Consumer Digital As My Ideal Camera?

Andy has left a comment saying that in many ways his Sony 828 is very close to the ideal camera I discussed the other day, wishing only for a better sensor. Actually I had recommended the 828 for a friend who needed a camera for recording his engineering work, then turned round and asked him if I could borrow it to try it out. and one of the images from that afternoon is amongst my more popular prints.

Just yesterday I was looking at an 18X18 inch print I have which was shot on my Sony 707 (predecessor to the 828) taken with 12 shots from the 707 and stitched with PTGui. While 12 shots is a lot of effort, it's sure a lot easier than shooting 4X5 and in all other aspects it fits my ideal camera - tilting back (both lcd and viewfinder), live preview, magnified manual focus, etc.

Something else to consider in shooting landscapes with a consumer camera like this is that depth of field is terrific because of the small sensor. You lose a little in shooting multiple images (because to do so, you use a longer focal length setting and therefore get less depth of field for the larger prints you end up with) but still have a lot less problem getting everything in focus in comparision to full frame DSLRs. You don't need tilt shift lenses to keep things sharp, nor do you need multiple images for processing in Helicon Focus.

Your camera bag weighs 3 lb. instead of 30 lb. - it is a thought. I wouldn't move back to a 707, 828 style camera for normal shooting, but not everyone is prepared to drop $10,000 for a camera.