U-2 vs RQ-4

[Plane]

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2009/February%202009/0209course.aspx

"What does the taxpayer want? They want effectiveness, and 75 percent of Global Hawk’s hours have been supporting combat operations. That’s a pretty good [measure] of effectiveness," Otto said. The RQ-4 and similar UAVs offer "some opportunities as an Air Force to rethink some of the traditional notions" of where it is appropriate to conduct training.

Sheehy said one of the key factors in whether the U-2 could go on beyond 2014 is the contractor, Lockheed Martin.

Programmed depot maintenance on the U-2 is done at Lockheed Martin’s facilities. The Air Force does not have an organic capability to do this work.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I find it amazing that they would still be using film. I would think that digital photography would be far superior in every way to film.

[kimba1]

Have they finally solve that lag time digital cameras tend to have. Film is instant and can handle room lighting better . But digital is so much cheaper dispite these poblems.

Has a memory been made fast enough to match film?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Has a memory been made fast enough to match film?

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I imagine that it comes very close. I tend to think that the decision to use miles of film might have more to do with a favor for Eastman Kodak than any practical purpose. If you are up in the sky 50,000 feet, things on the surface glide by rather slowly.

I am not an expert, but it seems to me that digital images, that can be downloaded instantly, would be much more useful than filmed images.

[kimba1]

film is limited in the amount of pictures that can be taken,but digital yoyu can point and shoot without a care. but you still run risk of getting a ton of blurred images. but unlike film ,practice on digital cost nothing.batteries will most likely run out before the memory runs out

[Plane]

 Right now the film camera takes a finer grain picture over a larger area, as time passes digital cameras will grow to have the same capability with less size and weight, but you realise tis is a very special camera , the manufacturer will never sell two hundred of them.

[kimba1]

ironicly mid to low range camera will be low use items since cell phone are more convient and better suited for spontanious use. what your talking about makes sense ,the high end cameras has actually gone up in demand. particularly the SLR camera. which is basicly a digital reflex camera.