Why stitch when there is a larger sensor which not only can do the job better in one shot with same (or near same) pixels but also with far better performance from the sensor than any DSLR have.
The answer is clear. The performance is simply not
far better. It's
marginally better.
Far better is an 8x10 plate or 4x5 film compared with 35mm film. The lack of grain and the obviously smoother tonality on even a modest size print from 4"x5" film, is really striking.
That's what I call
far better.
The other issue is cost, weight and the general lack of flebility of the MFDB system. For some of us, the MFDB system just doesn't make the grade.
Nick Rains has provided an example, in reply #119, of the marginally sharper results one may get from a $6,000 prime lens on a $23,000 camera, compared with a $2,000 zoom on an $8,000 DSLR.
$10,000 worth of camera plus one lens, even though the lens is a good quality zoom, is too expensive for me, especially considering that the lens doesn't even have the benefit of that wonderful technology called Image Stabilisation.
I'd be looking at a 5D2 if I wanted to exceed the quality of the Leica S2.
The Leica S2 plus standard 70mm prime not only costs around $29,000, it weighs about 2.3Kg.
The Canon 5D2 with the new 100/2.8 IS Macro can be had for as little as $3,500 total, and weighs only 1.5Kg.
A good 100mm lens is likely to be at least as sharp as an ultra-super-quality 70mm lens, when the shots are taken from the same perspective. 3 or 4 or 6 stitched 5D2 images using the Canon 100/2.8 IS Macro should knock the socks off a single shot from the $29,000 Leica system with standard 70mm lens.
But don't let me discourage anyone from splashing their money in the search for marginal improvements.
I'm well-used to the marginal (and even dubious) improved sound quality from ultra-super-expensive hi fi gear. However, to appreciate any such improvements in sound quality, imagined or real, one doesn't have to place one's ear a foot away from a loudspeaker, whereas to appreciate the improved image quality of a print from an MFDB one
does have to place one's nose a foot away from the print.