Patent for digital back for Nikon film cameras

[MattNQ]

Not sure if you noticed this interesting item on Nikon Rumors.
It kind of got lost in all the US holiday sales specials cluttering up the site


http://nikonrumors.com/2012/12/17/nikon-patents-a-digital-back-for-35mm-film-slr-cameras.aspx/#more-50604

[peterb666]

I had a laugh when I saw this as many years ago in the early dSLR days, Nikon indicated that they were developing just such an item. It never happenend and I would be surprised if this does either. You would have to add controls for white balance and other settings. I would expect the market for this has passed and costs would be too high to make any sense. Nikon should just build a retro-modern digital FM. They still have a couple of manual lenses left in production like the 50mm f/1.2.

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[Tommo1965]

I agree with peter...

Id love a smaller form DSLR with the same spec as the D800...all wrapped up in a light metal 35mm film like body..

[richardb]

The market-pull for a digital back is minimal and as usual a patent is often used to block competitor applications/developments.:tog:

[jim]

I doubt it makes any commercial sense to actually market the thing, and if they did I'd be worried about how they'd deal with all the extra controls needed to take full advantage of the digital format.

That said I'd buy one for my F4 without hesitation.