scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Back in the day when Kodak announced the first digital camera, there was a move to produce camera backs for film cameras that placed a sensor in the place of the film plane. I think Hasselblad may have produced some extremely expensive versions. Whatever happened to this idea? I would still love to use my decades old Canon New F1-N as well as my beloved EOS 3.

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

As would I.

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

You know, now as I think about it I have an old camera in my collection that used 35mm film and had a slot for a flash card and it recorded digital images on the card. I will have to dig it out and see if I can just use it for digital pictures.

BebuLamar

There are a lot of backs made for the Hasselblad by third party companies. So in the medium format there are many good backs. For 35mm camera only Leica made one but it wasn't successful. There were/are many attempt to make digital back for the 35mm camera but none was successful.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Occasionally, I've seen articles about someone in England who is developing a back for the Nikon F that is digital. I've never seen anything past the article, which included a photograph of the prototype of the back. This was probably 15 years, or so, ago.
--Bob

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I makes good sense to make digital backs for medium format film cameras which had interchangeable backs anyway, and those have been successful. Making them for 35mm film cameras hasn't been successful yet.

BebuLamar

Yup! The digital back Leica made for the R cameras cost about the same as their M-8. So the back for 35mm generally would cost the same as a digital camera of the same capability.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Apparently, they are selling them at B and H.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1438714-REG/im_back_ibp_i_m_back_pro_n_a.html/?ap=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5tvR5-Gt5QIVAxx9Ch1peAY1EAQYASABEgJPTfD_BwE

--Bob

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Great find. Now to look through the details. Maybe I can still resurrect my 40 year old Canon New F1-N and my Eos 3.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

And it has exactly one review, which is negative. Also, in the questions section there is this:

Wont imaging the focusing screen lower the quality of the image?
Asked by Bruce on Mar 13, 2019

Yes, certainly, but our idea is to be able to give a vintage look in the photos and not of the highest quality like the current mirroles or even our cell phones. To check the quality of the images, please download this link and "print" on photographic paper. The photos are beautiful but above all is a way for those who have never taken their reflex come to use it again. Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Cj1P69fBLJXuDjkELEca62JE9aAk4dgG

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

What would be the point? A digital back turns a film camera into a digital camera. You can still use film lenses with a digital camera. Add a digital back and a film lens to a film camera and all you have is a digital camera with a film lens.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I just found the link to it. I'm not selling it.
--Bob

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Some of us still like the feel of the vintage film bodies. My Eos 3 has eye controlled focus, a pretty neat idea which worked pretty well. My old Canon New F1-N is compact, light and a pleasure to use. This digital back, though, does seem to add bulk to the body.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

More than that, it reduces your picture quality to the quality of a plastic lens brownie. Sample pix have very thin DOF making all the sample pics only focus in the center of the pic, if they focus at all. It would be like carrying a fine hunting rifle with a plastic pellet gun inside.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I have the same 'what would be the point?' question as bobspez.

I had an F1 too. If the goal is digital images with manual focus lenses, just get a mirrorless digital body and an FD adapter to the camera's mount. I don't yet have any experience with the Canon EOS-R bodies and FD lenses, but when I added a Sony a7II and adapter, suddenly all my FD lenses came back into everyday use. The Sony body provides image stabilization (not yet available from the EOS-R); and most importantly for my eyes and results: a 10x focus zoom in the Electronic View Finder (EVF). I had stopped shooting the F1 because I wasn't getting the results as sharply focused in film as I could get with an EOS body, mostly because I couldn't focus manually to the same level of precision as the AF system. But, when you can "see" the 10x zoomed details in the view finder, I can still manually focus the lenses, when needed, to get just as sharp results.

For your EOS 3, the suggestion is to find a shop that does high-resolution scans along with the developing. A scan that comes back at 3390 x 5035 pixels is a 17MP image and has all the 'detail' you need to process / finish the JPEG scans in your digital editor, as needed. Check with various online / mail-order sources to find their costs for high-res scans along with the film developing, image files delivered on CD or via download from their website.

So in 2019, a 'digital back' to a 35mm film camera has no real purpose. Mirrorless cameras provide anywhere from 24MP to 50MP+ full frame digital sensors, along with in-body stabilization, and multiple ways to view the fine details while manually focusing the lens. For AF-enabled EOS film bodies, your EF lenses behave the same as on EOS DSLR bodies. Scan the negatives to a DSLR-comparable pixel resolution, and you can bring your film-game to the digital world.