EOS Film and Digital Hybrid Camera Body Idea

I woke up from a dream about coming up with an idea for a film and digital EOS hybrid camera. It would basically be a EOS 1V camera with a mirrorless operation type of digital camera guts also put inside. The shutter would operate for the film section, and the mirror in the mirrorbox would bounce the image up towards where the focus screen would normally be, but instead of that, there would be a full frame digital sensor. The sensor would operate electronically without a shutter, so it would be like a mirrorless camera with electronic shutter. The sensor would pick up the image most of the time and send it to an EVF, so you could see what you're looking at. There would be a switch on the camera body to select between film and digital. This camera would be for those who want both film and digital shooting. With all the mirrorless technology they have now, this camera should be a piece of cake to produce. It would be like an EOS 1 camera in size and weight, using the large battery. Im sure they could scale it down to a lighter smaller EOS camera body. This camera would use the normal EF lenses.

 

So my idea would probably never be made, but I wonder, what do you guys think?

The dream of a film/digital hybrid camera was wide-spread in the transition period.

 

Here's one solution:

As with most of these brave, unflinching steps back to the future, it was posted on April 1.

 

It is, as many say with complete justice, an idea whose time has went,

Notwithstanding that Canon is likely doing no current R&D on the EF system, the Canon R3 electronics can shoot at 30 frames a second with AF tracking, so every 1.2 seconds, you would need to stop and reload the film. Your would also be limited to whatever ISO you are shooting the film at, leaving a whole lot of high ISO sensor performance off the table.

Even if feasible, a lot of development cost for a very small market.

How perfect can a mirror be? They seemed good enough to expose Polaroids but contemporary sensors might be less forgiving?

These days you can pick up a film camera for peanuts. Also some digital camera like the Fuji's have built-in software to mimic film. I guess it would be pretty convenient to have a digital camera that could shoot film, but given the cost of film these days would it be practical ? I still shoot film once in a while because I enjoy it. I still love the feeling of flicking back the film lever to advance the film. I still develop film in my darkroom so it's no biggie to me. After using digital for a while and realizing that it is way more convenient and also gave better professional results, it's kind of hard going back. As an on-and-off wedding photographer, I tried offering my clients digital as well as film for their photo albums, but few ever asked for it. They were more interested in the results than in the medium.

Who would want this?

These days you can pick up a film camera for peanuts. Also some digital camera like the Fuji's have built-in software to mimic film. I guess it would be pretty convenient to have a digital camera that could shoot film, but given the cost of film these days would it be practical ?

(snip)

 

Maybe not for still cameras.

 

I thought a few years ago there would be a new combination Super 8/video camera.

 

It seems, though, that it is a Super 8 camera with electronic viewfinder.

Well, it also records the sound on an SD card, which can then later be recombined

with the images.

 

Nicely, though, it expands the frame size, over the part that was magnetic stripe on

sound film, to get 16:9 aspect ratio.

 

In any case, the expected demand is from film (that is, movie) schools.

 

KODAK Super 8 Camera | Kodak

I agree. It will never be made.

 

:p

As shown, the sensor has to be amazingly thin. Maybe some cameras can allow

a much thicker film, but it is still pretty thin.

 

Then it isn't obvious how it knows when the picture is taken. I suppose it can

wait until some light appears, but can it be sure when the exposure is done?

 

It would be a little easier for a crop sensor, as there could be a thicker region

around the sensor, though not too thick or it would hit the shutter, with room

for more electronics, and also some light sensors to test the shutter being open.

I find it interesting that Tony Northrup basically used the same idea as me for a camera today, of which he mentioned in one of his recent videos. I dont know if he read this post, but he came out with the same idea. Put the sensor where the prism would go.

Do you have a link to the video, or the title of the video? I’d like to see it. 

I watched well over a month or two ago, so I didn't actually take note of the video title itself. I just remember he mentioned this.

On 2/15/2022 at 8:34 AM, JDMvW said:

The dream of a film/digital hybrid camera was wide-spread in the transition period.

As with most of these brave, unflinching steps back to the future, it was posted on April 1.......

It is, as many say with complete justice, an idea whose time has went,

Olympus actually made a hybrid digital and Polaroid print camera way back in 2000, the Olympus C-211. I purchased one on eBay for a small amount and used it a few times in digital mode only, since the Polaroid film was no longer available. And, yes, it's time has went.

DPReview (RIP) reported on the camera at https://www.dpreview.com/articles/5865264776/c211zoom   (the link is still up),

and I described my picture taking with it at,

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Glenn McCreery