8x10 digital capture back

[Nathan Potter]

Seems silly. He could use a modified medical Xray plate at a fraction of the cost and with somewhat higher resolution. Read it out quickly using a PC.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Kirk Gittings]

Seems silly. He could use a modified medical Xray plate at a fraction of the cost and with somewhat higher resolution. Read it out quickly using a PC.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

With accurate color and tone?

[Frank Petronio]

For a lot less money he could have put an E6 line in the studio and hired a monkey to run it. Back before Polaroids, professional photographers just shot a sheet of film and processed it in their darkroom.

I suspect he just wanted a reason to have it. But if you only get a 10mp file... geez that had to be disappointing... even though it probably is sufficient res for some stuff.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

This guy used to shoot 7 and a half polaroids for every image he made!?! How is this necessary (or even possible?)?

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Maybe it had something to do with the monkey Frank mentioned.

[Frank Petronio]

Back in the studio advertising days it was possible to shoot 20-40 Polaroids (4x5) for one complicated set-up. Considering this guy is doing the higher-end product photos for ads, I'm surprised he managed to satisfy some of the art directors with only 7-8 Polas.

It's not like shooting rocks outside - you're moving a light or flag a tiny amount, trying to get highlights to wrap a certain way, etc. Imagine before easy Photoshop clean-ups, you had to get it 99.99% perfect on the chrome.

[Sevo]

Seems silly. He could use a modified medical Xray plate at a fraction of the cost and with somewhat higher resolution.

It is very likely that it indeed is a X-ray plate with a after-market added multi-cell Bayer mosaic - a six digit figure would not be anywhere near enough to cover the R&D and tooling for a run of a mere two 8x10" colour sensors made from scratch.

[Daniel Stone]

I remember reading something about surveillance satellites being designed around 8x8-8x10" sensors, something in the 200mp range. Now, IDK if these were designed for infrared use, visible spectrum or other ranges of light, but there was something in the article I read about Zeiss designing "zoom" lenses for these satellites.

X-ray sensors come in all shapes and sizes, I believe some are up to 50" wide or more(more similar in style to a scanner strip-ccd array then a big ccd). These are used for scanning vehicles and containers at ports, border corssings,etc.. here in the USA and other countries abroad. Especially now, after everyone's been scared shitless about terror!st attacks and such.

-Dan

p.s. Good for him, if he is able to amortize the cost of these backs, great for him. Proofing before putting on film is a necessary evil when shooting jewelery, expensive items and the like, where perfection is "necessary". To me, this shows a direct diligence to shooting film(hence his comment on how his clients "love getting those large pieces of 8x10 film" ). I wish I could try this out, it'd be a trip! Maybe if we all send him a short message requesting a short video and description, maybe he'll do so.

we can only hope

[Jamie123]

A somewhat easier solution would've been to just switch to 4x5.

[Helen Bach]

A somewhat easier solution would've been to just switch to 4x5.

That's what we did. 4x5 chromes may not be as impressive as 8x10 chromes, but they are still impressive. The only real drawback is that the instant prints for the cover images can't be used to try the layout at approximately the right size before finalizing the composition. A quick flatbed scan and reprint get round that, however.

Best,
Helen