Pentax MZ-D

Last updated

The Pentax MZ-D, also known by its internal code name of MR-52, was a prototype digital single-lens reflex camera from Pentax of Japan. It was announced at photokina in September 2000 [1] and was demonstrated to the press at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show in January 2001. [2] In October 2001, Pentax cancelled the camera, stating "The cost of manufacturing the prototype SLR 6-megapixel digital camera meant it was not a viable product for our target market" [3]

The MZ-D was derived from the top-of-the-line Pentax film camera of the time, the MZ-S. To give space for the extra circuitry and battery power required for a digital camera, the MZ-D shape incorporated the size and shape of the MZ-S' optional battery booster and vertical grip. It also shared the Pentax KAF2 lens mount. The MZ-D was to use the same 6 megapixel (3072×2048) full 135 film frame sized (24×36 mm) CCD (model FTF3020-C [4] ) from Philips that was used by the Contax N Digital. The lack of success of that camera and the image quality problems it displayed suggest to some that Pentax may have had other reasons than cost to cancel the MZ-D project.

Michael Reichmann of The Luminous Landscape stated, "For whatever their reasons Pentax decided that they couldn't build a camera with this chip, while Contax decided to forge ahead. To save face? Possibly. We'll likely never know for sure" [5]

In 2003, Pentax released a different design 6 MP APS-C sensor size DSLR, the Pentax *istD.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Pentax Digital SLR - 6 megapixel". DPReview. 2000-09-05. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  2. ↑ "Pentax 6mp Digital SLR hands-on". DPReview. 2001-02-11. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  3. ↑ "Pentax cancel 6mp digital SLR". DPReview. 2001-10-24. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  4. ↑ "Product information on FTF3020-C, Full Frame CCD Image Sensor". Philips Semiconductors. 2000. Archived from the original on 2001-07-27. Retrieved 2018-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ↑ Reichmann, Michael (2005). "Contax N Digital: A Non-Review". Luminous Landscape. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2005-11-21.

Related Research Articles

Digital camera back Digital image sensor that attaches to the back of a film camera

A digital camera back is a device that attaches to the back of a camera in place of the traditional negative film holder and contains an electronic image sensor. This lets cameras that were designed to use film take digital photographs. These camera backs are generally expensive by consumer standards and are primarily built to be attached on medium- and large-format cameras used by professional photographers.

Digital single-lens reflex camera Digital cameras combining the parts of a single-lens reflex camera and a digital camera back

A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.

Nikon D1 Digital single-lens reflex camera

The Nikon D1 is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) made by Nikon Corporation introduced on June 15, 1999. It featured a 2.7-megapixel image sensor, 4.5-frames-per-second continuous shooting, and accepted the full range of Nikon F-mount lenses. The camera body strongly resembled the F5 and had the same general layout of controls, allowing users of Nikon film SLR cameras to quickly become proficient in using the camera. Autofocus speed on the D1 series bodies is extremely fast, even with "screw-driven" AF lenses.

Kodak DCS Pro 14n

The Kodak Professional DCS Pro 14n is a professional Nikon F80 based F-mount digital SLR produced by Eastman Kodak. It was announced at the photographic trade show photokina in Germany during September 2002; production examples became available in May 2003.

The Contax N Digital was a six-megapixel digital SLR camera produced by Contax in Japan. The camera was announced in late 2000, and began to be sold in spring 2002, after several delays. The camera received mixed reviews from the press, and was withdrawn from the market within a year of its introduction.

Full-frame DSLR Image sensor format

A full-frame DSLR is a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) with a 35 mm image sensor format. Historically, 35 mm was considered the standard film format, in contrast with bigger formats, such as medium format, large format and even larger. However, due to the decreasing popularity of analog photography in favor of digital photography, the format is now leaning towards professional users, due to the higher prices of digital full-frame bodies.

Pentax K10D

The Pentax K10D and similar Samsung GX-10 are 10.2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras launched in late 2006. They were developed in a collaboration between Pentax of Japan and Samsung of South Korea.

Pentax MZ-S

The Pentax MZ-S is a 35mm single-lens reflex camera from Pentax of Japan. It was introduced in 2001 and discontinued in February 2006. It is closely related to the prototype MZ-D Full-frame digital SLR, which never entered production. It was the top-of-the-line model of Pentax's MZ/ZX series and replaced the PZ-1p as the high-end Pentax camera. No camera was produced to replace the MZ-S, making it Pentax's last high-end 35 mm camera. The MZ-S is the last film camera from Pentax that was manufactured in Japan.

Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D

The Maxxum 7D, labelled Dynax 7D in Europe/Hong Kong and α-7 Digital in Japan and officially named "DG-7D", is a 6.1 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, or DSLR, produced by Konica Minolta. It was the top model of their DSLR range; the Maxxum/Dynax 5D consumer-grade model was the other.

Pentax K100D

The Pentax K100D and similar Pentax K110D are 6-megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras, launched in the U.S. on May 22, 2006. The K100D has a maximum resolution of 3008 x 2008, and can also down-sample to 2400 x 1600 and 1536 x 1024. The slowest metered shutter speed is 30 seconds and the fastest shutter is 1/4000 seconds.

Pentax *ist D is a digital SLR camera produced by Pentax, released in 2003. The *ist D produces a 6.1 megapixel resolution image, using same sensor as Nikon D100. It was the smallest and lightest dSLR at the time, but still well equipped. For example, it had a large and bright pentaprism viewfinder, compared to pentamirror in other similarly priced competition.

Lenses for SLR and DSLR cameras

This article is about photographic lenses for single-lens reflex film cameras (SLRs) and digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs). Emphasis is on modern lenses for 35 mm film SLRs and for DSLRs with sensor sizes less than or equal to 35 mm ("full-frame").

Pentax K20D

The Pentax K20D and its clone, the Samsung GX-20, are 14.6 megapixel digital single-lens reflex cameras manufactured by Pentax that were announced on January 23, 2008. The K20D was available in the U.S. market from February 2008 through autumn 2009.

Canon EOS D2000

The Canon EOS D2000 was a 2-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera developed by Kodak on a Canon EOS-1N body. It was released in March 1998. It features a CCD sensor and can shoot at 3.5 frames per second. Many enthusiasts regard the D2000 as Canon's first truly usable Digital SLR. It was released in tandem with the Canon EOS D6000, a 6-megapixel model.

Sony Alpha 900

The α900 (DSLR-A900) is a full-frame digital SLR camera, produced by Sony. An early design study of the camera was shown at PMA on 8 March 2007, and a newer prototype announced at PMA 2008 on 31 January 2008. Sony officially introduced the final camera on 9 September 2008 prior to photokina 2008. In October 2011, Sony Japan announced the camera's end of production.

Pentax K2000

The Pentax K-m is a 10.2 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, announced on September 22, 2008 at the 2008 photokina trade show along with the DA-L series of lightweight, inexpensive lenses. It was discontinued in November 2009, being replaced by the more recent Pentax K-x.

This article discusses the cameras – mainly 35 mm SLRs – manufactured by Pentax Ricoh Imaging Corp. and its predecessors, Pentax Corporation and Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.. Pentax must not be confused with Pentax 6x7 or Pentax 67 which are 120 medium format 6x7cm film cameras.

Pentax K-5 II Camera

The Pentax K-5 II is a 16.3-megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, successor to the Pentax K-5, sharing its body shape with its two predecessors including the Pentax K-7, and making incremental improvements on the K-5.

Pentax K-3

The Pentax K-3 is a 24-megapixel Pentax high-end digital single-lens reflex camera with an APS-C sensor, announced on 7 October 2013. The Pentax K-3 is the successor to both the K-5 II and K-5 IIs models, which have a 16-megapixel sensor. The K-5 II had an optical low pass filter or anti-aliasing (AA) filter that can prevent the appearance of moire patterning on the captured image. This filter reduces the sharpness of the image, so Pentax also produced the K-5 IIs which omitted this filter. In the K-3, Pentax obviated the need for providing two separate models by including a selectable AA filter "simulator". This mechanism vibrates the sensor when switched on, slightly blurring the image in a way that replaces the function of the optical AA filter, providing the same benefit as the filter in the K-5 II and other cameras with an optical AA filter. When the AA simulator is disabled, the sensor records a sharper image, as in the K-5 IIs.

The Leica S-System is a medium format digital single lens reflex camera system introduced by Leica Camera in 1996. Beginning with the Leica S1, a prototype top-end studio digital camera unveiled at Photokina 1996. It went into production at the end of 1997.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.