Eric,
The point I want to make is that there is no real advantage to a large pitch sensor over a small pitch sensor. Would that be the case the, Phase One couldn't charge 30 kUSD (or so) for the P65+. Actually, if you use the technical definition of DR (at SNR equal 1) there may be an advantage with large pixels, but normally it's more "shot noise" which limits the acceptable noise levels in the darks. So in theory it's sensor size that matters and not pixel size.
A disturbing fact is that it is very hard to find a single comparison of MFDBs and DSLRs using adequate methods. With adequate methods I mean:
1) Reproducible setup
2) Correct exposure to the right (so full well capacity is actually utilized)
3) RAW ord DNG images (so they could be analyzed by RawAnalyzer or other tools)
Such an experiment would be very easy to conclude for anyone having both kinds of equipment, but I have actually not seen any.
Also, it seems that there is an obsession with DR in these discussion. DR is not particularly easy to measure. There are other parameters that may be much more important.
1) Sharpness obviously, no one really doubts that there is a sharpness advantage of larger sensors
2) Color handling, this is much dependent on the Color Grid Array in front of the sensor but also on algorithms
3) Internal reflections, number of air/glass surfaces, baffling
The point I really wanted to make that making a 2500 squre mm sensor with four gargantuan size megapixels would not produce better DR (in print) than a similar sized sensor with ten times as many smaller pixels as photon counts would be the same.
Finally, even a "cheap" MF equipment is a major investment. So I'd imagine that it is important that potential buyers are well informed, armchair arguments or not. I'd also suggest that anyone considering an investment in an MF system should consider arranging an equipment for test/loan/rental before shelling out their money.
Best regards
Erik
Yeah but don't get hung up on the theoretical DR from specs. The DR that matters to working photographers is measured differently. It always comes up with the armchair arguments for MFDB vs DSLR and its just pointless to go down that path. The biggest problem with that kodak sensor is not that its 4mp, but rather that its just a sensor. We'd need some of that phase or imacon voodoo and downstream electronics to make it useful - well that and its only monochrome.