... but I'm thinking about those enthusiasts that shoot 4x5" view cameras for landscape photography. There seems to be a whole lot of them in the UK.
I asked a dealer in the UK which does view cameras and digital systems and my suspicion that enthusiast customer segment is growing was true there, an ever-increasing percentage of the customers are enthusiasts. I didn't ask if it meant that professionals are leaving or if the total market is growing. And yes economy was a strong factor among many customers, but not all. Some enthusiasts have the money to buy "the best", some may come looking for a digital tech cam system and end up using 4x5" film due to the high digital back cost.
Tech cams have movements and the large format style you can derive from that, that is what I would like to be the selling point and I think it is for a few. Unfortunately I see over and over again that the main selling point is not movements, it's resolving power and to be realistic that is what needs to be what the product provides. Equal(ish) resolving power plus movements probably won't sell enough.
Say a camera like Cambo Actus, plus live view digital back plus tech cam wides lenses without color cast issues could be a winner I'm sure, but sensor technology is not fully there yet. In Europe there's been some deals with CFV-50c + view camera + reasonable-wide package deals with lower price than seen before and now live view, if I was Brian I would try to look into how those are selling. CFV-50c on V-mount cameras I've heard is selling pretty well too, I have no idea which is the larger market. My guess is that on V-mount it's more about nostalgia than resolving power, and there the main CMOS win is that you can shoot hand-held in low light.
I'm one of those "enthusiasts" (in the U.S.) watching the latest developments in MFD with great interest. I shoot landscape B&W with a 4x5 camera on film, develop my own negatives, then do drum scans. My end product is high-quality fine art prints. I know that my cache of TMAX Readyloads will not last forever, so I am definitely interested in my future options.
Several posters in this thread have captured what is important for me as I look at the possibilities for moving to MFD: Live View, ability to use on tech camera with some movements, decent resolution (50 MP would be my starting point), flexibility in lens choice, and of course a reasonable price. The Actus tech cam with a Sony A7rII seems like it could be my answer in the near term, but I can't help but feel there might be some advantages with a MFD back if it had all the right features and decent price. For one thing, I like the 4x5 aspect MUCH more than 2:3 and the MFD backs come closer to that. But right now there aren't any backs out there in my price range, though I know CI is offering a nice package on the Actus DB camera with Credo 50MP back (though the back has the V mount, maybe that is why it is such a nice price). But still, $20K is just too much. For now, I'm waiting until we have some hard data on the Sony A7rII to see if I want to make a move in this direction.
Dave
