man & nature # 234 ~ next big thing, pt.2
Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 10:17AM 
AM fog on the West Branch of the Au Sable River • click to embiggenYesterday's idea regarding an interchangeable sensor camera body, while not exactly met with cries of "Yes we can!", was met with some skepticism and comments from those who might be considered as defenders of the status quo.
IMO, the idea that thinking of cameras as computers with processing hardware - which, as additional chips and circuitry are added, would require camera body mods to accommodate - is a problem only if one is wedded to the traditional 35mm film camera body design. And, even if one is committed to that design for some sort of sentimental reasons, a battery grip-like accessory could be developed to provide more than enough space to house future space devouring processing hardware upgrades. Who says that the "computer" must be housed within the camera body?
IMO, that kind of thinking isn't cutting the mustard - to me, it smells more like cutting the cheese.
Rolleiflex 3003However, that said, if designers can get beyond the classic slr style body design, who knows what might be possible. In fact, I've been around long enough to remember that just such thinking has been applied to camera design. Consider the Rollei 3003 - an innovative 35mm SLR camera design with interchangeable backs.
The Rollei 3003 was a very innovative 35mm camera - it not only had interchangeable backs, it had: 1) interchangeable lenses 2) interchangeable finders 3) interchangeable focusing screens 4) interchangeable bulk backs, and, if you look closely at the enlarged version of the photo on the left, you will notice a small lid on the top front of the body. That, dear friends, is the popup lid for a waist level finder - imagine that, a camera with eye level and waist level viewfinders. How cool, not to mention practical, is that?
If I were running the world (photography-wise), I'd be looking at this creative bit of camera design thinking as at least a starting point for the interchangeable sensor idea. Don't tell me that it can't be done. After all, if we can put a man on the moon ....
The only question is, will it be done?
Reader Comments (4)
There's the RED camera line with interchangeable "brains". Take a look.
http://www.red.com/cameras/
oops - It's the scarlet you're looking for : http://www.red.com/epic_scarlet/
And of course the Rollei 3003 had most of the ergonomic warts of MF System SLR's. Mostly poor handling.
And waistlevel's aren't exactly unheard of in 35mm land. Every single-digit Nikon F except the recent F6 had one, as did the Canon F1, Pentax LX and Minolta XK/XM.
But it's not that I think the idea of an upgradable camera is a bad one, I simply think it's uneconomic. You pretty much want to replace most of the expensive bits (Sensor, processing boards) to save money on the cheap bits(body, AF and metering sensors). To do that is going to cost a close approximation of a new body.
If you really want to compare the basic cost structure, look at the Medium format market which already has that paradigm. New backs cost 2 or more times what the body/finder/lens kit cost.
Adam, reading your comment on the last post, I can see a reverse argument for this, too. If the shutter (or other body part) wears out, you could replace that and switch the perfectly good bits over.
Having interchangeable parts means upgrade/replacement/spares as required/budget allows.
It's what drove the manufacturing revolution.