Hey Peter, thanks for the response. I suspect we come at this from different perspectives though I want to stress I very much have enjoyed your work over the years and appreciate the thoughts here and prior.
The above wasn't a SOOC jpg. I don't believe I've ever posted a SOOC jpg from any camera, but those were tweaked, slightly, from the raw (mostly crop and contrast). I'll attach the SOOC jpg and tweaked raw (not corrected for mobile as above though).
This is a Kodak designed CCD sensor camera, yes, Bayer, like a few other CCD models such as the M8 & M9, before everything went Live MOS/NMOS/CMOS (and eventually nearly all CMOS, stay strong Foveon!). They were certainly going for a look (even differences between CCD models modeling) and coupled with the technical limitations of the time, capture light and color differently than contemporary models. They were also selling to a mostly film audience.
While there is a trend for CCD and early CMOS sensor cameras recently, and of course every trend should be looked at with critical eyes, a segment of those moving away from the mainstream in photography (both look and technology) has always been in play, no? I always think of the Japanese are-bure-boke (rough, blurred and out-of-focus) movement. In the age of HDRish smartphones, shallow depth of field and ultra high resolutions became a path forward. And in the age of both trends, maybe an interest in lower resolution, lower dynamic range, inflated colors, and cheaper finds, starts to grow? A counter-aesthetic develops, or something similar. Can you make an A7rIV, R5, or Nikon Z7II look like an E-1 or E-300? If not yes, at least close, but exactly zero people do that. Hell, no one even makes their M11 shots look like M8s, though there are possibilities.
And I probably come from the Garry Winogrand school of thought - "I photograph to see what things look like photographed" and "Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed." Coupled with the old Poe quote "There is no exquisite beauty, without some strangeness in the proportion." I'm not sure if any editorial choices are pure (lens choice to soften skin, composition, thinking in monochrome, adjusting light even in wait), but I certainly understand the choice to keep the most options for post... though again some things never seen to happen there and it does take out happy accidents of the process. I do a ton of post on Foveon shots, but have to admit I like when I have to do less. I'm sure the commonly quoted "cameras are just a tool" and pleasure of shooting versus output, come into play here too. Maybe even the genres of our photography. And we live in the world of PureRAW, Super Resolution, and the Topaz products which lessens some restrictions. We can do a lot with a little for the first time. Especially if we go back to little... Instagram. Besides I'm not sure anyone is looking at these old digicams as a sole camera. Spend $200 on a body that used to cost $5000, $75-100 on a lens with character. Bingo. It's just one more tool in the toolbox. And most traits aren't as problematic from a contemporary or realistic perspective as most film stocks. I don't see the alarm here.
And as long as I'm disagreeing, I'll throw out there - I think Fuji has the best colors as they have the most options for jpg and starting point raw development. I would never import at Adobe Standard, but bring in the image into PS or C1 as Provia, Pro Neg High, Acros or try one of the hundred in camera or RAW Studio recipes, then tweak. "Filmic" yes, but not really, just think pleasing.
Anyway, thanks again for your comments. I suspect we agree a bunch, just coming from different angles with likely different goals. Big tent and all that.
SOOC jpg
RAW tweaked (but not for mobile). You an see I upped the shadows a little and removed a piece of paper.