Hey, in my book "real MF" is quality that is clearly at least one level above 35mm, to such an extent that the best 35mm lenses and tricks like multiple shifted exposures won't make up the difference.
I have an old horse race film for you here, (Belmont Stakes 73) and at the end of this race one does know who won, immediately and clearly. Hint: It's not a horse called Sham who can stand in for 35mm in this story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V18ui3Rtjz4
Edmund
i guess it comes down to your definition on true MF because top end available mirrorless and DSLR have replaced true MF in terms of IQ.....top end DMF has replaced 4x5 and 8x10.....
I would love to see a digital 6x9 fuji....but DSLRs and mirrorless have surpassed the 6x9 film version a while ago, and are smaller, faster, AF,.....and a lot cheaper....
i can understand if we would have to move to larger sensors to get better DR....which to a certain point is still true, larger pixels are in general better for color and DR....but tech is advancing so fast, we have 15 stop 40mpix cameras for 3K....the quality is there....lenses are a bigger issue....digital optical correction will be HUGE....
a 6x9 fuji asks so many questions that frankly nobody has the time or money to answer because in general they aren't relevant......
anyone with a ton of money would be able to make a "real" mf sensor....but honestly why stop there?
what specs are you looking for anyway? is size really the only thing you would love to see?
the new sony sensors are pretty much 645 (which was never "real" MF) and in which way are they THAT much better? bigger pixels, better color, better DR....i expect the 33x44 sensor to have pretty much the same IQ.....i am sure there is special sauce on top, everybody will claim that their version is superior and we will discuss......and those files will be better then what is out now in terms of top FF.....but we do know that they have bigger pockets and have to turn things out faster.....and its only just really starting....the nikon Z will probably have the 850 sensor, which is pretty amazing, but it will be tweaked and be even slightly better.....canon needs to come up with something, at least they will try.....and sony is sitting back and waiting for the dust to settle only to drop another bomb in terms of specs and price....because they can.....
i also dont see 33x44 as a stop gap....should be big enough for sensors to find a perfect pixel size/count ratio....we used to say that nobody wants 100mpix....i still agree to a certain point but as long as file size is manageable and storage keeps getting bigger and cheaper and we dont have issues pushing those pixels around (which we dont right now) why not? so 100 mpix, i would like to see 16 stops DR and with that probably comes clean 3200 (although i would prefer clean 1600 and a base of 50), for me that system would still be able to have fast AF as well as a 6fps and a burst of 18......33x44 would make any crop really easy, the file size would allow for not only cropping for size but also for content....camera and lenses would be small and light enough....obvioulsy this would be mirrorless.....and honestly we are pretty close to this now, and in a few years this will be available.....not sure what you cant shoot with that....