Comparing Minox B vs Lumix FZ30

[MTC Photography]

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Old Country Inn, with Minox B, Agfa Copex Rapid @EI 25, developed in SPUR<p>

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The same, with Panasonic Lumix FZ30<P>

 

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[jeff_drew4]

Gee, Martin, it does not seem a fair comparison. Auto-everything digital vs. manual everything Minox. . .and then there is the warmth & people factors of color in one shot vs. the stark B&W image. Two different styles of image, I'd say. I really liked your Minox image of the Inn even before this comparison. But then I am biased toward B&W, Minox, archivally processed prints.;-)

[Minoxit]

Martin,not fair:-)...however,your example shows once again that Minox (loaded with a fine grain and processed acc.)is capable to stand its ground when it comes to retain an image,somewhat comparable with a hi-tech camera.I guess all comes down to retaining an image,and Minox is a brilliant tool to accomplish this,imo.Nice pics btw...both of'em!

 

regards

[MTC Photography]

Jeff and iulian, you both are right, it is not fair to compare a tiny

Minox with a 8M Lumix with a 12x zoom lens. It does strike me that the Minox is capable of sharp picture comparable to a 8M digital camera. I have used Minox Leica M3 digital camera and Rolleiflex minidigi, the photos from these 3M cameras are nice, but not as good

as Minox 8x11. <P>

 

It seems to me if Minox can come up with a 8M to 10M digital camera

in the form factor like that of TLX, or even a C, it would be very

good.

[anthonykosky]

I think the problem would be in getting a sensor with that many pixels in such a small size (approx 8 x 11 mm) and keeping the sensitivity and noise reasonable.

 

The trend with small digital cameras seems to have been to cram more and more pixels into the same size sensor, and it's not clear it's improved the image quality.

 

I did see a very tiny sony camera, about the size of a minox, once. But I don't think it was available in this country, and I don't know what the resolution was.

 

-Anthony

[MTC Photography]

Minox's 5MP Leica M3 DCC is a step in this direction. This revised

M3 digital now takes SD card. However the lens is still a zone focusing lens, as such it is at most a digital version of EC. If the Minox can make the lens into a fully focusing lens from 0.7 m to infinity, it would be ideal. With zone focusing M3 and Rolleiflex minidigi, it is not possible to take sharp landscape pictures.

[h._p.]

"I did see a very tiny sony camera, about the size of a minox, once."

 

Yes, my wife has one. It's not much bigger than a classic Minox and seems to be in much the same idiom with a fixed, prime lens and a sliding cover that makes it ready to take a shot. She's made several nice images with it. This chap has a good description...

 

http://www.thevooner.com/feature/2003/03/16/sonyu20/sonyu20.htm

[subminiature]

For viewing on a web page, on a computer screen sharp color digital images have all the advantages over black and white prints scanned or even negative scanning.

 

It is possible to get small digital cameras that have next to no time lag on taking a photo. I have yet to see any as rapid, even with auto everything as a Minox simply set at the hyperfocal 2m to infinity. Larger cameras make take 'better' photographs but I don't know of any that are as rapid to get out and shoot.

 

I recently took my 3.2Mega pixel mobile phone on a trip around the village to photograph the flowering trees.

 

http://www.mcmullon.com/photos/index.htm

 

As I have to carry a phone this one is good enough to dispense with the need to carry a separate camera. The grab shoots (of friends and family), passing photos and "I was there" images that I have used the Minox for can equally be taken with the Sony K800i. It even focus down to fill the frame with a flower of kitten.

 

A Minox 8x11, an APS with a x3 zoom (Ixus II) or a standard 38mm lens on a Minox 35mm ML fail to do justice to some photographs that really require a good zoom. However the Minox CD150 is significantly larger and digital equivalents have large battery packs and are heavier.

 

The Sony U range have been over takne to the slim style T range and a number of credit card size 7 and 8Mp cameras. The Canon even has a real view finder so you can see what you are taking in normal sunlight.

 

Gerald

[karel_peijnenborg]

About sensor sizes: the FZ30 has a 1/1.8" sensor, which translates to 5.3 x 7.2 mm. That is less than half as small as an 8x11 negative.

 

Regards,

 

Karel