Editing Digital camera back (section)

==Advantages and disadvantages==
[[File:Mamiya RZ67 Professional II with Mamiya Sekor Z 90mm f3.5 W lens and Phase One digital back.jpg|thumbnail|Mamiya RZ Professional II (Film camera) and Phase one Digital back]]
While dedicated [[digital camera]]s suitable for advanced use are available, there are advantages in being able to use a [[film camera]] to take digital photographs. A single camera can be used for both film and digital photography. Cameras with features not available on digital cameras (e.g., [[view camera]]s) can be used to make digital images.

Digital backs which are used in place of the normal film back are available for most medium and all large-format cameras with adaptors which can allow the same digital camera back to be used with several different cameras, allowing a photographer to choose a body/lens combination best suited for each application rather than using a body/lens system which represents a compromise of design to fit a variety of applications.

Users with large investments in existing camera equipment can convert it to digital use, both saving money and allowing them to continue to use their preferred and familiar tools.

Exposures longer than several minutes are obscured by [[image noise]] when captured with a 35&nbsp;mm digital SLR, but exposures of up to about an hour at room temperature and as long as 17 hours in extremely cold situations can remain noise-free on a digital camera back.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.captureintegration.com/phase-one/phase-one-tech-specs/|title=Phase One Technical Specs from Capture Integration|website=captureintegration.com|access-date=January 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704114606/http://www.captureintegration.com/phase-one/phase-one-tech-specs/|archive-date=July 4, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In practice a 30-second exposure on a Sinar 75 evolution<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.image2output.com/products/photographic/sinar-digital-camera-back.html|title=long exposure camerabacks|website=image2output.com|access-date=January 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208175128/http://www.image2output.com/products/photographic/sinar-digital-camera-back.html|archive-date=February 8, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> with a built-in fan-assisted [[Peltier effect|Peltier]]-cooled CCD represents the state of the art for practical purposes{{Clarify|date=September 2009}}.

The resolution of digital camera backs (in 2017, up to 101 megapixels, IQ3 100) is higher than any fixed sensor digital camera (in 2017, up to 51 megapixels, Hasselblad X1D).<ref group="comment">Sigma SD1 MERRILL is 46mp, but the Foveon X3 sensor is the different criterion to about resolution, that's why SD1 excepted</ref> and captures more detail per pixel due to the omission of an [[anti-aliasing filter]]. Each pixel is also able to capture more [[dynamic range]] due to higher quality electronics and larger [[pixel pitch]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} The use of active cooling systems such as internal fans and [[Peltier effect]] electric cooling systems also contributes to image quality. The Sinar eXact creates images in excess of 1 GB in multi-shot mode from a 49 MB sensor.

===Alternatives===
There are alternative ways to create a high-resolution digital image without a digital back.

==== Scanning film ====
If a high-resolution digital image is required, it can be achieved inexpensively without the use of a digital back by taking a large-format photograph on film and scanning the result; for best results a high-quality [[Image scanner#Drum|drum scanner]] is required. This can be used to create a much larger very high resolution [[computer file]] than is feasible with a single-shot digital back, and quality is high,<ref>{{Cite web|title=A 100 MP Digital Camera System for Under $2,000|url=http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/100mp.htm|work=KenRockwell.com|year=2006|access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref> though it has been argued that the resolution is not much better than a digitally photographed image.<ref>{{Cite web|title=June 2005 Shootout|url=http://www.captureintegration.com/tests/archive/|publisher=Capture Integration|work=CaptureIntegration.com|access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref>

A detailed comparison in 2006 by a professional photographer of drum-scanned 10&nbsp;× 12.5&nbsp;cm (4&nbsp;× 5″) images and digital 39-megapixel images on a medium-format camera found resolution very similar, with the scanned images slightly better. Color accuracy was not compared as digital profiles for the digital back were not available, but the author was of the considered opinion that the digital camera would ultimately be more accurate. For sustained professional use the apparent cost advantage of scanning film was very much reduced on careful analysis; including expensive 10&nbsp;× 12.5&nbsp;cm (4&nbsp;× 5″) film and processing and the cost of use of a drum scanner brought the projected cost over three years to about 80% of the cost of a digital back at the time. The digital back also had the advantage that the incremental cost of taking huge numbers of exposures was nil, while each 10&nbsp;× 12.5&nbsp;cm (4&nbsp;× 5″) photograph cost over [[US$]]3. Both the scanned and the 39-megapixel images were noticeably better than images with a 22-megapixel back.<ref name="cramer">{{Cite web|title=4x5" Drum Scanned Film vs. 39 Megapixel Digital|url=http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/Cramer.shtml|first=Charles|last=Cramer|year=2006|access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref>

An actual flatbed [[image scanner]] can be used as a camera back if fast operation and short exposures are not required.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Scanner Photography Project|url=http://golembewski.awardspace.com/|first=Mike|last=Golembewski|publisher=Audi Design Foundation|work=Golembewski.Awardspace.com|access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref>

==== Stitching ====
{{Main|Image stitching}}
Another alternative is to take multiple smaller pictures and then stitch them together via [[image stitching]]. In this way very high-resolution images can be produced from a low-resolution sensor. This can be done with a smaller digital camera, such as a DSLR, and stitching sliding back adapters are available for large-format cameras. The process can be lengthy, and is unsuited for moving subjects. There are also non-sliding options for stitching images together in various patterns using micro stepping of the image sensor and taking advantage of the gap between active pixel areas on the digital sensors. This stitching method is used to also give overlaid red green and blue pixel recording as well as increased resolution.