future will belong to dedicated digital cameras. And dedicated digital
cameras only!
That is as clear as the "principles" mentioned above.

The only question is when (!) that future will be.
It certainly is not now. Film still rules! (Though not in the market...)

Bob Monaghan wrote:

quoting QGdeB:
But in all fairness: noone needs to use another man's camera as benchmark.
The pinciples are all so simple and clearly understood that noone is
copying anything. And finally it comes down to who does the conversion
from principle to finished product best.
end-quote:

I see Victor Hasselblad's system camera design to be a major innovation in
camera flexibility and functionality. [...]

Yes. Undoubtedly true.
But he laid down the "principles" in the 1940s. By now, they must be
"clearly understood", second nature, and all that. Right?
That's why the word "classic" pops up.
;-)

I have yet to see a similar synergy for current digital/film cameras. They
are either film MF SLR cameras with a digital back grafted clumsily
thereon, or super-pricey (vs. 35mm DSLRs of similar MP) dedicated digital
cameras which are oversize for the current sensor generations, yes? ;-)

That will be because nobody is interested in a similar synergy anymore.
The future will belong to dedicated digital cameras. And dedicated digital
cameras only!
That is as clear as the "principles" mentioned above.

The only question is when (!) that future will be.
It certainly is not now. Film still rules! (Though not in the market...)