If you are shooting aerials, you may want to consider this latest
advance in photography: chemical imaging ribbon.

LOL... I hadn't heard that one before

It uses an advanced
molecular process and has extremely high resolution, maybe four to ten
times what even high end digital cameras have. This allows enlargements
to be made much bigger, and from smaller areas of the picture. The
imaging material is easy to change without upgrading the entire camera.

I've also heard that it provides Foveon-like 'true color' reproduction
by recording R B and G values at each and every location on the image,
meaning its immune to bayerization artifacts. Beyond that, in
standard SLR cameras, it tends to have larger sensors, extracting more
information from any given lens (assuming the lens can provide a large
enough image circle.

While Overall image "Test-Bench" resolution tends to be higher, this
is largely because of the greater sensor size, encoding more net
information from the lens's image circle, rather than actually
encoding more lpmm^2. While certain lens/imager combinations _CAN_
render higher absolute resolution than digital sensors, these tend to
be impractical setups in an SLR format, where reflex/shutter vibration
quickly eats away at any extra available resolution.

There are a few downsides though. Signal to noise ratio tends to be
substantially higher across the entire range of sensitivities. Color
Balance, Resolution and sensitivity are set at time of manufacture,
and cannot be changed on the fly. Not to mention, actually seeing
your image after the shot takes a factor of 2 x 10^5 _TIMES_ longer,
and at separate cost.

Not to mention, these imager strips don't tend to mount well on
gimbals, meaning that Image stabilization (Useful when shooting from a
moving aircraft) must be applied to each lens at great expense, rather
than in the imager itself. Negating some of the cost savings.



I mean this entirely tongue in cheek... I spent many years shooting,
and enjoying, film. I will always appreciate the meticulous art that
goes into a good Large-format Print, and I am taking my 120 Practicon
with me.

But, for my mainline shooting- shooting to capture an image, rather
than photography for the art and process of photography, I've made the
switch and I'm happy with it.

Great post though

-Scott