Thanks Thierry I was hoping you'd chime in! My experience on goes back to 2000 with a 6MP 3020. (Did love that Phillips chip!) Did Sinar invent the process or was it Leaf?
Nick-T
Dear Nick,
Yes, that is actually still a wonderful sensor, still used by many, even if sometimes only as backup unit. A Philips 6 MPx on a Macroscan in 16-shot mode and with the right lenses can still out-perform all current single shot backs.
As said, all started on the high-end level with Sinar cooperating with Leaf and developing a 2k x 2k Loral CCD sensor. If I am right, Leaf had already developed the back, when they started cooperation with Sinar.
All I can say about who is responsible for what is about the "Live-Video" feature, since I am partly responsible for it being developed in the next generation of backs, when I suggested to Mr. Koch to use the CCD the same way sensors were used in the video field. Mr. Koch asked if I was thinking this feature could be successful and accepted among photographers to which I proposed him to organize a "testing day" in Zuerich, with invitations to selected photographers, as soon as we could have a working prototype. That was done a few weeks later and the response was so positive among the attending professionals, that it was decided to go ahead and propose a "live image" with the next digital back.
Best regards,
Thierry
