Overcranky

Thanks for all the info guys! Really appreciate it.

 

I'm also searching for a decent wide-angle as I'm covered when it comes to the rest of the focal length, but it seems pretty hard to find a decent one due to the crop factor. The widest non-fisheye digital zoom lenses I found so far are the Olympus 9-18mm and the Panasonic 7-14mm (the latter costs more than the camera..).

In the CCTV world...

Computar used to make a 5.5mm f1.5. AFAIK it's the widest C-Mount produced (for 1" imagers). See here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181163184870?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649#ht_363wt_1395

Computar used to make a 8mm f1.3. See here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181133629085?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649#ht_487wt_1395

Cosmicar used to make a 6.5mm f1.8. See here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181163179811?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649#ht_307wt_1395

All of these were made for 1" sensors. All are now out of production.

See a few on my posts on the topic:

http://***URL removed***/forums/post/51177262

http://***URL removed***/forums/thread/3484668#forum-post-51437050

As it happens I have a few for sale right now:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_osacat=0&_armrs=1&_ssn=buy5ell&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR10.TRC0.A0.Xc-mount&_nkw=c-mount&_sacat=0&_from=R40

I do not doubt the team’s technical expertise or camera’s design and functionality… but the history is littered with examples of beautiful designs that either never came to market at all or never made out of a starting gate because there was no place for them in the competitive marketplace. To be fair there are also a few examples where classic designs survived (if barely) a digital transition (Leica, Fuji X100)… Let’s hope DB makes it to the latter category… Though would not bet on it.

A few points... One is that even besides the camera cost itself, I just don't think there are a lot of amateurs/hobbyists (i.e. those not making money from their cameras) that have the time and the means to work with raw. And pros that do make money, in most cases will have no issues with spending the $ on SI-2K, for example. 4:3 is nice and I wish camera makers would let us use a full sensor area for video (funny enough, Nikon V1 does shot video in 3:2, albeit from a sensor crop) but how much is it worth? And is this cam for anamorphic shooters only? Because I think most of those not using anamorphics would prefer 16:9. A second point and that quality (as subjective as it is) or shall we say "fashionable" C-mounts long ceased to be "cheap" (much better values can now be found in vintage Nikkors, for example). And if one does use cheap c-mount (as I do), why would you slap them on a 3k cam? A third point is that I’m not even sure they can manufacture these things in any kind of quantity. Case in point BMC. If they haven’t figured it out, is there any chance we can expect to see DB produced in volume and to an expected quality standard?

Not sure about this one... Is there really a market for a DB otside of a few dozen (hundreds?) diehards driven by nostalgic motives? I do get the CCD sensor and the raw and a few other unique aspects of the camera. But... If you want a vintage cine lens look you can slap a Switar on a Nikon 1 camera for under $300 (for a Nikon, not the overpriced Macro Switar). Will DB really give an intended user (run 'n gun shooter?) that much more for 10(!) times the cost. As a side note I do like pistol grips and have one attached to my V1 ;)