Remembering SiliconFilm | Early Digital Camera Technology

Remembering Early Digital Technology SiliconFilm

We take revolutionary new technology in stride now and expect massive advances in short time periods but I was just thinking about what I was looking forward to back in the early 2000s.  It took some searches to reveal the name but I finally found references to a company called SiliconFilm.  Back then I owned the very respectable Canon film camera the A2e which was a candidate for their breakthrough product. 

The product was a digital insert which fit in where the film would be placed but capture the images digitally.  I still think it sounds captivating but given how few film cameras are still being sold and used now, hardly worth pursuing. I believe originally it was to be 1.4 megapixels or thereabouts but later proposed products from the company had more respectable specs. Photo c/o DPReview despite finding it on another site.

The product premise got a lot of buzz at the time and was broadly desired.  The SiliconFilm product would have sold well assuming it worked reliably.  I put myself on their e-mail notification list at the time so I could find out when the product hit the market.  Alas, it never did.  I wonder how it would have changed the evolution of digital cameras as we know them today.  If film cameras could have been economically adapted to digital, this product could have changed the imaging landscape.

I would be surprised if anyone besides me even remembers SiliconFilm. Want to know how I found references to it online?  It was the first time I heard the term "vaporware" and I simply plugged in Canon A2 +vaporware in Google and eventually found articles about it. 

As revolutionary as the product could have been, the fact that I had to remember the term vaporware to find references to it isn't a proud legacy.

Once I got my hands on my first dedicated digital camera, the Olympus C-2000, I didn't look back.  As I write this, I am awaiting a shipment containing my new Canon T2i which I believe will be my 11th digital camera.  It will send photos to my computer wirelessly with a wifi memory card by Eye-Fi, another revolutionary product that fortunately made it off the drawing boards on onto store shelves. We've come a long way in a short time.

Comments

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HI,
Really an impressive work on cameras history. I think now technology is crossing their limits and cameras are now too sharp then the earlier days. sharpness and clearness are the main points these days. Anyways keep it up and keep continue with your valuable thoughts.
Thanks,