semi-ignorant question

I have an aging Nikon D70 (several old film cameras too) I'm thinking
about replacing.
But it seems to me that--aside from the lenses--digital camaras are
all about
eminently replaceable chips and clip-in light sensors.
So why can't cameras be made with plug-in digital backs,
so the cost could be kept lower (maybe they are and I don't know it).

I ran into the recently retired CEO of Hassleblad America a few years
ago, bonefishing
in the Bahamas. He told me Hassleblad was doomed, because no one would
now be
willing to pay large amounts of money for cameras that were doomed to
be obsolete so
fast. I asked my interchangleable back question and he didn't have a
satisfactory answer.

salmobytes wrote:
I have an aging Nikon D70 (several old film cameras too) I'm thinking
about replacing.
But it seems to me that--aside from the lenses--digital camaras are
all about
eminently replaceable chips and clip-in light sensors.
So why can't cameras be made with plug-in digital backs,
so the cost could be kept lower (maybe they are and I don't know it).

My guess would be that it wouldn't save much money for the consumer.

Buy an upgrade camera, have the IR filter of the D70 removed, and use it
as an infrared camera! COOL!!

Hasselblad is still going strong with digital backs.
Old Bob

Cynicor wrote in news:a56dnR17KfSn43
:

salmobytes wrote:
I have an aging Nikon D70 (several old film cameras too) I'm thinking
about replacing.
But it seems to me that--aside from the lenses--digital camaras are
all about
eminently replaceable chips and clip-in light sensors.
So why can't cameras be made with plug-in digital backs,
so the cost could be kept lower (maybe they are and I don't know it).

My guess would be that it wouldn't save much money for the consumer.

Buy an upgrade camera, have the IR filter of the D70 removed, and use it
as an infrared camera! COOL!!

Actually, you can take quite decent IR pictures with your D70 just as it
is, using the right filter.

Mark.

--
While I'll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go on making
the same lethal errors century after century seems to me nothing short
of deliberate.--V.

The thing that makes digital cameras work so well is that the electronics
are totally integrated with the mechanicals. Today's camera system
compensate for such things as light fall off and lens distortion. They
provide such features as color compensation, dust removal and image
stabilization. You could design a module that could do many of these things
on a plug-in basis but not all of them and not as well.

Another problem is that electronic hardware, software, sensors, and lens
design evolve so rapidly that you would give up many of the emerging
advantages and capability if you were limited to a standard camera "plug in"
interface.

I am afraid that we are doomed to a "throw away" world. Re price - the
Hassleblad CEO is right. Consider what we used to pay for a quality 35mm
camera in 1960 (with far fewer capabilities) to what we pay for a good SLR
(in today's "mini-dollars") and I think we really have some great values.

Final thought, if you want to collect something that is non digital try jack
knives

"salmobytes" wrote in message
...
I have an aging Nikon D70 (several old film cameras too) I'm thinking
about replacing.
But it seems to me that--aside from the lenses--digital camaras are
all about
eminently replaceable chips and clip-in light sensors.
So why can't cameras be made with plug-in digital backs,
so the cost could be kept lower (maybe they are and I don't know it).

I ran into the recently retired CEO of Hassleblad America a few years
ago, bonefishing
in the Bahamas. He told me Hassleblad was doomed, because no one would
now be
willing to pay large amounts of money for cameras that were doomed to
be obsolete so
fast. I asked my interchangleable back question and he didn't have a
satisfactory answer.

Mark P. Nelson wrote:
Cynicor wrote in news:a56dnR17KfSn43
:

salmobytes wrote:
I have an aging Nikon D70 (several old film cameras too) I'm thinking
about replacing.
But it seems to me that--aside from the lenses--digital camaras are
all about
eminently replaceable chips and clip-in light sensors.
So why can't cameras be made with plug-in digital backs,
so the cost could be kept lower (maybe they are and I don't know it).
My guess would be that it wouldn't save much money for the consumer.

Buy an upgrade camera, have the IR filter of the D70 removed, and use it
as an infrared camera! COOL!!

Actually, you can take quite decent IR pictures with your D70 just as it
is, using the right filter.

Yeah - I've done a couple. The same does not hold true for the D200.

In article , Mark P. Nelson
wrote:

Buy an upgrade camera, have the IR filter of the D70 removed, and use it
as an infrared camera! COOL!!

Actually, you can take quite decent IR pictures with your D70 just as it
is, using the right filter.

true, but removing the infrared cut filter makes it even better, and
exposures are not anywhere near as long.