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Pellicle mirror Anonymous
A friend of mine just got an old Canon EOS-1N RS, and after letting me play with it and hearing the speed and quietness of the shutter, I became instantly fascinated with the Pellicle mirror concept and wondering why it's no longer used.

Basic rundown:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellicle_mirror

PROS-
• The viewfinder never goes dark
• There is no mirror shake
• Pictures can be taken a faster rate (10 frames/second)
• Very quiet shooting

CONS-
• Light loss to film (2/3 stops)
• The mirror needs to be kept perfectly clean
• Pellicle mirrors are then and especially fragile
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>> Anonymous
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While its cons tend to outway it pros (light loss probably being its biggest drawback), its ease of speed, quietness, and constant viewfinder image make it a very enticing concept, especially to outdoors, sports, and photojourn shooters.

So, why no Pellicle mirror dSLRs?

I would think that certain "recent" digital advances could lessen its other flaws. For instance, internal sensor cleaning/shake techniques could be adapted to solve the mirror dust/cleaning problem. The fragile nature of digital sensors makes the Pellicle mirror's safety somewhat of a non-issue, because dSLR shooters already have to pay extra care when changing lenses, handling camera bodies, etc. Image fogging from the viewfinder could simply be solved by an included eyepeice cup, and cover (such what's already on high-end Nikon SLRs). And even the light loss problem is lessened with the advances in low-grain high-ISO speeds.
>> Anonymous
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linkage:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/eos/EOS-1nRS/index.htm
http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/eos/eoscamera/EOS-RT/index.htm
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/pellix/index.htm
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf2/f2/variants/f2h/index.htm
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/htmls/f3h.htm
http://everything2.com/e2node/pellicle%2520mirror
http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=141&topic_id=30361
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1000&message=28938364
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
Dammit, I nearly bought an EOS RT last week. I would have if I'd looked it up when I was there and learned what it really was, but I didn't bother pulling up Camerapedia until I had left the store and it was too late. And I couldn't get the young lady chauffeuring me around last week to go back.

Do want pellicle mirror SLR. :(
>> Anonymous
Olympus E-20 and E-10 had something like this IIRC, only with a fixed prism instead of a mirror.
>> Anonymous
Overrated.
>> Anonymous
>>249165
>photojourn

> Light loss to film (2/3 stops)
>The mirror needs to be kept perfectly clean
>Pellicle mirrors are then and especially fragile

Photojournalists work in dark, messy places and their gear gets banged to all shit.

It's really mostly just for sports shooters, so they can pan with a 600/4. Everyone else just whips out a rangefinder , TLR, or (soon, when they make one with a buffer good enough so the VF doesn't freeze to black when it takes the file) an EVF. All three work for quiet shutters.

When there's those, I'm personally not going to put up with

> Light loss to film (2/3 stops)
>Image degradation due to linear astigmatism from the thickness, refractive index (higher than air), and distinct angle of the mirror
>Possible image fogging due to light from viewfinder and non sealed-off focusing screen

The problem with this

>Image fogging from the viewfinder could simply be solved by an included eyepeice cup, and cover (such what's already on high-end Nikon SLRs)

Is that it does nothing for you when shooting, which is the only time fogging can happen on a DSLR. Your viewfinder doesn't just black out when exposing with the new EOS-1Ds Mk. IV RS, it's black all the time! For maximum imprecision in framing, buy the EOS-1Ds Mk. IV RS!
>> Anonymous
Also, AC, you're letting your game down. You're the one supposed to be posting all the long explanatory tech posts.
>> Anonymous
>>250476

that would be Serenar

ac just repeats what's on dpreview and wiki lol
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>250476
>>250480
I only start picture threads. Certainly nowadays, and I think since the day I started posting to /p/ (although I'm sure if I'm wrong, someone will dredge up an incriminatory screenshot). I only do that "LOOK AT ME! LOOK HOW MUCH I KNOW! PLEASE DON'T NOTICE THE FACT THAT ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE THROUGH WIKIPEDIA AND GOOGLE!" thing when other people ask questions. I.e., if someone had been all like "What's a pellicle mirror and why would I want one?", I'd have been all over it like gearfaggotry on page 0.
>> Anonymous
wat
>> Project !dashI8UpO.
I'm actually trying to find an old hotshoe viewfinder to attach to my dSLR to help in panning. Plan B is looking through the hole my popup flash makes when it's raised.
>> Anonymous
>>250495
What focal length are you looking for? Cameraquest.com sells a bunch of good Voigtlaender ones.